Well, plan one. Drive north on I 75 to Chattanooga, camp and visit the aquarium. Plan scratched after looking at the weather channel which forecasted severe thunderstorms for 36 hours.

Plan two… off to hwy 80 which connects to I20 in Meridian Mississippi, a route we know well. We did encounter some pretty heavy rain but the nice lady in the “Welcome to Mississippi” visitors looked up the weather and assured us that beyond Chunky (yes, Chunky) we would have clear skies. One we went ---heavy rain---and stopped at Roosevelt State Park near Morton Miss. We erected our new tent (uh oh, much smaller than I had imagined)

yes the dimensions are stated on the packaging but really I am not good at visualizing…. The only thing that matters is our air mattress fit. Uh, the thunder and lightning was making a show but Dennis kept telling me to stop being pessimistic….ME PESSIMISTIC???

It sprinkled...giving both of us a sense of “I am rightness”

Me: see, it is raining…Dennis: that is not rain….

Anyway we were able to sleep with the rainfly open and the fan on. In the middle of the night it got quite chilly so off with the fan and on with the blanket. We awoke to a beautiful morning, clear sunny skies. A quick walk to the lake where I watched a snake swim across the water….Now we are on the road and Woo Hoo stopping at one of my FAVORITE stops on I20…the humongous Bass Pro in Pearl Mississippi…….

A new tent was our big purchase at the Bass Pro…we are in the throes (is that the right word) of a dilemma…..beef up the truck with luggage racks with which to tie down a luggage thing to store our kayaks which take up much space in the bed of the truck, use the big tent (get a bigger one?) or get a small (small) camper. See, I have no objections to tent camping…love it actually but in inclement weathe

r I do not like eating my beanie weenies in the truck……a small bed and table. I am not into watching reruns of CSI or Law and Order from the camper….just staying out of the bad weather…or more than that having the weather influence our decisions. I think of the past years when rain and cold drove our decisions to leave South Dakota and not go to Montana…(Glacier Nat’l park) So, what do you say? Keep tenting or look for a camper??? I will pass the blog votes onto Dennis……

Just say NO….to Vicksburg….

Vicksburg Mississippi has not been shall we say the most pleasant experience to date. First off we spent the better part of the day looking for a campground. There is not state park or federal land that offers camping but numerous private facilities. Which are fine if your drive or pull a large camper and are casino bound (free shuttle!). Otherwise tenter friends you are out of luck. No campgrounds in Vicksburg permit tent camping. Not by city ordinance rule or law….just a choice amongst the owners of said establishments. O

k, lets go explore the battlefield site…..interesting enough, really fascinating …..looking at the cannon placements, imagining the boys in blue and grey battling for ultimate control of the Mississippi River….Vicksburg was called by President Abraham Lincoln “the key” and further stated that the war “would not be won without the key in our pocket”. 16 miles of cannons, historical markers, huge granite monuments…..getting stuck behind someone from Minnesota intent on reading every marker and photographing every monument………

NO WIFI anywhere……

..

Bye Bye Vicksburg…

We are heading to Natchez….via the Natchez Trace trailway…and it is raining…..

Um mmmm do you think we went a little overboard onthe tent???