3rd of July, 2013 – Bobby and Carrie, true southern hospitality…My feet are absolutely covered in bites from my camp site last night. I was only outside of my tent for maybe 25 mins, setting up the tent and chatting to Jonathan and his family, and the mosquitos had a feast. I will have to stay away from campsites where there are water and trees, seems kind of hard hey when I am following the Mississippi river!Anyway, I headed off from Jonathans around 9am and it was obvious it was going to be another warm day, the skies were cloudless and the sun was nice and bright. By 11am I was tired and hot, the sun just sucks your energy dry, especially with a pack of 18kgs on my back. But here is the good news, and the good news name is Bobby. Bobby is a 50 something year old guy who is a police officer who patrols the levee of the Mississippi, and a southern character if I have ever met one. He stopped to offer me a lift. I asked him if there was a place in the next town where I could leave my backpack so I could try to complete the leg with just my water bottles and food. Bobby began to make some calls. Within a minute or two we were on our way to meet the mayor of Rosedale, a town about 50 kms from where Bobby picked me up. After grabbing a bite to eat with Bobby where we shared a laugh and some good stories, mostly coming from Bobby, we headed off to meet Carrie, the mayor of Rosedale. We arrived and were greeted by Carrie who after a few questions about what we were up to, offered me the use of the town hall, which has a shower, tv, air conditioning and a kitchen, you better believe I accepted, I could have hugged both of them. So with stowing my bag there, me and Bobby jumped back in the car and made our way back to the point where he had picked me up. Bidding Bobby farewell, I pointed myself south and I was off again.Walking along the Mississippi delta in summer is hard work, no doubt about it, but there is so much going on along here to keep one occupied that I would almost go as far as to say, I am really enjoying it, apart from the mosquito bitten feet and aching body. Every little river crossing I come to is littered with hundreds of frogs, all shapes and sizes, not to mention the heap of turtles sunning themselves on the banks, they have beautiful long necks and an amazing bright orange color to their necks. At one stage I stopped due to the call of nature, as I was standing there letting nature take its course, I heard something in the bushes next to me. Waiting as quietly as I could I eventually saw two little armadillos come scurrying out. They must be almost blind and have very poor hearing as they almost ran into me and it was not until I bent down and touched one that they took off towards the levee again. They are very cute, but smelly little animals.
So tomorrow is the famous 4th of July here in the USA. I will be spending it here in Rosedale with Carrie and his friends who have promised a good time and good food. Now I am off to bed and maybe even watch a bit of tv which is definitely a luxury on this trek. Let’s hope for a bit cooler of a day tomorrow
.2nd of July, 2013 – Farewell Dick and Brooke…Picture this, it is 5am, I am fast asleep, and I mean FAST asleep, dreaming of something beautiful and relaxing when BOOM, open flies my bedroom door and Dick comes running into my room yelling at me to “get up” and “get changed” “we were going to get breakfast.” I did not know what was happening at first, I was so tired and out of it and thought we must have been under attack or something. As we jumped into the car, Dick informed me that he had been up since 2am fighting a fire in the county and all the local boys were headed to the local diner for breakfast, and this bunch were not to be missed. So I was formally invited by the Tunica fire brigade for breakfast. We settled in and ordered our food and got to chattin, they were a good bunch of guys, a real good laugh and a great example of good country boys. From there Dick and I went back home to ready my gear and bid our farewells. I said goodbye to Brooke, and Dick and I hopped in the car so he could take me to the point where I finished yesterday. We arrived and at my point and as Dick put my pack on my back for me I thanked him and Brooke for being so kind to me and for being such blessings in my life. He said to me very simply “The pleasure has been all mine, and do you remember what Jesus said to his disciples when he was leaving them? It wasn’t make a lot of money, or start a successful business, no, it was feed my sheep, or in other words, guide people and help them whenever you can.” Imagine the difference in the world if we all practiced this simple advice! So I thank you both Dick and Brooke, I can tell you both, the pleasure really was all mine.
From there I headed off, feeling strong and looking forward to what the day would bring. I arrived in a small town named “Lula.” There was not a lot there, so I filled my water bottles and kept on slogging it out. From the outskirts of Lula I made my way towards “Moon bay lake” which was a good 15km stroll. As I was making my way around this beautiful lake, the midday sun started to show his strength, it really heated up, but fortunately a fella took pity on me and invited me into his house for some cool water, I must have looked like I was struggling. This refreshed me and I picked up my pace again, but the sun was still taking its toll. I had knocked back 7 bottles of water by the time I had passed the lake. I was now right near the river and heading dead south. Right here was about the time I nearly stood on a big bloody black snake, probably a cotton mouth the locals told me which is quite dangerous, so I have been a lot more aware from then on that’s for sure.
At this point I was really tired, I had already walked 32kms (20miles) and needed a rest. I found a nice little shady tree to take a nap under. I took a quick nap for about 20 mins and was as good as new, well almost. I lumbered on towards the town, or more so, a group of houses, that goes by the name of Farrell. When I was about 5 kms out of it a guy name Jonathan drove by and stopped to see if I was ok and if I wanted a lift. I told him I would absolutely love a lift, there is nothing I want more, but… I can’t accept for obvious reasons. After explaining what I was up to Jonathan offered his front yard in the town of Farrell for my campsite and also a nice cold bottle of water, considering I was exhausted and out of water, this was music to my ears. So this is where I am now, bunkered down in my tent in Jonathans front yard.
It has been a huge day, covering around 45kms and getting a real taste of the suns power at this time of year. Hopefully I will have a good night’s sleep and not wake up too tired and sore for tomorrows challenge. We’ll have to wait and see…
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