Saturday Jaunt in Louisiana - Harley Forum

Tbone · #1 04-05-2009, 10:58 AM

Saturday, April 4, the wife and I rode our coast road ride from New Iberia to Sabine National Wildlife Refuge and on to Lake Charles and back to New Iberia.
from:New Iberia, LA 70563 to:Pecan Island, Louisiana to:Cameron, Louisiana to:Hackberry, Louisiana to:Lake Charles, Louisiana to:New Iberia, LA 70563 - Google Maps

If anyone from Louisiana is reading, Hwy 82 from Forked Island to Cameron Parish is being worked for repairs. Every bridge over every canal (and there are many down there) has had the asphalt scraped up on both sides of the bridge. There is a major bump on both ends of the bridge (recommend 25 to 30 mph), no warning signs and pieces of asphalt left on the bridge that compare to big rocks left stuck to the bridge surface. The road beginning at Cameron Parish is fine but they have piled limestone on the road edges and you can’t pull over without the danger of the front end sliding down the embankment. When you get to Creole and take the Trosclair Road shortcut to Cameron, the entire 7 mile road has been scraped of asphalt and is a rough surface of diamond shaped holes and loose pea gravel in the middle of the big truck tracks. Max speed recommended is about 40 mph.
A strong 30 mph southeast wind off the Gulf of Mexico was moving the bike across the lane.
When you hit Hwy 82 again, it is smooth sailing to the Cameron Ferry. It costs a dollar to cross the Calcasieu Ship Channel. I tried to take a picture of the porpoises but the digital camera was too slow. By the time it clicked, they had submerged again.

Robin on the Cameron Ferry.

Tbone (Mike) on the Cameron Ferry.

Sabine Refuge has opened the nature trail again since the hurricanes and we walked down and took a couple of pictures of the fauna.

Louisiana yard dog.

Roseate spoonbills.

We left the Refuge and rode Hwy 27 to Lake Charles and took I-10 back to Lafayette and New Iberia. The wind was blowing about 30 mph directly into my face all the way back. Riding 70 was akin to riding 100 mph. Semi-trucks buffeted the bike in a big way.

Hammerhead Pat · #2 04-05-2009, 11:28 AM

Looks like a good time! As far as the Louisana yard dog, they look familiar.

unclepsycho · #3 04-05-2009, 12:23 PM

Cool, great pictures, I'll bet those Louisiana yard dogs are as common as earth quakes are for us around here in California!

JCourneyaP · #4 04-05-2009, 11:38 PM

Thanks for sharing T-Bone. Stiil waiting on a pic of one of them "Turtles".

Tbone · #5 04-06-2009, 04:30 PM

I've tried but they're too fast.

HarleyCruiser · #6 04-06-2009, 04:45 PM

T-bone great ride report, sure nice to be riding in warm weather again, even here in the south.
Look at the first photo, the truck next to your bike in the mirror, the gal is starting at Robin like, “why isn’t that me.”
That says it all.

evoKENevo · #7 04-07-2009, 04:58 AM

Thanks, Tbone.
I enjoy all the ride reports and photos the guys post here. But this one is kind of special for me. I bought my 1st. bike (used Triumph Bonne) when I was stationed at Ft. Polk in later part of '69 to early '70 and had one of the best times of my life covering well over 6000 miles of your "back roads" mostly S.and E. of there. I could'nt have been happier to get out of the Army and back home again...but definately had mixed feelings about leaving there (as well as the people & food etc) and have thought a lot about returning on a HARLEY someday.