CLARKO STATE CAMPGROUND---South of Meridian, Miss.

Fished in pristine lake this AM. Used a Roostertail & a BB Popper--my two best lures, then I tried a hook, bobber & a GULP on a hook. Nothing....
Found out from the park ranger that you were supposed to have a $10 daily license or face a $25 fine. Oh well....you know what they say about fools, drunks & naive GULP fisher-
persons. In short, I didn't catch nothing, but I didn't get busted.
We stayed over a day at CLARKO to get some rest, enjoy the setting & chill. A good idea.
We're blasting off tomorrow & taking a northerly route west of Atlanta, through the mountains & back toward Charlotte from the west. I-85/Atlanta simply seems like a whimsy let-down epilogue to EGG ON THE RUN.
It should be exciting to weave around, up and down the Appalachians & approach home base from the west.
Shopped at Sunshine Discount Grocery in Quitman, Mississippi today. Very steep prices & the only grocery game in town. The granny-age "bagboy" was curious about our whereabouts, as we looked odd and from out of town.
I said, "We're just passing through."
With a woebegone look she said, "And I have to live here."
A little cracking on EBT (Black Foodstamp) recipients by granny & our encounter ended.
Another highpoint today was the 20 mile trip to an adjacent non-dry county.
The clerk in the "wet" convenience store said, "Yeah....the bootleggers over there can get anything they wants 'cause folks don't want to drive all this way."

From Dallas to Carencro

Jim did a magnificent job on his abode.

CARENCRO , JUST NORTH OF LAFAYETTE

Rendezvoused with an old artist pal who lives in Carencro, & spent the night in the EGG in his front yard. He directed us to exit # 6, but it was exit #4, where we were to meet him at McDonalds. I roared in and ran over a tall curb....ca-thump, ca-thump, but apparently did no damage to the EGG. I'm always thinking of Humpty Dumpty's fate. Anyhow.....we had cheap steaks, red potatoes and salad, then talked and laughed. Jimbo, the pal, is an exceedingly talented, artist, (painting, sculpture, ) & and a mind-blowing furniture maker, And......he's broke, but anticipating a windfall, like us all.
Oh yeah, about the gambling in Biloxi to pay for the EGG, the trip, etc.: It's off. Ann keeps quoting he odds & Jimbo had finite mate with game theory in college, so it was two against one & blackjack in Biloxi got nixed. I'll just have to do it on my own; maybe with a pal in Florida who chronically plays the lottery. I'm reminded of two guys I overheard in a convenience store; One was buying...maybe a dozen lottery tickets while the other one was giving him a hard time.
The buying dude very indignantly says, "You can't win if you don't play.
"You can't win if you DO play," replied the other dude, then slapped his buddy on the back.
Everybody at the counter laughed.

Jimbo's pad is tiny and there is no door on his bathroom, which is just off the kitchen. Hence, Ann & I split early this AM as graciously as possible, and after a couple of cups of java. Went a good distance today, beginning in Carencro, La., and ending up at a wonderful state park close to Meridian, Miss. North on I-59 through Miss. was like a dream. Smooth road surface, neat, close cropped grass & slightly rolling hills covered mostly with pines, with what looked like pristine lakes & streams along the way.
The state park is called Clarkco State Pk. There are only a handful of campers...a few jumbo trailers & a couple of tent camping gals adjacent to us who've been her for 2 mos. Very friendly, with 5 cats. I want to get to know them a see what their story is. They say since they're handicapped the fee is $300 per mo. Cheap, but not that cheap is you're down and out. We'll see...

We have water, electric power for the EGG and we're very close to the bathroom, which has a door. Who could ask for more?
The lake looks like a good fishing hole. I'll ck it out tomorrow AM. Maybe we'll stay a couple of days....
We have no alcohol & it's a dry county with scads of churches. Don't anticipate "Jones-in", but we'll drink a lot of Sleepytime Tea to ward off any possibility.
Later......

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS

Here we have the Texas Prison Museum. We didn't go, but did wonder about the State's pride; what prompted them to erect this high-end museum structure with an old wooden electric chair as their logo; how, given the Texas tendency to "fry" so many prisoners.....so many of whom are apparently innocent....how Gov. George Bush, Rick Perry, etc., could even brag about their execution records. Oh well...onward into the fog
When we arrived at our campsite a bunch of people, 12 bicycles, cooking stoves, tons of food, etc., were squatting at site # 140..our site. Reluctantly, they packed up, only to find out that keys to one auto where with one of the fellows & the spouse didn't know where he was. We had a couple of glasses of wine and "chilled" for a hr. or so, when he showed & they exited.
I backed into the slanted parking space at #140 & we mulled over whether to disconnect the EGG & try to level her up,but with the help of consumed vino decided not to bother. Instead, we flipped the ends of the bed so we'd be sleeping uphill, not down.
Later..........

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"BEER IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES US AND WANTS US TO BE HAPPY."
Ben Franklin

Relaxing in Dallas

WHERE AM I....WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?

We're in Dallas at the moment, visiting Ann's son. We're leaving Sun for Lafayette, La to visit a pal and leave the EGG so we can drive the pickup to New Orleans. Then it's back to Lafayette to recover the EGG, then we'll split for I-85 & the trip north to Charlotte. En route to I-85 I'd like to stop in Biloxi, Miss., play some poker & win enough to pay for the EGG & the trip. Rick, my son, who was down in New Orleans playing music, stopped at a cheesy casino in Biloxie....arrived at 8AM and won $500 real quick. So I'm thinking I've got some sort of genetic good vibes there and can't lose. I'll stake Ann; she counts cards; made an "A" in calculus; so how can we go wrong?
As for the trip since the last blog entry, it's all a surreal dream. Hence, I'll note some memorable tidbits that are likely out of chronological order, but noteworthy (if you're a bit twisted), so here goes:
At the campground close to Memphis we met Rev. Vernon "Rusty" Hammer, his three buzzed head little boys & his father, who were all camping in a Coleman pop-up. Nice folks from Kansas.
Rusty said, "I'm here to do a funeral. Saved a lady over the phone; she up and died; her sister pleaded with me to bury her, so here I am."
There was a lull in the conversation.
I said to the little ones, "Wow...y'all are going to have lots to talk about during show and tell when you get back to school."
The oldest little one said, "We don't have show and tell. We're home schooled by daddy so there won't be anything to show and tell 'cause he's been right here."
The most prosperous enterprise between the campground & Memphis was: YO MONEY TAX SERVICE--BOOKKEEPING TO.
Struck out for Greenville Mississippi St. Campground/open all year, only to find it closed. Stress turning turning around, as we were up on a levee, in tight quarters. The EGG has a short tongue, making it tough to back up.
Crossed Mississippi & went to Chicot, Ark. & their state park. Lovely spot; huge lake; lots of coots & redheaded woodpeckers. Tried fishing, as the lake was famous for its bass & catfish. Have a jar of GULPS-"BetterThan A Worm" fake bate, but we weren't getting any action. A little gal showed up with a cane pole and a can of bate.
"Y'all doing any good?"
"Nope."
"Them GULPS ain't no good." With that she pulled in a nice size catfish."
"I don't skin um. Grampa does. Has to use his pliers & it's pretty gross. You want to use some of my red wigglers. I got a gracious plenty."
"Thanks a lot, but we were just wrapping it up so we could have some lunch."
"You want a sandwich?"
"Naw.....just ate."