Thursday Thirteen #21

Thirteen Photos From Our Louisiana Trip Last Week Give 'em a click, to see them in all their glory. On our way to Louisiana, there was a beautiful sky and clouds in the afternoon. This was in north Florida and the evening sun made a roadside view of the trees and sky look pretty. To me at least. This is the house in Monroe, Louisiana that I grew up in. From ages 12-21, anyway. I was glad to see that magnificent oak tree still alive and getting bigger and bigger. I have an old slide of it from the early 1980s I scanned and posted, at the bottom of the post HERE. This is the front of Neville High School in Monroe. I graduated from here in 1980. Neville is celebrating its 75th anniversary in the 2006-2007 school year. They just don't build pretty red brick schools with character like this much any more. The campus is beautiful, with lots of monstrous old trees. This photo looks along Bayou DeSaird which runs through Monroe, and here it's running through the campus of the University of Louisiana - Monroe. I earned an Associate degree from here in 1983. Of course, then, it was Northeast Louisiana University. And they've torn down many of the old 50s and 60s era square yellow brick buildings and have replaced them with stylish and beautiful new ones. It's as if a totally new school occupies the space of the old one. Looks great though. This is Baxter, Big Sis and Long Suffering B.I.L.'s yellow Lab. He's in their front yard fetching the toy we brought for him. He's such a sweet dog. This is Younger Brother with his Yorkie, Chester. Chester is giving him a love bite. This is a pic of some horses in a pasture, in LaSalle Parish in central Louisiana. Lovely Wife took this on the fly as we zoomed down a rural road on the way to Aimoch, where my Dad and Big Brother are buried. This pic looks great for a 50mph snap shot. We don't have these signs in the part of Florida I live in. This is Lovely Wife, Big Sis, and Sainted Mother putting new flowers on the graves of my Big Brother, Dad, and paternal grandparents. That clear cut area behind the cemetery was formerly a beautiful pine forest. It almost broke my heart to drive up and see it had been clear cut. They'll replant it, but it will be twenty years before it starts to get pretty again. Bummer. It was a beautiful day though. This is the church that the cemetery is adjacent to. This is the Wilbanks Cemetery, just a few miles from the one pictured above. One of my paternal great grandmothers is buried here. That's Big Sis, who walked around the whole cemetery and determined that there is NOT ONE Wilbanks buried in the Wilbanks Cemetery. A mystery. This is our Christmas gift to Baxter, after only two days. He's kinda rough on toys. As we headed home to Florida, we stopped in Vicksburg, Mississippi at the welcome center, on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. I liked this shot of the canons, flags, and the tugs and barges in the distance. Another beautiful day. Sorry I'm so late with this. I've had a heckuva time getting the photos uploaded. The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!