Christmas Lights in Natchitoches, LA

The Christmas lights in Natchitoches are why our camping trip took a decidedly road-trip turn.  I hadn't been to Natchitoches to see them since the 1998 Christmas Festival, and my husband & daughter had never seen them.

We missed Christmas Fest by one day.  I was okay with that.  The crowd was much thinner.  And there were no fireworks to convince our border collie that THE WORLD WAS ENDING!

We arrived in Natchitoches about an hour and a half before sundown.  After getting a snack, we headed out to Front Street with the dogs.  We parked down by the water, walked around, and waited for the sun to go down.

Let me tell you, Hodges Gardens has nothing on Natchitoches.  The water towers have Natchitoches labeled as the City of Lights, and with good reason.  Cane River Lake's two bridges were decorated.  There were light displays on the banks of the lake opposite Front Street, and some light displays right where we were. And they were magnificent. 

Something that was rather new to me was the fact that the carriage house was open, and there are now horse-drawn carriage tours of Natchitoches, though I'm not sure whether this was just for Christmas Fest or something being done year round. 

Natchitoches is just beautiful any time of year, and after dark, the light display during the month of December is just amazing. 

One note--if you bring your dog(s), be prepared for the fact that it seemed like more food hit the ground than made it to people's mouths the day before.  We had to constantly make sure none of that food was making its way into our pups' mouths. 

If you've never been, the drive to Natchitoches is definitely worth it.  Just don't forget to visit Lasyone's and get a meat pie!

http://www.christmasfestival.com/
Also, the good hotels book up, so if you don't live in reasonable driving distance, make your reservations early!

South Toledo Bend State Park

My husband & I love to camp.  Or rather we like the idea of camping.  We've gone camping.  We think it's fun.  But to say we love it, I think, implies that we do it all the time.  We don't.

My first camping trip ever took place when my husband & I were dating.  This was back in the late 1990s.  He suggested it, and I readily agreed.  After all, this was something we could do and bring my beloved dog Molly. So we went.  My first camping trip ever was in Kisatchie National Forest.  I have absolutely no idea where we went, and this forest is massive.  It takes up a very large area in the center of Louisiana.  All I know is that when he brought up the idea of camping, I thought we were going to be "roughing it".  And then we got there, picked our site (within walking distance of bathrooms containing flush toilets and hot showers). The site itself had running water and an electrical outlet.  And I, naive as I was, hadn't even thought to bring my blow drier.  :)

My first experience with camping was that, although fun during the day...once the sun went down, it was kind of boring.  So, on our next expedition, I was more prepared.  Right after we got married, we took our doberman pinscher to Arkansas.  We went to Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas.  I remember just knowing we wanted to go camping in Arkansas.  We went to Hot Springs first--there's a national park there.  And there were campsites, but it was pretty much camping in a parking lot, so we searched on.  I can't remember exactly where we camped, but after staying a couple days, we decided to explore some more.  We went in May, probably the beginning of the peak season, and most other places were full.  Eventually, we'd like to go back up to Arkansas and explore a little more.

The next year, our family had grown to include a golden retriever, and it was with him and our dobie that we went on our road trip.  We went to Tennessee and North Carolina via Florida.  Yes.  I told my dear husband we could go camping again, but I wanted to see a beach on the way.  For the record, most of Florida was very dog un-friendly at the time.  I've heard the exception is the Keys, but don't take my word on it.  All I know is that dogs are allowed pretty much anywhere (except in buildings) in any state park in Louisiana.  In Florida, we went to Blackwater River State Park, and our campground was pretty much the only one that allowed dogs.  We drove up through Alabama and Georgia to get to Tennessee.  We stayed in a campground in Tennessee National Forest. A special note here...if you get a flat while camping, ask the park rangers where to go.  That's what we did, and the place was very fair and did an awesome job.

After a couple days in Tennessee, we headed east to Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina.  Our road trip was at the end of April/Beginning of May.  We were completely unprepared for how cold it was up in the mountains.  It was still beautiful, and when you hike with two large dogs, people tend to let you have spots to yourself for awhile. :)

Now....our road trip & last camping experience was two years after we got married.  This weekend's camping trip was to celebrate our 10th anniversary, and was our three-year-old daughter's introduction to camping.  This time, we brought our young dogs, a border collie and a miniature Australian shepherd. It was their introduction to this sleeping in a tent experience we call camping, also.   We had to retired our golden retriever from hiking activities after the last time we brought him to Port Hudson and wore him out.  And to be honest, I don't think our dobie really likes the outdoors much.

