Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Over the River, but not Out of the Woods


We are at the Walmart in Vicksburg, MS. This last day of driving was a straight and relatively short shot east on I-20. After crossing the Texas/Louisiana line, we started to get hungry for a late breakfast. Truck stops are plentiful along that stretch, so we pulled into the Flying J in Greenville, LA, which has a Denny's.

After a surprisingly tasty meal, I scouted around the facility and found they had a clean, empty laundromat and easy-access RV fuel islands with dual-side pumps and convenient water spigot. Great, everything I need to get done before starting my deployment in Jackson.



We stayed another 2 hours to finish my chores, with laundry being the long pole in the tent. Godfrey is sleeping in the bedroom, and I am on the hide-a-bed sofa in the salon. To all my friends who have slept on this sofa in the past: I am very, very sorry to have inflicted that on you. I can't wait to get off the darned thing and back into my own bed. Now that I have clean set of sheets, once Godfrey is safely off to the train station on Thursday I can make up the bed and fall into it.



I put another $500 worth of diesel into Odyssey, as the tank had fallen below the dip tube of the generator. When that happens, the genny almost always loses prime and needs to be coaxed back to life. Godfrey snuck up on me while I was muttering and cursing my way through this process and took a photo.



And speaking of the generator, we have been running it at about a 50% duty cycle since we hit the hot weather. It has become increasingly clear that Odyssey's house battery bank needs replacement and can't hold a charge nearly as long as it used to. I'm really hoping for a decent power connection at HQ, or I may have to find an RV park. I can't risk air conditioning failure with the beasties on board.



After leaving the Flying J, I drove another 3 hours or so to Vicksburg. As we crossed the Mississippi River, it was swollen and ugly and filled me with foreboding. According to the NWS, at 9:00 PM Tuesday the stage was 53.2 feet. Major flooding is occurring and record flooding is forecast. Flood stage is 43.0 feet and the river will continue rising to near 57.5 feet by Thursday morning May 19.

This morning we will drive the last 30 miles to the Red Cross HQ. The technology team is moving HQ into a new facility today, and they will definitely welcome an extra body to do this work. Godfrey will spend the day on his own. I'm guessing he will take photos.

4 comments:

  1. You are quite a gal I must say. Sean is a lucky man to have a partner like you. You guys sound like two peas in a pod. I have been a follower of "our odyssey" blog for a while now and look forward to it every evening. You guys are living the dream for sure. I wish you the best in your efforts with the recent relief efforts. My thoughts and prayers are with you both. I feel like I know you even though we've never met. Again, love the blog.

    Russell Beam
    MC8, Lexington, KY

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  2. Found you a couple hours ago and I've been reading and reading. What a journey, you are doing what all of say we are "going to do someday." Putting you on my sidebar right now so my readers can follow...come visit me at Granny Mountain in the Arkansas Ozarks!

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  3. Louise & Godfrey.
    Congrats on a job well done! I'm glad to hear that it was a safe and mostly uneventful trip.
    Now as for the TRAIN STATION, Godfrey you are truly a forgiving soul to help Louise drive Odyssey (even if your part was strictly as a passenger) only to be dropped of @ the Jackson, MS Amtrak/Greyhound Station! (I wouldn't wish either of those options on anybody! LOL! )

    Well Louise you & Sean know how to reach me if you need anything I can help with and I hope that they get the 2 of you back on the same project soon.

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  4. Opps I forgot to sign the last comment !
    Bryce aka "BK"

    ReplyDelete

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