It's day 248...it's also January 09, 2020.....and we are in Sulpher Louisiana

It's day 248...it's also January 09, 2020.....and we are in Sulpher Louisiana

Wow....I've never been chased by a storm.......till now.....and I don't like it!

yesterday...... We rolled into Galveston Texas at around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Looking forward to finding a place to park...and then exploring....enjoying.....and learning about the gulf island......

Good thing I flipped on the news at around 6 that evening for a quick update.......because thats when everything would change. We'd learned that an Extreme Weather event was headed right at Galveston. High winds....Thunderstorms.....Potential flooding.......Tornados.....the works......so Needless to say......Exploring Galveston would have to happen another time. We were outta there......

Oh....quick reminder.....if your not watching or listening on Spotify or Youtube.....there is a video version of this podcast....I take tons of photo's on this adventure....and have discovered many more....and video's too....so if visuals while listening are helpful...check us out 24/7 on our website....Life Out There dot me......

Firing up Vacilando's 454 this morning was different......Every time we have headed out of one adventure.....looking for the next....it had been a relaxed thing....most of the time not even sure exactly where we were going.....or where we would stop next.....and while that part still held true....the drive today would be laced with a little anxiety....but just as much...if not more...determination! The only thing I knew for sure was we had to get out of the storms path....fast.

It didn't help that I had just learned about that Great Galveston Hurricane in 1900.....and watched all those videos depicting the devastation a storm can bring......visuals all fresh in my mind as I tried to decide exactly which direction we should be driving......I knew straight north was out of the question.....we couldn't stay ahead of those 70 mile an hour winds long enough that way. While the area of influence continued to broaden.....Each time I checked for updates it was becoming more and more clear that we had to get far enough north....to head east as soon as we could.

It wasn't long before Galvestons Seawall Boulevard had become I-45.......no more coastline and waves....instead we were driving by the industrial sprawl of Texas City....and then yet again....we'd have to navigate a bit of Houston before the landscape would transition back to those rolling hills and vast open fields of Texas.

Hittin highway 248 changed things a bit. Almost a reprieve......A much less crowded route, giving us what felt like a bit of a break from the storm's looming presence. The scenery was awesome...., with wide expanses of farmland, grazing cattle, and the occasional small town dotting the horizon. The tension from the morning started to ease, replaced by a familiar sense of adventure maybe.......but the one constant..... remained the sky above us.....and behind us......dark....I guess we still feel the presence of that storm behind us.....

Crossing into Louisiana The air felt different, humid and warmer even. We had passed through a town called Westlake.....but when we came to a place called Sulphur.....it felt like a good place to stop for fuel. I also found a little RV park where we could empty the gray and blackwater tanks.....and refill the freshwater tanks. We hadn't taken the time to do that in Galveston.....and not knowing exactly how much further we would be driving today.....it sounded like a good idea.....

That was the plan anyways......and you know how well I stick to a plan..... once we were parked in a spot,....in that little RV park....I did a quick check of the weather......and while we hadn't traveled all that far......it looked as though we had gotten just far enough east to be on the outside path of the storm.....so ...quick change of plans....and decided to hang out here for the night..... in Sulpher.

And besides...I had read just enough about this place called Sulpher.....and ..... this incredibly fascinating place called Louisiana....and I had to know more. So....a quiet evening in a little RV park in Sulpher Louisiana felt like a great place to dig in. We'll drive again first thing in the morning.

It's almost hard to know where to start....Louisiana, It's been called the jewel of the American South, is not just a place on the map but a living, breathing tapestry of cultures, histories, and dreams. It's a land where the echoes of the past blend seamlessly with the rhythms of the present, creating an experience all it's own.... I would learn quickly....that The essence of this state lies in its people, their language..... its landscapes, and the cultures that have been passed down through generations.

The story of Louisiana begins long before it became part of the United States. Its rich heritage is a fusion of influences from Native American tribes, French and Spanish colonists, African slaves, and....and even Acadian refugees. Each wave of settlers brought with them their own traditions, languages, and customs, all blending together to create. Louisiana.

