Travels and travails

I have a friend who blogs. She's quite a good writer and very dedicated; she updates her blog daily. Even when they travel, each morning she takes time to give a rundown of everything they saw and did the previous day. Even though I may not find the minutiae of her family as fascinating as she does, I admire her perseverence.

Suffice it to say, I am not this friend. I blog and write sporadically. And I do not bore people with the mundane details of my daily life.

(My God! you're saying. You mean you actually spare us the boring parts? Then what is this crap I'm reading?)

We left town Saturday morning, heading east, then north, on our vacation trek. We made it to Vicksburg, Mississippi, by mid-afternoon. I'll spare you the historical details; it was a big battle, a siege that lasted several weeks. But wait —— you probably already knew that. Anyway, we enjoyed the film and the visitors center and enjoyed the drive through the battle field. It's huge.

Spent the night in Jackson (and listened to the Man in Black serenade us), got up Sunday and headed north. Stopped in Oxford —— drove through the Old Miss campus (prompting one daughter to query: What is it with you two and college campuses?). More importantly, we visited the grave and home of William Faulkner, which, again, elicited yawns from the girls. Soon enough they'll appreciate Faulkner; they'll be thanking me for this pilgrimage someday. We then drove on to Shiloh. The film there was better —— who knew that grainy color footage of the actual battle existed?!? The park has more hands-on demonstrations; the girls got to be part of a crew that loaded the cannon, and we all participated in bayonet training. Kitschy, yet fun. And we drove through the battlefield. We also drove through Tupelo; had I seen signs for the birthplace of the King I would have stopped, but alas, no brown historical marker to be seen.

My image of Mississippi has always been extreme poverty —— a state that ranks 50th in everything. But the parts of the state that we saw were charming. I guess the depressed areas are hidden.

Today we've spent visiting friends in Lafayette. It's been fun for us, fun for the kids. Makes me miss our life here. It's been good to visit. We probably should have stayed longer, but then you risk staying too long. And there are others on the itinerary who get sort of pissy about how much time they get. Such a delicate balance we must strike.

Next stop: DeSoto, Missouri. Is it as exciting as it sounds? You bet.