It wasn’t the perfect morning for photos, but it was a great temperature and it wasn’t raining. The Arkansas Welcome Center that I stayed at for the night opened a little early and I was able to get a cup of coffee, do a few things on the computer, and have a great conversation with Martin. I find that as I continue on my journey, talking with people along the way are giving me such insight on a lot of things, not just the area I am visiting. Martin shared a remarkable story of how he got into working there. It was amazing and inspirational. If he reads this blog, hopefully he will email me. I would love to share his story with everyone, but I don’t want to get the details wrong and I would like his permission first.

I took his advice and stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center not a half hour away. It resembled the paddle boats used on the river way back when. There I got to speak with Emma, who also had an interesting reason for working there; as she was taking a break from her career to regroup. We spoke a bit about a few different things of shared interest and then I looked around the museum that was housed upstairs. People in this area are sure easy to talk with.

I could have stayed longer at both welcome centers as I was enjoying the conversations, but I did need to travel about 250 miles for the day. I also wanted to make the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Mississippi while it was still open. I had until 5 PM and it only opened at 1 PM, so I should have had no problem getting there in time.

On my way, I saw a sign for a petrified forest that was on an official looking sign, the brown ones along the highway. I thought it said National Landmark, so I turned off to check it out. It was less than a mile out of my way. Mississippi Petrified Forest was work the diversion. It was an ideal experience. There was a small entry fee, but there was the AAA discount that helped a bit. The trail was only about a half mile long so I could get some exercise, take my time to take some photos, and still make it to Jackson with plenty of time. There was something about the smell of the place that was so gratifying.

By 3 PM I was at the museum where I spent about an hour and a half mulling about the place. There was a lot of information to take in so I am not sure how much sunk in, but it was a nice experience and history that I learned in primary and secondary education came to mind. It made what was taught back then make more sense or made it more real, I’m not sure which. When I had reached my saturation point I took the short drive to the current Mississippi Capitol building to get a couple of photos then headed on my merry way.

The flooding in this area is no joke. I have been fortunate not to have seen devastation of homes and businesses, but the distance water has traveled from its “normal” resting place is ridiculous. There was one spot while driving that I looked over and saw barriers indicating not to go that way. The country road just ended . . . ROAD then WATER, no warning. Further along driving past farm after farm I saw a lot of sections flooded. They do grow rice here so I thought maybe it was a rice field. Wrong time of the year of that though. That clicked when at one point I couldn’t see the divisions of the fields.

There may be rain tomorrow, but I hope not for the sake of these communities. This one got a bit long. I will call it a night for now.