#1: [08-Jan-00]

09-Oct-2024 -- As I was in route from the applied geography conference at Texas State University to the University of Southern Mississippi for the Mississippi State GIS mapping conference, a confluence visit seemed like the perfect way of seeing some Louisiana landscape en route. In addition, it would help break up the already 10 hour trip. True, it would add a few more hours to the trip. But I had another and even more important reason to visit another confluence today: This would be my 500th point ! Yes, after 22 years and many many walks in lonely prairies, up mountainsides, on boats, and across desert arroyos, I realized recently that I was up to the count of 499. Could I make today the day for my 500th point?

I left I-10 east at Duson, Louisiana, under clear skies on an early afternoon in mid-Autumn. I took a series of absolutely wonderful back roads, some one lane wide, past wetlands and fields of sugar cane and grasses, houses large and small, schools and churches, and eventually wound up on Dudley Road heading south. At Wilmer Road, I parked and walked to the house there. No answer. I walked past a very clever outdoor fitness gym with weights to the house to the west, which was even closer to the confluence point. Once at the house, I had a nice chat with the landowner. The landowner said her family member owned the house to the east and that they were out. I wished I could have taken her picture but I wanted to be polite, she was an absolute joy, having lived all of her many decades in the area. She granted me permission, we chatted about geography education for awhile, and then I set out.

I struck across the field to the northwest, past the most grassy part to the part of the field, where hay had been cut. The ground was level and I made good time. Less than 10 minutes later, I had arrived on the spot. The view was roughly the same in all directions in terms of the viewshed or distance I could see. The trees and sugar cane fields limited the view to a few hundred meters in all directions. But it was still a magnificent place to be here on the Mississippi Delta region. It was mid afternoon in mid autumn, but the temperature was still 90° F and the land still held the summer heat. Clear skies dominated and only a slight breeze was present. I was of course wearing my geography tie and my GIS hat. I thought about the trees in this area - if only they could talk and tell us of the hurricanes they had withstood and people there, some who have stayed, others who had left. Sadly, during this week lives were being shattered by Hurricane Milton in Florida.

With the ease of access to this site, and indeed amazing that it was not in a nearby wetland or swamp, it is remarkable that this point had not been visited in 24 years. It had been a long while since I personally had visited a confluence in Louisiana: 2018. Thus, it was six years ago. But I had stood on 30° many times in the past, from Texas on the West to an attempt in Florida on the east. I have also stood on 92° west many times in the past from Wisconsin on the north to here in Louisiana on the south at 32 N 92 W. I saw a few birds over this field, but no animals, and no people aside from the landowner. I took pictures and posted this 360 degree video on my Our Earth channel, here.

A car drove past me on the road to the south of the confluence. I was reluctant to depart, but I still had over three hours of driving left to do before I made it to Mississippi. I filmed a few sugar cane videos before leaving the neighborhood. I debated for a half a minute on whether I should go back up to I-10 but decided to take US 90 so that I could travel the more interesting route through New Orleans. Due to traffic at that hour, this added to my overall day's travel time, but I was glad I did because I was able to see some magnificent wetlands, and arrived in New Orleans right at sunset with the sun glistening off some of the highest bridge parts. The sunset, I crossed into Mississippi and arrived at my lodgings with a thankful heart. The Mississippi state GIS conference ended up being an amazing event full of innovative people making a positive difference.

Thus: 500 points, across 19 countries, during each month of the calendar year, hot, cold, snow, rain, thunderstorms, some easy, many difficult, all wonderful. Each has been varied and full of stories, like today. Through these journeys, I have met some amazing and lovely landowners, and seen some amazing sites on our beautiful planet.