10 minutes out I run into a standing still traffic jam on I-81. Unfortunately, it didn't stop until just AFTER the exit that would have been my escape route. So it took me 90 minutes to go 30 miles. Not a great start.
The rest of the day was uneventful and I only hit serious traffic in Knoxville, TN.
I stopped for the night at the Wal-Mart in Scottsboro, AL. After an hour on the roughest stretch of road I've ever been on with the Airstream. It was an old fashioned poured concrete highway with expansion joints that seemed to be 10 feet apart. Whatever the distance, it hit a resonance at 60 mph that made me think the Honda was going to bounce right off the front of the truck. 50 mph only rattled the fillings out of my teeth.
I was so happy to see that Wal-Mart sign. I was the only RV in the lot and I had a quiet night's sleep.
Here's a map
I intended to get an early start but realized as I started out that I had no trailer brakes or lights. Half an hour of trouble-shooting later I was on the road with everything working.
I was still able to make it to Timberlake Campground in Brandon, MS by 3:00, thanks to the change to Central Time. It was important that I get there before 5 because the campground office closes then. I did not have a reservation. I had read on an RV review site that reservations were all placed in the concrete jungle right next to the highway. "Drive-ups" are given their choice of available spots and there are many beautiful spots right on the waters of Ross R Barnett Reservoir. The really strange part is, if you make a reservation and find the place mostly empty when you arrive, you'll forfeit your "one night's deposit" on the bad spot in order to park in a good spot. So I took my chances. I was told there were only 5 spots available. When I went to check them out I found that they were all on the water. Apparently there are a whole bunch of people who wouldn't pay double for their first night to get a lake front spot. So they're all sitting on the concrete, listening to the traffic. While I'm enjoying a waterfront site, listening to the ducks.
Here's a map of today's travels.
Brandon, MS is where my friend Lesly lives. The campground is less than a mile from her home so I would have stayed here regardless of the spot, but I am happier on the water.
We had a quiet dinner Thursday and Friday we went to Canton, MS for the Christmas Festival. All the shops around the Historic Square are open and lighted with many competing in the "Mulled Cider" competition. We aren't sure, but I'll bet that the one shopkeeper offering spiked cider won. It's a beautiful little town. Someone has donated a large collection of animated store figures. Many were true antiques but I also spotted several from the original Disney World's "It's a Small Small World." I wondered where they all went.
Local history says that the citizens of Canton weren't really supportive of seceding from the Union and didn't fire at the Union Troops. So the Courthouse and surrounding buildings were not burned. It's one of the oldest still original cities in Mississippi.
Lesly and I had fun shopping and people watching. Saturday was supposed to be Honda day, but it dawned cold and rainy.
Saturday evening we went to see The Nutcracker, put on by Ballet Manificat, a Christian Missionary dance group. A truly professional group with a very different version of the story. Instead of a nutcracker, Grandpa gives Clara the family Bible. The battle is between the Devil and Angels. Clara visits Heaven and sits with Jesus while the nations of the world pay homage to Him in dance. It was a beautiful story, beautifully presented.
On Monday I headed back to Irish Bayou and found a worse stretch of road than the one in Alabama. I drove most of the length of I-55 at 45mph, with everything in and on the truck and Airstream bouncing all over the place. But I arrived at Vince and Lonnie's safe and sound.
Map
I'll only spend one night here. Then I'll fly to State College to be with my grandkids for Christmas.
Although it still gets a little hectic sometimes,
Life is Good !
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