Since yesterday’s blog was so long, I left a few things out that I will mention quickly. Yesterday seemed to be my day. Not only did I get complimentary ice for my cooler from Whole Foods (without asking for it), but Tabitha from the travel center I stayed at gave me a complimentary shower. In case anyone was wondering how I stay fresh while car camping, truck stops have a very nice shower set up which I utilize with regularity. (I don’t know if the register was giving her problems or if she saw my payment history for showers and thought I deserved one; I certainly didn’t look or smell like I needed one!)

After a restful but short night sleep, I got moving and it was a good thing I did. It was overcast from the moment I started out, but it didn’t rain until after I got through with touring the Louisiana State Capitol. Check out the gallery for the views from the observation deck. Although the outside doesn’t look too remarkable, the inside makes up for it. Beautiful natural stone and bronze throughout the place shows the elegance

Almost as soon as I left Baton Rouge the rain came down. It wasn’t horrible, but it was enough to hypnotize me a bit and make me want to take a rest. I resisted the urge and made it to the Texas Welcome Center. About 15 minutes before I got there it stopped raining, but stayed overcast. I looked around a little and took a nice walk out the 650 foot boardwalk, learning about and enjoying the nature there.

Since it was dark when I got to Louisiana last night I had decided to back-track to the Louisiana Welcome Center to grab the highway sign. I am sure glad I did. That is another great welcome center with water and wildlife to appreciate. Due to safety reasons, they nature trail was closed. That center got hit hard during flooding and it took years to rebuild. I tried photographing and video recording the jumping mullet and only managed to grab one photo; not very good either, might I add. Those wise-guys would jump up until the time I was ready to capture them, then they would stop jumping for a while. They won, I gave up!

It is Texas for the next few days. I came into the state at mile marker 880. That is a long state. Roughly the distance between Waterbury, CT and Savannah, GA. Much to do, much to do!