Palmetto Island, Louisiana, Rolling to the Big Easy

Mar 5, 2025 · 2 minute read/374 words

Palmetto Island, Louisiana, Rolling to the Big Easy

Palmetto Island State Park

Palmetto was our first foray into how rough Louisiana roads can be. After the first set of railroad tracks almost launched us out of our seats, I slowed down. We did not do any damage to the trailer, other attendees did break a shower door. The state park was a fun location, however we were consistently getting attacked by bugs.

The rangers at the front desk advised us of bears in a gross way. The statement: Don’t leave your sewer hose hooked up to your trailer, the black bears come and take them. We never saw a bear.

Minny was having a rough time at this stop. More then once we did not think she would make it through the day, however she rallied and took a few good walks and had stroller time.

Planned Activities

Tabasco Plant Tour

I finally realized I was sick after the visit, I left the tour feeling congested. Days later I found out I had the flu. The Tabasco plant is interesting, a croos between old methods and new automation. I enjoyed seeing the production line along with the chili fermentation barrels. The air here is part vinegar, all visitors are subjected to a burning in their lungs.

A CrawFish Boil

The crawfish boil was much fun. A trailer showed up that a local crawfish farmer built. The trailer was a rolling kitchen/boiler for cooking hundreds to thousands of pounds of crawfish at a time. The meal was yummy, my fingers, face, shirt, and hair all had southern spices in them. I am confident I smelled of hotsauce, corn, and crawfish for days afterward.

The Flu

The flu was weird for me this year, my eyes, lungs, sinus all got infected. I have never had an eye infection due to the flu. The sickness has me off the bike. Sometimes I feel that as soon as I get good fitness a external force comes to disrupt it.