From Louisiana to Ohio we go.

The states are in need of money, Mississippi is one of the states that have closed all of their Rest Areas.  There is not one that is open even to park for a few hours rest.  So if you are traveling the Interstate in Mississippi here are the "New" Rest Areas.  They have had to put them in the construction zones, but the back up in the traffic is long enough to do the "job", so to speak.

As you will notice, there are two available along this stretch of Interstate construction zone.  With all the back up, there is enough time to do the "job", so to speak, before the traffic starts to flow again.

The Bass Pro shops are interesting back in this neck of the woods.  They have a large lake (we call them ponds) in front to test drive the boats.  Then adjacent to them there is a fish restaurant.  The whole thing appears to be a small village.  I wonder if you can catch your own fish for dinner at this place?

When there is any road construction in the South, quite a bit of it is bridges.  They have to build them for roadways, for a lot of the land is swamp, marsh, river bed or just plain water logged. The equipment they use to build the bridges is huge.  The weather was starting to build up, and when it starts to storm everything comes to a halt.  Also take note there is another "road side rest area", or should I call it a "can"?  Well, you know what I mean.  At least I hope you do.

It takes a lot of time to build a bridge.  As you can note, there is so much rebar that goes into the frame work.  Each piece is placed one at a time, before the cement is poured.  I hope that they just take their time in constructing the bridge, for when a truck goes across it carrying 80 thousand pounds, it would be helpful to know that it will be still standing.

As we were leaving a storm came in with a vengeance.  I couldn't believe that there were motorcycle riders out in it.  But, then again, it came up so fast that I guess they were caught in it.  We could just  see them ahead of us.

They finaly found an off ramp and headed for cover.  Why I have no clue, for they couldn't get anymore wetter than they already were.  I would take them days to dry out, but then again they could head for Oklahoma and they would be dry in no time.

Neighborhoods are like any other in the cities we pass through.  There is the strip malls and garages, fast food and restaurants all together.

Where the people live are mostly the same in the South.  What I like about many of them are the large yards in the older neighborhoods.  You aren't on top of each other, as you are in the newer developments, now.  I have never seen so many deep blue painted homes as I have this time.  Blue and pink are predominant colors for homes.

The mechanics are always busy, changing tires do to the the lousy roads.  There have been some stretches that would jar your teeth right out of your head.  No wonder there is so much road construction going on.  I guess the DOT finally got tired of hearing all the complaints.

One thing I can say for the South, many of the buildings are colorful.  Some of the buildings appeared as if they were ready to collapse.  You see a lot of the African influence in the artwork on the sides of the buildings

Trucks broken down in construction zones are not happy sights.  It slows down the traffic and can take twice as long to go any  distance.

Speaking of distance.  Since we left Henderson, Nevada, to date, we have traveled 3,200  miles. (one week) 

Tomorrow we will be going through Elvis's hometown, Memphis, TN.  They are proud of him, for you see many buildings, streets and schools are named for him.

So, until then, we will see you On the Other Side.