Lake Charles Trip, Day 8, Monday, June 29, 2026 – Lake Charles to Idabel

 Lake Charles Trip, Day 8, Monday, June 29, 2026 – Lake Charles to Idabel

I woke up early. Too early for breakfast, too late to get back to sleep. So I load the car, miss the hotel breakfast and hit the road (US-171) at 0602. I pass Moss Bluff, Gillis and other country towns, and arrive at DeRidder. Boy, that place has grown! It’s a cross roads town for hiway and rail, and it has a RR museum. I found one of those ice making machines and topped off the ice chest. I noted that almost all Mexican eateries around here call themselves “Mexican Grills” – is that just a SW Louisiana thing?

I’m on a nice divided hiway, here the “Myths and Legends Scenic Byway.” The yellowish dirt tint I noted yesterday is giving way to a reddish tint in those few places not covered by grass or trees. Leesville is the home of Ft. Polk, originally named for the Episcopalian Bishop of Louisiana, Lt. General Leonidas Polk,CSA, renamed something politically correct, then re-renamed for someone named Polk. A bit north, I pass the Louisiana Lions Camp, complete with a lion statue by the gate. Anacoco shows off its patriotism by lining the hiway median with decent-sized American flags.

I’m just north of Hornbeck when I encounter a scarce terrain for the state: hills! They’re just gently rolling hills, but down here you take what you get. Florien is a pretty town with an unusually low speed limit. Many (pronounced ‘man e’) features quite a few murals. Zwolle claims to be the gateway to Toledo Bend (reservoir). At Converse someone is selling ‘yard eggs.’

At Mansfield, I drive past a B-47 mural, tun off on LA-509, follow it to I-49 leading to Shreveport. I stop there and have a nice visit with a true Southern lady I had met through B&B contact.

After a short visit I follow her directions, buy gas for $3.11/gal, and whiz right through Shreveport. My brunch is eggs & grits at a Waffle House; then I head out on LA-1 toward Texas. LA-1 crosses a bit of Caddo Lake, a large natural lake that reaches both sides of the LA/TX line. A bit further on on the Boom & Bust Byway I reach Oil City, home of the Gusher Days festival. Next is Vivien, with a couple of well pumps working away in a park next to the hiway; it has some nice murals.

I cross into Texas 7 hours into the travel day; the speed limit immediately goes from 55 to 60, then later to 65, then 70 and 75 – all on 2-lane roads! There’s the Cross Creek Cowboy Church, with its own roping arena. My TX-77 crosses US-59 at Atlanta, TX; and US-67 at Naples.

I’m now on US-259. It runs for a while on a long, high causeway over an unnamed river.; a short while later it crosses the Sulphur River. I run into repeated area of construction north of I-30. I finally cross into Oklahoma and pass the Bigfoot General Store: A Legendary Stop. I get to Idabel about 1500 and find the the Red River Museum is closed on Monday. I check into my Comfort Inn, havs supper at a Mexican place (the Italian place next door is closed on Mondays), and settle in for the night in a room with a view of that dish. 

For the day: 329.6 miles; for the trip 1405.9.

Tomorrow: Tahlequah via about a dozen less-traveled roads

Lake Charles Trip, Day 6, Sunday, June 28, 2026 – Side Trip to the Gulf

 Lake Charles Trip, Day 6, Sunday, June 28, 2026 – Side Trip to the Gulf

I started the day with two goals – see wildlife and walk on the beach, both accomplished. At 0730, I head out on LA-14 south (again) and LA-27, aiming for the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge and their Pintail Boardwalk through the marsh. I’m hoping for good pictures I can use in Mid Missouri Artists’ annual art challenge, “wildlife.” The boardwalk disappoints – few birds and no critters, just plants and biting flies. Here’s one of the better plants:

                          The loop road does a bit better, providing a cooperative gator 

                                                   and a few birds.

