Melanie Willson's trip to the 2001 Independence Bowl where ISU plays Alabama.
This journal of Melanie Wilson's trip to the 2001 Shreveport, Louisiana Independence Bowl was completed as a TAG assignment for South Hamilton School.
12.26.01
Yesterday we drove from Jewell to Joplin, MO where we stayed at a motel. I really didn't learn much that day because all we really did was drive, sleep, and eat. This morning we left Missouri and drove to our condo near Big Creek, TX. We stopped in Oklahoma on our way and checked out the welcome center. There was a mural showing four famous Native American ballerinas. This intrigued me because I also dance. One thing we noticed was that off-road vehicles (ATV's/four-wheelers) are quite popular in Oklahoma and Texas. People were even using them to herd their cattle. When we got to Texas I thought it was interesting that they had a speed limit of 70 during the day, but 65 at night. The roads are a lot more narrow in Texas. We also noticed green grass that we don't see in Iowa at this time of the year, and we even noticed some Pansies still in bloom. I was amazed at the amounts of oil wells in Texas. I knew there was a lot of oil in Texas, but I guess I wasn't expecting to see quite that much. Not long after checking into our condo in Texas we went to Shreveport, LA to watch the battle of the bands. It took us two hours to get there and two back and we only stayed there for about two hours, but it was worth it. The battle of the bands was fun to watch. The we came back to Texas. One thing I forgot to mention was the incident in Paris, TX. We were searching for a place to eat and a man next to us flagged us down and told us our tire was low. So we stopped at a gas station to fill the tire, and it was very low. We felt lucky we found out when we did. Then we drove for a little bit and stopped in a church parking lot to check out the tire. It had already lost a lot of air, so we put the spare on. While he was changing the tire, Gina and I picked up pine cones and decided everything was bigger in Texas, including the pine cones. Everything turned out okay with the tire; we will probably get new tires tomorrow.
12.27.01
Today was fairly uneventful. First, we got new tires for the car and went crockery shopping. We really noticed the Texas drawl among the people in the grocery store. Then we went to grocery and ate lunch. We also picked up Kent's stuff so we could leave more quickly and easily after the bowl game. While Kent was with us we ate at a restaurant for lunch. Then we went to the Sonic Drive-in tailgate party where we watched a couple bands perform and also saw the Alabama and part of the Iowa State marching bands. We waited around and then went to the game. It was pretty exciting, although Iowa State lost. Then we ate supper and went back to the condo. We also stopped at the Texas and Louisiana welcome centers where I picked up brochures to look at today. I'll give a brief summary of Louisiana.
Louisiana is divided into five main regions: Sportsman's Paradise in northern LA, Crossroads area in central LA, Cajun Country in south LA, Plantation country in south central LA, and the Greater New Orleans area in southeast LA. One interesting fact is that jazz has been traced back to the slaves of New Orleans. In many parts of Louisiana the culture is called a creole. A creole is a blend of French, African, Spanish, and Caribbean cultures. Creole culture is found mostly in southern Louisiana. A creole culture, however, should not be mistaken for the famous Cajun culture of southern Louisiana. Cajun is made up of several different cultures: Acadia/Nova Scotia, French, Haitian, Spanish, English, German, and Native American. The cajun culture is very unique. From this culture comes cajun dancing, cajun music, which uses a lot of accordions and fiddles, and cajun food, which is usual very spicy (and very good).
(Gina is plugging her ears because it was so loud!)
12.28.01
This has been my favorite day so far. In the morning I worked on some schoolwork for a little bit, and then we drove around Texas. We went to Tyler, IX where we decided we'd eat (and take a few pictures since my brother's name is Tyler). We were walking around trying to find a place to eat when we noticed a little cajun restaurant. This looked interesting, so we decided to try it. I couldn't believe how awesome the food was! Everything we tried was amazing. After eating we did a little shopping and then went back to the resort. We decided to go swimming next... in an outdoor pool. I will say that Texas is a little warmer than Iowa, but when the temperature is in the fifties and sixties, it is still too cold to go swimming in an outdoor swimming pool that is not heated. I only got to the second step before I got out of there and jumped into the hot tub. After that ordeal we got some board games to play, but didn't play them until after we played a few games of pool, pinball, and Ms. Pacman. Then we played Rummikub (which I won three times, by the way), and then we played Scattergories in the main room by the fireplace. That was really fun. And now I'm here writing in my journal, about to go to bed.
