Mississippi

We've spent a lot of time at Walmart today.

After leaving Clanton b&e (that's "bright and early" for those who don't know), we made a stop at the Walmart in Starkville. We met with a delightful couple who took a liking to the 27ft RV. You know why they need a 27 footer? They travel with 7 dogs! They're small dogs, mind you - each weighing 10-15 pounds. But still ... that's a lot of dogs.

A few hours into our post-lunch drive, we again stopped at a Walmart. Pop was a bit fatigued and wanted to rest briefly.

Also, the sun was just at that perfect height in the sky that makes it impossible to see anything through the normally invisible, but now radiant, dust particles on your windshield. Then the temptation builds and builds to use the wipers "just to give a quick rinse" but you know from experience that this is about the worst thing you can do. And eventually it gets to the point where you think "it can't possibly make it any worse." So you turn on the wipers and the fluid sprays out and you're left white knuckled, clutching the steering wheel and praying that there's no one in front of you.

Anyway, we pulled over, and immediately three people walked up unsolicited and wanted to know about Born Frees and take a look inside. This doesn't surprise me anymore - I've grown used to it. Born Free is not a massive company, so there aren't an overabundance of them on the roads. This novelty coupled with their smooth clean lines really piques peoples' interest. This was probably the 4th or 5th time someone has just walked up and started asking questions. These Born Frees evoke almost as many comments as my Big Ruckus or my red t-shirt with that anime cat on it ... can't remember which show that's from ...

Showing off a Born Free is more energizing for Pop than a thermos of coffee, so we were soon back on the road. Now we're stopped for the night at a Walmart in Monroe, Louisiana.

I grabbed a delicious chicken finger sandwich from the Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers. Their chicken fingers (the only thing on the menu) are excellent - they're very similar to those that Outback Steakhouse serves. If there's a Raising Cane's near you, it's definitely worth checking out.

We had a few "adventures" on the road today. One of our caravan (names have been omitted to protect the guilty party) drove off while fueling! Some gas sprayed on the pavement and the gas station employees who came to investigate did not seem pleased, but nothing exploded, so I guess that's a win.

Later, as we were going from highway 25 to interstate 55 to interstate 20, I lost Pop and Gram. They were behind me one minute, and then literally 30 seconds later they were gone. It was an accident. No seriously - it was!

Turns out, Pop got caught at a light and Gram pulled over to wait for him. Then they ended up going too far north on 55 while I was on my way west on 20. Pop gave me a call and I back-tracked to find them. It worked out, but who knows - maybe next time my cell phone will be dead ... or hastily turned off ;)