Woohoo, entry number three. Don'tcha just love me to bits? Yeah, I knew you did.

The drive to Jackson was farily uneventful. We drove. *chuckles quietly* I did my co-pilot duties well enough, tho I must admit, when someone is not used to having a co-pilot, it takes a little getting used to.

We drove East on 20. For a long, long, long, long time. As we drove past the Tyler exit, I waved and said "Hi Jade" in order to truthfully report to one of my RP friends that I had waved to him. *grins* I did the same on the way back too... but that's beside the point.

So, we got into Louisiana... Charles told me that I got to see, first hand, swamps. *laughs* I was watching the trees and water along the highway for hours on end, hoping that I might actually catch a glimpse of an alligator. *grins* I even asked Charles if I'd see one. He said that the area was too close to the freeway... that there aren't really any that close. *pouts* And I wanted to see one.

However... I did get to see water... granted, it was kinda muddy brown in appearance, but it was water. I watched the road as we were driving and the thing that just .... dunno... was so obvious to me was that I felt completely and utterly Rainman-esque. I actually thought about taking my carmera out and shooting some pics of the road, bridges and trees'n'stuff like Dustin Hoffman in the movie Rainman. *chuckles*

Definately, Definately. *grins*

We came to a stop in Vicksberg (sp) just after crossing the Mississippi. The river was almost half a mile wide at that point. It was interesting to see the riverboats and all that. OF course, I've never been that impressed with "sight seeing" and both Charles and I were pretty much focused on our destination instead of the stuff along the way... *shrugs* Neither of us were all that interested in looking at the scenic areas.

I think we only made like three stops or something between Dallas and Jackson. I don't remember exactly. When I'm on a road trip, I tend to stop only for bathroom breaks and long enough to stretch my legs. I really don't like taking three days to go 1000 miles. I"d rather do the straight through thing.

Next year, I'll have my liscense reinstated, as long as I can figure out why EXACTLY my liscense has supposedly been suspended... so Charles and I will be able to take turns driving. That way, when one person starts getting road tired, the other can take over and do the driving part and give the current driver a break.

If all goes really, really, really well, Russell will be joining us. That would so totally rock. I think Russell would really like the whole SCA thing. Regardless... I'm getting way ahead of myself.

So, after Vicksberg, we finally made it to Jackson. We stopped for lunch at a place called Little Tokyo... It was okay and all... But that was the beginning of my undo-ing. *chuckles* OKay, so that might be an exageration...

I, yes, me... this huge, red headed, opinionated, sometimes-a-stick-in-the-mud type person.... I tried sushi.

*shudders*

I tell you now... I will NOT ever try Whitetail sushi again. Eewwww, that was just.... eewww. It, ya know... tasted like fish. icky. BUT, as a traitor to everything I"ve ever held dear... I liked the little taste of Unagi I had. Unagi is something I would try again. Honestly.

And, for those of you who are wondering... Unagi is Eel. I liked the little bit of a taste I had. Never again with the white tail, but I'll try Unagi next time. AND, as I told Charles, I'll try some other kinds of sushi too.... not today, but next year, yeah, I"ll try some other kinds of sushi. Perhaps by Gulf War XX I will have tried all the kinds of sushi Little Tokyo serves. *grins*

We got to Jackson about an hour ahead of schedule. Maybe only 45 minutes... but close. We were supposed to meet up with a few of Charles' friends from when he still lived in that general area. Now, as a point in Charles' favor... he DID warn me about one of the guys. *chuckles*

I met three of his friends... But, if any of them are reading this (yeah right, like that's gonna happen) I'm sorry guys, but I've forgotten your names... Most likely you've forgotten mine too... so we're even...