I escape the flies, cross the high bridge over the intracoastal canal and continue southward toward Cameron. Almost every building here, from trailer to school, is on stilts in hopes of surviving the next hurricane’s storm surge. The folks who were to become my next door neighbors in Lake Charles survived the Hurricane Audrey in 1957 because they were able to reach this solid courthouse.

 Cameron is actually a pretty busy port. Fishermen & shrimpers have been here a long time; a substantial industry supporting the off-shore oil rigs is more recent.

 I take Trosclair Road looking for a beach entrance (my dad’s 1^st cousin married a Trosclair). I find a paved road to Rutherford Beach, just what I’m looking for. No, I do not get my feet wet, but I do pick up a small shell in memory of Sandra – she loved beachcombing. Note the fishing boat closest and the oil rigs or ships in the distance.

I head back toward Lake Charles, turning off on LA-384. I could turn off onto LA-385 at Boone’s Corner, but, no, I keep on – and have to wait for an open drawbridge. When the tow finally comes through, I count 4-5 barges pushed by the Mark Duplantis. Moving again, I pass Big Pasture Road and what’s left of Big Lake (the town). I shouldn’t have ignored that “bridge out’ sign. I back track, have a much shorter wait for another tow to pass; LA-385 ends but the road continues as a street I know.

Dinner tonight at my Lake Charles BFF’s house; I’ll finish getting ready for an early departure.

For the day: 146.7 miles; for  the trip: 1076.2

Tomorrow: US-171 to Shreveport  to visit a B&B friend, the on to Idabel OK.

Lake Charles Trip, Day 6, Saturday, June 27, 2026 – Around Lake Charles

 Lake Charles Trip, Day 6, Saturday, June 27, 2026 – Around Lake Charles

This morning was outdoors reminiscing day. I head north on US-171 over the nice modern bridges that replaced those rickety old two lane ones across the remains of a cypress swamp. I turn left at Moss Bluff and follow the now-4+ lane hiway past businesses that didn’t exit when I’d travel in the past. There’s a bridge over Indian Bayou where once there was none – back then, it was a 3-car ferry over the West Fork of the Calcasieu. I pay a visit to the old ferry landing, now a boat launching site.

Cousin Harold (Pulliam)’s land, once open range grazing, is now filled with upscale small-acreage estates. I bet each of them is valued at more than what he got for most of a 640 acre section. I turn off onto a paved side road that once was mostly sand, cross a modern bridge where the single-lane one once stood and where I used to park for moccasin hunts down the west side of the bayou.

East of the bayou the land is filled with subdivisions. That white crushed shell (in place of gravel) road is now blacktopped. I turn off on the narrow lane that leads to my Louisiana BFF’s family primitive camp/getaway, “Cox’s Wilderness,” where I spent many fun & happy hours. On my earlier visits the area was mostly working folks, now it’s gentrified as well.

I cross a drawbridge that replaced another ferry and take less traveled roads to Westlake and that I-10 bridge; I don’t find it at all scary any more. At the motel I update my Ancestry tree with pictures taken on Wednesday. Now it’s time to attend the LCHS reunion.

The reunion is on the 3^rd floor of the civic center, in a large banquet room styled the Buccaneer Room. This area was once known as a haven for smugglers, including some notorious for obtaining their wares rather forcefully in violation of maritime law. Contraband Bayou supposedly earned its name.

 I met a number of older grads, but none whom I knew – until I saw Cookie, who makes sure that members of our Class of ‘61 know important-to-us info. We had two speaker/graduates. One served as an Army nurse in Hawaii during the Vietnam era. The other was the son of Lake Charles’ only Governor of Louisiana; his stories related to Louisiana’s role in WWII.

LCHS was known for our girls’ marching group, the Kilties. They had an unusual marching style to a fast, driving cadence. The youngest of their drummers must be close to 60, but they can still drive that cadence! Someone had turned down the lights so I couldn’t get a picture with my camera.

Then ... we sang our LCHS 'fight song,' to the tune of Notre Dame Victory March:

 The room overlooked the lake; our I-10 bridge is in the background.

