Snapshots of the South

I am a road tripper. I {heart} it - really, I do. Now, I'm a road tripper with a blog so everything is seen in a new light. It's all fodder for the blog.

This trip to Shreveport gave me plenty to blog about. I'll try to keep it short but it's gonna be tough! *wink*

Roman and I left around noon Friday for our 6-hour drive. (Richard and Josh stayed home since Josh had an OPL game on Sunday. Can't really miss those!!)

Just south of Norman, we started driving through grass fires right on the side of the road - actively burning!!! Some didn't even have firemen at them yet! It was very strange. At #6, I think to get my camera ready for the next one. Of course, that was the last one so no photo.

But I was ready for the rest of the trip!

This picture of the billboard is right before Shreveport. I guess S-port is like a mini Las Vegas - tons of casinos. And they advertise each one. But at the bottom of each billboard (I know you can't read it in the picture) it says: Gambling problem? Call 1-800-blah blah for help.

Every single sign. Now that's funny!
We call these mix masters here in the south. Ya know where several highways come together and you can go any direction. I've seen bigger closer to Dallas but this one's pretty high up there!

I can never get enough of these pines that cover east Texas and Louisiana. They stretch to the sky and seem to be perfectly straight. Sure makes for a nice drive.

Oh yeah. We were there for a soccer tournament! Roman's team is a U-10 Academy team. They are still considered a rec team that is preparing to play competitive soccer next year when they are U-11's. For this tourney, they played up a year against girls that are already competitive so they could get a little more competition. They lost the first 2 games although they were good games and the girls played very well. They won on Sunday in another very competitive game. They didn't advance to the finals but we were happy with the win. Here they are with Coach Brandon:

And here are just a few of the things I saw/learned that do not have a photo to go along with them:

**Valley View, Texas, mexican restaurant sign that advertises "Home of the El Farto Grande." (Shoulda stopped there!!)

**Another billboard: Big Bill's BBQ and Bait Shop

Live minnows

(what do they do with the dead ones???)

**OG

(learned this from the desk clerk at the hotel - thankfully when I was checking out)

Original Gangsta

(get me out of here FAST!)

**DQ's everywhere. That's Dairy Queen, if you didn't know already. The best soft serve ice cream EVAH!!

I am not an ice cream eater. Just not my thing but I do like soft, yogurt-y ice cream. So, after seeing the 8 bazillionth DQ sign on the drive home, I decided to stop at the next one.

Wouldn't you know it - there wasn't a next one!!! That stinks but I'm sure there's a life lesson in there: "Don't put off today..."yada yada yada. Or, more likely: "Sister, your hips don't really need that ice cream cone!" (It wasn't a weekend of healthy eating!!)

So glad to be home - even though we're back to howling winds and cold temps!

Peace, love and pilates,

B.