Days 158 & 159: Rocky Springs Campground, MS

Alea has scheduled her knee replacement: it will be done on January 24th.  We'll soon be receiving a packet of pre-op instructions, which will determine how soon before that date that we will need to be back in Boise (for any needed pre-op appointments).

Running the generator so that the air conditioner can cool off the cabin.
At Rocky Springs Campground.

We used our second day in Jackson, MS to attempt to get the van's flat tire fixed and get the spare tire back where it belongs.  No dice.  The hole was too large to be patched.  So we've ordered two new tires from Walmart (which allows us the buy a tire with better tread wear characteristics than what we were offered at the local tire store) and will get them installed in Marshal, TX (probably on the 9th of September).  Our spare is an exact match to the other four tires (it is a full size spare), and we'll be doing low speed driving on our trip across Louisiana.  So we should get there without incident.  If we have another flat before then, we are hoping that our can of Fix-A-Flat can handle it.

I got my bike back.  $175 for maintenance on both bikes: $50 for Alea's chain, $90 for my new bottom bracket, $25 to true my rear wheel, plus tax.  The good news is that, short of the derailleurs and one wheel, all of my bike parts are now close to new.  So hopefully we won't have any more unforeseen repairs for a while, since the same is true of Alea's bike.

I rode 34 miles to Rocky Springs Campground (free, flush toilets, water available), where we camped for the night.  This is one of the three National Park Service primitive campgrounds on the Natchez Trace.  It's also the one with nasty brown drinking water, though we've met plenty of people who drank it and lived to tell the tale.  All the same, we made certain our water tank and the water cooler were topped off before leaving Jackson, MS.

We have had many reminders that we are definitely in the South.  While at Mayes Campground I took Lana over to a boat ramp so that she could swim a bit and cool off.  I looked around for any warning signs about alligators and found none.  We only played a short while.  Lana is not very buoyant, and rides low enough in the water that she swallows a lot of water.  This stuff was a murky green, and I had visions of her having diarrhea in the camper later that night if she ingested too much.  That evening I was sitting out beside the lake when I spotted a 3-4 foot long alligator.  So we were both glad that Lana hadn't played in the water long enough to become a tasty gator snack.

Another reminder was that Alea and I have both recently pulled small ticks off our bodies.  And right after we arrived at Rocky Springs we started getting bug bites around our ankles - red bug!  We sprayed with DEET right away, and I don't think any had burrowed into our skin, but we'll be keeping an eye on things, just in case. 

We think we've found an easy way to add an awning to our van without having to purchase an expensive rack system.  We'll be working out some design details and can hopefully find someone in Texas who can help us fabricate the needed wooden bracket for attaching it to the roof of the van.