 Supper was at a Mexican place in Moss Bluff – first time I’ve had cubed chicken meat in an enchilada.

For the day: 49.5 mile, for the trip: 929.4

Tomorrow: A run down the west side of Big Lake (Calcasieu Lake on your map) to a nature trail teeming with birds, gators, and, most likely, skeeters.

Lake Charles Trip, Day 5, June 26, 2026 – Around Lake Charles

 Lake Charles Trip, Day 5, June 26, 2026 – Around Lake Charles

I slept late (for me) and stuffed myself with motel omelets, turkey sausage, and cinnamon roles. That, and some traffic pattern research, gave me a solid base for a day of wandering.

My first stop is the west end of LC’s North Beach – what we called “sand beach” in my time. A large, ocean-going freighter is docked across the lake/river from me, worth a picture. I also take a shot of the high (and old) Calcasieu River bridge; I will cross it tomorrow.

I stop at the local welcome center, also on the beach, for a nice chat with the ladies there. They direct me to a fancy new nature center next door. Children flock to the half set up to educate and amuse them, I try the water & fish side. It’s worth the stop at half the $6 entry fee.

 

My next stop is the historic old city hall building, now an arts center.

An America 250 exhibit on the ground floor invites you to sign the Declaration of Independence with a quill; the quill is now yours. The second floor features permanent and rotating exhibits by local artists. I spent most of my visit at the top floor music/musicians exhibit. I remember many names, including a band that played at some of our high school dances.

The Confederate War memorial, across the street, lost its soldier in a hurricane some years ago.

 I stop at the Lake Charles High School Memorial and look for names of classmates, many of them long gone.

From there, it’s a quick hop to Walmart, where gas is $3.29/gal. En route, I drive past the house where we lived during my 3^rd & 4^th grade years, our first in Lake Charles.

Then it was another stop at the old high school, where this historical marker has been installed since my last visit.

I had a good visit with my Lake Charles BFF and his wife; I’ll visit them again Sunday before I return home.

For the day:; 42.9 miles, for the trip: 879.9

Tomorrow: Visit some of my old haunts in the country an attend the all-school reunion.

Lake Charles Trip, Day 4, June 25, 2026 – Opelousas to Lake Charles

 Lake Charles Trip, Day 4, June 25, 2026 – Opelousas to Lake Charles

I dawdled in the morning and didn’t get started until 0735. Instead of taking I-49 and fighting Lafayette traffic, I decided to explore some back roads and find the Bellevue & Shuteston area that show up in property records.

My first location to check is the homesite of 2G grandparents, the Hadden family, on Union Street. It’s now either a grocery store parking lot or a muffler shop. Time passes. 

 

Now I head south on LA-182. It goes through the Bellevue area, flat and somewhat built up. Live oaks help the scenery. A bit further south, LA-182 & LA-178 meet – this is Shutston. There’s no sign of the 19^th C mercantile or other such edifices.

I turn off of LA-182 at Sunset onto LA-93, aka “Sunset Strip.” More houses, many with what I’d call a French-style peaked roofline; I doubt that an adaptation for thatched roofs has any real practical value using modern materials, but it does add to the ambiance. Cankton, a bit down the road, is home of Enchanted Oak Mobile Home Estates.

LA-93 crosses I-10, then a round-about sends me west on old US-90. I turn south again on LA-724, pick up another road that takes me back to good old US-167 through Maurice to Abbeville, parish seat for Vermilion Parish.

I park on the street and go to the courthouse for some research. I cannot find any record for property owned by W.L. Truman, a distinct surprise. The Abbeville visit wasn’t a complete loss; I enjoyed a delightful conversation about Acadian history & Nova Scotia with the director of the local combined historical/art museum and visitor center.

