Road Trip and first weekend

---

Well hello again everyone! Time for a brand new blog to begin!! 😊 This time, this is coming to ya'll from Mississippi! Here goes.

Tuesday afternoon mom and I started our road trip and we made it down to the refuge by 3pm on Thursday! The drive was lots of fun... many laughs. 😊 And bring able to alternate drivers every few hours was a big help. On Tuesday we drove through 5 states (NJ, PA, MD, WV, VA), wednesday we went through 4 states (VA, TN, GA, AL), and Thursday we were only in 2 states (AL and MS)! We were amused because at one point we had a bathroom stop in Trenton... georgia. lol. See, it takes very little to amuse us. Anyway, that Trenton was much prettier than ours.

Thursday we stopped by the refuge since we were so early. Was unable to get ahold of Lauren, as I'm sure they were out in the field, but as we were about to leave a car from NY pulled up... and it was Ingrid! haha. So, we got to meet which was lovely. Ended up we were both going to stay that night in Biloxi with our families. So yeah after meeting her we left and drove into Biloxi, which is only about 20 minutes away! I hadn't realized that Biloxi is like a very miniature vegas! haha I am amused by the fact that I seem to keep finding myself in extremely hot places that are very close to multiple casinos. lol. But anyway, we found our motel, checked in, relaxed a bit and then walked across the street to one of said casinos. It was huuuuuuge. reminiscent of some of the nicer ones in Vegas. Anyway, we had dinner in a restaurant there (it was delicious! we were both stuffed afterwards) and then walked around the casino. I had hoped, since I was finally with mom in a casino, that I'd be able to play blackjack with her. Since she is the expert 😉 However, we discovered that the table minimums were insanely too high for our taste so all we did was watch a few hands be played. Ah well. It's probably for the best. Saved us some money.

Friday morning we decided to just hope that her flight would be fine. Lauren called and told me we could swing by on our way to the airport so that is what we did. Mom got to meet Lauren and see the inside of the trailer and everything. Let me just say, our trailer? Freakin AMAZING. It is super nice for a trailer. and HUGE. We each have our own room (I think it is bigger than my room at home; AND it is furnished with REAL furniture... full sized beds, real dressers, etc), our own bathroom, we have a nice sized kitchen and a washer and dryer. But I think my favorite part is the living room. We have a really nice couch, a nice tv and dvd/vhs player, and then 2 amazingly comfortable lazy-boy type armchairs. Oh man. AC, if you ever visited, you'd have a place to sleep! lol. They are marvelous. So yeah, the trailer is super great.

After seeing it, mom and I headed out. I got her to the airport in Mobile with no trouble whatsoever, despite her concerns. 😊 I got back to the refuge a little after 11:30. Went out to lunch with Lauren and Ingrid. Then Ingrid and I decided to go explore, since the other interns were still here. She drove, and we just kinda went the slower way through part of Gautier, Ocean Springs, and then ended up in Biloxi kinda unintentionally. Stopped briefly to stand by the gulf and watch the pelicans and listen to the waves (yay! needless to say I am a very happy person). Then drove back to Ocean Springs and found their down town area. It is adorable! I think I am really going to like that town. We walked around, saw many cute shops and lots of places that have live music! And best of all, we stumbled upon a health food store! It is pretty small, but hey, it's better than nothing! Also, if you drive a tiny bit past the downtown area, you hit the beach! woo! Love it.

We still had time to kill after that so we went to a state park that is really close to the refuge. Went inside the visitor's center and met this really nice old man who talked to us about the history of the park and stuff. Then we walked around outside for a little bit, before heading back to the refuge. Met up with the current interns, hung around for a bit and then went out to dinner at a local pizza place for their going away dinner. Lots of people from the refuge were there, as well as some of Lauren's friends. It was a lot of fun. And despite my concerns, the pizza was actually quite good! Not as good as home, mind you, but definitely not bad. 😊 Scott (the head biologist) treated all the interns, both current and newbys, so that was really nice of him. Came back to the trailer, flipped a coin and ingrid slept on the couch and I slept in one of the bedrooms, since adam was in the smaller bedroom.

Saturday morning Stephanie (intern) left early and Adam left a little later. Ingrid and I decided that I would just stay in the bedroom I slept in that night and she took Stephanie's room. Unpacked for a bit, hand lunch, talked to a bunch of people from home, and then we made a list and headed out grocery shopping. We decided that we will attempt to do dinners together and breakfast and lunch on our own. Went to the health food store first. Bought a few things for myself and a bunch of joint stuff. The people who own the place seem really nice. They said if there is anything we want that they dont carry, just tell them and they will order it in. Very cool. From there we went to Winn Dixie. Turns out that is a pretty decent grocery store. They had a good deal of organic produce and things so that was nice. Oh and we got super excited because they had Stoneyfield Farm Organic yogurt on sale 10 for $5!! Awesome! We each got 10. lol. So yeah, groceries were a lot of money when all was said and done, but we got a lot of basic stuff that we will never have to buy again so I'd imagine that from now on groceries shouldn't be too bad. Woo!

Got home, unloaded everything, and then decided that we'd just do our own thing for dinner that night. I made myself a salad and then after that cooked a veggie burger and some string beans. Yummy! 😊 Later that night we watched a movie (when harry met sally.. which we both had brought hehe) and I had a bananna with some nutella for dessert. Yummmmm. :-D

Today I slept in quite a bit (got up around 8:45). Had breakfast and then went for a walk around the refuge with Ingrid. It is really nice. And I imagine it is going to be even better once the flowers start to bloom! 😊 There is a creek near by on the refuge that Lauren said we could kayak on! There are kayaks for us to use!

I am so excited! I think this is going to be a really great experience. So far, things have been really great. Ingrid seems awesome, both Lauren and Scott seem super nice, the refuge is beautiful, and the towns seem really great. And of course, theres the nearness of the gulf, which I am a huge fan of. 😊 I'm also really excited by the fact that New Orleans is only like an hour and half away. That should be lots of fun as well.

I am both excited and nervous for starting work tomorrow but I have a feeling that I am really going to like this job. I guess only time will tell! In the meantime, expect a blog entry at the end of the week! 😊

---

Photos

Beux Rivage
casino in biloxi across the street from our motel

Living room
awesome couch and chairs

refuge
savannah with water visible (that's where we could kayak!)

Comments

[Virginia]

Yay!
Hooray! Glad everything is going well, and thanks for blogging! :-D Love, Vigi

[Pam Sexton]

What's the job?
Hey, Jackie! Your mom forwarded your blog to me. I enjoyed reading it and seeing all the photos. What I don't really know is what the actual job is you will be doing there. I understand from your blog that it is an internship. Is there a possibility that it could turn into a long-term job? And how long will you be there as an intern? That's enough questions. Holly's husband, Chad, is from Mississippi and still has lots and lots of family there. I'll have to find out what towns they all live in and see if any are near you. Enjoy!! Love you, Pam

[mary jo bell]

great blog
enjoyed the blog! refuge looks beautiful! be safe mj