Lousiana

Years ago, I crossed paths with some Cajun Catholic Cowboys out of Louisiana while they were in Wyoming for the National High School Rodeo Finals. Ever since then, we've stayed in touch. I always said that some day I was going to go check on them. Well, today was the day.

Once I landed in Lake Charles LA, Lee Kinney picked me up and gave me a quick lay of the land. Then I jumped in with Josh LaVergne and went to move some cows.

At a ranch down the road, they were fixin' to go move some cows.

So they gave me a horse and we got ready to ride.

But first, we had to watch Josh's son ride saddle bronc in Pendleton through the Cowboy Channel.

Then we headed out to the pasture. Plenty of green grass around here. 

Josh and Chris were my riding compadres. 

This is alligator country. See his yes sticking out of the water from the culvert? 

They cows wanted to go to the corner.

Most of them ducked out but a few we had to dig out and get them moving.

Then we bunched up all the pairs. 

Once gathered, we got them moving.

And crossed the highway to another pasture. 

Looks like everybody's done this before. 

Then we went up a gravel road a bit.

And kicked them into a new pasture. 

After all that fun, we went back to Lee's house, where some more family and friends awaited us. This time we had to wait until Mitch's grandson bulldogged in North Dakota.

Then we enjoyed some crawfish étouffée.

Good stuff, all around! Fun start to a little southern vacation. My goal on this trip is to connect all these Catholic Cowboy dots. Looks they are definitely cowboy and the more we visit it is clear that they are deeply Catholic, as well. I look forward to understanding this Cajun Catholic Cowboy Culture during my few days in Louisiana. Let's see what other experiences I can take in.