Louisiana - Bridges and Bayous

Traveling from Texas to Louisiana introduced us to bayous. Merriam-Webster Online defines bayou as: "an area of water in the southern U.S. in which the water moves very slowly and is filled with many plants". Terry insisted on calling them "swamps." He even did so to the lovely ladies at the Iberville Visitor Center who politely did not take offense, but gave us a topography lesson about the Atchafalaya  Basin and the bayous of Louisiana.(To be perfectly honest, some Louisiana reference material does use the "s" word to describe the bayou as well.) 

The way you cross the Atchafalaya Basin is over the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge which carries Interstate 10 over its length. Now, this is not any ordinary old bridge. It consists of two parallel bridges that have a length of over 18 miles, making it the fourteenth longest bridge in the world. It is an engineering phenomenon. The roadway of the bridge is very high; in fact, we rode on a surface that is in line with the tops of trees! Between the two parallel bridges carrying traffic in opposite directions is the water of the basin. For those who cannot picture it, I found  this photo online to show what it looks like, since I could not get a camera angle to get the full effect - which would be from below.

Atchafalaya Basin Bridge - can we say "Yikes!"? (photo from www.gypsynester.com)

The mighty, muddy Mississippi crosses through this state where you can find many, many lakes, basins, marshes and rivers. You don't have to travel far to encounter one. So, we found leaving the state as much a water story as entering. Lake Pontchartrain covers 630 square miles and we had to cross it on the Pontchartrain Causeway - another parallel set of bridges, this time over 24 miles long, making it the longest bridge over water in the world. If I thought Atchafalaya was a challenge, this was going to be an ever bigger test of will. When I saw the approaching span, no lie, I was more than grateful that I was the passenger and that T was the driver. He handled it like a pro. I think I may have frozen; I just kept looking ahead and praying. No trees on either side this time, only wide open water. I soon determined that the GW Bridge is a walk (or drive) in the park. Onward!

My photos of Lake Pontchartrain and the Causeway as we were driving. (Remember, I was the passenger.)