December 28, 2014. 200 Miles of Rain and Poverty, Little Rock to Vicksburg MIssissippi

December 28, 2014.  200 Miles of Rain and Poverty, Little Rock to Vicksburg, Mississippi.  It rained overnight in Little Rock.  It rained all day and it is raining now.  The water table, here on the banks of the Mississippi River is close to the surface.  That means the ground is soaked and soft.  Several of the sites here in Magnolia Campground are closed due to flooding. 

It was nearly dark when we arrived in Little Rock last night.  We didn't really know where we were in relation to the City of Little Rock.  We awoke to find ourselves nearly in the shadow of the Clinton Presidential Library.  We did not wait for it to open, but did drive by for a picture or two.  Chihuly refers to Don Chilhuly, renowned glass artist.  The picture above is taken from Wikipedia. 

The drive to Vicksburg is through one of the poorest parts of the states of Arkansas and Louisiana.  The towns still feature homes which are referred to as "shotgun shanties", so called because it was said that you could shoot your shotgun through the front door and blow the contents and occupants out the back door.  Typically, the shotgun shanty consisted of three rooms, a living room, a bedroom and a kitchen-dining room.  My scoutmaster, his wife and five children lived in a shotgun shanty in Trumann.  There were probably hundreds of shanties in Trumann.  We saw scores of shanties today, many of which appear to be inhabited. 

We crossed the Mississippi River from Louisiana to Mississippi at Vicksburg.  The plan was to visit the battlefield today.  We decided to postpone that activity until tomorrow because of the rain.  We stayed in T-Harvey this afternoon and watched the Chiefs defeat the Chargers.  No matter.  The Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs all the same.  Their season is now over.

We will visit the battlefield tomorrow, then move on to New Orleans and the WWII Museum on Tuesday. 

Oh yes, it appears that our friend, Fred, has a pharmacy in one of the small towns through which we passed today.  Fred is ubiquitous.   Chances are, he will show up again somewhere on this trip.