Could you tell I was a little bit blase about Lake Fausse Pointe at this time of year in my last writing? It seemed pretty sparse with animals and birds, and after two days of rain the trails were all wet and muddy. I didn’t even want to think about the mosquitoes that might be on the trails!! 😬 Even the boardwalks had a fine coat of moss on them and were not safe for my bike, I found out.

But the evening before I was to leave, I went on another bike ride around the campground, shelters and cabins. There is a nice arched bridge that you walk across to begin the majority of the trails at the park. I realized I had never taken a picture of that bridge. So I went to a large shelter they had that extends over the water and is up on stilts like everything is. It faces the bridge, and when I looked toward it, what I saw just took my breath away!

There was an alligator I was hoping to see! Just casually lounging over that big log. Legs hanging down on both sides! I couldn’t believe it. Was it always there at this time of day?

Then, on a nearby log was a great big turtle . That one had often been there, usually with 2-3 more turtles lined up behind it! 🤗

Straight out in front of my shelter in the lagoon, was a beautiful great blue heron perched. I couldn’t get a good picture of him but he was so majestic! Another gift.

And if that was not enough, a dark bluish black alligator came swimming right toward me!! I had never seen one up that close!

Although there are signs all over the place not to feed the alligators it was obvious this alligator knew that when people were on the shelter, it could get food. He swam right below me and just hung around looking up at me ! He was probably about 6 ft long. What a sight!! I was actually able to video him swimming, as he hung around for probably 10 minutes before finally swimming away. I had time to really get a good look at him and what struck me is how soft their noses are . You could see it was a different skin and pouchy. I was plenty high up on the dock , and it had a railing so I was way out of range. It was just so cool to see it looking at me and I’m looking at it. All of those sightings just made my day!! 😊

The rest of the evening I started picking up everything outside, the chairs, the fences that keep the cats in, the patio rug etc and loading the truck and getting ready to pull out in the morning .

In the morning I noticed the woman about my age was talking with the ranger in the campsite across from me. Then he left. She started setting up her tent .So as I went out to my truck, I said good morning to her . The first thing she said was..” Did you see the alligator!” There was an alligator resting on the grass in the sun on the campsite right next to hers!!

So we talked as I tiptoed around, and got as close as I could but stayed behind a tree to take pictures. I was still probably 20′ away. They can run in a burst of 35 mph to catch their prey so you really don’t have a chance to outrun them! 😬

The ranger and she thought apparently it had it’s stomach full and was just resting in the sun. I wouldn’t want to be in that tent at night! By that River!

But apparently it’s very rare for them to come up on the grass. Usually they stay wallowing in the water or on a log. Apparently this one didn’t know that!! 😅

The lady was Crystal and we ended up having a nice chit chat for a few minutes there. She had grown up in Louisiana and has come here for years to camp. Her husband stayed home .
What was interesting though, is that she said in April when the alligators are coming out of their sort of hibernation…. you can actually hear them Bellow up and down the River . ( Marking their territory and mating) She said there’s a few big ones in there that have been there for years. They actually eat alligators the size of the one that was on the grass! Didn’t know that . 🤔 That one was another six footer. Maybe it was the same one I had seen the night before, but she said there’s a lot of them around.

When I went over about 20 minutes later with my telephoto lens to really get a close-up, he had already gone back into the river.

So Fausse Pointe State Park came through for me at the end! Some exciting sightings to enjoy and write about!!

I have a few other scenic and/or interesting photos of the park.

They have two areas with cabins that line the riverfront . They are a good size. I’d say more like a house than a cabin. 🤔 Quite a few cabins in two different areas within the park.

When was the last time we saw one of these??!! I’m surprised it was still there as it was not working. If I could have called out on it I would have because I didn’t have cell reception!!

I checked out the bathrooms, and they were really nice!! Even though I have my own shower, the water fills up my holding tank. Then I have to move the RV to dump so I try to limit that until I’m actually moving out. So the last evening at the park I took a nice hot, long shower here and washed my hair thoroughly! It’s the little things!! 😊 Hardly anyone was here at the park to use them. So I felt pretty safe with Covid.

Time to say goodbye to Fausse Point State Park. Heading out…. But I will have more information / stories at some interesting areas I discovered near New Iberia . ( This is the largest city near the park with lots of little towns around it.)