We set our alarm clock early the next morning because we had a long day ahead of us to get to Morgan City before dark. As luck would have it we awoke to dense fog. We waited until 8:30 to let it lift. We decided we could see enough to leave so we dashed out into the ditch and a short while later it socked back in. At times we could only see 1/4 mile which isn't too bad unless large steel moving objects are moving toward you in a confined waterway.

We thanked the gods of AIS (the electronic gadget that "sees" boats and identifies them by name on your chart plotter). We use AIS heavily when traveling to get information about the boat or ship which really helps when calling them on the VHF radio. Of course it doesn't help much at all when the boat doesn't transmit an AIS signal. So we had 8 of our eyes peeled (yes, even the cats) until about 10 AM. It turned into a beautiful day and, in fact, we did get to Morgan City before dark.

Next morning up before dawn, left in the dark (and fog, again) to get through some locks before they closed down for maintenance. It was a warm, gorgeous day most of which was spent in a large wildlife preserve. We passed floating islands of water lilies too numerous to count, saw flocks of white cranes flying by, even a bald eagle catching a fish! No sign of human habitation, just us and the tugs/barges. THEN we saw it......in the middle of the Louisiana swamp. A huge double sided billboard advertising a personal injury attorney firm!! Ugh. Lawyers are certainly an insidious species.....at times a scourge on the land.