MARCH 22, 2016

We decide to head east to Shreveport, Louisiana before traveling north to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Interstate 20 takes us through bright spring green stretches that remind us of Ohio.

We have no place to stay tonight. As we approach Shreveport I look for an affordable RV Park with laundry facilities. I find 4 places along our route. We opt for the Maplewood RV Park in Bossier City north of Shreveport.

As we approach Shreveport, there remain signs of the recent flooding.

Shreveport and its sister city, Bossier, are separated by the Red River, which is swollen from all the recent rains.

Maplewood has a space for us, and it’s a pull-thru as opposed to a back-in. Bonus!

We do laundry and get rid of our garbage from last night. We had to pack it up and take it with us because we couldn’t find a dumpster yesterday and there was no one around to ask, just dogs.

We see a B-52 jet flying overhead, and then another. The Barkdale AFB is nearby.

And then we hear the unmistakable harsh blast announcing a train’s arrival, loud, piercing, soooo close! The tracks are almost right behind our bedroom window. All night long…

The Short Scoop on Shreveport:

• Shreveport was established in 1836 to create a town at the intersection of the Red River and the Texas Trail.
• The Texas Trail was the inland route to the Republic of Texas.
• But first a 180-mile-long log jam, the Great Raft, had to be cleared so that the river could be navigable again.
• Henry Miller Shreve, using a specially modified riverboat, the Heliopolis, removed the natural-made log jam.
• In 1860 the population consisted of 2,200 free people and 1,300 slaves.
• The Civil War continued in this area for several weeks because the news had not reached here yet that General Robert E. Lee had surrended!
• Shreveport hosted the radio program, Louisiana Hayride, where Elvis Presley made his debut.