Five States in a Day! and a Boo-Boo Bumper

Gosh, we covered 517 miles today, and hit FIVE states 

 (ILLINOIS, MISSOURI, ARKANSAS, TENNESSEE, AND MISSISSIPPI)

and came close to another (KENTUCKY)

and almost made it to another (LOUISIANA)  

But NOW that there are thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and flood warnings, we hunkered down for the night in Brookhaven, Mississippi.  If Steve had his way, we would be already to Baton Rouge and checking out the gulf coast.

We started out this morning in Benton, Illinois and left about 7:30 a.m. to hit the road.  We crossed over into Missouri by 7:50 and saw a sign for Cinnabon at a Flying J.  We HAD to stop!

Besides, we needed more coffee.  

Didn't have time to perk a second pot before hitting the road. 

That is my excuse and I am sticking to it. 

Yummm what a treat!   By this time it started to sprinkle out, but we didn't mind.  It was a good way to rinse the Wisconsin road salt off of the rig and Tracker.  Little did we know what lay ahead....


For the first time, we saw diesel under $4 a gallon on this trip.  It was 3.93 at Portageville, MO.  We didn't need to fuel up, but kept that in mind for the return trip.

We crossed into Arkansas at 9:45 and then quickly crossed back over the Mississippi River into Tennessee.

As we were passing through Memphis we thought we saw something fly off a truck and heard a HUGE CLUNK on the front bottom of our rig.  OH NO!  We were winging along the twisty tight turns of the interstate as it ran through Memphis and could not pull over anywhere to check.   Our imaginations ran wild as we pictured our fuel tank hanging down or a hole blasted in our propane tank... or worse yet, a piece of frame broken and ready to collapse our rig.  Finally we got to a rest area and pulled over.

Sigh....  there was a big chunk knocked out of our front bumper fiberglass.  We searched the tires, and underbody as best we could in the rain, and decided we were VERY LUCKY-----  That appears to be the only damage.  Whew!   We are thanking our lucky stars and God above for the minor problem.  We can handle this.

It's too small to even make an insurance claim on.  A bit of fiberglass material, some sanding, some paint and it will be good as new.  Another project for Steveio this spring.  I think we should buy a big big bandaid and put it on and write "OOPS" on it.

We crossed into the state of Mississippi about 11:15 and the rains were getting heavier as we went south.  Our rig was finally blue and silver, and our Tracker was finally bronze.  The salt was gone!  We may have damaged the water table of Mississippi by all the salt brine we shed off.

We tuned into the national weather service warnings and saw what we just missed out on back in Missouri and Illinois!  Glare ice, snow and winds.... whew were we glad to be south of that!  Friends Rosie in Bethel and Sam/Donna in St. Louis are glad we didn't stop, as we would have been frozen into place for gosh knows how long.

We kept on going on I55 south, through Jackson and southward... but the storm warnings were getting worse, as were the winds and the rains.  We pulled over at a wayside near Beauregard, MS and filled our fresh water tank, walked the dogs and made a supper.  We turned on the tv to local weather stations and checked with Wunderground on the internet.  Now there were tornado watches in the area, and flooding to the north of us back in Jackson.  We drove only 15 more miles when the watches turned into Tornado Warnings.  That is nothing to fool around with!

I insisted we pull over at the next town....  even if Steveio was bound and determined to get into a sixth state (Louisiana) today.  I pulled the imaginary emergency brake on the passenger side and made him turn down the exit ramp into Brookhaven, MS.

My Mr. Zoom Zoom Motorhome Man... 

Although we had hoped to reach Baton Rouge by nightfall, it really was time to get off the road, so we pulled into the Walmart at Brookhaven, MS for the night.  In between rain showers, we ran in and did some shopping.  Although the attendant back at the rest area assured us the water we put in our tank was potable, we will only use it for showering and doing dishes.  We stocked up on bottled water to use for our cooking, coffee, and teeth brushing.   And of course the dogs drinking water.  Ever travel with long haired dogs with diarrhea???  Don't ask.  Yes, we give our dogs bottled water when travelling.

It's thundering and lightening right now, and the rain is extremely loud on the roof.  Every now and then we are rocking with the winds, but parked between two semis has helped, I am sure. We are following the weather channel and if anything is close, we scoped out a good wall along the building to drive up with the rig on the leeward side.  Then we will run into the store to a cement walled inside corner for protection.

The dogs are shaking like leaves, and even tempting them with doggie biscuits was not enough.  So we stuffed them in the bathroom where they can't see the lightening and hopefully they will calm down when it passes.   The rain is coming down in buckets now and many semi trucks have joined us here in the lot.  Smart.

We served up our own treat too.. 

some berries, angelfood cakes, whip cream and sprinkles!  

Oh my .. life on the road sure is sweet! 

517 miles traveled today, will fuel up in the morning

PS .. got a phone call from my little brother---seems my nephew Mikey is in the hospital with some medical complications and could use all the prayers and kind thoughts.