When we left Louisiana, we were excited to try out our new solar panels.  We crossed the Mississippi River again, and honestly, I lost count how many times we have crossed but it is probably between 15 to 20 times altogether.  There was a nice campground on the Natchez Trace Trail and we decided to stay there one night on our way up the state.  It was pouring rain.  The rain was so thick you could barely see where you were going.

We got a chance to see how the system works with zero sunshine and it did well.  We found a nice spot and since there were no services there at all, Jerry did not need to go out in the rain.  We sat the whole afternoon inside in the rain and I knit.  All of a sudden about 5:30 the rain breaks and the sun comes out.  We wanted to see the abandoned town of Rocky Springs.  Their story is like an old western.  People established a thriving agricultural town with stores, banks, post office and all the services needed in the early 1800’s.  The Natchez Trace Trail was a pony express route and were about 2,100 people living there.  Then the Civil War comes and General Grant occupies the town.  After that, the Rocky Springs dries up and there is no water.   Soon a yellow fever epidemic hits and then boll weevils destroy the cotton crops.  By 1930 the down is deserted.  I was late and starting to get dark, so we started back to the campsite and returned the next morning to see what was left of the town.  Mainly signs telling you where things were.  There is a church that has survived because a community has taken responsibility for it.  I did enjoy our night in the woods among the trees and very few people.

From there we traveled to the town of Grenada, Mississippi and stayed on Lake Grenada.  We did very little except to admire the scenery and walk around the campground.  Ernie was starting to stink by now since he has been in every forest, swamp and puddle he can find.  Jerry found a store where you can give your dog a bath for $10.  They supply everything you need to come out with a clean pup.   He was so good sitting in the sink to be washed and maybe he couldn’t stand how he smelled as well.  From there we went for the first and last time to a Waffle House.  We have seen them all over the south in our travels and neither one of us have ever been.  The waffle was good, but anything else you paired with it was not, and I had a fried egg.  While we were there, I saw an older black man sitting by himself eating wearing a US Army hat with a battalion? number on it.  Since I just read the book “The Women” about nurses in the Vietnam War, I told him Thank you for your service.  He said he appreciates that and not many people tell him.  I said did you serve in Vietnam, because he looked that old.   He said no, Korea!  I was astounded he did not look old enough to have served in Korea and of course I blurted it out to him.  He started laughing and said I made his day.

When we left Lake Grenada, we continued north to Sardis Lake in northern most Mississippi.  We had another great spot on the lake with outstanding views and mainly walked around the park and I knit and read.  One day we gathered sticks all day, both Jerry and I carrying them and try as I might to have Ernie tote one along, he refused to but anything in his mouth if he can’t eat it.  We did gather enough after several trips that Jerry was able to make an impressive fire with them.  Ernie has been taking on some human traits late in the trip.   One day I stopped to talk to a couple who said hello, Ernie and I were walking along the river in the Louisiana campground.   The couple came from Massachusetts and we got to talking about the east coast, where they have been, where we have been.  Ernie just lay down next to me in the grass while we were talking for about 15 minutes and waited.  When we said goodbye, they were going one way and us the other.  Ernie started walking towards them and I kept pulling him back.  He is no match for me and I just had to follow him telling him all the while to stop and come.  They heard me and stopped and turned.  Ernie made a beeline to them pulling me along until I dropped the leash and he caught up to them.  He sat right at their feet wagging his tail.   I said it looks like he wants you to pet him, and they did.  He stood and leaned into them, his sign he really likes you and when they finished, he was perfectly happy to come with me.    Another time I started talking to a man who has been on the road for 12 years going from one US Government campground to another.  If you are over 65, you can stay most places for $12 a night with full hook ups and $7.50 for none.  In fact, when we stayed on the Natchez Trace Trail there was no charge at all.  His wife started with him on the road and died some time ago.  He was petting Ernie and Ernie really needed to walk so he was wondering around.  The man told me he had a dog but the dog died over the summer and he really misses the dog.  Then he went to get a picture out of his wallet and showed it to me.  While I was looking at the picture, Ernie came back and pulled at my arm and I showed him the picture.  He put his nose right to it.  The man was laughing how Ernie wanted to see his dog’s picture.  I’m not really sure what he was doing.

When we left Lake Sardis, we traveled to IL leaving Mississippi, crossing the river into Tennessee, crossing the river again into Arkansas, crossing again into Missouri and then crossing again into IL, all in about 3 hours.  I was driving most of the time so only was able to catch two signs.  While I was driving through Missouri I saw a large number of signs for Lambert’s Café, Home of the Thrown Roll.   I assumed that meant how they were created, but I was wrong.   I asked Jerry to look up the café on the internet to see if it was a good place for lunch.  He said he was and added it as a stop to Google Maps.  When we got there it was huge, so many cars parked and they have their own RV park.  Looked promising.  We got to our table and I thought this is my new favorite place.   It is completely over the top.  On the table are pictures of the owns and others through the years.  I even caught a picture of the original tiny restaurant.  They were all under glass.  It reminded me of holidays at my sister-in-law’s.  For Christmas there would be a Christmas table cloth and pictures of all of us from past Christmases covered by a clear plastic table cloth.  You could entertain yourself for hours by looking at all the pictures.    But then the rolls – they are literally thrown at you.  The young man throwing them was an excellent shot so I did go up to him and ask if he was on a baseball team and he said no, but he did play basketball in school.   I said you must have been very good at the three-point shots and he laughed and flubbed a throw.  When I watched him again, I saw he did throw like he was making a basket rather than pitching.   The rolls were delicious and so was the food.  It is now a saved place in Google Maps and if we are ever in Missouri again near there we are stopping.  I am so easily amused.

We are now in Rend Lake in IL and have another lake side campsite, the benefits of off season camping and early reservations.  We are here for two days and then going home.  Right now, there are three cardinals within feet of me and many other birds I cannot identify, where is Theo with his I-Spy book when I need him?  I guess I will have to take out my birds of North America and see what I can find.  We have had a great time and Jerry and I were discussing doing this again next March.  Mississippi was a surprise.  I did not expect much and received much more than I could ever have anticipated.