In the boondocks...and loving it

Peace and calm is everywhere in the Homochitto National Forest.

We’re in the boondocks of Mississippi and loving it. Homochitto National Forest is an old-growth forest, with pine trees stretching 140 feet into the sky, magnolias and oaks and a campground that’s a little piece of heaven. There are three other campers in our section of the forest. We have 50-amp electric and water on a flat piece of land. And we pay $13 a n­­­­­­­­ight. No one needs more than this!

We’re about forty miles east of Natchez on the Mississippi River and we’re pretty isolated – no internet, very marginal telephone service and a little lady who met us at the end of a four-mile road into the forest. She’s a volunteer who has been here all winter in her splendid isolation. She told us the best places to

park for a couple of nights.

We wandered down to the edge of Clear Springs on our first evening, sitting in the golden light of a setting sun. A pair of locals were fishing for brim, with a fallen branch in the spring that carried about 30 turtles. Sun glittered off the water and through the bullrushes, with spring busting out all around us. Blossoming trees – dogwoods, azaleas - and fragile little white violets and bluets glowed in the final hour of sunlight. We’re in heaven.

We can pick up NPR radio for Mississippi but not much else. And that’s just fine.

We’d driven a long day from Alabama where we stayed a couple of nights in Escapees Summerdale Plantation  Park. This is a huge development with a massive community hall where we joined the other residents for a chili and chicken dinner. All services are available there – with the exception of the swimming pool. This huge pool has been closed for the winter because the solar-powered heating system i­s broken, resulting in water that was too chilly for the old geezers.

On our way to Summerdale, we found our Honda Fit, which we tow behind the motorhome, refused to start when we pulled into a rest area. We got a lithium-ion jumpstart from a fellow traveler out of Montreal. An hour later, when we pulled off the interstate at a Walmart so we could purchase our own battery jumper, we park alongside the same Canadian couple. He asked if we wanted another jump!

We purchased our new lithium ion jumper and, when we returned to the rig, we opened the box. Oh-oh. The box was empty. We returned to the store to complain that we’d just spent $74 for an empty box. The manager was suspicious but issued us a credit and we found a box with the proper battery inside it. We were thankful that we hadn’t driven off down the road with our empty box.