I’m just not sure what I should do. Even though I’m only eleven, my shoulders are feeling the burden of too many responsibilities. I don’t have back-up either, and that is a very unsettling feeling. Pearl the dog depends on me. Pearl the human is getting too old to make sure Pearl the dog gets down all those stairs behind the store and outside when she needs to go. She can’t go out front because there’s no grass…it’s Main Street.

I worry that one or both of them will take a tumble, so I try to be there every four hours…five at the most, and they’re both always happy to see me.

Sometimes, I don’t get to go with the other kids Pink Sandy takes to the swimming dam. I fear I’m getting behind in my swimming know-how. I’m not even sure if I could save someone if I had to. People get tangled up in that moss, you know, and a kid can get real panicky and not have presence of mind.

I would sure hate to get too far behind. If I don’t keep up with the other kids, I won’t know as much as they do and I might be a big kid in a little kid’s pond.

Who should I consult about this? Pearl the human will feel useless. Pearl the dog will worry that someone, like me, won’t come along in time. Pink Sandy won’t say anything because he doesn’t talk much. He just teaches kids how to swim.

I am not going to involve Mom. She’ll just tell me she has her own cross to bear.

I guess I’ll try Miss Grace. She’s got a pretty good head on her shoulders.

“Come on, Pearl…let’s go for a walk first.”

When Pearl the dog and I got back from our walk, I knocked on Miss Grace’s door. She hollered at me to come in, so I did. She was running back to her little kitchen to take some cookies out of the oven. I took a moment to appreciate my good timing?

I don’t think I have ever seen Miss Grace walk. She always runs…not fast, just short, running steps. Pearl the human calls it bustling. She says Miss Grace always bustles around.

While eating my cookies, I told Miss Grace about my dilemma. She wiped her hands on her apron, and then sat down with me.

“Well, Ellie,” she said. “There is a solution to your problem.”

“I knew I could count on your quick thinking,” I said. “What is it?”

“What is what?

“What’s the solution to my dilemma?”

“Oh, I have no idea,” Grace said. “Every problem has a solution dear, or it wouldn’t be a problem. Now, would you like a cold glass of milk with your cookies?”

I could see I wasn’t  getting anywhere with Miss Grace, so I said goodbye and went out the door to the hallway. Guess who I ran into…both Pearls. They were acting funny too…like they were hiding something.

I asked Pearl the human where they had been.

“Well,” Pearl said to Pearl the dog. “I guess she caught us, Pearl. I just let Pearl out.”

“You shouldn’t  ever, ever walk down those treacherous back stairs, Pearl,” I said. “Your eyesight isn’t very good since you caught diabetes.”

“You don’t catch diabetes, Essie, you have it. There’s a difference. And I didn’t  go down the treacherous stairs.” 

“How could you let Pearl the dog out without going down the stairs, Pearl?”

“It wasn’t rocket science,”  Pearl said. “I opened the door at the top of the stairs and told Pearl to go potty, and then come right back.”

Pearl the dog came over and licked my hand as if to say, “You poor dumb bunny.”

I cried all the way home. I felt useless.

Today’s Pearl of wisdom from Pearl the dog…

 

Dear Son,

I’m writing this on your birthday, although I have been thinking about your big day for a long time.

Not that long!

I can’t believe you’re forty-five. You could easily pass for thirty-five. You take after my side of the family. We always think we look younger than we are. You have my perfect little ears, dark hair, and sense of humor. You aren’t going to like this, but you have what your Grandma Retta used to call, “mad-hots.”

Everybody knows when you’re done, you’re done. Your Uncle Bill has a little bit of a temper too, but you both recover quickly. On the other hand, I never have mad-hots.

You’re smarter than I am by far, but we’re both quick thinkers. If patience is a virtue, then we’ll have to live without it.

I don’t plan or think very far ahead. Do you? They say you should stay in the moment, right? We don’t have Bill’s genes on that one. He has his week planned several weeks ahead of time. We’re more focused on what we have to do next, not next week, or even tomorrow. We work better if we know the deadline. When we’re almost out of time, we make it happen.

You have a wonderful family…so do I. You love spending time with them…I do too. You are a terrific hands-on Dad and you picked a wonderful wife.

I’m happy I’m your mom…I’m your biggest fan. I love you honey. I know you know that…

Happy Birthday! I’m celebrating with you!

Love,

Mom

 

We woke up Wednesday morning with nowhere else to roam

So we packed up one last time and brought old SeeYa home.

The weather? Well, it was beautiful as far as we could see.

But if we weren’t out by one, there would be a hefty fee.

We gently woke the dogs up. We had to break the news.

No more long walks, extra bones, and  no more friends to schmooze

Pattie took it the hardest. Her eyes said, “you’re unkind!

Can we please stay longer? Won’t you change your mind?”

Sammie looked dumbfounded and her wagging tail stopped dead

Without a bark she turned around and headed back to bed.

Cyndie Lou was speechless or bark-less I should say. Her traveling days were over…for this trip anyway.

Dollie usually comes  running, when she hears our call.

She stayed in the window and coughed up a big hairball.

Kip and I will miss eating , all those foods we love

The clothes that once were loose, now fit us like a glove.

To family and friends, who live both far and near.

Come see us, but call first…cause we might not be here.

Living our Dream

We had such a unbelievably great time on our epic journey!! We have our amazing friends and family to thank for their kindness, fun spirit, time, food, side trips, etc.. Kip is in charge of the thank you notes.

Today was our last day of exploring new places and tomorrow will most likely be our last day on the road. I’m really torn between wanting to keep going and wanting to go home. I know Kip feels the same way. The dogs get more attention when we’re on the road so that would be their choice, but I have no idea what the cat would rather do.

Anyway, here are the best of the pictures I took this morning while at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

(Yes, we saw another little fawn today.)

The Vicksburg National Military Park commemorates the siege and the defense of Vicksburg in 1863 and includes more tham 1,300 monuments and markers, 16 miles of tour road, a restored Union gunboat, and a National Cemetary. It’s an historical must see.

After leaving the park, we took the dogs for a walk by the river, and then brought them back to the rv for their afternoon nap.We wanted to explore the downtown area and have a fun lunch someplace where we didn’t have to unwrap our food. Today was sunny and in the mid-seventies which made it nice to walk around and snoop inside some of the stores as well.

We found a cute little bakery and had a delicious lunch. Kip wanted to taste the brownies. I took a cheese danish to go.

The Mad Baker Bakery

The railroad station

The skies were beautiful today. 

Our epic journey has been an unforgettable adventure.

Thanks dear friends for adding to the fun.

SeeYa Soon!!!

This post is a snapshot in time. I’m getting behind and it’s already past my bedtime. I have included lots of pictures to take up space.

Sunday, we left wherever we were and drove to wherever we are.

Sunday

Here we have some pics of the drive along Trace Natchez Parkway. The road has an interesting history. It was traveled by highwaymen and Presidents. It’s a beautiful and peaceful drive, so we took our time making our way from Meridian to Vicksburg. 

Around noon we pulled into a roadside park and made some sandwiches for a picnic lunch.

The leaves haven’t turned as much here as they have in some of the colder climates.

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Vicksburg

The Vicksburg Battlefield Tour

“See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key. Let us get Vicksburg and all the country is ours. The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.”

President Abraham Lincoln

It took three months of continuous fighting before Vicksburg fell to the Union Army in the Civil War. 

Most of the battles during the siege of Vicksburg were fought on the grounds inside the Vicksburg National Military Park. A few were fought on land given to the city, but the battles fought there are marked as well. 

Below: The Shirley house, which was sometimes referred to as the Southern White House and a picture of the view looking across the battlefield…beautiful country.

We stood on the same ground as the soldiers fought on as we followed the story on a CD we purchased at the visitor center. It directed us to pull up to one of the locations on the map and listen to the description before getting out of the car to view the place where it had happened.

There are sixteen tour destinations but you can go at your own pace. You can also hire a guide or download the tour on your cell phone.

The Illinois memorial was one of the most impressive. Below is the rotunda of the memorial.

The cemetary

The cemetary within the park

We stopped to take a picture of this little fawn that was  standing on the roadside inside the park between the 3rd and 4th stations. A little later, we left to grab some lunch and when we got back, the little one was laying on a narrow spot beside the road.

We knew he must be hurt, as he had been in the same location for almost an hour. We watched as he got up and crossed the road. Nothing appeared to be broken, but his hip looked like it was badly bruised. It could be he had fallen down the steep hill to the inside of the winding road.

We called the visitor center and they sent a park ranger out right away. She said she was going to leave the fawn alone now that he was off the road . There were no animals in the park that would harm him and his mother would most likely find him soon.

Below: The fawn runs off. At least he’s no longer close to the road.

Below: Kip talks to the ranger and another, older fawn we saw a few minutes later.

We’re going back to finish the battleground tour and see the historic downtown area today. Then tomorrow we head for the homestead. Below are a few shots of our rv park (location.) We’re right across from the Mississippi River.

