I’m back in Texas!

After weathering the storm yesterday in northern Louisiana, I was able to continue my journey north this morning.  There were high winds in Louisiana yesterday, but we didn’t get any rain until five this morning.  The thunder and lightening that went with it woke me right up.  I’m glad I didn’t head out yesterday because I would have been driving right into the storm.

Anyway, when I got to Shreveport, I headed west on I-20 and ended up in Texas once again.  Last year I took US 71 out of Shreveport and wandered around Arkansas for a week.  I didn’t want to repeat that route again so I’ll be taking several roads I’ve never driven before. 

Last night I picked out this campground (Angels Camp RV Park) a little north of Paris, TX.  Jack-in-the-Box didn’t pick the route I would have taken to get here, but it turned out just fine.  I did have one pucker moment as I suddenly encountered an underpass that was only 13’ 7”.  I figure my rig is 13’ 6” tall, so I sucked in my breathe, went really slowly, and passed through unscathed.

Angels Park is very convenient to US 271, but that also means lots of road sounds.  Full hookups with 50 amps, cable, and Wi-Fi is $30/night.  They don’t give any discounts.  It’s a nice enough camp, but a little overpriced in my opinion.

It does have one feature, however, that I’ve not seen before.  This is the tornado shelter.  I don’t know how big it is under that lid, but it kind of reminded me of a grave.  I suppose if I had driven here yesterday, we might have had to use it. 

The last place I visited on my tourist day on Saturday near Natchitoches was the Rebel State Historic Site.  I wanted to see two things at this state park.  The first was the Louisiana Country Music Museum. 

I believe the lady working there told me that it was opened in 1988.  I’m not a big country music fan, but I can appreciate most kinds of music so I found the museum very interesting.  There was a good movie to watch to give you some background.  While I didn’t recognize all of the performers named, I did know some of them.

I especially liked this definition of country music.  My only regret about the museum is that the music was missing.  There were four or five stations with a button to push to hear the sounds to accompany the era of each display, but none of them worked.  They would have added a lot to my experience.

The second reason I came to Rebel State Historic Site was to see the grave of the Unknown Confederate Soldier, and pay my respects. 

This grave was the original focal point of the Historic Site, before the museum was built.  I found it very admirable that the Barnhill family tended this grave for nearly 100 years, before the state of Louisiana took over its care.

Since today’s drive was a bit over 200 miles, and the winds are supposed to be blasting again tomorrow, I’ve decided to spend two nights at this campground.  I wonder what I can find that’s interesting in Paris, Texas, tomorrow…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy