Captain’s Log: RV Wanderlust 04-24-2014

• Date: 04-24-2014
• Time of Entry: 13:42

• Current City: Vicksburg, MS
• Current Location: River Town RV Park
• Site Number: 99
• Wi-fi Signal: Verizon - Strong / AT&T - Very Weak
• Mission: Explore / Work

• Compliment: 2 Officers, 1 Crew, 0 Guests
• Captain: Eric Highland
• Navigator: Brittany Highland
• 1st Mate: Trogdor the Burninator

• Weather: Clear / 80°
• Precipitation: 10%
• Humidity: 47%
• Wind: 9 mph

• Fuel: 12.5 Gallons of Diesel - 1/8 capacity
• Odometer: 100,020
• Generator Hours: 4611.8

• Estimated Date of Departure: Saturday, April 26th
• Next Destination: Arlington, Texas

Captain’s Remarks

We left Tuscaloosa, AL and arrived the same day in Vicksburg, MS on Saturday April 19th.

Tuscaloosa was not impressive. As one friend put it, “Tuscaloosa has two seasons, Football season and pre-football season.” With the exception of the beauty of the University, we found Tuscaloosa quite boring. If it hadn’t been for the nice company of our friend Jill Sessa, and a lot of wine for the navigator and our guest, it is quite likely we would have been bored out of our skulls.

However after having spent Spring Break with the kids in Chattanooga, we were playing catch up on work.

While in Tuscaloosa, we stayed at Avalon RV park which was really just a gravel parking lot with RV hookups. By far the least aesthetically pleasing place we’ve stayed, but the Verizon signal was strong and that is really what we needed that week.

After a long week of work we were pleased to leave for greener pastures. We were headed to Vicksburg, MS. Earlier in our journey we had traveled through the Vicksburg area, but only in Smaug (our dinghy) while completing our journey on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The last time we were here, we really felt that Vicksburg was a place that we’d like to come back to.

Vicksburg, called “The Key to the South” by President Lincoln is filled with history of the Civil War.

The highlights of our time here have included the tour of the USS Cairo (Pronounced Care-o) and sunrise Easter service at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

At River Town Campground we’ve been pleased to find it wide and open. The staff is friendly and we’ve found a mama bird who is actively guarding four eggs. We go take a look at the eggs daily on our walk around the campground. Whenever we approach, mama bird tries to distract us by puffing herself up, expanding her wings and chirping loudly. We don’t stay long so as not to frighten her, but it is hard not to marvel at her and her babies.

We were fortunate to have the Mobile RV Repair Service of Greywolf stop by the campground. We had suffered damage to our steps in Chattanooga and they were only left partially operable. Greywolf was able to fix our steps in about 5 minutes using some good ol’ fashioned country ingenuity. Repair cost: $40.

All in all it has been a pleasant stay. This Captain’s log entry is longer than I expect future entries to be as it is our first entry in the logbook and includes a brief mention of the past weeks. In the future I hope to post regularly to the Captain’s log in short snippets that describe our daily life. ~ E

Navigator’s Addendum

There are more sights to see in Vicksburg, MS than we’ve seen, but it’s exhausting to constantly live life as a tourist. Our rhythm is similar to what it was when we lived in Austin: work during the day, find time for errands, go out a couple days/nights each week if we feel like it, explore on the weekends, and stay in the rest of the time.

But I think it’s nice this way. We pick the couple of places and restaurants we really want to experience. And rather than it being a constant whirlwind, we’re able to actually enjoy what we do see.

We’ve eaten out a couple of times this week. The first was at 1311 Bar, which is apparently impressive to the locals, but not to an Austinite like me (sounds so snobby). Our second try was “Martinez Mexican Rest,” as the outside sign says. I don’t think I would’ve tried it otherwise, but it was recommended by a fellow Texan who’s staying at River Town Campground with us (hi, Pam!). Texans know their Mexican food (or at least their Tex-Mex), so I took Pam at her word. I’m glad I did!

Two for one margaritas between 3-7 PM, and they’re huge. Eric did fajitas and I did flautas. All very good - even the salsa. (Captain’s Note: The Navigator also did two margaritas!)

We toured Vicksburg National Military Park on a previous visit to town, so the U.S.S. Cairo Museum has been the sight-seeing highlight of this trip. It’s extremely difficult for me to believe that it consumed 2,000 lbs of coal every hour to operate! Where did they store all of it? Even crazier is the fact that only 4 of the crew members were recorded to be on coal-shoveling duty, a constant task. I’m pretty sure I read that two worked at a time…if that’s true, how many hours did they shovel every day? -B