Montana Tours of 2005, April 10 to 15, 2005, Family Visitation Texas & Ruston Louisina

OK, to be quite honest here, after Fredericksburg, we got so busy and traveled so hard, I lost track of the days. This portion of the travel log is being written months later, so, forget the dates, here is a summary of the next several weeks on the road before we got home around mid April.

After Fredericksburg we spent a day driving to Arlington Texas. We took the back roads, slowed down for a lot of towns, enjoyed the scenery a LOT! Had a great lunch (bar-b-que of course). Arrived in Arlington, stayed in a very nice park, pretty, but had a very strong disagreement with the owners about their dog rules. They had encourgaged us to "come on in, we love dogs", only to arrive and discover that they refused to let us use our xpens on the lawn for the yorks. It was late in the day, we were very tired, we had already paid our fees, and we were in no mood to find another place to stay. So, we stayed, sadly, we probably will never go back there again. It was a pretty park, well kept, neat, but the owners did not care much when we said we won't be coming back. Ahhh, life with 4 yorks.

We spent Saturday with Al's cousin, Walter Gerth and his family. What a nice day we had. Sunday, we spent with my cousins, Marilyn and Connie (Darden relatives). We laughed and giggled and had a grand time. They presented me with a fabulous map of Isle of Wight County Virginia, which shows the ole Darden home. We also had major break through on our Darden lineage, and when I got home I spent several weeks of concentrated research proving what we had discovered. On Monday we had lunch with another of my cousins, Ray Remley and his lovely wife. All in all, we had 3 packed fun filled family days. Doesn't get much better than this!

Now, we start the treck home. We had heard of the Natchez Trail, from Jackson Mississippi to Nashville Tennessee. It is a 2 lane highway, top speed 55 MPH, no commerical trucks allowed, a drive through some of the most beautiful country!

But first we stopped in Louisiana at a county park for the night. One night turned to 2. We walked, we cleaned the rig, we fixed a few things, we enjoyed. This park, near Ruston, was very scenic, had a great lake (pond?) with a paved path around it. Park was not crowded, what a nice place to stay for a few days.

Ruston, Louisiana, Azeleas in bloom, they were breathtaking!

Not sure what this flower is, it looks like a form of clover. We saw fields of it along the highway between Arlington Texas and Ruston Louisiana. From afar it has the appearance of a dark maroon colored carpet.

Here they are, in all their glory. I had tied up all their hair so it did not drag in the dirt and sticky plant stuff, and still it took me about an hour to brush them all out after their jaunt around the lake. They sure enjoy those walks tho! From the left, Cappy, Abby, Tilly, and Gallagher (the silver one).

Again, not sure what these are, but they grew along the water, in the background is the lake at the park in Ruston Louisiana. The water in the front is a flooded sidewalk, but made for a pretty reflection.

Here sits Montana , all hooked up and ready to roll. Ruston Louisiana, taken on our walk around the lake.

Above, the view of the lake from the computer desk in the Montana. I did some input and work while we spent 2 wonderful days here, well, I tried to do some work, this view had me looking out the window as much as I did input!