Dear Jake & Amelia,
We crossed the Mississippi on the Bell Chase Ferry, stocked up on groceries and headed south to the Gulf of Mexico. The Big River is testing the levees, and the bayous are full. The land is flat and wet. As we drove further south, shrimp boats appeared, parked in the waterway next to the road. We reached Grand Isle in late afternoon. There is nothing here except flocks of pelicans, great whites, great blues, egrets, laughing gulls, common gulls, porpoises, rabbits, and fishermen. It is a beautiful and remote spot.

In stark contrast to this natural beauty is the almost constant sound of helicopters ferrying people and supplies to the off shore oil rigs. At night you can see flares as they burn the excess natural gas. 

 Last night on the pier, the fishermen caught a 39" redfish, numerous hardhead catfish, a stingray and two pelicans. The best catch was a friend's hat which one of them retrieved by casting and hooking it when it blew into the ocean and drifted out 100 feet. We woke up to a herd of laughing gulls laughing at the sunrise. Porpoises swam close to shore and flocks of pelicans skimmed the surf.

Nancy & Peter 

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