The name itself....Louisiana....in honor of King Louis 14th of France.

All the way back 1682: French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, navigated the Mississippi River to its mouth and claimed the entire Mississippi River valley for France. He named the territory La Louisiane in honor of his king.

1763: Following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War, the territory was ceded to Spain.

1800: The territory was secretly returned to France through the Treaty of San Ildefonso. eel-deh-FON-so

I wondered why this exchange of territory would be kept secret.......but would quickly learn that the exchange of territories between the two countries could have upset the balance of power in Europe....and the Americas. Spain and France didn't want other nations, especially Britain, to interfere or react negatively to the transfer of Louisiana back to France. Keeping it secret allowed them to negotiate and execute the agreement without external pressures or conflicts.....in exchange for returning the Louisiana territory ...... France.....would turn territories within Italy over to Spain. But perhaps most importantly...in relation to the United States......this exchange would set the stage for the Louisiana purchase....just three years later in 1803. Sounds to me like Napolean....in his quest to conquer Europe and become its supreme Emperor....needed cash.....so he would negotiate the sales price of 15 million bucks for the entire 828,000 square miles of the Louisiana territory.....thats 3 cents per acre. And while the US president at the time.....Thomas Jefferson was indeed eager to secure the entire Mississippi Valley....and it's crowning jewel....the Port of New Orleans......at the time of the transaction....he wasn't even sure himself.....exactly what he had just purchased. Within months he would commission the Lewis and Clark expedition......who would spend the next two years exploring, mapping, and establishing US presence all across the massive territory that had doubled the size of these united states.

And nine years later in1812: Louisiana was admitted as the 18th state of the United States of America.

I'm pretty sure this is our first stop.....in which topline internet searches would immediately reveal so much about a place....the geography......the history.....and even the goings on of today.

And I had to have a look at the topography of it all......I was so curious.....I'd learned so much about the billions of years of geographic evolution of the western United States......that pacific Ring of Fire...... The millions of years of plates shifting.....and volcanoes erupting that left us with the Mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest.....those rugged coastlines......and at the very same time....the desert regions of the US Southwest.....

so what left us with what we see here.....just a thousand miles or so to the east.....of those Arizona....Nevada.....New Mexican.... deserts..... A relatively flat land. A land in which the highest mountain in the state reaches just over 500 feet in elevation. No deserts....no rocky coastline......no mountainous regions lined with pine trees and firs........but instead......a land of water. Water from every direction.....

Here.... that Water is the lifeblood of this place called Louisiana. And things.....were a bit quieter....on this side of the continent.....There were indeed those Billions of years of shifts....the ice ages......and then.....the not ice ages......but as the universe settled into what the universe is today.....There were no volcanoes here......there wasn't as much of that massive ice and plate shifting.....here....it became more about water......the movement of water......millions of years of sediments shifting.....and erosion.........A much quieter.....and subtle way of becoming all it is today.

And it would be here.....that I would read for the first time about Super-continents. Not really sure why it hadn't come up before....maybe I'm just getting better at asking questions.....but I'd learn of points in time in which the 7 continents we know today on the planet......were all one. One big massive continent....leaving the rest of the planet....under water. I'd read of Pangea.....and Rodinia.....just a couple of the .names scientists have given to these super continents that formed....broke apart....and then reformed......and broke apart again....several times over the last billion years or so. And that these plates continue to shift to this day.....at a rate of about 2 centimeters per year.

During the time of the supercontinent Pangaea, which existed around 335 to 175 million years ago, the land that would eventually become Louisiana was situated near the equator. It was part of the larger landmass known as Laurentia, which later became the core of North America.

And as Pangaea began to break apart during the late Triassic period, the land that is now Louisiana moved northwest. Over millions of years, as the Atlantic Ocean formed....the continents we know today would form....and drift to their current positions....so basically...where we are sitting today....was some 2 to 4000 away....from where it is today....Louisiana....and Laurentia....used to be .....where the North Atlantic ocean is today.

