Along with Number One Daughter and Number Two Daughter, I made the sixteen hour drive/ride from Palm Bay, Florida to Monroe during the first week of August and stayed with Sainted Mother while we were there.
People who think Florida is hot and muggy don't have a freakin' clue as to what REAL heat and humidity are. Lets just say, if I had any toxins in my body that could be sweated out, they were long gone after the first day in Louisiana.
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Long trips are rough on a bad back and chronic pain, but I was able to get out and about a little while every day to visit family and one day the three of us headed for the community of Aimoch, Louisiana (considered part of Olla, La.) to visit the graves of my Father, Big Brother and other relatives. After turning off of US Hwy 165 in Grayson, Louisiana, we stopped to photograph an old red building that was in great looking sunlight. Out behind the old building were these two guys, watching our every move. This is my favorite non-family photo from the whole trip.
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| Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/800sec, ISO 200 |
One evening, Big Sis, Friend Marie, Number One Daughter and I went to Black Bayou National Wildlife Refuge, just north of Monroe, Louisiana, to photograph the very, very Louisiana looking bayou scenery and any critters that we might chance upon. They had some great lotus flowers and killer, huge lily pads.
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| Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 175mm, f/16, 1/6sec, ISO 800 |
I had forgotten just how many kooky buildings and strange "things" that can be seen on just about any rural road in Louisiana. I could drive for hours on Florida's country roads and rarely see stuff worth stopping for. Not so in Louisiana. This was along Hwy 165 between Columbia and Grayson Louisiana. It looks just like the man in the blown-up space suit in the comedy movie "Rocket Man" to me.
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| Nikon D90, Nikon 18-300mm lens at 56mm, f/10, 1/400sec, ISO 200 |
Simply the lovely sunset at Black Bayou NWR that we saw that day. I liked the way my super wide lens made the clouds look.
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| Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm lens at 10mm, f/16, 1/40sec, ISO 200 |
The Ouachita River (pronounced WASH-itaw) separates Monroe from West Monroe, Louisiana. If you watch or have seen A&E's Duck Dynasty TV show, it is shot in and around West Monroe. In this photo, I'm standing on the banks of the Ouachita in Monroe, looking across to West Monroe. Just another of thousands of US rivers to most people, but I always though the Ouachita was a pretty river. This photo is about half a mile from my old high school, Neville High School.
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| Nikon D90, Nikon 10-24mm lens at 10mm, f/22, 1/160sec, ISO 200 |
Have a great Sunday!
God bless all of you.
