The weather was intermittent rain as I headed down U.S. 69S to pickup I-20. Once I crossed the border into Louisiana it started bucketing down for about 20 minutes until finally abating just outside of Shreveport. My first real stop other than for gas was Barksdale AFB, in Bossier City just east of Shreveport. In the old days Barksdale was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base and home to 2nd Air Force and later 8th Air Force, which it remains today. It is also home to Global Strike Command, a sort-of reincarnation of SAC, formed after several nuclear weapons handling SNAFU’s. The base is typical of the era and somewhat rundown in my view. Thank you congress for sequestration. They do, however, have quite a few aircraft on display, including a B-52G model which I wrenched on in the 70’s and flew back in the 80’s, tail number #57-6509. What does it mean when the primary vehicles I was once involved with are now museum pieces?
On the road again I spotted a sign for the Claire Chennault Museum in Monroe, Louisiana. Not being one to pass up an air museum I decided to pay a visit. For those of you who don’t know who Major General Chennault is, shame on you. General Chennault, then retired, served as an air advisor in China and formed the 1st American Volunteer Group, a.k.a., Flying Tigers at the outbreak of WWII. Unfortunately, the museum does not live up to the Chennault’s stellar achievements being a bit of a disappointment in size and condition with a dismal static display. I'm sure they are doing the best they can with what they have and I commend the volunteers for their dedication and contributions.
Moving east once again, the weather was now great for elbow on the windowsill driving. Eighty degrees and mostly cloudy. The roads in Louisiana are nowhere near as nice as the ones in Texas. I have to give Texans credit here, even though they have more than their fair share of abysmal drivers, pickup trucks and just plain stupid “frontage roads,” the condition of their roads overall is some of the best I’ve encountered. Speaking of encountering, as I was driving along I-20 in Louisiana I saw a billboard alerting me to watch out for black bears on the road. My first thought is it was some sort of animal protection league advertisement until only a few miles later I came across a bear warning sign. They are a lot like our deer crossing signs back home, but larger and ensconced with flashing yellow lights. Fortunately, I did not encounter such Smokey da Bear, although I guess Smokey is technically a brown bear . The singular striking feature of Louisiana is how flat it is. Like Florida only without orange juice.
Once I crossed the Mississippi into, well, Mississippi, the terrain changed dramatically. The endless flat became rolling hills and thick woods. I was making pretty good time and shortly turned off I-20 onto Route 15 to Bay Springs. You haven't lived until you’ve driven Route 15 in Mississippi. OK, maybe you’ve lived, but… Well, you can probably go your whole life and not drive Route 15 to Bay Springs and you will be better off. I finally hit Bay Springs just before sundown and was beginning to run short of time to find Old Enon Cemetery where my 4th great-grandfather John Purves is supposedly buried. Not being one to be stymied by such things as daylight I pressed on after refueling. I found the road on which the cemetery is supposed to be located, but bugger if I could find it. I gave it up for a lost cause that day and headed for the barn, in this case a Hampton Inn in Laurel about 30 minutes down the road and vowed I’d find the plot on the morrow.
One of the things I told myself at the onset of this foray it that I would make some attempt to stay in decent hotels and eat at a few good restaurants. So far it’s been Hampton Inns and Buffalo Wild Wings. Go figure. Tomorrow’s another day.
No comments:
Post a Comment