It's pretty mind bending to picture in my mind....the continents moving around the earth over millions of years and coming together like a jig saw puzzle to illustrate the planet as we know it today......and that jigsaw puzzle.....it keeps changing.....even today

The region's current position, along the Gulf of Mexico, has been shaped by millions of years of geological processes, most prominently sediment deposition from rivers like the Mississippi ......resulting in mostly flat....and low lying lands.....The state's terrain is divided into two main regions: the East Gulf Coastal Plain and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain.....further inland

And all this water.....means that Marshes, Swamps, and Wetlands cover a significant portion of the state. And I didn't get far.....into reading about all of this......when I learned of a place called Atchafalaya........the the Atchafalaya River Basin is the largest freshwater swamp in the United States. An expansive....and beautiful 1.4 million acres in southern Louisiana that serves as the run off and natural flood plain for two thirds of the countries Rivers and tributairies.....literally.....the entire eastern side of the nations natural waterways flow through the Atchafalaya. An area of the country critical to the natural wildlife habitat....including over 300 species of bird and waterfoul.......that has been...and continues to be negatively effected by the interference of man. Activities like dredging.....building levies and redirecting waterways have led to countless acres of the basin being lost to modern development....and in turn has led to the extinction of several species of wildlife in the area...that just a few years ago could only be found here......in the Atchafalaya Swamp.

I had quickly become consumed with this place called Atchafalaya.....a massive marvel of nature....critical to the nations balance of nature.....and I'd never even heard of it. Thankfully.....and of course.....there are tons of video's out there that tell the story......I'll let the folks over at the Mark Knight YouTube channel tell you the story.....of an Amazing place....a beautiful place in Louisiana....a place the Choctaw people would call "The Long River"........ or ...Atchafalaya.

Insert video

But all that water.....doesn't mean only Marshes and swamps.......Rivers......have always played a big part of the areas geological formation........and would become crucial to the states history and economy during ....and beyond settlement.....The Mississippi.....which bisects the state from north to south......but you'll also find the Red River.....and, of course.... the Atchafalaya River

Louisiana is also home to several large lakes, including Lake Pontchartrain, a brackish estuary that covers 630 square miles, and Caddo Lake, which straddles the Texas-Louisiana border and is known for its cypress forests.

And then there's the ocean.....the states coast line....almost 400 miles along the Gulf Of Mexico.....that is double the length of Washington States coastline.....and 30 miles more than that of Oregon's coastline. Louisiana's coastline....is an area full of barrier islands...estuaries....and saltwater marshes. Coastal erosion has become a significant concern for the state in recent years......wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate due to both natural and human activities in the area....reading about this reminded me of the challenges Oregon is facing with the shrinking of the Oregon Dunes.....and that states efforts to reverse the effects of man on their natural landscape. The very same thing is taking place here in Louisiana in an effort to protect not only the states coast line.....but the Atchafalaya Swamp as well.

Learning of the incredible landscapes of the region.....and how they came to be.....makes it easy to understand how Louisiana would become just as diverse....and beautiful...when it comes to the blending of cultures in the area. As I had started to note while driving across Texas......the dates continue to dig deeper into history.....dates in which settlement began that is. As with all across the US....Native American influence and presence dates back centuries.....

But Here....in Louisiana....I began hearing new names.....different ...... Native American tribes like...

Chitimacha: Renowned for their dugout canoes and resistance to French encroachment. They are the only Native American Tribe in Louisiana that still occupy parts of their ancestral Homeland.....and the First Native American tribe....not only in Louisiana....but in the nation.....to receive Federal Recognition....doing so in 1917....

I would learn here....That federal recognition means......means the U.S. government officially acknowledges the tribe's existence and sovereignty. This recognition grants the tribe certain rights, benefits, and protections, including.....Self Governance, Land Rights.....access to Federal Funding and Legal Rights.

As of 2020....There are 574 Federally recognized Native American Tribes in the US.....an additional 100 have received State Government Recognition.......

