11/28/13 - Thanksgiving

11/28/13

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  It was strange not being with my family this year and I really missed everyone up in Chicago.  I'm glad we'll be with our Louisiana family for Christmas!

We spent the day at two state parks:  Cypremort Point State Park and Lake Fausse Pointe State Park and then went to the movies.

Leaving from Abbeville, we drove SE to Cypremort, then
NE to Lake Fausse Pointe and finished the day by driving NW
to Lafayette and back to Abbeville for a total of 162 miles  

Cypremort Point is on the Gulf of Mexico.  It was chilly but sunny and we spent about 20 minutes walking on the beach and enjoying the view.   It was incredibly peaceful, we only saw one other couple there (and no otters).   

Most houses right on the Gulf are built on stilts.

A beautiful day for a walk along the Gulf of Mexico

Since Cypremort Point didn't have any hiking trails, we decided to drive north to Lake Fausse Pointe State Park.   It was a looooong drive.    For the last 10 miles the GPS had us going on a gravel and sometimes just dirt road where we could only drive 15-20 mph.    I was sure this park was going to be deserted since it's so hard to get to but, of course, I was wrong.  There was another road (paved) which is how everyone else goes and the park had a good amount of campers and hikers.

A is for Armadillo

The park had nice, well-marked trails.  We took trail B which was a 1.5 mile loop and I saw my first up-close armadillo.  Then I saw my 2nd, 3rd and 4th!   Maddie wanted to chase them but we kept her on-leash (mostly).   She seems to really like the hikes we take her on.

Maddie loved chasing the Armadillos

After about an hour spent hiking it was time to get back in the truck and head to Lafayette for our movie.   We went to see "12 Years a Slave", a powerful and disturbing movie about a free black man living in New York state in 1843 who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.   I highly recommend it.