This day wasn't really a learning day for me; it was more of a fun day. I did learn a lot of music theory (I've been studying for scholarship auditions), but that's not something is very exciting to write about. I'm kind of tired, so I think I'll just go to bed and write a lot of information about Texas tomorrow.
12.29.01
We're back on the road today. We checked out around 9:00 and left for home. We will stay at a hotel tonight, though, because the drive is too long to do in one day, if everyone wants to sleep. I know I said I would write about Texas today, but since right now we're driving through Oklahoma, I thought it would be appropriate to write about Oklahoma. I will write about Texas either tonight or tomorrow.
Like Louisiana, Oklahoma is split up into specific regions: Red Carpet Country, Green Country, Kiamichi Country, Lake and Trail Country, Great Plains Country, and Frontier Country. Red Carped Country is located in the northwestern region, including the panhandle. The region gets its name from the reddish colored sand dunes throughout the area. Popular entertainment in Red Carpet Country: rodeos and riding four-wheelers in the sand dunes. The Great Plains portion of the state is located in the southwestern part of the state. This is the place to be for outdoor recreation because of its beautiful mountains and lakes. The entire state holds a lot of Native American history, but this area has the most background. Frontier Country is in central Oklahoma. In this area is fishing, pro sports, amusement parks, and historic sites. The Lakes and Trail Country offers many outdoor recreation sites. It is also the place for antique shopping. Peaches are a popular good grown in this region. The southeastern region, called Kiamichi, is barriered by four mountain ranges, including the Kiamichi, for which it was names after. Wildlife is well preserved in this very natural area. Outdoor recreation is the most popular form of entertainment here. The northeastern Green Country has the most scenic terrain with 50 state parks. Strawberries are grown in this part of the state. Well, that sums up the six sections of Oklahoma.
12.30.01
Last night we stayed at a Country Inn in Kansas City, MO. It was really nice, and even had an indoor pool, so we went swimming... it was fun! Then we went to a Mexican restaurant called "The Alamo". It was really good, but not quite as good as Carlos O'Kelly's. Then we went back to the motel and slept. On our way to Kansas City we stopped at the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, MO. It was beautiful and really fun to look at, although we didn't go on the full tour (I went on the tour my freshman year when we went there for youth group). The next morning we ate the continental breakfast and headed out. We drove the whole day and didn't really stop anywhere... it was a pretty boring day, so I guess I had a lot of time to learn about Texas.
Texas has a motto that says, "It's like a whole other country." They also have a motto, "Don't mess with Texas." I think this is kind of big-headed of them... but I guess that's just me. Anyways... Texas is split up into seven sections: Panhandle Plains, Big Bend Country, Hill Country, Prairies and Lakes, Piney Woods, South Texas Plains, and Gulf Coast. Panhandle Plains is located, of course, in the panhandle of northern TX. Big Bend Country is located in western Texas, and Hill Country in central. The Prairies and Lakes section is in section is located in east central to north Texas, Piney Woods is in eastern Texas, South Plains are, of course, in southern TX, and the Gulf Coast is located along the Gulf Coast. Ss you can see, Texas got really creative with their names. ;) We stayed in the Piney Woods section of eastern Texas. I could see how this name came about because of the vast amounts of tall pine trees. My favorite place we visited was Tyler. The most interesting thing about Tyler is its annual rose garden festival. Tyler is famous for it's large rose gardens and its festival in mid-October attracts people from all over.
We got back to Jewell around 3:30. Jewell, Iowa is where South Hamilton School is located. My home is also there. I had a really good time during our trip. I also learned quite a bit. Hope you enjoyed reading about my trip!
