A significant milestone today as we began the slow journey northward toward home.  Still another week left to go though.  I should have time for 3 or 4 days in AR, then maybe 3 days in TN & KY, and then the usual mad dash home.  East TX didn’t make the cut this time.  I’ll just have that much more to do next spring.

Hoo-wee, was it hot today!  The day started out dark & foggy/cloudy but was already humid and sticky by 10am.  It was in the low or mid 90s depending on which bank clocks were right.  I only turn on the A/C when necessary and today wasn’t one of those days.  Sparkle’s working hard enough running 12 hours per day.  And I want that full Southern Experience.  The dogs toughed it out.  Fixie was the only one really panting though:

I did some water jug dousing and kept an eye out for a stream.  As I came over a bayou bridge in Jennings, I saw a big river and thought that might be a good doggie swimming hole opportunity.  I asked a guy at a repair shop if there might be gators back there and he said there very likely were.  But if I went to that pond over “they-uh”, he was sure it was gator-free.  It was his boss’ house/property and they were away.  Pond Paradise!  Score!

Moving on to the signs and buildings…  This nice oldie is from New Iberia:

This neat guy was at A-1 Radiator in or near Erath.  He was built in 1992.  He used to function as a fountain.  The hose coming out of his belly used to be a bit lower — but the town didn’t like that:

A couple nice buildings that were on opposite corners from each other in Opelousas.  Both vacant as are most things on this block.  Abdulla’s looks like it was probably a department store:

The Rice Theatre in Crowley is a frequent subject for photographers:

It was also selected by these girls for this local sidewalk chalk painting contest.  Most of the other kids seemed to be doing just abstract stuff.  So I hope these girls win and go on to become historical preservationists.  We need to start enlisting the next generation!

Another great building in Crowley — difficult to photo because of trees and sun:

In Lake Arthur, I did a quick U-turn for this castle-styled birdhouse.  But upon closer inspection, is it a phony birdhouse?  The windows all seem blocked:

Despite the siding and other alterations, this building is still a head-turner.  Also from Lake Arthur:

An abandoned sign in Lake Charles:

This place is in Leesville:

This wacky car was on the roof of Paul’s Paint & Body just west of Alexandria.  Although it seemed life-sized, I couldn’t tell if this was three-dimensional or not:

So, it seems the taco shop mariachi band figures that I shot the other day and included here were mass-produced.  I ran into these guys in Alexandria:

OK – so I have been seeing these daiquiri places since Florida I think.  I don’t know what to make of them.  I guess they are non-alcoholic since so many of them offer take-away, drive-thru options.  Perhaps a local can explain this phenomenon and obsession with daiquiris.  These places come in all sizes and shapes — from low-life, ugly-dirty to cutesy, mall-y modern.  This one I include since it’s a repurposed gas station in Leesville: