The “Mighty Mississippi” just keeps rolling along and rising.

Living five houses from the levee, we wanted to put some distance between our house and our RV. We headed to Tickfaw State Park which would allow us to commute to work and be high and dry. At least as high as Louisiana will allow. Having been to Tickfaw in October 2010 and blogged about the trip we were not sure what we would blog about this time. Never underestimate new finds in old locations.

This trip was all about nature – animals and plants!  We biked two to three times a day and enjoyed all the sights and sounds of the park.  The weather was cool during our first week and allowed us to enjoy the outdoors.  The second week the heat returned during the middle of the day yet the mornings and evenings were enjoyable for being out.

One of the more interesting things that we had missed on our other trips was “The Grandma Tree”.  She is a bald cypress estimated to be between 400 and 800 years old.  She has survived many natural disasters as well as the logging of the forest in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  Why would the loggers leave her untouched?  She was no worth to the loggers because she is hollow and her top is broken out.  She is a monument to longevity – she could have been here when Christopher Columbus discovered America.

There is a small Water Park and although we did not partake, it looked very inviting on especially hot afternoons.  There are buckets that fill with water and then dump.  All I could think was how that would feel falling on my head?  Still, the children big and small seemed to be enjoying the park.

Lubber Grasshoppers were in the park.  I was not familiar with this species and had to getinformation from the Nature Center in the park.  The Lubbers were large and black with orange stripes.  I enjoyed seeing many insects I was not familiar with.  Although I did have one the the shower with me one morning and that was not enjoyable.  I am still not sure what it was, long and slimy, and really do not want to know!

The park had some excitement one afternoon – a fire!  There was a fire on one of the trails close to the RV section.  The Springfield Fire Department arrived and contained the fire with no real damage.  It did make us realize how careful everyone must be when enjoying a forest area.

Outside of the park, we saw a Killdeer nesting in a parking lot.  The owner has surrounded her nest with various items to keep people and cars away from her four eggs.  She would do some fussing when anyone got within five feet of her nest.  At times it seemed she wore herself out with all the fussing.  I would like to know if all her eggs hatched.

The park was bursting with not only flowers in bloom yet also wildlife.  This post will be as much pictures as writing.  The photos show what we saw better than any explanations we could give.