Day 16
I had overheard Ken last night asking Don what time we were planning to hit the road today. Don answered that he had found it totally unreasonable to set a scheduled time for almost anything. When it happened, it happened. Thinking about it, I could understand his reasoning, except for essential things like feedings, treats and walks, which really should happen on a fixed schedule. So, this morning, Don slept in and Geri did my phony paper routine and made my breakfast. We got ready to leave, and Geri took me for my morning walk while Don did the disconnecting of water and electricity and (ugh!) sanitation lines and hooked up the truck. It was drizzling a little bit, but I didn’t mind. We finally left about 10:30 and headed east toward Jackson, Mississippi. At Jackson, we turned southeast on highway 49 toward Hattiesburg, where we turned on to highway 98 to go to Mobile, Alabama. We drove non-stop across Mississippi, which was very pretty country, without seeing a single rest area. About four hours after we left Vicksburg, we crossed into Alabama. Still no rest areas. I was beginning to get worried. No, not so much about me, but about Don. He says I have a bladder with the capacity of Lake Powell (I’m not sure where that is), but I know that his capacity is somewhat smaller, like maybe a poopie bag. But he kept driving. We finally made it into and through Mobile, passing what Don called a “really beautiful Battleship”, after having rejoined our beloved highway 10. We kept going until we got to a turnoff and went a little way to the RV park they had chosen to stop at. I was glad to be able to get out and walk around a little bit, and to mark some territory that was near the coach. Geri and I went for a walk, and met the park hostess, who was riding around in a golf cart. She was nice enough to point out that our headlights were still on. When we came back, Don was stewing over not finding a cable connection for the TV. Geri informed him that there was no cable service, and he had better put up the antenna. He did, but the results were not satisfactory to either him or Geri. There was more discussion about the satellite antenna, with the use of words that dogs really don’t know about; the result was that Don broke out the computer and printed an email that he had gotten several days ago after he had a conversation with the antenna manufacturer. He started fooling with the TV again, like he had done so many times in the last few days. In a few minutes, he had obtained the satellite signal and got us totally back in the menu. Don was dumbfounded, Geri was elated, and I was happy that they were happy. In reality, I couldn’t have cared less.
Don and Geri had leftovers for dinner, and I got some good plates and bowls; see, I get not only the plates that they eat from, but I get the containers that the food was in while it was in the refrigerator. It’s a really good deal for me. Don went over to the bathrooms and showers to take a shower after dinner. He came right back, because they were all in use, except one, and a young lady had shown up at the same time as he did, and he let her use it first. He told Geri that she had offered to share the shower with him, but Geri didn’t believe him. A while later, he went back to the showers and came right back again; they were all being used. Geri suggested he use the shower in the coach, though I had heard her tell him awhile ago that he probably wouldn’t fit in there. I guess he needed a bath and grooming enough to agree with her, and he went into the shower. When he came out, he said that it was better than the cold salt water showers that he had when he was a midshipman on the training ship. That doesn’t sound good to me. I went over and sniffed him, and he smelled OK. I guess it worked. I don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow, but I certainly will let you know tomorrow night!