Natchitoches

We drove on to this small town after we left the Melrose Plantation. The Name is pronounced Nack -a-thish. This caused quite some discussion in the car as we drove along because there is a town with the same name in Texas which pronounces all the cylables and Mike took some convincing that this town in Louisiana was different. The story goes that the two communities were settled by two brothers from the Natchitoches tribe and the difference in pronounciation has developed over time. The town in Louisiana has two claims to fame. Firstly it is one of few rural small towns which has managed to retain its historical downtown area. The street is still paved with bricks and it is reported that the women of the town lay down in front of the bulldozers to stop them being ripped up and replaced with cement roadway. Secondly it was chosen as the setting for the film "Steel Magnolias". Lou tells us this is one of her favourite movies so I guess it must be a chick flick. We may try to find a copy to view while we are here because I don't recall it ever making it across the Atlantic.
The historic part of town is built along the banks of the Cane River lake which is about 15 miles long. It is a beautiful setting and the town council has made the most of it. An old Creole adobe house has been relocated to beside the river with landscaped gardens around it. The street above had a lively resraurant area with music at a couple of the venues. We couldn't afford the downtown accommodation but drove back into town from our motel out by the Interstate highway to eat. We were drawn into a resraurant by the lake by music we recognised played by two "good ole boys" . The setting was beautiful sitting on a patio above the river/lakeside in the cool of the evening and eating good food. The songs being played did deteriorate into local songs with rather peculiar lyrics but the music remained good. We had an entertaining time "people watching"  and then retired to our comfortable beds.
Mike was raring to go for the homeward leg of the trip the next morning and we set of straight after breakfast. We made the drive in good time and after stopping for supplies arrived in Allen in time to have a delicious dinner that Lou and Mike prepared together. Yesterday we took a stroll around their proprety taking a look at the new "pond" and the foundations of a treehouse Todd has commenced building. A very significant foundation made with old power poles. Progress on this seems to  have stalled. In the afternoon we drove over to Morgan, two hours away to vist Lindsey and Heath. Went downtown to see the Family Medical Centre that they have established in town. Because Heath is an experienced Nurse Practitioner and Lindsey is a radiographer they have buolt up a thriving practice in collaboration with the local GP and the hospital which is 15 miles down the road. Morgan has the distiction of owning its own outlaws. The Morgan Gang or the Hole in the Wall Gang were local rustlers who reputedly came back to this area to hole up sucessfully vanishing from pursuit on each occassion. Their cave was found only in 2004 by a tractor wheel collapsing part of the roof. Three of the five brothers came to sticky ends but two left the area for Colorado and became respected law odfficers. 
Today we fly to Chicago.