A different kind of road kill

You know you’re not in Kansas anymore (or Utah, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky or most of the 13 states we’ve been in since we left Salt Lake City August 2) when you see a dead armadillo at the side of the road.

Then, when I called a destination to double check directions, I was told to drive “one mile past the nuclear plant.”   When we got there, we had a lady bug infestation.  Big lady bugs --- maybe due to nuclear mutation?   And our campsite neighbor told us to watch out for the timber rattlers.

The destination?  Grand Gulf Military Park near Port Gibson, Mississippi, about 30 miles south of Vicksburg and half a mile from the Mississippi River.  Actually, of all the southern states I’ve been in so far, I like Mississippi the best.  The weather’s been balmy; we’re seeing our first Spanish moss; the people are friendly.  And the roads are good -- you notice that in an RV.  Jim says he likes Arkansas the best, based on the fact that he could see himself staying at Lake Chicot a while.  Granted, our opinions are based on the small slices of states.  I spoke with a fellow camper here, for example, who told me she'd been to Utah and it was “just rocks and dirt.”  So not true.

The Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant cooling tower as seen from the top of a look out tower at Grand Gulf Military Park.  Many of the people at the campground are working at the nuclear plant.  Our neighbor told us she and her husband plan to be here until next June.

Once we got the the Grand Gulf Military Park Campground, we got a look at a live armadillo.  It made so much noise crunching around in the dry leaves, I thought it was a deer.

Near the entrance to Grand Gulf Military Park.

Spanish moss.   I saw it for the first time when my parents took us to Florida when I was in the fourth grade -- and I thought it looked scary.   Now I think it's graceful and lovely.