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| On the last page we were traveling from the west to the east. This page will start from the eastern border of southwestern, southwestern Louisiana. Abbeville. Abbeville is in and seat of Vermillion Parish. To the right is the Vermillion River where 14 crosses it in Abbeville. Remember the Vermillion ("Searching for Vermillion's Mouth"?) Pretty soon you will be able to put all this together and do it yourself. |
| Abbeville is the Dairy Capital of the World. As you travel west on 14, this is a very common sight. |
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| Borrowed from another article and actually located a little further north, this perfect example of Geman architecture typifies many of the homes along 14. It is amazing how many times this plan was duplicated. It must be very efficient. The Germans had a lot to do with the proliferation of rice as the main crop here. |
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| Flat, flat, and more flat. No cars, no towns, no driveways, silence, wind, good air. How's the balance going? Pretty good for me. Hey you Texans and Mid-Westerners, see anything familiar? If you get homesick while down in all this beauty, you can go to Abbeville, eat at one those great seafood palaces and then take a ridc immediately westward and be in "like home" very quickly. |
| The land is decending. Ponds are more easily maintained. We are back in Rice Country. Again the Vermillion is the eastern border of rice growing. I'll give you the western border when I figure it out. That's a mud boat to the left. It has a very shallow iron "tire"with paddles on it as a drive mechanism. The ones with wheels on their sides can go anywhere, a highway for instance. Check out "Hidden Places". |
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| A bi-product of the rice fields is crawfish. This growing cash crop suppliments the farmer in down years, putting the icing on the cake in the good years. To the right, as common as......., well I can't think of a comparison. The Egret. When I lived in New Orleans, I lived on Egret St. I guess it was meant to be. I like Egrets, I find them an extremely funny bird. Their mannerisms as they walk around the ponds will keep you amused for hours. No I don't sit around looking at Egrets for hours and if I did, I wouldn't tell you. So, "hours" is speculation. Ok? |
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| Yee haa, ya'll know Sammy? Nashville baby, that's right. Big time. Don't fool around. Bright lights. |
| Kaplan Proud |
| And, why not? Kaplan is in the center of the local rice industry. She services the farmers. It is "What's Hap Nin Kaplan", and as far as I know, that 's probably about it, until Sammy. I know Kaplan is the Capital of Something, but that was not on the main street. Sammy was. I parked the bike, and walked over to the sign, respectfully, and took three or four pictures of it, all the time trying to get the best angle on Kaplan. That's it. Success. Pretty good picture, huh? Copies can be acquired at the site store. |
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| This being early December, it was starting to get dark early. This was a warning sign to me that I would have to be headed home soon or I would be fighting the fleeing masses from Lafayette in the dark, my main obstacle in venturing to rice country. I swung north and stopped at a crossroads separating four huge rice fields. The picture below is definitive. Boring country, never. As a motorcyle rider, I enjoy the excitement of the curves and climbs, but, also, the open places where the sky is big and the next destination is miles away with nothing between you and it, but space. Space is good. |
| Kershaw site one Kershaw site two This guy is great, check him out. The music instrumentals are his music. Did you know he sang "Third Rate Romance"? It was written about my motorcycle and me. |
| Ray, reporter at large and chief contributor, had this to offer on Kaplan: Did ya know Ron Howard's wife Cheryl is from Kaplan? Cheryl met Ron in Gollywood high school after her dad was transferred to California. The local paper did a story on her coming back for a family reunion, and they had a picture of Ron singing on stage at Mulattes and talking about buying a cajun radio station. (Hi, ya'll, Opie here at KFSH., aheeeeeeeeeeee) |
| Page 3 takes us toKaplan |
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