To prepare our daughter, we slept on the back porch once.  She was thoroughly intrigue at the idea of "sleeping outside."  For years I'd heard friends and family talk about going to Toledo Bend, so I was pretty curious about it.  I did a bit of research, and we decided to check it out.  Now, in my research, I discovered that South Toledo Bend State Park is very popular, especially the cabins.  Unfortunately, most cabins don't allow any animals except (according to the website) seeing-eye dogs (which, really, cannot be ADA compliant.  They should have to accept ANY service animals, whether for the blind or physically impared, but I'll have to check that out later).  And we tent camp, anyway, which is why we tend to camp when it's not particularly hot or cold.  In Louisiana, this window is small, so it's no wonder we haven't been in several years.

We arrived at the State Park at 4:10.  We were greeted by a friendly employee who let us know that they were pretty empty and we could pick our campsite.  Okay, here's the good info--if you're tent (not primitive) or RV camping at this state park, the best views are at sites 35 & 37--no contest.  The only conundrum is whether you want a view or to be close to the bathroom/hot showers.  It's a good walk or a short drive from the sites with the best views.  These premium sites cost $2/night more than the improved sites.  Now, another insider tip--you can reserve a spot online through www.ReserveAmerica.com.  They will charge you a $6 reservation fee, so we didn't do it.  When we got here, we were still charged the $6 fee, but they called it processing or something like that.  It kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.  I can understand a fee for reserving a spot, especially one with a great view...but if you're going to be charged that anyway, why not state that somewhere on the state parks website?

The weather was absolutely perfect camping weather as far as we were concerned.  After setting up our tent and building a fire, we cooked hot dogs and chili.  Then we turned in for an early night.  This morning we got up early, cooked breakfast on the open flame again--somehow it tastes better that way.  And after nice hot showers, we went off on our adventure.  We started at the visitor's center.  It was unmanned, but still very interesting.  Of course, dogs are not allowed in any buildings, so we had to take turns going in with our daughter.  She seemed most intrigued by the food chain exhibit, as it had a wheel she could turn.  Then, because we saw a sign that said Bald Eagle Nest trail, that's where we went.  We didn't find a bald eagle's nest, though this area is supposed to be a nesting area for our national bird.  However, we did stumble upon a pretty private, pretty rugged beach.  The trail was fairly easy to traverse, even for our daughter.  After we did the trail, we did a little exploring outside of the state park.

One of the places we went to, because frankly, we were intrigued by the sign, was Bass Haven Resort.  We did not get out of our vehicle here.  To call it a resort is an exaggeration.  Unless your definition of a resort is a bunch of rundown trailers all grouped together.  Now, the people may have been nice.  It may have been dirt cheap.  I don't know.  All I know is it's not my idea of a resort.  Or of a haven, for that matter.

Before heading back to our campsite for the night, we visited another state park.  Hodges Gardens State Park is a relatively new state park.  I'd been to it before it became a part of the state park system.  Apparently way back when they had quite the Christmas light display, and this year they were bringing it back.  It was worth the $1/person we paid to get in.  Our daughter enjoyed the lights.  We were able to bring the dogs.  They are planning on expanding the lights over the next four years, according to a news article I read on the subject which made us want to go.  Maybe we'll check it out again in four years.

The Louisiana State Parks system needs some updating.  This summer we went to Fort Pike State Park in Florida and were told our entrance fee was good for the next 7 days at any Florida State Park.  So...maybe Louisiana should adopt this policy.

Also, there is an iPhone app for the Louisiana State Parks system.  It is a paid app that I downloaded last year.  We visit state parks fairly often, and it does have some good qualities.  Is it worth the download?  Well, most Louisiana State Parks have wireless internet now, at least in some parts...and that's good because otherwise there's basically no cell service.  There is an alert feature on the app.  But what are the odds you're going to be in a wifi area when you need assistance?  Also, the Christmas lights event was not on the events page.  What I've discovered is that if a state park has a Facebook page, that's where the most current and reliable information will be found.  Not on the app.  Not at http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/#maincontent.  And that's kind of sad, in my opinion.  The paid app should, at the very least, be up to date on all events going on at every state park.

One of the more memorable parts of this trip was seeing a black squirrel, a very interesting-looking animal. We also drove across the Toledo Bend Dam, which was pretty intresting.

All in all we had a wonderful experience getting back in touch with nature, and I do thoroughly recommend this state park.  Though if you do take your dog(s), remember they have to be on-leash or crated at all times.  The leash cannot be longer than 6' (no flexi-leads).  And I would also recommend treating them wih a type of flea/tick prevention, as the area is known for being high in tick population.