Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

Another beautiful day for a walk in the countryside – 45 in the morning and 80 in the afternoon without a cloud in the sky. And I finally crossed into Louisiana. Not much farther to go. I walked through the towns of Carriere and Ozona as well as the city of Picayune in Mississippi. In Louisiana, no towns, but I did see a sign that read “St Joe.” I walked 20 miles today – a long day of walking.

The Carriere Post Office

First up was the little town of Carriere. There is no Wikipedia page for Carriere. It has a Volunteer Fire Department, a High School, Bank, several gas stations and a Post Office (photo here). This looks like a nice place to live and have a family.

A few miles later I saw a green sign with “Ozona” on it. I never saw anything that would indicate any town or place or anything.

Where the Public Vehicles Go to Die

Slowly but surely, the country side picked up more and more houses and businesses. I spotted this place with several old, decaying public vehicles. Who knows why they come here to rust.

Picayune is a fine small city. The downtown is in good shape with almost every storefront occupied and all the buildings freshly painted. The Wikipedia page for Picayune has several photos already, so I didn’t put any on there. Here is an extra photo. They have a small railroad exhibit downtown near the tracks and near their train station. Their train station is a working station with Amtrak passenger service.

I walked five miles in Louisiana today. Route 11 was straight and flat. It was mostly a wooded corridor with a few businesses here and there. Tomorrow we should see much more as we go through the city of Slidell.

The trip into Louisiana was a bit disappointing. Route 11 runs concurrent with I-59 as it crosses into Louisiana. You cannot walk on the Interstate, so we drove about four miles from Mississippi to Louisiana. I couldn’t stand next to the “Welcome to Louisiana” sign. Rats.

Two highlights for tomorrow. (1) Walking across a five-mile bridge over Lake Ponchartrain. (2) Hitting the end of Route 11 and ending this walk.