Trip, Day Two, Thursday, May 24

Up early, and had a breakfast of fresh fruits...grapes, strawberries, and oranges...with homemade blueberry muffins, banana bread, and molasses bread (made by Sis), with orange juice and coffee.

Around 8 a.m., we called the pharmacy, and I relayed the list of medications I needed. The pharmacy is on a network with the grocery store/pharmacy I use in my town, so the pharmacist was able to immediately re-fill my prescriptions, and we traveled the 30 miles to the store to pick them up.

Proving the theory of six degrees of separation, which refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth, we met the young pharmacist, who, upon learning what town we live in, commented that he used to live there, too. His father is a retired doctor, whose name we recognized, and he is acquainted with lots of folks we know.

On the way to and from the pharmacy, I noticed that much of the wooded areas are covered in invasive kudzu, making them look positively primeval.

Before we went back to the RV park, we stopped at an unusual visitor's center...an old, recycled building, with peeling paint, and a short set of railroad tracks out front. Inside, the gift shop offered everything delta, including Elvis memorabilia, and an arrangement of cotton stalks in a basket.

Back at the camper, Hubbie, Sis, and I decided to tour the area, including a discount strip mall, where there were no stores we were interested in. So we drove by a river museum and a casino we were interested in visiting later.

Went back to the camper, had lunch, and the three of us returned to the museum, which is fashioned to resemble a wave, with the intention of touring it, but discovered that they charged $9 (senior price) for admittance, so we skipped it, and just roamed around the grounds snapping photos, instead. Hubbie, Mother, and I had toured the museum a few years ago, when it was first built, and admittance was free then, so we were disappointed today.

Hubbie stayed with Mother on the porch overlooking the river. The porch featured wooden rocking chairs, though Mother stayed in her wheelchair. Before long, one of the maintenance crew announced that they'd need to vacate the porch, because staff was going to spray for mosquitoes.

Funny: at the van, after I saw that Mother was safely seated for our trip to the museum and casino, I loaded her walker into the back. But before I completed the task, Hubbie lowered the hatch onto my head. I hollered, and he quickly raised it again. I marched to the rider's side window, flung my arms up, and yelled, "What the hell were you doing?"

When I got into the van, everybody was laughing uproariously. Sis said, "The wind blew your voice away, but we definitely knew what you were saying."

Went from the museum to Fitzgeralds Cssino. Hubbie parked the car, while Sis, Mother, and I waited in the lobby. Soon, Sis spotted Hubbie approaching the lobby. Except it wasn't Hubbie. It was an older African-American gentleman dressed in khakis and a dark shirt similar to Hubbie's. He was also wearing a wide-brimmed southern style straw hat. All that Sis saw, though, were the khakis and shirt.

Hubbie arrived moments later, and I pointed out the gentleman that Sis had mistaken for him. "I don't know how you made that mistake," he laughed. "I'm not wearing a hat."

In the lobby of this casino is a piece of the Blarney Stone from Ireland. While Sis and I pretended to kiss it, hoping it would bring us good luck, Hubbie snapped a picture. Hubbie did his usual touring of the casino, while Mother, Sis, and I headed straight for the penny slots. I wasn't sure he would know where we were, so I called him on the cell phone.

"I just wanted to let you know where we are," I said.

"Okay," he said."

"Where are you?" I asked, with the intention of giving him directions to where we were.

"Not far," he said.

I turned around and found him within inches of my back. I whacked him on the arm, and joined in the laughter. Somehow, Mother and Sis had managed to hold their laughter until then. Hubbie went off on another tour, while Sis, Mother, and I sat down to slot machines.

The first ones, though, demanded that players bet at least twenty-five cents a throw, rather than a penny. We'd already put our money in, but we promptly cashed it out and moved to another bank of slots. After a dollar, though, we saw that the machines weren't going to pay, so the four of us left the casino and went back to our favorite slot machines at Hollywood Casino.

We played until suppertime, and then headed back to the camper. Wow, was the wind strong this evening...hurricane strength, Sis contended. I contended that it turned our hair upside down. It was so strong that it was hard to open the camper door.

Supper tonight was barbecue sandwiches, with chips and/or fresh veggies with salsa and cheese dip. As we ate supper, we noticed two martin birds dueling on the pavement, probably for mating rights. There was a martin house a few feet away from our camper.

Mother chose to stay at the camper this evening, while Hubbie, Sis, and I, went back to the casino. Before we went to the casino, though, I snapped a few pictures of the well-manicured golf course and clubhouse, which borders the RV park. It was a lovely sight in the late afternoon light, just before sunset.

At the casino, we played for a couple of hours, until we ran out of the money we'd alloted ourselves for gambling. Minutes before we were ready to leave, Hubbie hit a jackpot of $125, enough to pay for the diesel in the truck and the gas in the van for the trip.

Back at the camper, we were ready to hit the sack.