well what do ya know!

Tuesday morning we woke up to rain hitting the roof of the RV and a few rumbles of thunder in the distance. The skies looked like the rain was setting in for the long haul. We decided to do a little exploring and drove into Decatur. They have a small college there but other than that it is your typical small Mississippi town. Their claim to fame is this is where murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers was born and raised http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medgar_Evers

After driving through Decatur we headed north to Philadelphia which is quite a bit larger but also has a very ominous past. It was here in 1964 that three civil rights workers were kidnapped and murdered. Their deaths at the hands of the KKK and the resulting investigation made national headlines and was a big catalyst in the civil rights movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_workers_murders

This was a very turbulent and sometimes violent time in the history of our country.

We stopped into the Super Wal Mart and picked up a few items while we were there. We also stopped at the Williams Brothers Store which has been serving this community since 1907.

This variety store had everything from "soup to nuts"! They even had a complete saddle shop in the rear of the store. The building itself was like walking back in time with it's creaking wood floors and wooden front door with the well worn push bars. Rudee noticed they had football jerseys hanging from the ceiling, one for Peyton Manning and one for Eli Manning. I knew that Archie, their Dad as well as Eli had attended college at nearby "Ole Miss" and wasn't surprised they had some fans in the area but as Paul Harvey would say, "now for the rest of the story". When I got back to the 5th wheel I looked up the history of the store and found out that Peyton and Eli's Mother's maiden name was Williams. Yep, the same Williams'. The store was started by two brothers which I would assume were Peyton's Great Grandfather and Great Uncle and is still ran by the Williams family over 100 years later. Wow, we were in the store owned by Peyton Manning's Grandfather, pretty cool for a couple of Colts fans like us :-)

The rain is supposed to continue Wednesday so we'll have to play it by ear on any activities. I'll keep you posted.

something new

Monday morning we took our time starting our day. Rudee wanted me to fix a handle on one of the kitchen cabinets where one of the screws had come out and is no where to be found. I removed the other screw so we could match it up. I also grabbed the empty LP tank figuring I had better get it filled before we went any further north, I'm afraid we are going to need it :-O.

Our campground is about halfway between Decatur and Newton, Mississippi, We knew that Newton had a Wal Mart and figured it was our best shot at finding a decent hardware store as well as propane. We made the 7 mile drive and even saw some wild Turkeys crossing the road in front of us.

We found the hardware store in the downtown strip of business' and located the correct screw. I only needed the one and it cost a whopping 10 cents!

The next stop was the local propane supply where we got the tank filled for $23. Back at the 5th wheel I fixed the cabinet and hooked the tank back up so it was ready to go. Here we are, site #8 at Turkey Creek Water Park.

I read several blogs by different RVers and several of them have inflatable Kayaks/Canoes and really love to go out on the water and explore. This has always intrigued me so we took the plunge, no pun intended :-), and ordered a Sea Eagle SE370 last month. http://inflatableboats4less.com/boats/sea-eagle-370-sport-kayak

We made arrangements with Kit and Jerry Bertelsen to have it shipped to their address and we picked it up there when we we were staying in Del Rio. The weather just has not cooperated enough for us to try it out plus we wanted some water that was calm and not crowded. I figured if we were going to make fools of ourselves the less witness' the better!

The lake here is not a huge lake and the wind was light so we decided to take our maiden voyage this afternoon. The park has a sand beach and this would make a good launch point so we drove over and inflated the boat in the parking lot and carried it down to the water. Neither one of us had ever been in a Kayak before and getting in was a new experience but we made it without taking a bath! We paddled around a little cove near the beach and practiced paddling getting used to how the kayak worked. We didn't venture out too far from the protected cove because the wind started picking up. Our boat trip lasted about an hour and we both proclaimed it a success and are looking forward to the next trip :-). I didn't get any photos, I was afraid of the camera ending up at the bottom of the lake :-), I'll do better next time.

On our way back to the 5th wheel we collected some abandoned fire wood that had been left from departing campers and I built a campfire. We sat outside enjoying the fire until the sun started drooping below the trees and the temperture started dropping. Yep, it was a good day :-).

They are predicting rain and thunderstorms for the next few days so we will adjust our plans accordingly. The bike is still on the back of the truck and will likely stay there until we meet Rob and Jany later in the week. Speaking of which, we have decided to head to Florence, Alabama. We will head there on Thursday with Rob and Jany arriving sometime Friday. We have reservations at McFarland Park and are really looking forward to the week. I'll keep you posted.

Travel Day

Yesterday was a travel day for us but since we were only going a little over 100 miles we took our time tearing down and got on the road about 10:30.
I had done a little research trying to find a spot on the way to Alabama where we were meeting friends from Indiana, Rob and Jany Runion. They were taking a week off and wanted to find some warmer weather to do some motorcycle riding. Their decision was narrowed down to Alabama but were waiting on the weather forecast to narrow the choice to a certain area of the state. They are hoping to stay in the Northern 1/3 to decrease travel time and we have been talking by phone and email bouncing ideas back and forth.
I found a Passport America park near Decatur Mississippi that sounded nice and got good reviews on http://www.rvparkreviews.com/ . The park is called Turkey Creek Water Park and is owned and operated by the state. There are only a few sites but all have water, 50/30 amp electric and sewer. There is also a large lake here and the rate with PPA discount is less than $10 per night. I figured we could spend a few days here before heading into Alabama to meet Rob and Jany.
I called the office and made sure we would fit and they had open sites before we headed that way. The roads into the park were not too bad, a little narrow and winding but do-able. When we arrived they gave us a list of open sites and I hopped into the Dakota with Rudee to check them out. The sites are paved with parking spurs at the rear of the sites and each has a large patio area as well as a fire pit and picnic table. We chose site #8 across from the shower house since it looked to be the easiest to get into and we could park our extra vehicle at the shower house parking lot.
The campground has full shade with tall pine trees. I wasn't holding out much hope for our Tail Gator dish to pick up a TV signal :-(.
We registered for 4 nights and got the rig parked, we even had room to leave the semi hooked up to the 5th wheel, barely!
Once we got parked and set up I found a problem, one leg of the 50 amp power pedestal was not working. When this happens you only have power to one side of the rig on our 5th wheel. I simply got out the 30amp cord and plugged it in. Problem solved.
I have a cheap compass I use to check out the satellite heading for Dish Network and thought, hoped, prayed that if I put the dish "right here" so it was pointed through that little hole in the trees I may get a signal. Rudee had her doubts but puts up with me anyway :-).
I got the dish out, chained it to a tree for security, and hooked the cable up. I went inside and fired up the receiver with my fingers crossed. The dish receiver goes through several checks and then tries to acquire the signal. This is all done automatically and takes about 15 minutes. Any hitch in the set up and no TV :-o. The checks all went smoothly and then it started looking for the signal. The TV screen shows a bar graph with 5 colored bars that turn green to show the progress. Once it gets to 3 green bars you are home free, if it stops at 2 bars, or less, it is a no go and it starts all over again. This part is agonizing, will it go past two bars, will I get to watch the Datona 500, the stress is killing me! Yippee ...... 3 bars! Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause!
The downside is we do not have much of an internet signal so photos will be few and far between but I will try to post one or two.

Rudee got into a cooking mood last evening and baked a raisin cake, threw it out because she forgot the soda and it was flat, then baked another one :-). She is also slow cooking a roast for Monday and made a Mexican Casserole for Sunday evening supper! Is she super or what??!!

Tomorrow we plan to explore the area a little bit and enjoy the natural surroundings. I'll keep you posted.