Memphis, TN

Well, actually, we're in Southaven, Mississippi, just a few miles south of Memphis. The rent is cheaper here....

We left Red Bay yesterday at about 11, after checking with an rv salvage yard for a part for the broken washing machine. No luck on the part, but at least we had the opportunity to ask. Mississippi state highway 23, the Tammy Wynette Memorial Highway, took us south to US 78/I-22. Tammy was born in Mississippi, in the country just a few miles from Red Bay, so claims Red Bay has her hometown. US78 runs through Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley, and Blue Springs, the home of the assembly plant for the Toyota Corolla in the US. From there the highway runs through miles and miles of farmland, mostly planted in soybeans, and then on into Southaven in almost a straight line to the EZ Daze RV Park. We are in site 10, the same site we "lived" in several years ago when we were here and it is still a very nice park. All interior roads are paved, and the sites are concrete with grass all around. The dog park is a huge fenced area around the catch pond for the parks storm drain system, so I imagine it contains water at times, but now it is beautiful grass with steep sides. Sasha loves running up and down the "hills"!

This morning, after Sasha had her morning workout in the dog park with a boxer and a schnauzer, we left to go south. We didn't have much of a destination in mind, but soon stopped in the little burg of Hernando, named for the leader of the DeSoto expedition that went through here in the early 1500's. DeSoto is the first documented European to cross the Mississippi River. In any case, in front of the Hernando County Courthouse, on Saturday mornings, local vendors get together for a farmer's market. Since we were there, we stopped and walked around.

We got into a conversation with a gentleman who was a retired military officer. He is cutting and selling specialty hardwood for use with smokers and grills. He had apple, peach, hickory and osage orange wood for sale, and gave us a small bag of apple shavings. The profits from his sales go into his grandson's college fund, so it's a good cause!

Leaving Hernando on US51 going south on a Mississippi Scenic Highway, we were enjoying the green fields and groves of trees when we came to a "road closed" sign. Turns out that a bridge is out; the best way out was a return to Hernando, but we couldn't do that....After visiting the town of Love, Mississippi and crossing I-55 several times, we found ourselves right where we started from...Hernando. It's great to get lost!

We ended up in Tunica, Mississippi, a small town that has evolved into a casino/gaming center on the Mississippi River. We stopped at Fitzgeralds to enjoy their lunch buffet, and rolled out of their vowing never to eat again!

Just adjacent to Fitz's is the Tunica River Park. This is a nicely done area to look out over the mighty Mississip!

The River is a mile wide here, and about 40 feet deep, although that varies with the seasons. We missed seeing a couple of river barges pushing their cargos upriver.

After a looping return trip along the Great River Road, we cut through the south part of Memphis and returned to Nessie. Sasha was waiting anxiously for her afternoon walk. We promised her a run in the dog park when the sun goes down!