After not sleeping at all last night, I finally gave up trying, and got up and waited for Ron to wake up.

We got a decent start this morning, with a boost when we crossed the Alabama line into Central Time.  Most of the trip went smoothly until we got past Meridian, Mississippi.  We had not made reservations because we wanted to go as far as we could before dark.  I had looked ahead on the net and found that there were several campgrounds and RV parks in the area, so I wasn’t worried about not finding a site.

Around 4:00, we saw a sign for National Forest information office and decided to check it out since it gets dark so early.  After we got off the exit, we realized it could be miles down the road, and we didn’t have that much time before the sun went down.  So Ron asked for directions to a campground at a gas station, and they directed us 7 miles down the road to Roosevelt State Park.

Problem is, we went a little way and saw a campground sign, so exited too early onto a very narrow, curvy road that went on and on.  With no place to turn around.  Finally Ron pulled over when we found an area with a solid looking shoulder.  It wasn’t solid.  As our tires spun and slung red clay mud all over the Aliner, we REALLY prayed that we wouldn’t get stuck.

We started inching forward, and at last were on the road.  We continued until we saw a house with a wide driveway.  Too frazzled to be overly concerned with protocol, we made a wide swing into their driveway and were able to turn around and head back toward the interstate.

Bear in mind, I had no sleep the night before, so wasn’t communicating very clearly.  When we came to the poorly marked interstate junction, Ron started turning left into the oncoming eastbound traffic lane  instead of left into the westbound lane.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” I screamed, freezing him into confused shock.

We survived, and managed to get onto the westbound turn lane.

Shortly thereafter, we found the exit to Roosevelt State Park.  It’s close to the interstate and very easy to find.