I remember the name Rob, but I'm not exactly sure which friend that was... I think Rob was the teacher... Chemistry and Biology? Chem, for sure... I don't remember if he was both Chem and Bio or what... Anyway... He was just recently married. He was polite, quiet and respectful. He came off as a nice guy. Then there was.... *thinks*

I keep wanting to say Roger, but I kinda don't think that was it... He was the guy that sat next to me. Clean cut... it seemed as if he were on a lunch break and had a limited amount of time. He was rather brusk. Had a continual efficiency of movement. He's involved in business... but I don't remember what kind... I'm not sure if he's into computers, or if he's got an actual "office job" or what... I just don't remember.

Then, there was Walter. Now, he's the one that Charles warned me about... Seems Walter is supposedly a self-proclaimed cassinova of sorts. Walter came across as fun, energetic and extremely opinionated. And not a whit afraid to announce his opinions to the entire world. *grins* I like Walter. I'd love to get in on some good conversations with him... but I still don't... well, I guess trust isn't the right word...

Dunno... Walter struck me as the kind of guy who could turn on you at the drop of a hat. If you said something that struck him wrong... then you'd be number one on his shit list. I could be very wrong about that... but that's the impression I got from him.

Again... I almost instantly liked Rob. He seemed to me to be a more quiet, subdued man. He has a wild streak in there somewhere, but the impression he put across was that of a soft-spoken, patient man. Hell, to be a teacher, he'd have to be.

Walter tho... *laughs* He's had many different jobs. He came off as an ex-cop, biker, real estate broker, private business man all in one. And all at the same time. He had a pack with him. I think he doesn't go anywhere without it... but I don't know. I believe that Charles said Walter kept his "office" in that bag. Dunno... the memory is a little hazy.

Still... I"d like to meet up with these guys again. I'd like to be able to sit and watch... listen to them and possibly join in the conversation a bit. I was really kinda nervous about coming off as something... well... I don't know... as a "damned Northerner". See... I'm not officially a Yankee, cause I don't come from the North East. Since I'm from the Great NorthWest!!! (TM) *grins*, I'm kinda... well... dunno.

I was just a little nervous about maybe looking as if I were condescending.

See... because I tend to use some big words at times... and because I do tend to talk alot at times, I'm often seen as being condescending. I really, really don't ever intend to come off like that. AND, it was of vital importance that I not embarrass Charles by making some stupid gaff. Especially after that whole thing with his Sister. *laughs at herself* I'm sure, if I asked Shari, she wouldn't even remember it... but I do.

Gah, and how's that for tangents within tangents?

Anyway... I was hypersensitive about NOT offending Charles' friends, so I kept my mouth shut most of the time. His friends were cool tho. I understood how Charles got to be friends with them. I liked seeing that side of him. I like meeting the friends of my friends. It gives me a broader picture of who and what my friends are.

So... the friends having been met... the meals having been consumed and directions to the BRAND NEW Super Wal Mart outside of Jackson... we took off, heading toward yet another rendezvous with the Super Wal Mart deity.

I don't know what the difference was, but on THIS trip through Super Wal Mart, we were in and out with all our stuff inside half an hour. It was great. Wonderful. Refreshing to be so easily taken care of. AND, that meant I had a sleeping bag and wouldn't have to freeze my toes off. *grins*

I'm contemplating stopping here, but I think I should just fast forward a little in order to get to the actual camp ground... I'm a little tired, but I want to get into the actual event soon. Hmmmm

Okay... we made it from Jackson to Hattiesberg without too many problems. THere was a lot of road construction... and there was a LOT of limbs and stuff on the ground. I mean... it looked like a good, old fashioned wind storm had ripped through there not too long before we drove through. And ya know what? It had. There'd been little tornadoes all through that area that were a part of the storm that we'd followed out of Dallas. Interesting neh?

I don't know the power of the tornadoes, I don't know how big they were or how nasty. As we drove through, I didn't think anything of the danger of twisters cause I'd seen wind damage like that quite often. Hell, every spring and fall we get some nasty-ass wind storms up here and there are branches and leaves and all, all over the ground and roads. Trees fall and buildings suffer some damage... I wasn't worried about it.

Until Wednesday night... but that's another story and for another time.

