Second day on the road. Got up and got packed up, and drove over the bridge over Sabine Lake . It was very steep and there was no safe place to ride.

The whole day we followed State Hwy 82. Same number in both Texas and Louisiana, which was helpful. We only rode about 10 miles in Texas before we crossed a bridge over the Sabine River..Left Texas behind, and into our second Gulf state - Louisiana.

Louisiana was named after King Louis of France. It was the foundation of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

The insect population on Johnson Bayou was really bad. Everyone had to put on insect repellent. The humid weather was tempered by the cool breezes off the Gulf.

We are in Cameron Parish (Louisiana term for a county). It was organized in 1870 from parts of Calcasieu and Vermillion Parishes. It was named for Simon Cameron, a Pennsylvanian who was President Abraham Lincoln's first Secretary of War. It is the largest parish in Louisiana yet the least populated, owing to the high proportion of marshland or bayous.There are no incorporated municipalities in Cameron Parish, although there are a few towns. Cameron Parish comprises a large portiion of the Louisiana Chenier Plain. A chenier is an elevated ridge that occurs in certain coastal regions, particularly in Louisiana. The western half of Cameron Parish was part of the colorful No Man's Land or 1806 Neutral Ground (Louisiana) agreement to solve a boundary dispute between the governments of the United States and Spain after the Louisiana Purchase. The Calcasieu River (at that time the Arroyo Hondo) and the Sabine River became the eastern and western boundaries. Devoid of law enforcement, the area became a hotbed of outlaws, pirates, and other nefarious characters for many years.

Had to take a ferry across the Calcasieu Ship Causeway. Gary, Devon, Hope and Hether crossed over earlier than Charlotte, Mary Ann, Sherri, and me due to their riding pln. They are leapfrogging inpairs on 20 mile increments.

Ate lunch in Cameron at a kids' park. Nice to eat under the shade of a tree.

Cameron Parish was devastated by Hurricane Audrey on June 27, 1957, causing over 390 deaths. Audrey defined Cameron Parish for nearly 50 years, with local history being divided into before and after Audrey until much of the parish was destroyed again by Hurricane Rita on September 24, 2005. The movie "Little Chenier" was filmed in Southwest Louisiana just prior to Hurricane Rita and contains some of the only accessible moving images of the area before it was destroyed.

In 2008, three years after Rita, Hurricane Ike came ashore and brought a 22 foot storm surge which was far worse than Rita's 10 foot surge. Nearly every square inch of the coastline in that area was flooded heavily, with surge and floodwaters reaching 60 miles inland, as far north as Lake Charles.The communities of Cameron, Holly Beach, Hackberry, Creole, and Grand Chenier were essentially destroyed. Hundreds of people had to be rescued from atop rooftops. When we rode through these towns, much reconstruction has been completed. What was most evident was cement foundations now overgrown by weeds.

Continued riding through Creole and Oak Grove. A sign indicated that it was only eight more miles to Grand Chenier, so that was exciting. However, the church where we are staying is about 8 miles further along Hwy. 82 so instead of about 68 miles, the route ended up being 80 miles!

Arrived at St.Eugened's Catholic Church which is hosting us. Oreli met us, showed us around, and made us feel welcome. The church is newer and clean, and the hall even has a couple of sofas of which Charlotte and I are going to avail ourselves.

Mary Ann had a great idea for dinner. After our showers, we went to a convenience store and bought what we needed to have spaghetti for dinner. The church didn't have any pots in which to cook, but resourceful Mary Ann found an aluminum stock pot on the porch of a nearby abandoned mobile home.

The weather has been a bit threatening with rain. Guess that's just part of the Gulf weather.

With love from Cameron Parish,
Marie