Shreveport to Vicksburg and a Visit to the Civil War

We awoke early and having noted the condition of our oil we used the Garmin to locate a Service Station nearby and called. Though not equipped for a big rig the owner operator was game and changed the oil in the engine and the generator in about two hours. He was a great young man. Neat as pin before during and after, rubber glove, rag over the filter orifice in the generator while waiting for a part, all the while managing several employees. I was impressed and when his dad wandered in, I told him so. His dad is a retired cop and we had a good conversation about genealogy- our Irish and "Dukes Mixture" pedigrees. The engine was running fresh when we started out across Louisiana to Mississippi.

Vicksburg, MS is the site of the turning point in the Civil War and so we visited the National Park and just saw a fraction of it. The lady Park Ranger pulled up a record on my Great, great grandfather William Miles Neal and printed them out. She also located my Great, great grandmother's brothers. Now I have the units they served with. A man was there who was also interested in the same things and we looked in a rare and out of print book with the history of each unit. Of course I took pictures. I would have liked to have spent more time and may another time make a multi-day visit.

We had enough time to make Jackson, MS before dark so we left and began another adventure. I noticed some oddities in the driving behavior of the "Fair Elante." The cruise control would take hold, then surge and release. As we got close to Jackson she seemd to be losing steam and the engine was revving more. As we pulled into Wal-Mart it was obvious she was sick. And so was I. Half the country from home and we were in trouble. Nothing to do but camp overnight and call for help in the morning. I did sleep well- to forget and the slow realization in the morning was another downer.