Mississippi Gipssi

I woke up to Eastern time, although I had crossed over into Central, so I could take it easy preparing to leave, and was ready to pull out at 7:40 am. First I spit on the GPS suction holder, as recommended by several readers, and it seemed to work. The GPS is still hanging there and I think I will just leave it there overnight and see it if holds. I love early starts and early stops. Other than a bit of I-85 south I drove mostly on US 80W. The trip through the city of Montgomery was not fun - I was routed through the part where malls and restaurants, box stores and auto service shops lined both sides of the highway. Ugly!

Then I was finally on US 80 from Montgomery to Selma, Alabama, a national historic route with nothing but an inconspicuous marker - by the time you see the sign for it you are well past it. The roadway was good the entire way - divided highway but not limited access. There was a large modern building along the route with a sign indicating it was an interpretive center, but the huge parking lot with much space designated for buses and big rigs, was completely empty. It was before 10 a.m., so maybe they weren't open yet. I was disappointed because I would have liked some information about the march and those times, but there was nothing available.

The city of Selma looks as if it has fallen on hard times, or maybe it never was able to escape the hard times. Of course you drive through the downtown area which is not ideal when towing a 34' rig, but I managed ok. Again, I was hoping to find a visitors center but never did come across it. Once out of Selma the highway was again divided so I was able to maintain a fairly steady speed. The problem with being off the interstate is to find a restroom. I've got my own with me, but there was absolutely no place to pull over. Just before I connected with I-20 I stopped at a Circle K station, fueled up and hit the restroom! I was just about dancing a jig while pumping the diesel. When I paid, the gentleman at the counter gave me my receipt along with two one dollar bills, as they evidently give truckers cash back on diesel purchases certain days of the week. I was pleased with that, of course. Just having a restroom available was almost worth returning the two bucks!

I had been forewarned that I-20 is in terrible shape, and it is worse than I thought it would be. I was surprised when I went inside the rig and found nothing damaged; the dog food bowl was tipped over but nothing seems to be amiss. I saw a sign at the exit for Clinton, MS, a little beyond Jackson, for an RV park so I decided to stop at 2 p.m. It is nice, a little close, but I got into the space very well and looks like it won't be difficult to get out of it in the morning. Much of the park is devoted to permanent residents and there are many park models here. One really positive thing is that it will be easy to get back on I-20 tomorrow morning.

I only hooked up to electricity last night, but this evening I added city water. When I left Ft. P. my living room slide didn't come all the way in properly, but it was just off a slight bit so I left. I put the slide out when I stopped last night, and this morning it came all the way in. I don't know what caused the problem, but I'm not putting it out this evening.

I have been mulling over the route I will take tomorrow. I really want to get on an interstate and stay on it for the rest of my trip. For one thing, there are more opportunities for obtaining fuel; there are rest areas, for me and for Lady; while it is bad enough having to drive through major metropolitan areas, you don't have the traffic lights at every intersection to contend with. I really can't tell from the weather reports if I might be affected by overnight lows of freezing temps, combined with a small percentage of chance of precipitation. If I thought I would just have to leave a little later in the morning and let the sleet or ice melt, then I should chance it. I will worry about this all night, but hopefully I can get enough sleep to be refreshed for tomorrow's drive. I may just go for it and plan on having to spend an extra day idle somewhere along the route.

Lady is bugging me to go out. Like the Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffet song, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere", she just reminded me that it would be 5 pm at Fort Pulaski and time for her walk.