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.