We didn’t have internet last night or this morning at the park.

A picture is worth a thousand words. 

Do you believe that’s true?

Could I just show you pictures

Without a word or two?

What if you get the story wrong?

Would the words spin in my head?

Because I couldn’t say what needed to be said?

Imagine a world without words. 

Could pictures tell your tale?

Pictures OR words…Which one would prevail?

I had some trouble yesterday

My internet went CAPUT!!!

I couldn’t do a thing. How’s that for simply put?

****I got it back!!****

We are staying at the Percy Quin State Park near McComb, MS for a second day. It’s a beautiful place and it was just $14.00 a night, so it met all the requirements for a layover. 

We took the dogs and found a big open field on the edge of the park and let them run around without leashes. They loved it!

We walked a little path that started at the edge of the field and found an old abandoned cemetary with fifty or so graves in it. I say abandoned because it was obvious no one had been there to care for it in years.
Some of the dates we could read on the headstones went back to the mid 1800’s. Many were only in their 20’s when they died. 

We did find one headstone with 2005 as the date of death. I would love to know the story. I might try to locate a park ranger before we leave tomorrow and see what I can find out.

Tomorrow we are going to drive to Vicksburg via the Trace Natchez Parkway. It’s supposed to be a spectacular drive. The parkway goes on for over 400 miles, but we will drive it between Natchez and Vicksburg. I found an rv park in Vicksburg and made reservations for two nights because there’s a lot to see. The lady who checks people in here said she spent a whole day in the battlefield and another one at the cemetary.***

It’s now Sunday morning and we’re loaded up and headed to the Trace Natchez Parkway, then on to Vicksburg.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Thursday

What a day! Calvin the mechanic was there at 8:00 am with the part SeeYa needed and had her all fixed up in about an hour. I called Calvin, Steve in yesterday’s blog. His name is Calvin and he works for Steve. He is really a nice guy and knows his stuff!

I took the dogs (separately) for long walks this morning while Kip and Calvin worked on SeeYa. It was a gorgeous morning in Mississippi.

(We had a good spot at the KOA in Toomsuba, MS.)

We packed up and boogied around noon and made it to McComb, MS. I was rv park finder challenged again. I called places all afternoon, but it appeared that I wasn’t going to be able to make it happen. It wasn’t that they were full, but they were either too far out, or didn’t have full service spots.

We stopped at a park that sounded pretty nice, but turned out to be no good. It was the second time in a week this happened. I did take this picture of an old train they had sitting at the entrance. I tried to make it look nostalgic. It was a “through the window” drive-by pic.

Another shot w/o the effects. It makes me want to know it’s story.

We went on to McComb and finally found a spot in the Quin State Park. It’s beautiful and we can’t believe it’s only $14.00 a night for a full service space. At that rate, we may stay another night and go to see the Camp Van Dorn World War II Museum. Besides, we didn’t get settled in here until 8:00 pm last night. It’s no fun setting up when it’s dark and we’re weary…

Sammie: Yeah…I’m weary too. Are you weary Pattie?

Pattie: Yeah, Sammie…I’m wearier. What does weary mean, Sammie?

Sammie: I’m not sure, but I think it involves bones, so I’m all for it!

Pattie: Me too, Sammie. I’m more ‘all for it.’

I’m weary too. I never have room for my head.

Friday morning

I’m sitting in my favorite spot… sipping on a cup of coffee. It’s quiet except for the sound of the birds singing.

We are going to leave here tomorrow and head to Natches, MS. We want to drive up the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway which will take us to Vicksburg. It will all take a couple of days, but after that, the next sight we’ll see is going to be home. 

A trip like this might seem extravagant or even foolish to some, but we plan to take one long road trip a year for as long as we’re able. We prepared for this by selling our big house and buying a much smaller one so we could afford to purchase SeeYa who is now sweet sixteen. Like most people, we worked hard for many years. Sometimes retirement age seemed a long way off. Sadly, we often wished we could get older faster. Kip commuted eighty miles one way for the last several years before he could retire. He counted how many more miles he had to drive rather than birthdays.

Like all families, we have our crosses to bear/bare, but time on the road renews our spirit. It strengthens our appreciation of life and the beauty in this world God created for us.

We are grateful that for a couple of months each year, we can live our dream.

*********

Below is what is sure to be an award winning photograph that will eventually make me millions. I took it quite by accident. I think the camera was in selfie mode, and when I took the picture through the window, I got this reflection which I know must be one of a kind…pure art!