Where Are We Sleeping Tonight: Puskus Lake campsite, Holly Springs National Forest, Mississippi After we checked out of the Ritz, we drove down Bourbon Street to head out of New Orleans - I still can't get over how quiet it is here during the day! We saw more buildings damaged by Katrina that have just been abandoned - it is more than a little sad to see. One day we will definitely have to come back to New Orleans... We arrived at Oak Alley Plantation, a stereotypical southern plantation, just before lunch. As it was a hot day and we would be here for a while, I decided to leave the car windows open a little bit, to stop it getting too hot inside. Then we were off on a fantastic tour of the grand old house. Our tour guide, dressed in period clothing), was very informative - I never knew that people were taxed on the number of rooms. She added a huge dimension to the tour of the house, which sadly we were not allowed to take photos in.
Strolling the grounds outside, we took lots of photos just before the most unbelievable thing happened - the sky opened and a tropic downpour of rain was unleashed! We sat in the restaurant and had lunch, hoping the rain would stop. As it continued to rain and rain and rain, I decided I had to run back to the car and drive it round so Clare (and the cameras) wouldn't get wet. Running through the squelching grass and getting drenched wasn't so bad when I realised that I had left the windows down a bit. The seat got a little wet but certainly nowhere near as wet as I was!
After crossing into Mississippi, we drove through Jackson. Due to the rain earlier, we won't make it to Memphis tonight - we will have to find somewhere else on the way. We found an icon on our mp that suggested tat we could camp at Lake Puskus in the Holly Springs National Forest. As the sun started to set and the foliage got thicker, I was reminded more and more about the Friday the 13th films. Driving along the never ending gravel road that felt like the way to the cabin in the original Evil Dead film didn't help much either. Once the sun had completely abandoned us, we arrived at the secluded campsite. And just to make things perfect, we were the only ones here... all alone... if anything bad happened, no one would miss us for weeks!
We set up the tent but because it is so hot and humid, we decided to leave off the rain cover. Then we went to sleep... then another torrential downpour of rain was unleashed upon us! We scrambled in the rain without any lights but somehow managed to get the rain cover on. I don't know if we will be able to get back to sleep as it is the most humid and hot night I think I have ever experienced!
No comments:
Post a Comment