The drive from Nashville, down through Alabama and then west over to Tupelo (Mississippi) was a WET one. It was as if the rain clouds were following us as we traveled south, when the radar was clearly showing them travel north/NW. Shout out to Adam who navigated it all so effortlessly.
It wasn’t until the rain cleared when we encountered our first scary close call collision. No, not with another vehicle. A domestic ANIMAL. Ironically, Adam had just told me he was enjoying the scenic side roads as opposed to the big highways. We then started down a large hill when I hear him say “uh-oh…”. I look up to see two large dogs attempting to cross the freeway. One had made it over to the median before the car ahead of us passed them slowly. Our RV booking down the road at 75MPH had a bit of a tougher time slowing down, as we noticed the smaller of the two dogs (probably a puppy) had backtracked over to the ride side shoulder again. Then, just as we passed at about 25MPH, he BOLTED directly in front of us and I let out a loud shrill.
Time seemed to halt. Everything instantly fell silent. Adam and I both nervously looked into his side mirror to see that the pup had crossed over safely, uninjured. We let out a simultaneous exhale. I was so traumatized, I moved out to the back of the cabin with Maia and didn’t speak for 10 minutes.
Once we safely arrived to our stop for the night, Tombigbee State Park, we had plenty of daylight left! We posted up at our corner spot and Adam began preparing chicken on the campsite grill. Erinn, Maia and I walked over to the playground to explore and let go of stagnant energy from the eventful drive.
The playground was empty but a fun break for Maia. They had a beach volleyball court and even some old school monkey bars! Upon walking over to the smaller of the two playgrounds, Erinn was preparing to walk back to the camp site when she suddenly jumped towards Maia, picked her up and started smacking tiny black dots off her legs. I looked down… Maia had stepped DIRECTLY into a very active black ant hill! They were swarming up her legs as we patted her down like a dusty carpet. One we were sure we got all the ants, I inspected the dozen or so red dots that were starting to form on her skin. I even got a few battle marks from the kerfuffle.
NOW we were ready for a serious break. Back at the campsite, I set Maia up with a doll dress up toy while we prepared dinner. We even got her to bed semi-early so we could sit out, tell stories and play cards. Something I personally haven’t had much of a chance to do yet on the trip, always chasing after the little one and getting her down for bedtime. A katydid kept returning to say hi to us throughout the evening. Frogs sang their songs throughout the night.
Next morning, we were up and out by 10:30am to visit Elvis’ birthplace nearby in Tupelo. We did a quick tour of the outdoor areas (including his tiny home where he was born), made wishes in the memorial fountain, and gave a statue of young Elvis lots of hugs.
The Welshs Voyage West! 