A Brief Getaway

We've been radio-silent for a few days.  I had a conference for work that I had to attend to get some CE credits to keep my license active.  Spouses were invited.  They put us up in a hotel in Baton Rouge near the river.  It was my wife's 57th birthday, so it was a good opportunity to celebrate and relax.  Russ took care of the animals while we were gone.  We left Thursday at noon and came back Saturday at 3 pm.

On Friday evening they loaded us up on buses and took us to Top Golf.  It's essentially a multi-level driving range with food and drinks.  You are awarded points for hitting the ball into certain targets.  The computer tracks the distance of your hit, the speed, the curve and the hang time.  It was fun, but I am no golfer.  In fact, I'm dangerous.  I teed off and sliced it.  The ball ricocheted off the ball box, hit me in the face and then bounced through the table where everyone was eating.  Embarrassing!

Tricia was much better!

We had a nice time!

On Saturday afternoon, we walked down the Mississippi River levee.  The water level was low.  In the background, the red letters spell out B A T O N  R O U G E.  Sometimes the water level is above the letters.

Here's a nice shot of the Mississippi with the I-10 bridge in the background.  I was checking out the soil at the base of the steps.  No telling where this rich, alluvial soil washed down from.  I was thinking it would be good to take some of that home with me and incorporate into my garden.

There was lots of barge traffic on the river.  The one behind Tricia appeared to be loaded with scrap iron.

Then it was back to a half day of classes.  The last one was interesting.  They were talking about investigating electric vehicle fires.  The presenter, a fire chief, asked if any of us owned an EV.  It was a room of about 125 people.  No one raised their hand.  He told us that it was the wave of the future and than Canada plans to make it illegal to sell an ICE vehicle in Canada after 2035, I think.

He told us something very interesting.  He said that his fire department and many others have a policy of allowing an EV to burn down without trying to put them out.  The reason?  Water reacts violently with the Lithium batteries.  It takes approximately 3,000 gallons of water to put out the fire, but then the water is contaminated and toxic and runs off into the soil and drinking water.  So, to combat this, they just let them burn out.  

I'm trying to figure out how EV's are good for the environment???

Something Old, Something New

Let's start with something new.  When I'm traveling for work, I often pull off I-10 to fill up with gas at a station in the small town of Lacassine, Louisiana.  The station is local, new, clean, and the people running it are friendly.  There is a restaurant associated with it called, "The Dairy Barn," and they serve good food, like fried shrimp poboys, fried pickles and milkshakes.

Something caught my eye in the back of the station and I drove around back.  Something new, indeed.  A 16 bay charging station for electric vehicles.  I've not seen a bigger one, although I admit, I don't see that many charging stations around.  In my neck of the woods, there aren't a whole lot of Electric Vehicles on the road.

Progress, I guess.  Things keep moving forward and moving quickly.  I backed out of there and decided before driving home, I'd motor a few miles south.  Not far at all from the progress is a place I like to go where time almost seems to stand still.  Lorrain Bridge.

Lorrain Bridge is named after the Lorrain family that moved to the area from France.  In 1895 it was originally built as a wooden drawbridge.  It connects Jefferson Davis Parish and Calcasieu Parish and enabled farmers to bring their crops and cattle to market and to serve a local sawmill.  It is on the list to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The drawbridge was taken down in 1955 and was later put out of service in 1998.  In 2004 it was rebuilt, fortunately.  Many local people drive out to the bridge.  It is a favorite place to take graduation photos, Family Christmas Cards, and prom photos.

As quickly as time seems to move, I have a theory that some people have a nostalgic hankering for a time when things moved slow.  Lorrain Bridge is the place to find exactly that.  Bayou Lacassine lazily sits beneath it.  You can't really call it flowing.  Its murky and muddy waters slowly creep into the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge.

You can look over the rails and see alligators waiting for lunch and watch the occasional catfish surface.  Spanish Moss drapes from the cypress trees that line the banks of the bayou.  There is a public boat launch and a park with picnic tables where you can slow things down a bit from the hurried pace of I-10 only a few miles to the north.

It's as if two worlds are colliding.  The paved super highway that never sleeps and the old dirt road just on the east side of the Lorrain Bridge.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."  -- Robert Frost