2022 Travel Log #3 Monroe and Shreveport

As noted in the last post, we stayed overnight in Monroe, LA. The next morning we spent some time exploring downtown, which is along the Ouachita River. Of course, Jackson wanted to fish, and he wanted his brother to stay with him (how sweet). They do have their moments. While they stayed on the banks, Johnny and I walked the streets and enjoyed all of the artwork on the buildings downtown.

What a great quote this is!!

Watch this...see how awkward I make pictures look.

But somehow, he just walks over there, and he makes it look cool. I want to be as cool as Johnny.

I love this one! If you invest in people's lives, it is messy. 

We love old buildings with old murals too.

This one building had a entire row of art.

I wanted to dance with Johnny in front of this one, but I didn't have the tripod with me. We did dance in the street to some jazz music that was playing along the boardwalk in Shreveport tonight (last night now). For some reason, John's walking pace increased several steps ahead of us. I have no clue what that was about!

While we were admiring the bridge, a man came out of this building (railroad company). I thought he was going to run us off because we were standing on the tracks trying to get a good picture of the bridge. Instead he said, "Go on up there and get in it. There aren't any trains coming."

This picture doesn't even begin to capture how awesome these windows in this building were.

While we haven't ever really watched the Duck Dynasty show, Johnny thought we should drive by anyway since the place is in Monroe. So, we did. Jackson is waiting to get on my computer now to watch an episode or 2.

After that adventure, guess what Johnny did. You remember those muddy roads we were sliding through the mud on? Yep...he finally got it off.

When we were leaving Monroe, Johnny got in an altercation with the GPS. He wanted to travel the old hwy to get to Shreveport instead of the interstate. We had to use a little mapping skills to make that happen. He wanted to see what we could find in the small towns.

In Ruston, we stopped for a picnic and got a little exercise in as well.

How many times have we eaten out so far? NONE. Jackson did want something at lunch yesterday and we didn't so we did grab him some fast food. They did have picnic tables, but we opted for the pavement, because it was in the sun.

This slide was incredibly fast. We laughed at John, saying his feet were already on the ground when he started.

In addition to finding little parks and small towns, there are also off the path, odd, unique finds that you would have never, ever guessed you would find. In the tiny town of Gibsland, LA, we look over and see this. What in the world? Of course, we have to walk in and at least see what this is about. We open the door and a faint smell of marijuana and antiquity collided. The curator, greeted us and explained that we were in the building that Bonnie and Clyde bought their last meal in (a bologna sandwich and blt) before they were killed 7 miles later. The dad (Boots Hinton) one of the deputy sheriffs that was a part of that ambush in the 30's created this museum to document the events. To say this was an experience...one of the items for sale in the gift shop included a piece of osb (pressed wood) with a photocopy of a picture (not even cut straight) glued to the board with a piece of brick attached to it. It would have hand written on it, "brick from the childhood home of..." Price tag: $40!!! This is what you miss when you travel the interstate! A great piece of culture. The museum has been featured on some tv shows. We found the one where it was on American Pickers (Season 10, Ep. 11). We watched the part of the show that featured it.

AND...since we were only 7 miles from the site the final ambush took place, you know what we did, right? Yep, we set out to find the spot. Well, that was a bit of an adventure as we missed a turn. When we finally got back, guess what happened when we were 2 miles away. THIS. And we just kept sitting.

Eventually, Johnny decided it was an opportunity to make a friend. So, meet Joe, Johnny's new friend. That chatted it up for 5 or so minutes. Joe shared several stories of almost getting ran over holding that sign--$15 an hour and sometimes he holds it for 14 hours a day... We offered Joe drinks/snacks, but he was prepared. You miss out on this stuff on the interstate!

Joe finally let us through and we made it to the historical markers at the site. Those are bullet holes in the marker. 

John and Jackson, watched several videos about them and filled us in on lots of Bonnie and Clyde history. Because of these small towns, picnic with exercise, etc., it took us a long time to get to Shreveport. So, we decided to get a hotel on the boardwalk so we could walk around and explore that town during the evening/night and in the morning. We generally stay at hotels outside of town or on the skirts of town so we can get better rates. The boardwalk was lined with casino hotels so we chose Margarativille because it was next to the Bass Pro Shop, which we knew Jackson would enjoy. And just in case you wonder, we would do things purposely for John as well, but he doesn't ever really express any interests. What we do know about this phase of his life...he likes talking on the phone :) John says he enjoys everywhere we go. He has always been easy to please.

Bossier City and Shreveport are connected--just separated by the river. The Bossier side is considered the safer side of the river at night, so that is where we stayed.

The lights from the bridge at night were impressive and the reflection on the water made a great picture!

Natural smiles and laughter--what a great sight!

When we got up, we continued to explore the city, starting with the Red River Arts District, which is under the bridge.

Here we are, following his lead.

So the chicken...Johnny was determined to find this random chicken that was in a parking lot. So, we trotted behind him all over the city, through the part that became nothing but empty buildings and no one dared even park here. But us, we walked right through it. And guess what...

Yep, he found that chicken, but was disappointed because he really thought it was a lot larger. In hindsight, we should have set the tripod up and taken a family portrait since we risked our lives to find it.

Guess what we found on the hunt for the chicken...a dog, a VERY Large dog!

After getting in about 20,000 steps, we drove over to a park for our picnic lunch.

John was thrilled they had soccer goals. He aired his ball up and got lots of practice in. At one point, Johnny was playing goalie while passing the football with Jackson. I was laying on a blanket reading a book. This park was also on the river and Jackson finally caught a fish! He was excited.

After this, we continued our journey west and landed in Texas.

Our first stop in TX was in Carthage, to walk the town square. Jackson is on the hunt for belt buckle. While we didn't find a buckle, we did find some cute little small town shops. Johnny is on a mission to take pictures of me on all the random bike decorations he finds (this is the 2nd one).

As we were leaving, we were shocked to see this on the side of the road as we were passing through the town. We would have definitely went in this one, but unfortunately, it had already closed for the evening. 

We continued on a little further and have landed in Nacogdoches, TX for the night. We chose to stay here because we couldn't make up our mind on which way to go--south to the beach or on further west. The next few days are going to be a bit cooler and rainy in both directions. So, we chose to stop here as it is in between, and we will decide tomorrow which direction to head.

Live a Meaningful Life! 

Whatsoever you do, do heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men. Colossians 3:23