Four other Tribes in Louisiana have received Federal Recognition......while the State of Louisiana recognized an additional 11.

On that list....you'll find Native American Tribes like.....

Natchez: A people Known for their impressive temple mounds and highly stratified society. They ruled a small empire near what is now called Sicily Island.

Houma.....(HOH-mah) Skilled in fishing and harvesting shellfish from the marshlands.

Caddo: Built large grass houses and traded with Plains tribes, acting as middlemen between East and West.

Tunica-Biloxi: Known for their agricultural practices and trade networks.

Atakapa: Lived in smaller numbers but had established lands in Louisiana.

Coushatta: Known for their basket weaving and agricultural practices.

Jena Band of Choctaw Indians: One of the four Choctaw groups in Louisiana.....Their history is quite interesting. The Jena Band descends from Choctaws who remained in Mississippi when the Choctaw Nation was removed to Indian Territory in the 1830..... Between 1870 and 1880, ancestors of the Jena Band left Mississippi and settled in central Louisiana. They worked as sharecroppers, domestics, or day laborers on plantations owned by American Settlers.....they would eventually receive Federal Recognition......and work hard to this day to preserve not only their culture.....but their heritage.

Geological evidence....has all of these folks dates back over 11,500 years in the area.

It feels like this is the first place we have been in which so many different cultures had come together in one area....amongst Indiginouse peoples.....even before the Spanish......the French......the British...The Acadian....and finally...The American Settler would arrive in the area.

And what about this place called Sulphur.....named after the sulfur mines that operated in the area in the early 1900s1

When a guy named Herman Frasch, revolutionized sulfur mining when he introduced The Frasch Process.....ultimately leading to significant population growth in the area as Americans across the region sought work.

Today....Sulphur is part of the Lake Charles metropolitan area....and nearly a quarter of a million Americans call this part of Louisiana home.

Sulphur....itself.....has a population of around 21 thousand people and....as you would imagine offers a pretty cool blend of tradition and culture in a uniquely Louisiana landscape.

While historically....the town was dependent on sulfur mining....today....you'll find oil refineries and petrochemical plants playing a big part in the areas economy.

Outdoor activities are also important to the folks of Sulpher.....it's evidenced in the over 450 acres of outdoor park facilities available to the community and has even played host to national sporting events like the National Pro Fast pitch championships...... and olympic sports qualifying tournaments.

And....this place is even a stop on

The Creole Nature Trail .....a scenic byway in Louisiana, often referred to as Louisiana's Outback

A 180 mile long trail that winds through the marshes, prairies, and along the gulf of Mexico in Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes in the southwest of the state.....

The trail is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including alligators, over 400 bird species, and thousands of migrating butterflies in the spring and fall.

like fishing?, crabbing?, bird watching?, and exploring sandy beaches?.....if so......Points of Interest: Notable stops include the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, Pintail Wildlife Drive, and the Wetland Walkway at the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.....All stops along The Creole Nature Trail that you might love.

The trail also offers a glimpse into the Cajun and Creole cultures of the region....

It's all this......that likely explains why The Creole Nature Trail is is often times described as a journey through one of America's "Last Great Wildernesses,"

As usual.....a lot....of information....and I have no doubt....there's a lot more...

We spent the night....in that little RV park so we could leave first thing in the am with a full fresh tank....and ready for another day on the road. Good thing we did because the morning news was not good. The weather maps were now showing a total of 8 states effected…reaching in every direction. Even Oklahoma, Florida, and Arkansas had been drug into the picture.

There was a small circle on the east coast looking at very little activity……good ol’ Savannah.,,,,,kinda have a stop there planned.....but Sadly…we were still 830 miles away from Savannah. Safe to say this dang storm was getting on my nerves!

It was becoming clear we wouldn't outrun it completely.....question was becoming how far would we have to go to be safe enough to withstand whatever part of it we had to sit through.....

So we drove......east......it was looking like our best shot was about 180 miles east in a place called Vidalea Louisiana.....

We're gonna go for it......and I wonder what we'll learn there?