Blades Sees the Mississippi River

Hello Gar and Mrs. Scott’s 4^th grade class,

Wow….that was a close one….thank goodness I escaped from the jaws of that crocodile! There are lots of crocodiles here in Louisiana but they usually stay in the swamps far outside of the city of New Orleans. New Orleans is a major US port and the largest city in Louisiana. It was founded in 1718 by the French Mississippi company and there are lasting effects of the French culture here. The reason why New Orleans became such an important city is because it is on the banks of the Mississippi River and this provided access to the ocean which was critical before we had cars, planes and trains! Attached are some pictures of the Mississippi showing some of the boats I saw travelling on it.

First one is taken about 6am and shows a huge cruise boat coming up the river

2^nd photo shows an enormous barge coming up river

In the 3^rd photo you can see many boats big and small navigating the bend in the river. There are several bends like this along the way and it is incredible to watch the big boats navigate through

The last river photo is one showing a huge river paddle boat (Gar, this boat is a hundred times bigger than the Jubilee!)

If you can, look at a map of the Mississippi River….it starts at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and runs all the way down to New Orleans where it ends up in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It is also really fun to practice spelling Mississippi too….so many s’s…..

Will send more soon,

Love,

Blades