We left Texas and headed into Louisiana last Thursday (the 17th). We spent one uneventful night in Lake Charles then went on to Lafayette, in the heart of Cajun country. Yesterday we went on the tour of the Tabasco factory on Avery Island. Tabasco is one of my favorite foods, so I thought it was really cool. (Or should I say, really hot?) One of the really cool things was how the McIlhenny family (who started and still run the company) have protected the environment on Avery Island, and even helped save the snowy egret from extinction, all long before environmentalism was a trendy cause. We also got to sample a bunch of Tabasco products. The kids recently started using a small (very small) amount of Tabasco on some foods, so they even thought it was neat to see where it’s made.