June 13, LA to Arkansas

Monday, June 13, 2016

73 degrees at 7AM this morning, heavy clouds.  We get gas and then go down the street to McDonalds where Greg gets coffee and Beth does some writing.  Quite a deluge while we are there.

First stop today is the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum, erected in 1937 during the FDR Administration. 

It is a circular design and is all about Louisiana.  The outer circle has dioramas which show Louisiana’s industry and agriculture, including salt and sulphur mining, oil and gas production, farming of cotton, rice, sugar cane, raising cattle and dairy cows, etc.  Some are very finely detailed and there are some displays which show how they were made. This display on insects made me think of Kathy....

The first part of the inner circle displays a huge and impressive collection of autographs, beginning with Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Ben Franklin and others of that time.  There are also world leaders such as Napoleon, pioneers like Daniel Boone and many many more.

There are displays of products produced in Louisiana, along with a section on animals of Louisiana, Minerals and Gemstones, and the works of several Louisiana artists, most prominently Minor Vinck who created carvings, etchings and glasswork.

Minor Vinck works

There is also a section on native Americans of the area – a large display on the Poverty Point Site in northeastern Louisiana which dates back 3000 years,  and the Caddo Nation from around 1000AD.

Cedar dugout canoe from Caddo era

When we finish here, we head to a little “hole in the wall” place called Herby K’s, which we read was good for shrimp po’boys.  Ronald is just opening things and greets us as we arrive. 

Greg goes with a “Shrimp Buster”, and Beth gets the Po’Boy.  Both feature large shrimp which they butterfly and then lightly batter and fry.

Very tasty – these may make it onto our Shrimp Po’Boy Hall of Fame top 10!

From here we head north and enter Arkansas about 1:00.  We take 29North – a nice road with barely any traffic.  We pass lots of cattle, Tyson chicken farms, loggers and hay fields.  These round bales were wrapped and looked like a field of giant marshmallows!

We stop in Hope, hometown of Bill Clinton, and talk with sweet Margaret at their Visitor’s Center (Shown here between photos of Bill Clinton and Mike Huckaby).

When I asked her if folks around here were supporting Hillary she said yes, and that their economy was really hurting and they needed someone to fix things.  Apparently other than Bill Clinton, Hope is noted for watermelons.

We continue northward, hoping for cooler weather as the temperature edges into the 90's   We pass a gypsum mine and reach the Ouachita National Forest – 1.8 million acres!  We are headed for Little Missouri Falls on the river of the same name. 

The last dozen miles of road are rutted gravel but Greg does an admirable job dodging and swerving.  We park and walk about a quarter mile to the Falls, a pretty scene we share with just a few folks.  Arkansas has lots and lots of rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and with a wet past few months, most everything is full.

 From here we head to Shady Lake, a National Forest Campground on a beautiful lake.  There are three camping areas and we stay in the first one where we are the only campers and have a great view of the lake.  We walk a bit.

Interesting flowers seen on a walk here

Smells great and as evening settles in so do a scattering of lightning bugs and a chorus of frogs.   Still warm and very humid, with fog settling over the water.  We keep the fan running!