Returning from my early morning walk, was washing out my walking clothes...which I always do because they really stink...came a ..."what you doing parked here...?"
Please say HELLO to Joel, Kelly, and Bentley (Bentley is the dog). A long chat ensued about destructive folks and parking on private property and you walked from WHERE ?
Ended up Joel offering SPIA to stay as long as she wanted.
Seems Joel was a born and raised ARCADIAN, while Kelly hails from... a long way away... in SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA - about 20 miles West of ARCADIA - and our destination for tomorrow.
One of the few Churches in ARCADIA, LOUISIANA.
US 80 West of ARCADIA...the road I walked 12 miles this morning.
The Deep South survives on Chicken. This is a new establishment to me.
This is the most obnoxious offensive work site in my entire miles of walking. It is a Waste Water Treatment Plant, but not your run of the mill installation. This one processes POULTRY Waste Water.
It gives off the most gosh awful smell one could imagine. From two miles away, the wind carried the stench as I walked US 80. A number of homes and businesses are situated close by...I simply cannot comprehend how the City can allow such a business to be sited anywhere near other folks.
My clothes reek of the smell. My body reeks of the smell.
Awful...just awful !
US 80 about 1/2 mile up-wind from the stinky Poultry Water Treatment Plant.
A number of factories are sited along US 80 West - within smelling distance of you know what -
such as the one with about 200 cars parked, looking very much like employee vehicles.
this one is also nearby, but a bit smaller.
as is this one.
This one processes gas / oil pipe for drilling. Each length of pipe has a "male" thread on one end...shown above with a cover protecting the male threads.
The opposite end of the same pipes have "plugs" protecting the female threads.
All streams I crossed today were dry or nearly so.
Please say HELLO to Shants.(I believe I spelled his name incorrectly). Shants operates a convenience store and a brand new restaurant way out in the boondocks. He was very kind to me, offering free drinks. His restaurant is state of the art and should do well.
I came upon Shants while driving to the Monument of Bonnie and Clyde. Having taken a wrong turn, I stopped to ask directions...ended up having a Baked Potato and drink.
The Monument of Bonnie and Clyde, gunned down at this spot on May 24, 1934. The movie glamorized these two killers of 12 people, including a number of police officers, but locals are not so pleased. Most references to Bonnie & Clyde are somewhat low key.
I am standing on the spot where the V8 Ford of Bonnie & Clyde stood as it was riddled with over 70 high powered rifle bullets, instantly killing both Bonnie and Clyde.
As I approached the killing spot, I tried to imagine the last few moments of their lives as they came around an "S" curve in the distance, down a short incline, and up the hill (is steeper than it looks in this photograph) to be met by six police officers waiting in ambush.
SPIA stands in the approximate spot where Bonnie & Clyde and their Ford were riddled full of holes.
Much of the stone monument has been broken - or perhaps shot - away; so much so that much of the engraved message is no longer legible. Even the edges of the stone have been hacked off about 4 inches all around...perhaps by souvenir hunters?
We have driven another few miles West on US 80 to the town of MINDEN, LOUISIANA. SPIA is parked in an empty lot across from a grocery store on US 80. Have walked a second leg from here this afternoon, covering a total of 22 miles today.
Tomorrow we should reach SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA and head North on US 71 to TEXARKANA, TEXAS / ARKANSAS, about 60 miles from SHREVEPORT.
We are nearing the end of our planned walk.
Any thoughts on what to do...where to go...after that ?
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