Travel Day 9 - Vicksburg, MS to Shreveport, LA

I guess we must have needed some sleep, because we didn’t wake up until well after 8 AM this morning.  Yoinks!  The official checkout time at Ameristar Casino Hotel RV Park is 11 AM, but Kimberly in the office assured us there was no hurry and we should just stop in the office to let her know when we were leaving.  We did just that, taking our time but not loitering and I said our good-byes to Kimberly at about noon.

Hanging a left on Washington Street and then a right onto I-20 West, we cruised across the Mississippi River . . . via the traffic bridge, of course.  What a view!  The river was somewhat swollen with snow melt from up North and from recent heavy rains.  It was pretty muddy looking and we had noticed trees and large branches floating downstream the other day. 

We rolled down the road 52 miles to a Pilot, where we fueled up.  We are grateful this was another uneventful trip with no rain, although leaden skies and quite a bit of haze all day.  We never really saw Mr. Sun.  We stopped at a rest area just east of Ruston, LA.

The parking area for the big rigs at this rest stop was parallel parking on either side of the roadway and it was pretty full when we pulled in.  That truck to the right of our rig is passing us.

Looking forward from our rig

That truck with the blue tarp pulled forward a bit after a few minutes, so I got in and moved up to give room for another rig behind us.  Crazy busy.

Ah . . . that’s better!  A bit more breathing room!

We hit another Pilot about 60 more miles down the road to top off the truck’s tank and take a pit stops for us and Maggie before hitting Shreveport.  Interstate 20 had been pretty nice all the way from South Carolina but I tell ya what . . . going through Shreveport it was absolutely shocking.  I slowed us down to 50 MPH because the condition of the road was so bad.  We made it through unscathed and said goodbye to I-20 West at exit #10. 

We are at the Shreveport/Bossier City KOA for two nights, staying hitched up to the truck and connected only to electric and . . . cable TV!  I wasn’t going to bother with the cable, but Dave found the post connection and voila!  We have honest-to-goodness cable including . . . Turner Classic Movies!  Hot diggity dog.  It’s Bert I. Gordon Night; we were treated, if you will, to The Cyclops while we ate our homemade burgers and steak fries.  Right now we’re watching The Attack of the Puppet People. 

Dave has really become proficient in guiding me to position our rig well wherever we are, getting us level and all that good stuff

We were originally assigned site #28, but the entrance and exit from it was terrifically muddy, so we have ended up with site #26.  Sweet.  This is a fairly new KOA, having been the Tall Pines RV Park in a previous life.  It’s just fine here!  The restrooms are quite nice; Dave went up there for a shower since we’re not  hooked up to sewer.  Another couple with a fifth wheel pulled in not long after us, and the gentleman came over for a wee visit.  We sat at our table and chairs and had a delightful chat.  Quite the character is Mr. “Tired Old Man.” 

You know, if there is some way I could earn a living online that would support us both, I would be so very content living this simple life . . . sitting in an RV park for extended periods and then moving on to someplace new and different.  That’s actually what I originally envisioned back in 2002 when I started thinking about this lifestyle.  I was a home-based medical transcriptionist and single, and planned to take my work on the road with me.

Ah well, the next best thing is managing an RV park and working my part-time virtual assistant job, eh?  Speaking of that, I was thrilled to get a raise recently on my virtual assistant job!  Woot!  I did manage to work a bit last night, actually, and hoping I can do the same tomorrow while we’re just hanging out here.

Maggie is sacked out on the bed after her day of travel.  She is such a great road trekker and I think she really enjoys having all three of us together here in the rig more while we’re on the road.

We traveled 181.1 miles today, and it was an easy day on the road.

We had a late dinner and I had my first cup of coffee in three days, so I’ll be up for a while, but I’d best go ahead and get this posted.

“I am poor and naked  but I am the chief of a nation.  We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right.  Riches would do us  no good.  We could not take them with us to the other world.  We do not want riches.  We want peace and love.”

- Red Cloud (Makhpiya-Luta), Oglala Sioux chief, 1822-1909

365 Days of Walking the Red Road

Thanks for stopping by!

I am a Warrior

The above bracelet is a Toby and Max design