How NOT to Take Photos

Day 6 Clinton Ms. to Hot Springs Ar. 285 Miles

Last night we stayed just west of Jackson, Mississippi. We walked this morning, I'm sure sitting for hours and hours traveling isn't good. We didn't rush to leave, it felt good to relax on a travel day.

Headed west on I20 for a short distance toward Vicksburg. We stayed there on a previous trip and tourd the Civil War Battleground. Once you've seen it, you've seen it....not like it's going to change any time soon.

I thought I'd get a photo of us crossing the Mississippi River, but it didn't go as planned. First, I didn't have my camera handy as we neared the bridge, an ugly brigde I might add. As a tried to take the first shot I noticed my battery was flashing low.

The sign says 'Mississippi River'...Lousy Photo #1

So, halfway across I thought I'd get a shot of the actual river out of Jim's window. I didn't notice until I downloaded them tonight that just as I snapped the picture a semi was going by in the other direction...

Bad Timing...Lousy photo #2

Then I turned to snap a shot out of my side of the RV, I pressed the shutter but nothing happened. The battery was just about dead and as I lowered the camera I head the shutter snap...while it was pointed at the dashboard.

Lousy Photo #3

Ya know, it's probably a good thing that my battery ran out on that camera, because I certainly wasn't having a good day in the photography dept. Also, we had grey skies, light rain and not a scenic ride at all. The poverty we witnessed today was appalling. There were a few towns we passed through that reminded us of third world countries. The rural areas are suffering in the economy more than most people realize. Also mile after mile of flooding. Sometimes we were wondering if what we were looking at was a lake or a corn field.

We traveled on US65 all the way through northeastern Louisiana up through Arkansas. Most of the ride we drove by HUGE farms, corporate farms growing corn. Our route basically followed the western banks of the Mississippi River. There are many long 'lakes' along this route. They are actually old sections of the Mississippi River from eons ago, when the river was allowed to overflow it's banks and form new paths. The levees changed all that. Interesting, they are long, narrow and many are crescent shaped.

We are near Hot Springs National Park, which we will visit tomorrow. When we're on a long trip we buy the National Park Annual Pass, allowing us to visit as many parks as we want. The campground is beautiful. Hot Springs looks interesting, and the area is lush and hilly. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate for us tomorrow, it is raining tonight. They DON'T need more rain in this part of the country!

Dodging Storms

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Day 6 Navarre Fl to Clinton Ms. - 315 miles

Norman waving goodbye to Navarre Beach Campground

The weather was already hot and humid at 8:30am when we pulled out of the campground at Navarre. While eating breakfast I noted that the weather channel was telling the folks in Jackson Ms. to 'take cover' from a tornado. Our planned route involved a huge area of possible severe weather.

We traveled US98 to Pensacola, picked up I10 west, across a small portion of Alabama to Biloxi Ms and to down US90 which runs along the Gulf coast. This was basically ground zero for Hurricane Katrina. We are happy that we visited this area many times before the storm. Gone are the huge, waterfront homes, many dating from the Civil War era, along with the beautiful, stately live oaks. Driveways to nothing, mile after mile. Jaw dropping devastation still....Katrina happened in 2005. In a mere 200 years or so, it'll look just as good as before the storm! We did, however see the 'tree carvings' that we'd seen on the national news...they are awsome.

There was a strong wind coming off the gulf, blowing sand, across US90, so much so that the curbing on the far side of the hwy was covered. We turned onto US49 in Gulfport and made the FIRST turn toward the north. We'll be heading in this direction for a long time!

It was past lunch time as we neared the Gulfport Sam's Club. Who can beat a extra long Nathan's hot dog w/large drink for $1.70? This was our lunch, I'm a cheap date.

The weather deteriorated as we headed north. The rain started and continued very hard for miles. At one point we could see two very bad storm cells and thankfully we passed between them escaping any violent weather. We drove by several areas with downed trees and power lines. There is s great deal of flooding in this part of the country.

We almost didn't get a campsite for the evening. For some reason most places are full. We secured a site in Clinton Ms. with just one site left. The campgrounds seem to have many more transient residents than in the past. With this economy, it's not a surprise. We have been taking more state highways, going through small towns and the amount of closed businesses is staggering. Some small towns are virtually ghost towns. Very scary.

We enjoyed a nice grilled samon dinner, watched Cold Case and turned in early. Driving and even being a passanger in heavy rain is exhausting.

Traveling days aren't too exciting...not many photo ops either!