Monday, December 6, 2010
Well, I decided to stay in the tent last night, although the truck stop was tempting. I set the tent up about 100yds in front of the truck stop, which was convenient for this morning. When I set up the tent, it was dark, and the place I put it was a little "slanted", left to right. Front to back is ok, if not extreme, but side to side is annoying.......I kept rolling off the padded mat. It was colder last night, but not unbearable.....maybe upper 20's or so. I packed up this morning and headed to the truck stop for breakfast, wash up and shave, and do a little computer stuff. Left there around 8, heading east with no particular destination, although Pelahatchie appeared about a day's walk away.
I passed through a small town called Flowood, and didn't see much there except a prison (appeared to be minimum security). Hwy 80 is 4 lane through this area, with a nice shoulder to walk on. But, not much to see as the center of the towns are not on 80. I've left parishes behind in LA, and now back to counties. Also down this way, and in LA, liquor is sold by private businesses, and not the state as in VA and NC. Around 11 or so I came to Brandon, and stopped at a convenience store for lunch. Decided to try another one of those pork chops, this time without the bread. It was getting a little warmer, so I used the restroom to take off my long underwear bottoms. I don't like walking in them unless it's extreme cold. Put them in the seat beside me while I ate, then walked out and left them there!
I'd walked about a mile up the road, and a car pulled over in front of me, and I recognized the woman from the convenience store. She was smiling and handed me a bag with my underwear. Her name is D. Brown, and she said, "I wasn't going to let you stay out in this cold without these!" She could just as easily thrown them in the trash, but tracked me down and returned them. I thanked her several times for her kindness. I would hate to be without these tonight. Brandon does have a nice downtown that hwy 80 goes through. Once through town, 80 narrows to 2 lane with no shoulders......but not much traffic either.
I continued along, and a car pulling a horse trailer stopped, and the driver hollered out to me, "I know you, you're the walking man. I follow your blog." Someone had told her about the walk, so she started following it. We talked for a few minutes and then moved on. The most dangerous time for me walking now is around 3-5pm. Cars coming toward me are looking right into a low sun, and many times do not see me until the last minute. If traffic is heavy, I sometimes switch to the other side of the road. I walked further and two women stopped alongside and asked where I was headed. I said NC, and asked if this was the way. (that always causes people to pause and think for a minute.) One of them said yes, but it's a long walk. We talked for a few minutes, one of them handed me some money for the trip, and then we went on our way.
As I walked over a bridge, I looked to see what water was there and a young buck deer was drinking from the creek. Had spike horns, watched me for a minute, and then went into the woods. Think that's the first deer I've seen since NM. Before long I was entering Pelahatchie. It has a creek, but not a river like Pearl. I spotted a couple of guys at a garage, and stopped to ask about camping spots. They said it was too cold to sleep outside tonight, so one of them, Joe Wilkerson, offered to let me stay at his place.....about 2 miles east on 80. He has an old Greyhound bus which he is converting, and said I could sleep in it. So, I walked the 2 miles, as about the time it was getting dark, came to Joe's house.
He ran an extension cord from the house to the bus so I would have lights, but there was no heat. I'm not sure the bus is warmer than the tent, but I do have lights and a mattress. So, this is were I'll be tonight. Joe Wilkerson and his old bus is what this trip is about. Maybe tomorrow morning I can get a picture.
Well, I decided to stay in the tent last night, although the truck stop was tempting. I set the tent up about 100yds in front of the truck stop, which was convenient for this morning. When I set up the tent, it was dark, and the place I put it was a little "slanted", left to right. Front to back is ok, if not extreme, but side to side is annoying.......I kept rolling off the padded mat. It was colder last night, but not unbearable.....maybe upper 20's or so. I packed up this morning and headed to the truck stop for breakfast, wash up and shave, and do a little computer stuff. Left there around 8, heading east with no particular destination, although Pelahatchie appeared about a day's walk away.
