Dar & Deb at home......and away: March 2013

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Lousianna Graves

While in the New Orleans area we noted with interest the great variances in the graves. Some graveyards appeared to be formally kept with everything painted or whitewashed to look the same..all nice and clean. Others had high and low graves made of various materials some nicely maintained and others overgrown, including some with grass growing on the top. We have added a few pictures here to illustrate.

note difference in height of the graves

nice stone

various heights and materials

some are marble and some concrete

grass on top

lots of differences

graveyard

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Chattanooga - Ruby Falls

We followed the choo choo tracks and headed east to Chattanooga. It was a nice sunny day although it started out a bit chilly and we had to wear light jackets. We arrived at Lookout Mountain early enough to avoid huge crowds and get a good parking spot. Our tour guide was a great guy aged 72, with a wonderful sense of humour. He has been enjoying this job for 6 years now and has enjoyed caving for about the same length of time. Somehow I just can't imagine taking up a hobby that requires crawling around in dark, damp places in the name of fun..

feature named crystal chandelier

Deb wandering past the Onyx Column

looks like a donkey butt

cave works for short people

formations called straws developing from ceiling

feature known as tobacco leaves also looks like taco shells

feature called Niagara Falls ..ridge resembles water over Canadian falls

Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls with people watching

Deb

water reflection pool

entrance building made out of stone excavated for making of elevator into the cavern

Hail outside our motel (yesterday) on March 18th

Ruby Falls

The Ruby Falls cavern is a very well operated attraction. Guides lead groups into the elevator and through the caverns. Guides stop and start the groups with talk and available video and recordings explaining various features and the discovery/development of the cavern. At the actual falls a timed light show occurs illuminating the falls in various shades and then leaving the falls in darkness effectively moving the group back toward the elevator. Large groups have a second "guide" acting as caboose to ensure that no one is left behind. We were told that it is not unusual for 3000 people to move through the cavern on a summer day. So glad we are not here at prime time when just getting a ticket can become a 2 hour wait.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Mississippi Petrified Forest

Today we traveled north to visit the Mississippi Petrified Forest west of Jackson near Flora, Mississippi. This was an actual forest and not just a field of petrified logs. Apparently the petrified logs found here were washed to this location in a huge flood over 1000 years ago. Poor farming practices in the early 1800s caused extreme erosion and climate aided causing a badlands effect and increased erosion in the areas which exposed the petrified wood in deep valleys. The current forest is privately owned and has been developed in such a way as to minimize the effect of people in the area. Logs have been left undisturbed in their natural setting with the trail being well marked and a guide issued to guests to explain the history of the petrified wood. Our pictures show both the petrified logs and the woods growing in the area. There are many Loblolly Pines which shed many needles to help stop erosion and allow forest regrowth. We noticed many vines including some that appeared to be chocking out the trees. Some of the vines were a type of wild Muscadine grape.

signage shows the great weight of the logs turned into stones

entrance

Northern Mockingbird

"Magnet" our tour guide

petrified logs

petrified logs many were rotted in center before petrification

petrified log end

Holes in the wood has caused many of these hollow stones

large petrified log

unusal weeds growing on 1 hillside

looking up at the eroding edge of the hillside

large hollowed out petrified log

too many vines

interesting shot of the overhang caused by erosion

The whole site was very different from the National Petrified Forest which we visited in Arizona a few weeks ago. The stones(logs) there were much more colourful and there was no actual forest. Arizona was a very dry, desert area and the exposed logs were simply scattered randomly across an open area. After our tour of this forest we headed east and have landed for the night in Gadsden which is about an hour past Birmingham, Alabama. Weather forecast is for thunderstorms tomorrow so we booked the room for 2 nights and plan to just hang out and relax while watching the storm wash the car. Our next adventure is the scenic route leading to Chattanooga. In a couple of days we will be singing "Pardon me boys....Is that the Chattanooga Choo choo?"

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Morgan City, La

We began our last day in Morgan City by visiting the port waterfront and seawall. It was a great morning despite the fog over the water and I enjoyed a short stroll atop the seawall level with treetops.

2 highway bridges across the water @ Morgan City

Morgan City seawall

boat in the fog in port

other end of the harbour

shrimp boat docked

shrimp boat from atop the seawall

shrimp boat

walkway atop seawall

treetop from seawall

other side of tree top

fan palm

oil rig statue in Morgan City

We later visited the Brownell Memorial Park & Carillon Tower on the edge of Morgan City. What an awesome park! We enjoyed our stroll being entertained by the very fast squirrels and many birds in the park. After visiting the woman at the visitors center we came out to find some small lizards soaking up the sun on the porch benches. The resident rooster was also there to greet us.