We crossed into Mississippi today, and the shoulders that we were enjoying so much on Highway 10 abruptly ended, as Louisiana Highway 10 became Mississippi Highway 26 at the state line. All of a sudden there were no shoulders to speak of, both sides of the road were lined with tall grass, the traffic was heavy with fast moving cars and log trucks, and we became aware that Highway 26 to Poplarville was not going to be an option for us. Welcome to Mississippi: Hope you live through it.
Welcome to Mississippi
The Bogalusa Public Library hadn't been able to help us with the detailed Mississippi back road maps that we desperately needed, but my Louisiana maps extended for a few miles past the state line, and they revealed a possible alternate route. We finally got off of Highway 26 (fortunately still alive) and started walking south towards another country road that would take us east. Just as we turned off Highway 26, we could see that an accident sight was developing with police cars and ambulances about a mile up the road.
We passed a house with some folks sitting on their porch, and stopped to talk with them for a moment. They shared with us some rather disturbing news: that accidents on Highway 26 are a common occurrence, and that our "possible alternate route" was going to kick us back onto Highway 26 a few miles up the road. We were going to have to get some Mississippi back road maps, somehow.
We trudged on up the road knowing that we were going to be walking on 26 in few miles, and I spent a lot of time praying those few miles and wondering what we were going to do. Sure enough, in a few miles this quiet country road turned back to the direction of the highway, and our quiet country walking experience was about to end.
A man on a tractor was coming behind us, and as he passed us, he stopped to ask us what we were doing (as most people who stop usually ask.) We told him about our walk and our Highway 26 dilemma, and he agreed that it would be a bad idea to try to take it all the way to Poplarville. He offered to ride home on his tractor, get his truck, and take us the remaining ten miles to Poplarville. He was confident that someone would have the maps we needed in Poplarville, either at the college or the chamber of commerce, and we accepted his offer.
I really don't like to take rides, because we are walking across America, but I don't really like getting hit by log trucks or walking ten miles in tall grass hoping that I don't step on a copper head or a rattlesnake either. God was clearly giving us a way to get the maps we needed, and I figure we will more than make up the ten miles winding around on country roads the rest of the way through Mississippi. We found the maps that we needed at the junior college here in town, and we met a nice man named Hiram who is letting us camp in his hay field outside of town.
Tuesday, October 23, 2001: Poplarville, Mississippi
We decided to spend the day in Poplarville to regroup and spend some quality time at the local wash-e-teria. The humidity has been very high, and we've been plagued with some early morning fog the last few days that had most of our gear fairly damp.
A dog that Hiram calls "Roxy" has been keeping us company at our hay field campsite today. Hiram told us that someone had dropped her off on the side of the road about four months ago, and he has been feeding her ever since. We have really enjoyed having her around.
Roxy
Friday, October 26, 2001: DeSoto National Forest, between Silver Run and McHenry, Mississippi
We've been walking about ten miles a day the past three days on the windy country roads of Southern Mississippi. We passed though the little community of Progress on Wednesday, through another little community called Silver Run on Thursday, and finally into the DeSoto National Forest today. We are having trouble finding places to camp in the woods in Mississippi, so I've been looking forward to reaching the National Forest.
Most all of the woods we have been walking through until tonight seem to be owned by the lumber companies, have been leased to hunters for $5 an acre, and are now cluttered with many "Posted: No Trespassing" signs. This means that we have resorted to knocking on doors, explaining our story, and asking for a back yard to camp in. I love to camp in the woods, but the back yard camping approach has been working just fine and has given us the opportunity to meet some very nice people.
Wednesday night, at the door we knocked on, we met a man named Grady who was happy to let us camp in his back yard. He told us that he was going to church at 7:00 that evening, and that gave us just enough time to bathe in the Wolf River, eat some stuffing and tuna, and join him for church. In the morning, he invited us in for coffee, and his wife, Joyce, cooked eggs and toast for breakfast before we walked on down the road. We didn't end up getting on the road until around noon that day, because we were having such a good time visiting with them.
Joyce and Grady
Thursday night, we camped on Tony and Tina's land, in Silver Run. They have been very kind and let us take showers and do our laundry in their home. They also drove us to the very back of their land last night so we could camp in the woods next to the Wolf River. Tina cooked us breakfast this morning as well, and again we enjoyed visiting and started walking around noon. Eggs, toast and grits were on the menu today. Yumm.
Tomorrow we will be walking another seven miles to McHenry, where we are going to call a Christian radio station in the Gulfport-Biloxi area. We received an e-mail a few days ago that said they would like to do an interview with us this weekend.
We made it to the little town of McHenry, Mississippi on Saturday afternoon, and called a man named Roy at the radio station. Roy didn't have time to do the interview until Sunday, so he called his friend Brother Blair, the pastor of the Covenant of Peace Church in Gulfport, and Brother Blair came out to find us. The people of the Covenant of Peace Church have been so kind to us this weekend. We have enjoyed worshiping and fellowshipping with them very much.
The first thing that struck me about Brother Blair and his friend Brother Andrew, when they came to pick us up in McHenry, was that they both had an extraordinary amount of joy. They had taken a break from painting a widowed woman's house (a typical act of kindness that they do with some other men from different churches every Saturday) to come get us, and they refused to let us sleep outside tonight. We were taken to a Best Western in Gulfport and given a room for Saturday and Sunday nights. It has been two weeks since Brandi and I have slept indoors, and we feel very blessed. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven," and we have been praising God for the joy and kindness that we have seen in these men of God.
We have truly been blessed here in Gulfport, Mississippi. This afternoon, Roy picked us up at the church and took us to the radio station for our interview. Tonight ,we had the pleasure of soaking our tired bodies in the hot tub, but not for too long, as we didn't want our callused feet getting soft. Tomorrow, we walk on.
We crossed into Mississippi today, and the shoulders that we were enjoying so much on Highway 10 abruptly ended, as Louisiana Highway 10 became Mississippi Highway 26 at the state line. All of a sudden there were no shoulders to speak of, both sides of the road were lined with tall grass, the traffic was heavy with fast moving cars and log trucks, and we became aware that Highway 26 to Poplarville was not going to be an option for us. Welcome to Mississippi: Hope you live through it.
