Boating on the Bayou with the Benoits

Roxi and I spent Saturday with her parents taking their new boat for a test drive along the Vermilion River here in Lafayette. Roxi's dad, Larry, and I spent the first two hours trying to tow the boat out of their driveway. The problem was that the boat was parked under their carport which is down a hill and under their house. It took some finesse and ingenuity but we finally got it up the hill and we were on our way.

We went to the nearest boat launch at Rotary Point only to find that it was closed. Metal cables had literally been strung across the entrance to the ramp making it impossible to back the trailer into the water. So we made our way to the next boat launch at Beaver Park. Thankfully it was open and we easily got the boat into the water despite the high waters from this week's severe storms. Larry navigated the boat down river around the floating debris, again left over from this week's storms, and we docked at the deck behind the Benoit's house.

Roxi and her mom, Vicky, as well as the Benoit's friends Pat and Maureen loaded into the boat with a cooler full of beer and we took the boat further downriver.





I took the opportunity to call my grandparents who live only a short trip down river from the Benoit's. We made a brief stop at their river front yard that has been dubbed "Raine's Bend" and had a little chat before proceeding further along towards Milton.



After a suitable cruise along the river, we turned around and headed back to the Benoit's house taking in the scenery on the way home.



As we passed back by my grandparent's house, I took the opportunity to shoot this video of "Raine's Bend."



Finally we returned to the Benoit's house, docked the boat and called it a day with a late barbeque lunch.



This is how Memorial Day weekend was meant to be!

UPDATE: More pictures from our boating day courtesy of Larry and Vicky.



After a long day in the heat on the river, Roxi and I had to steal a little nap before the barbeque.