Great State Parks

We are staying in Sam Houston Jones State Park in Louisiana. This is the 18th state where we have stayed in a state park. National Parks are called "America's Best Idea" and we agree. But maybe state parks are America's Second Best Idea. Although we have a site that was the devil to back into and on some sites (not ours) the electric and water are very far away, we love this place. We have a great, large site.



This is the first time we have parked in the middle of a swamp and it is beautiful.



Look at all the Spanish Moss hanging off these Baldcypress trees.



After dinner last night we rode our bikes around to see if we could find wildlife. Obviously, lots of other people also like to ride bikes at that time of night, and many of them aren't in the campgrounds here.

Cypress trees have "knees." These are roots that show above the ground. When I saw them, I said I thought the roots were coming up for air. A sign along the pond said that is one theory of why the knees develop--when the water rises, these root extension provide oxygen to the tree.



We saw interesting ducks (or are they geese?). They look like turkeys in a duck or goose body.



In the cabin area we saw this flowering bush. It looks like an azalea to me.



The most exciting event of the evening was getting this close to a Snowy Egret. Isn't it beautiful?