Blogs from Mississippi, United States, North America - page 8

I forgot to mention on the last ‘travelblog’ that when we arrived, the site (we thought we had) had been given to someone else. Originally, we were told we would need to be out by Jan. 1 in the am, which was ok with us, but now, because there is no one scheduled for our current (new) site – we can stay up to Jan. 6, if we so desire. We still may leave Jan. 1, we’ll see…..at least we have the option. This week we have continued ‘checking out’ some of the local casinos. Jim won a few $$ the other day, not a lot, but still a win! The weather has been crazy up & down in the temps….(can be in the 30’s at night or into 70’s during the day – but usually ... read more

The Gulf Coast of Mississippi From New Orleans we followed on our guideline Route 10 east over the edge of Lake Ponchartrain. We did not cross the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway that crosses the large lake that broke through the levees and flooded the bowl of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The causeway crosses its center headed northwards for nearly 24 miles (36.8 km) and is the world’s longest bridge over continuous water. We crossed over the easterly bridge, called the ‘Twin Spans’ bridge that had been severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and its easterly span had only reopened in July 2009. This bridge is 5.4 miles long (about 8.7km) and is very impressive (and our first experience of these long southern bridges that I have already written about). We drove very slow and admired the view ... read more

We had the best of intentions, really, we did! This was the day of our 5K run at the local Wing Dang Doodle Festival in Forest, Mississippi. After several mis-steps getting out the door, we were late to the start and actually were BEHIND the police cars for the first 3/4 mile. Then, they waited for us and we moved on through the route knowing that we were dead last in the race. We persevered and eventually passed a participant with an injured ankle. So, we didn't finish last, but the lesson for the day was to get to the start line on time next year!... read more

For those unfamiliar with National Park Service parkways, they are (for all practical purposes) two-lane controlled access highways although there is an occasional side road intersection and the “access ramps” terminate at the parkway in a “T” intersection instead of the traditional “merging traffic” feature. The parkways prohibit commercial trucks, are absent of billboards and roadside businesses and have a speed limit of about 50 mph. In addition to the Natchez Trace Parkway, I know of only two other National Park Service parkways. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469-mile scenic connection between Shenandoah National Park VA and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park NC, and the Colonial Parkway is a twenty-three mile scenic roadway between Yorktown VA and Jamestown VA. All three parkways are All-American Roads, and all three have a Mile Post system incorporated ... read more

The drive from Natchez MS to Vicksburg MS on US 61 is designated as a scenic route for the entire 72 miles. With the exception of a short segment passing through Port Gibson MS, the entire route also is a four-lane divided highway with very few side road intersections. The drive on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 took a little over an hour, was very relaxing and held no surprises. I arrived at Plantation RV Park a couple of miles before reaching Vicksburg. The park is quiet, clean, and the sites are level but without shade and quite cramped. The owner (I suppose) told me I could park my truck in the adjacent RV space – even though that was a violation of the printed park rules. It seemed he had assigned every other RV space to ... read more