LA-14 is an easy hop through Kaplan to Gueydan. People are raising cane; they’re also raising rice and crawdads - this is an agricultural area. I arrive early in Gueydan, the Duck Capital of the World and home of the Honey Bears. The old museum building is undergoing significant rehabilitation and redesign, so the museum is temporarily housed on the round floor of a mansion.

The museum won’t open until 1300. I take a 2-mile drive out to the cemetery south of town and find the Truman section easily. G-grandpa W.L.’s stone is nice and shiny, his daughter (my grandmother) has a granite stone; G-grandma Cora Hadden Truman’s stone remains face down from some previous hurricane. I think I’ll see if the local funeral home has resources to fix this.

After a long chat with the museum director and presenting her with a small book written by mu grandmother, Stella Truman Wayne, I leave Gueydan about 1415 and head west on LA-14 which will take me to within a mile of my Holiday Inn Express.

 The old steep bridge across the Mermentau River to Lake Arthur has long been supplanted by a modern bridge – which is down to one lane for construction. The first time we crossed the old bridge, my father stopped at the bottom – he’d misheard ‘tall bridge’ as ‘toll bridge’. Oops!

The road continues through rice fields, crawdad farms, pasture & marsh lands, a dotted with white waterbirds. One section is essentially a causeway, flanked on both sides by mature cypress trees. I see an unusual roadkill; a decent sized gator didn’t make it across. I pass Daughenbaugh road. Yep, they’re relatives.

I arrive at my HIE at 1535, check in, unpack for my 4-night stay, and cool off from 92 degree heat. Then I call my old high school BFF and arrange to meet him tomorrow afternoon. Then it was time for some gumbo and some exploration. I’ll have to repeat that portion when I have my camera along.

For the day: 156.3 miles, for the trip: 837.0

Tomorrow: Local driving and visiting.

Lake Charles Trip, Day 3, June 24, 2026 – Ruston to Opelousas

 Lake Charles Trip, Day 3, June 24, 2026 – Ruston to Opelousas

My alarm went off at 0500, set there so I could get an early start. I looked out the window after morning ablutions and realized that the loud noises I’d heard overnight weren’t traffic. It had rained and it was still raining. The room and shower were very satisfactory, and the waffle iron was hot and ready at breakfast.

I’m loaded up and on the road at 0636, heading south on US-167. It’s a 4-lane hiway, mostly divided. Driving in rain is a both-hands task, so no tidbits until I neared Jonesboro-Hodge. Hodge has a Smurfit-Westlock plant that provides a plume of either smoke or steam. Bayou Butts and Booze is across the street. A bit further down the road, Weyerhauser has a large limber mill at Milam. I cross the Dudgedemona River near Winnfield, home of the Chady Shack (seafood & burgers). A sign reads “Oppose Property Taxes. Vote No.” In Dry Prong (yes, that’s the name of a town) a Dairy Made ice cream place advertises pit BBQ.

A few eroded spots along the right-of-way show an orangish-yellow soil, probably clayish. Choctaw Pines Casino, off a side road to the west, is probably a ral one, as compared to the ubiquitous gas station “casinos.” I merge onto US-71, a limited access hiway heading to Alexandria. The Louisiana chapter of the World Pentecostal Church has a large campground at Tioga.

I cross the Red River, running high and not very red. I merge onto I-49 across a wide flood plain; it eventually reaches higher ground near Woodworth. Traffic is light and moves quickly; most drives seem satisfied with the 75mph speed limit. I see two busses heading north, the fist bearing the logo of the Ragin’ Cajuns, the second that of LSU’s Tigers – could there be some summer event that would draw both schools? The rest of the run to Opelousas is uneventful; the scenery consists of trees, standing water, and egrets.

I reach Opelousas at 0930, park across the street from the courthouse, and go upstairs to research property & marriage records on the Truman, Hadden and Daly families here. I will address this in my own records. The place to research other information is closed – the man in charge is on vacation. After finding all I could, I look for a restaurant featuring gumbo but find the local museum instead. Then I find a local Tourist Info center and get directions to my HIE.

