BBB Day 5

 

February 28
No hiking or biking

Another chilly but bright start to the day. We're getting up surprisingly early to get a great start on our days.

We headed to Natchez to cross the Mississippi and take Louisiana Route 15 south along the levees as suggested by our friend at Jeff Busby. Here are some things we saw on our route:

• a BEAR sign on the highway (rarely seen).
• Laundry and Chinese Restaurant sharing a building in Port Gibson (historical stereotypes all at once)
• Magnolias and Azaleas in bloom
• "Pumping to Please and Soul Food" (both kinds of gas station?)
• Another Red-headed Woodpecker
• Sign for Sister Katherine, Palm Reader (does "Sister" have more credibility?)
• "Miss and Lou" inmates in green and white-striped pants doing highway maintenance

• a lunching hawk

• GIANT cornfields (corporation owned)
• Oil drills
• Thrashers
• Small graveyards with above ground graves

• "Jesus is Lord in Lettsworth (only there?)
• "Not Your Mama's Cafe: Bait, Tackle, Ammo and Tavern"
• A sign for Wild Hog Removal (then a truck driving by with a Wild Hog carcass)
• Rice fields and Crawfish fields (we learned what they were later)
• Sugar Cane fields

• Discount Firearms and Training (LESS training?)

Now we're at the Abbeville RV (City) Park and it's great. Only $20 with all amenities including Don, the Camp Host, a lovely Louisianan (?) who made us feel welcome and another Wisconsinite (I'm making these names up) who spends six months here with his wife who has Alzheimer's. What a lovely man.

Hey, we were outside for a while, so....

Here’s the view from my chair:

BBB Day 4

February 27

Hiking and walking, not sure how much!

An early morning departure on a chilly but very bright day. We stopped at the Cypress and Tupelo Swamp and hiked the trail. The trees are amazing and we saw our second ever Red-headed Woodpecker:

 

 

 

We got to Vicksburg around 11 and saw the mighty Mississippi for the first time this trip:

 

After lunch, we spent more than three hours touring the Vicksburg National Military Park. It’s on the site of the battle for Vicksburg, which controlled the Mississippi and all supplies to both Confederate and Union soldiers. After a bloody battle, the South surrendered. The Park is partially a historical display of the battles as well as the glory of the states, generals and soldiers involved.

There are magnificent tributes to the states:

 

 

…many leaders, especially this guy who looks like Billy Connolly (whom I met, in L.A. with Alana and Heather!):

 

The cemetery holds 13,000 Union dead (the Confederates are at another cemetery in town). Some graves are unmarked, and some feature the greatest names:

 

There was also the preserved USS Cairo, sunk then recovered from the Yazoo (yep, “up the”) River:

 

It was beautiful and poignant and a great stop for Civil War buffs like us.

 

We picked up really good Mississippi BBQ at Goldie’s and enjoyed good food and TV to end our visit here.

 

Here’s the view of our campsite (it WAS mid 60’s but no sitting outside yet). Our first Mockingbirds sat in that tree and woke us this morning!)

 

BBB Day 3

February 26
Hike 1.5 miles

A chilly start to the day and a little misty. Then a downpour to clear the salt and dirt from the MoHo. But it was sunny and beautiful by 9:00.

I really drove today: 65 miles and 1 1/2 hours:



We passed the devastation of the 2011 tornado we noticed last year:



Then we saw our first Dogwoods in bloom (we had seen a Redbud in bloom in Tupelo). The further southwest we travel, the closer we get to spring!

I drove again and actually parked AND drove on to the levelling blocks. I AM WOMAN!

We got to the Jeff Busby, also free and pretty, campground and decided it was time for a walk. So off we went in winter clothes:





Loved this burled tree:



Here’s a little story about buying wine. We love Walmart wine. It’s cheap ($3.00) and pretty good. But not always available. We couldn’t buy it in Ohio because it was Sunday. Counties near the Interstate in Kentucky are mostly dry, so no luck (at least we KNEW that from last year). Then, in Tennessee, Walmarts only sell beer. In desperation, we spent $7.00 a bottle (horrors) in a liquor store in Tupelo, Mississippi. We have resolved to stock up, maybe in Louisiana. I know you all wanted to know this.

This was a good day.

But still no chair. So here’s the view of our campsite:

BBB Day 2

February 25
Still no hiking or biking!

Brrr…sunny but very cold (28 degrees-yes, we’re Fahrenheit now!).

An interesting juxtaposition of religion and arms: The Solid Rock Church with a GIANT statue of Jesus across the road from a GIANT Gun Show sign (near Lebanon) a few miles from a GIANT mosque.

We hit Kentucky at 9:00. The Welcome Center would be a great overnight spot for any RVers heading south. We saw our first Robins of the year here. Then, our first daffodils north of Louisville.

And last night’s Oscar theme continued as we passed the sign for the turn off to Lincoln’s birthplace.

More signs of spring: the Harley dealer had his bikes outside, and they were golfing on Kenny Perry’s course in Franklin!

Into Tennessee and a sign for “Nervous Charlie’s Beer and Fireworks” (a bad combination).
It was now 58 degrees AND we saw our first biker!

We decided to head across Tennessee and Mississippi via the Natchez Trace. Last year, we drove the other way a month later, and it was very different. Today, it was a little drab, but peaceful after the Interstates.

We saw the Double Arch Bridge:



and a War of 1812 Memorial signpost (NO, not still!).

Then (drum roll) I DROVE THE MOHO FOR THE FIRST TIME!

Okay, it was only 12 miles, but I did have to stop for six Wild Turkeys (the birds) and four deer. David’s never had to do that!

We got to the Meriwether Lewis free and beautiful campground and were the only ones there. Lovely.

No “chair” yet (too cold), but here ‘s a view of our campsite:

Big Bend Bound (BBB) Day 1

February 24, 2013
No hiking, biking or anything besides driving!

Finally! We leave winter behind (or so we hope) and head south.

We actually leave early (7:30) and beat all expected bad weather. Though there are a few light flurries up to Cambridge, the sun came out by noon and it was clear sailing.

We saw oil drills in Ridgetown and wind turbines in Tilbury: are we in Texas already?

We hit the border in Detroit by 2:22, and, despite serious checking of vehicles, we were across in 15 minutes.

Some interesting observations on our way through Michigan and Ohio:

• “Beef Jerky-We are not a Gas Station” (how can they be sure?)
• Ohio, the new Mecca for American Muslims? (“Love Your Muslim Neighbors”, “meccabg.com”, huge mosques
• 1st dead deer in Bowling Green
• Findlay, Ohio, “Flag City, USA” (but we saw only one)

We got a phone card and MIFI and a chicken at WalMart and stopped at the Super 8 in Vandalia. We drank beer, ate the chicken and watched the Oscars. A great start!

This was a Detroit Sandwich kind of 24 hours. I watched Dreamgirls Saturday night, and it featured burned out Detroit, remnants of which we saw today. THEN Jennifer Hudson sang her big song from Dreamgirls on the Oscars! Wow.

No pictures and no chair views yet.