From Alexandria, we headed further west (towards Texas). Here is a typical river flowing alongside the road, and closer inspection reveals ....
.... turtles sunning themselves on the logs. We were surprised how quickly they can jump into the river whenever we stopped to take a photo!
In the Kisatchie National Forest ....
.... we were confused by this sign. Vehicular traffic is restricted to prevent disturbing the turkey and deer, which will then be shot at - surely these animals will find this more disturbing than a few cars passing by ?
Can other vehicles stay at the Lotus Campground ?
These flowers were blooming on a tree in the Kisatchie National Forest.
We then continued west and back into Texas at Milam, and then south to Port Arthur.
But why are the prisoners hitch-hiking ? Shouldn't they be locked up behind bars ?
Behind this sunken boat is the huge bridge at ....
.... Bridge City !
From the top of this bridge, it looked as if an entire building in front of the oil refinery was badly on fire ....
.... but as we passed it, we realised that it was a controlled burn-off at the refinery behind a protective wall.
This locomotive was parked up alongside the main road in Port Arthur.
Shortly after the first oil gusher "Spindletop" was found in Texas in early 1901, Port Arthur began to export oil - at a time when many people scoffed at the idea of using oil as a fuel.
Just one year later, the economy of Texas, which had been based on cattle and cotton, had been vastly changed by petroleum.
The crude oil today adds more than US$ 3 billion per year to the economy of Texas.
From Port Arthur, we continued on to the end of the peninsular at Sabine Pass, where oil rigs were being assembled and repaired prior to being towed out into the Gulf Of Mexico.
Despite all the heavy industrial activity, the local wildlife was flourishing - including this red-winged blackbird ....
.... this wader ....
.... this cormorant, sunning himself to dry out after a dive ....
.... this pelican ....
.... and this egret.
After driving back through Port Arthur from Sabine Pass, we turned east and crossed the impressive Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge ....
.... almost at the highest point ....
.... looking up at the top section ....
.... looking back from the Louisiana side ....
.... at sunset.
There was even a superb wooden castle near the base of the bridge for kids (young and old) to explore.
Having left Texas behind us, we drove through the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge and on to the Microtel Inn, Sulphur, Louisiana (381 miles, 08:30 - 20:30, US$ 42,95)