 I check into my hotel early, message my local contact, and head for Myrtle Grove Cemetery.

The cemetery was originally owned by the parish but was later given to the city. The city doesn’t maintain it well; I had to wade through foot-tall grass to navigate between family tombstones. The Daly family is well-represented here, the Haddens less so. The only readable Truman stone is that of 1-day-old David. Another unreadable child’s stone lies half-buried nearby. I believe these are the 2 male children lost in early childhood, as referenced in a letter I scanned last summer. Pictures from the cemetery:

Interestingly, Opelousas has both a Truman and a Daly Street; any classic residences in this area are long gone; it’s now a low income part of town.

 

I became overheated rather quickly out there, so returned to the HIE to cool off at write this.

For the day: 176.5 miles, for the trip 680.7

Tomorrow: Lake Charles via Abbeville and Gueydan.

Lake Charles Trip, Day 2, June 23, 2026 – Harrison to Ruston.

 

Lake Charles Trip, Day 2, June 23, 2026 – Harrison to Ruston.

I pulled out at 0725 after a high-carb breakfast at an up-to-date HIE. The weather is cloudy with fog on the hilltops as I head out on US-65. I pass ‘The Good Stuff Furniture’ on the way out via the 2-lane road. One home-made sign accuses the National Park Service of running an illegal speed trap; a more professional one near Pindall says “Pro America, Anti Trump.” There’s Silly Squirrel Snowballs, definitely not open at 0800.

The road improved as I near the Buffalo River area. It even has a pull-off for a designated scenic overlook; I stop – who knows when/if I’ll have another chance.

A side road leads to the Deplorable Brewing Company. Marshall’s DQ eating spot is the Daisy Queen. The landscape here is hills, mostly trees and rocks; the main products are lumber and slab rock.

Botkinburg – is it the home of computer bots or maybe botflies? It is the place where US-65 adds lanes; I’ll have 4 lanes or more for most of the rest of the day. Clinton AR is home of a Western & furniture store with 3-D animal figures lining its right-of-way. Damascus has the Southern Roots Hair Co.

A white-knuckle high-speed drive on crowded I-40 and I-30 from Conway to Little Rock leaves little time to make observations, but I-530 and US-167 are much less challenging. There’s the road to the Forest Tower Baptist Church. A headless road kill deer occupies the ditch. A billboard advertises the Southern Arkansas U. Mule Riders – whether a team or its mascot, it doesn’t say.

I pass Sheridan, wondering if it’s named for the despoiler of the Shenandoah or the British dramatist. The road is good and traffic is light as I drive past pine plantations and an occasional Flock camera (Grrr!). Farindale consists of a store selling liquor & boots. I make a comfort stop at Fordyce. I’d crossed the Saline River bottoms; now I cross the much-more extensive Ouachita bottoms. The high bridge makes me wonder if the river is navigable. It is, if the presence of a dam with locks is any indication.

I finally stop for lunch at La Villa in El Dorado; it’s now on my ‘nope’ list. What kind of flowers are those in that tree over in the cow pasture? Those aren’t flowers, they’re egrets! Junction City, like K.C., has a State Line Road - one of my LCHS teachers grew up there.

US-167 is a nice divided highway with a wide median. It is also US-63. Dubach is home of the Louisiana Chicken Festival.

I get to Ruston too early to check in, so I decide to explore a bit. The Lincoln Parish Museum is in an old mansion. It’s supposed to be open but a sign on the window bemoans the lack of volunteers. I can commiserate with that! I take a couple of pictures of the museum & grounds.

Ruston is the home of Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs. So guess what painted critters abound:

A local QT has gas for $3.15/gallon so I top off before checking in to my Quality Inn room at 3:00 on the button. My contact in Opelousas has discovered some graves that may belong to my two Truman great uncles who died in infancy; I will check all that out tomorrow.

For the day: 314.4 miles, for the trip 504.1.

Tomorrow: Opelousas via US-167 & I-49.