Rollin' On The River
After watching Henry's last basketball game of the season, Jared and I took his father-in-law's boat out on the river. Actually, it was the intercostal waterway beginning at the Port of Baton Rouge at Port Allen but who's counting?
Earlier that morning, I'd ridden into town on the Harley, ignoring the lower 40° temperatures, figuring it would eventually warm. That was a bad guess....it didn't. Anyway, we launched the boat and were on the water around 11:00 A.M. supposedly testing a new tachometer which never registered, maybe because it was defective or maybe because it was wired wrong, nevertheless, it didn't work on the old 70 hp Evinrude. Even though we figured that out in the first 5 minutes, the notion of a river ride was there and before long, we were headed south on the Gulf Inter-Coastal Waterway that eventually makes it's way toward Morgan City and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico. 
Completed in 1949, it is part of a sophisticated network of waterways that connects the Mississippi River with waterways across the southern United States.
Even though the temperatures were cool on the water, the bright sun helped quite a bit as we enjoyed seeing life along the river, disturbing Louisiana Blue Herons, dodging the occasional log in the water and negotiating around ever present barge traffic.
One special treat was spotting a young Bald Eagle a few miles south of Bayou Choctaw. I can still kick myself for forgetting my good camera and having to rely on the cell phone instead.
While we could have gone on and on, boat motors are not known for their gasoline efficiency so we turned around just south of the Bayou Jacob Road in Iberville Parish and made our way home.
A nice venture and experience for sure that was a little different, especially for me.
Earlier that morning, I'd ridden into town on the Harley, ignoring the lower 40° temperatures, figuring it would eventually warm. That was a bad guess....it didn't. Anyway, we launched the boat and were on the water around 11:00 A.M. supposedly testing a new tachometer which never registered, maybe because it was defective or maybe because it was wired wrong, nevertheless, it didn't work on the old 70 hp Evinrude. Even though we figured that out in the first 5 minutes, the notion of a river ride was there and before long, we were headed south on the Gulf Inter-Coastal Waterway that eventually makes it's way toward Morgan City and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico. 
Completed in 1949, it is part of a sophisticated network of waterways that connects the Mississippi River with waterways across the southern United States. Even though the temperatures were cool on the water, the bright sun helped quite a bit as we enjoyed seeing life along the river, disturbing Louisiana Blue Herons, dodging the occasional log in the water and negotiating around ever present barge traffic.
One special treat was spotting a young Bald Eagle a few miles south of Bayou Choctaw. I can still kick myself for forgetting my good camera and having to rely on the cell phone instead.
While we could have gone on and on, boat motors are not known for their gasoline efficiency so we turned around just south of the Bayou Jacob Road in Iberville Parish and made our way home.
A nice venture and experience for sure that was a little different, especially for me.
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