Charles had said that one didn't get "wind damage" in Mississippi. That if there were enough wind, that meant there had been a tornado. *shrugs* I didn't actually think about that. Hell, I was picturing 60 mile an hour winds. Nothing new to me. Hell, if you've only got 10 mile an hour winds that's practically dead air out here. That's a mild ocean breeze. *chuckles*

Anyway... we finally got to King's Arrow Ranch, which is where the event was being held. We drove through the long and winding access road up to the Troll Booth, which is where you sign in, pay your entry fee and get your ID and stuff. That's also where you find out where you can actually camp. *laughs*

We did all that checking in stuff.... I signed all the right papers and so did Charles. We then went to find a camp site. *sighs* That was a pain in the ass. If you've pre-registered, then you can camp in one of the group sites. IF you haven't, then you're stuck camping in the Open Camping area. *sighs* Well... we had forgotten to pre-register. So we were stuck, as Charles said, at the "ass end of nowhere". *laughs*

It was nearly a two block hike to get to the nearest port-a-potty and almost half a mile to get to the bathhouse. *shakes her head* It was almost three quarters of a mile to get to the center of activity and such. *grins*

Next year I'm DEFINATELY pre-registering. Very definately!!! Definately, definately!

*laughs*

Definately... 246 toothpicks... definately.... Judge Wapner... K-Mart sucks... *smirks*

Sorry, another Rainman moment.

So, Charles, being far more experienced in this whole camping thing... he started putting up the tent. I sorta stood there, looking stupid. Hell, I didn't know how to put up a tent. The last time I"d gone camping was when I was 15. And other people had put up the tents.

So, I helped as best I could, but was basically just doing grunt work. "you want me to what? Oh, okay... put slot A into hole B... I can handle that. Um, where's slot A?" That kinda thing. *smirks*

We got the tent up, shuffled all the rain-damage-able things inside it and then Charles went to park the car. Now, that was interesting in and of itself. I don't know how damned far the car was, but it was definately a hike for him. He's in FAR better shape than I am. Hell, he didn't complain even once about having to cart around the gimp (me, for those of you who weren't paying attention).

Anyway... the tent was up, I was inside, trying to settle a few things... getting the gear stowed as well as I could. Tho I didn't really know what to do exactly, I sorta winged it. Charles didn't laugh at me when he got back, so I'm imagining I didn't do too badly. *chuckles* But, we finally got the stuff set up. We grabbed a quick dinner of Summer sausage, cheese and fresh French bread and then pretty much crashed.

I was really, really surprised at how comfortable an air mattress would be. It shocked me. Specifically because I'm so big I figured an air mattress would just... ya know... be like a sheet or something... but it was really comfy. And, even tho I sleep on my side, it was still comfy. *chuckles* Of course, I DID have my tiger stuffie to be a source of comfort. *grins*

And yes, I carted my tiger stuffie all the way from Long Beach to Hattiesberg. It was well worth it. Hell... I sleep with that thing every night, I wasn't gonna be able to sleep at all if I didn't have him with me.

So... Since I'm already feeling myself fading, I think it would be a good idea for me to just close this and begin again on another day.

I can barely keep my eyes open. I don't know if I'm going to be online too much later, even. I might just have to go downstairs, let the Joey-kins out then crash for the night. I do want to talk with Russell, but I don't know if I'm really able to actually concentrait long enough to keep the computer on. *chuckles*

And I know that made absolutely no sense. I'm exhausted and a little bleary eyed. I still haven't quite recouperated from the trip. It'll be another week or so before I feel back to my usual strength level. The past two weeks took a lot out of me.

But, as I told my Mom during the drive from the Airport back to the house... I'm exhausted, I hurt, I ache in every part of me, but I'd do it again in a heart beat. I'd go right back out there to do it some more. I had an absolute blast.

Tomorrow I"ll tell you all about my ankle.

Oh, and I have a doc's appointment for Tuesday. Good deal in my opinion!

Love and all to you and yours, friends. Peace unto thy hearts.

J