Miss Jody and Mississippi Brother Garry

March 6, 2020 - Friday

44 degrees/breezy/clear skies

Laurel, Mississippi

Oh yeah, yes indeed, we made it! Words can't describe how good it was to see our family, Mississippi Brother Garry and Miss Jody, and I don't think we've quit talking (other than last night's sleep) since. No doubt, once everyone's up for the day, all talking will resume.

Thursday's drive was a beautiful one, but first, I enjoyed a real breakfast, the complimentary one offered at the hotel.

No token bowl of cold cereal for this traveler in the south. 

No siree. 

I enjoyed sausage gravy over biscuits, eggs, grits, bacon, coffee, milk, and orange juice.

This was the first of two plates I enjoyed. You know, fuel for the road.

We left the hotel mid morning and headed south.

"C'mon, Tom, would you hurry up?" said Sargie.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on my way," replied Tom as he sprinted across the parking lot.

We had a wonderful drive south and marveled how we'd traveled from the far north just a day earlier into late spring. 

Suddenly, the landscape went from gray, black and white, to a beautiful deep and dark green.

A small detour was made in Enid, MS, to visit a large reservoir. It felt good to get out of the car and walk around, taking a few pictures and watching the fishermen out on the lake.

Sargie and I especially enjoyed seeing several HUGE crosses that are along the interstate. It's good to see people who are not afraid to display their conservative, Christian, values to the world.

Going around Jackson, MS, was a bit of a challenge.

 I may have lost some of my usual humor while driving in bumper to bumper chaos at 80 mph, just keeping up with the traffic in the middle of a hundred lanes, all going the same way. 

Gripping the wheel, white knuckling it all the way, I came just as close to losing my bride as my normally pleasant personality continued to deteriorate.

In the end, we made it around the metro area in one piece and after a sincere apology, our marriage came through as well. 

This old northerner has to learn to drive in the city. I've alway prided myself that I've seldom, if ever, panicked when faced with a difficult situation in the woods or on the water, but put more than half a dozen cars in my path and I go to pieces.

We were getting closer to Laurel when I spotted one of my favorite southern fares being sold alongside the road.

BOILED PEANUTS!!

I'll come clean. Sargie and I, both, are avoid boiled peanutaholics. (Pronounced bulled peanuts in these here parts.) I can't speak for any true southerner, but we can't eat just one.

Some things are the same all over the country, including trucks carrying huge loads of logs. Rather than hard wood or spruce, most of these are pine, with an occasional load of oak or gum.



We thoroughly enjoyed our drive into the deep south. Knowing six to eight inches of wind driven snow was falling on Pentoga Road made our drive even that much more enjoyable.

It was a joyous reunion on Meador Road yesterday afternoon. We hugged, talked, laughed, and hugged some more. Mississippi Brother Garry and Miss Jody were sights for sore eyes.

Kari and family soon joined us and there were once again lots of hugs and laugher. We've missed watching our great nephews and niece grow up and I was tempted to put a cement block on all their heads in an attempt to keep them from growing so fast.



Miss Jody laid down a spread last night of barbecued ribs with all the fixings. For desert? Why, we had some of her great pecan pie.

Today... well, who knows? Who cares? Hey, we're on vacation, the temperature's to be near 70, and the sun is shining!



Time to pour another cup of coffee.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Today's random Alaska picture:
I was somewhere on the North Slope, between villages, when I stopped for a cup of hot tea. I pulled a sled with fourteen days of rations, ten gallons of gas, and of course, a loaded rifle in the scabbard mounted on the snowmobile at all times.