Lake Charles area of Louisiana

Our final night at Hidden Valley was warm 80F at 9 pm!  With high humidity, we turned on the AC for a comfortable sleep.

We left San Antonio about 9:30 am on Tuesday, April 7^th  to drive straight across I10 to the Lake Charles area of Louisiana.

We passed through Houston around noon.  Here are a couple of shots of the downtown skyline.

It was a good day to travel.  Skies were overcast the first part of the day but warm weather. We are happy to still be wearing shorts, t-shirts and sandals.

By the time we reached Lake Charles, the sky had a few blue spots.  Here are a couple of photos taken as we crossed the bridge over Lake Charles:

We arrived in the late afternoon at Quiet Oaks RV Park north of Fenton LA which is northeast of Lake Charles.  It is a lovely campground under shady trees and 10 miles away from the noise of the I10 highway. 

On Wednesday April 8^th we drove back to the Lake Charles area to spend some time touring

around the Creole Nature Trail.  There are viewing areas along the route, with an informative visitor center and a boardwalk for bird watching and viewing alligators.  Unfortunately at this time of year, many of the birds have started their journey north.

a young alligator beside the boardwalk at the Visitor Center in the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge

Walking the Pintail Boardwalk at the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge

a Snowy Egret

the Snowy Egret in flight

a Black-necked Still in flight

a Black-necked Still hunting for food

a Laughing Gull

alligators in the waterway beside the road

this black King snake was hidden in the grass where we first stepped onto the boardwalk!

 We had planned to stay at Quiert Oaks 2 nights but the severe weather warnings for our route north have delayed our trip to Memphis another day.