I passed through a small town called Flowood, and didn't see much there except a prison (appeared to be minimum security). Hwy 80 is 4 lane through this area, with a nice shoulder to walk on. But, not much to see as the center of the towns are not on 80. I've left parishes behind in LA, and now back to counties. Also down this way, and in LA, liquor is sold by private businesses, and not the state as in VA and NC. Around 11 or so I came to Brandon, and stopped at a convenience store for lunch. Decided to try another one of those pork chops, this time without the bread. It was getting a little warmer, so I used the restroom to take off my long underwear bottoms. I don't like walking in them unless it's extreme cold. Put them in the seat beside me while I ate, then walked out and left them there!
I'd walked about a mile up the road, and a car pulled over in front of me, and I recognized the woman from the convenience store. She was smiling and handed me a bag with my underwear. Her name is D. Brown, and she said, "I wasn't going to let you stay out in this cold without these!" She could just as easily thrown them in the trash, but tracked me down and returned them. I thanked her several times for her kindness. I would hate to be without these tonight. Brandon does have a nice downtown that hwy 80 goes through. Once through town, 80 narrows to 2 lane with no shoulders......but not much traffic either.
I continued along, and a car pulling a horse trailer stopped, and the driver hollered out to me, "I know you, you're the walking man. I follow your blog." Someone had told her about the walk, so she started following it. We talked for a few minutes and then moved on. The most dangerous time for me walking now is around 3-5pm. Cars coming toward me are looking right into a low sun, and many times do not see me until the last minute. If traffic is heavy, I sometimes switch to the other side of the road. I walked further and two women stopped alongside and asked where I was headed. I said NC, and asked if this was the way. (that always causes people to pause and think for a minute.) One of them said yes, but it's a long walk. We talked for a few minutes, one of them handed me some money for the trip, and then we went on our way.
As I walked over a bridge, I looked to see what water was there and a young buck deer was drinking from the creek. Had spike horns, watched me for a minute, and then went into the woods. Think that's the first deer I've seen since NM. Before long I was entering Pelahatchie. It has a creek, but not a river like Pearl. I spotted a couple of guys at a garage, and stopped to ask about camping spots. They said it was too cold to sleep outside tonight, so one of them, Joe Wilkerson, offered to let me stay at his place.....about 2 miles east on 80. He has an old Greyhound bus which he is converting, and said I could sleep in it. So, I walked the 2 miles, as about the time it was getting dark, came to Joe's house.
He ran an extension cord from the house to the bus so I would have lights, but there was no heat. I'm not sure the bus is warmer than the tent, but I do have lights and a mattress. So, this is were I'll be tonight. Joe Wilkerson and his old bus is what this trip is about. Maybe tomorrow morning I can get a picture.
(The picture above is the Christmas tree in downtown Brandon.)
I bet the car pulling a horse trailer was my cousin.
ReplyDeleteI thought I left a comment yesterday, but I don't see it. Anyway I think what you're doing is waaaaay cool! And i think it's cool to bump into you here in cyberspace. Good for you, Jeff! I have tons of admiration for your trek!
ReplyDelete(Oh by the way, this is your ol' WB cohort! retiring today, by the way).
ReplyDeleteMorning Jeff,
ReplyDeleteFrom Monroe, Ouachita ( Waa-she-taw )Parish, La.
Howard Cosell used to call it Ow-wa-chee-ta and I heard our friend " Dandy Don Meredith " teach him how to say Wa-she-taw . Bless both their souls.
Hope the bus was kind to you last night. Ole Buddy, Bill from Ft. Worth, sent me a picture of the Meridian area forecast for the rest of the week. You got a 19 degree night, coming up so I hope you can find another bus or maybe a motel ?
The past couple nights, out here in the country, we had Big Frost. Looks like you could cross country ski on it. They are even saying we may have a little snow move thru our area around 3 a.m. tonight. Reckon we'll just have to wait and see.
Sure glad you got your Long Handles back. Such a sweet lady to bring them to you ! I am really impressed at your following so gonna worry less about you, ok. If you need help, from afar, just HOLLER at me,
Later, Mick
yOU'RE DOIN' GREAT!
ReplyDelete