24 Hour Animal Medical care

Sorry to report a sudden (4 day) decline in Winston's health. Tuesday he started wimpering and squeaking when he was touched on his back and ribs . By Thusday he was whimpering when we touched him and he spent the entire day on the floor of the RV wrapped in a blanket. Friday morning we took him to the medical clinic in Hattiesburg. Jannich had noticed a weakness in his back legs when going up stairs while Ruth thought that he had food poisening. We did not get good news. Between 2 disks in his back there is a swelling which is pressing on his spinal cord. This could become worse as it could rupture. He is in the Animal hospital overnight and when we pick him up tomorrow he is not allowed to jump up or down but to have 2 weeks "crate-rest". Also from now on he has to be on a leash with no running, jumping or climbing up or down stairs.

His back legs do not respond as they should and if the bulge ruptures he will not be able to walk and will need an operation. The vet said this problem would have appeared regardles of where he lived so it had nothing to do with the truck or the RV. He has seen this sudden problem occur in many Cocker Spaniels and Daschunds. From now on we will be going for slow walks with no jumping and playing We miss our little companion tonight but we will have him home for Christmas.

Talking about Christmas, this evening the 22nd of December Jannich went to the largest joint forces army camp in the south. We are in a State park just 15 minutes away and some evenings and nights we can hear heavy artillery fire from their ranges.
Camp Shelby is the camp where all military train before going for training in Texas and then from there go overseas. Tonight the 155th infantry returned from Iraq having been there for 1 year. What a wonderful experience to see the families welcome these brave sons and daughters home.

Packing Christmas Toys

We located the Salvation Army Church in Hattiesburgh and decided to help them with packing the Christmas parcels. Due to the Hurricane damage in this area the requests for help have increased from just under 2000 to 2500 FAMILIES asking for help. These are not food hampers but rather Christmas gifts for the children. The people who donate in Mississippi are so generous that the parents will not have to buy anything extra this year. The first day we worked at the church we felt very satisfied and rewarded when we returned to our mobile cabin. The Major at the SA Church told us that CNN news people parked their RVs on the SA grounds and drove to the gulf to cover the disaster. Inland towns and cities like Hattieburg were all but ignored. Here blue tarps cover roof after blown off or tree damaged roof and large trees are swirled into a tangle. People were trapped in their homes for a minimum of 3 days without information or assistance and most did not have hydro for up to 3 weeks.

Sunday we attended the service at the Salvation Army Church. A second year cadet was speaking (he will graduate as a pastor in the Salvation Army in June). We have not heard such a dynamic, no notes, meaningful message in person before. Unfortunately only about 40 adults heard this message on the Spirit of Christmas. We passed the unfamiliar churches on our way into Hattiesburgh and noted that their parking lots were full.

We have worked with the Christmas gift packing program every day since December 16th. There will be work to do until the 22nd when the gifts and food baskets are picked up. On Christmas day we plan on going to Gulfport to volunteer with the local community service organizations which are providing a Christmas dinner for those in need.

Merry Christmas to everybody in the snowbelt from the Gulf of Mexico.

Reflections, volunteering and decisions.

Upon reflection this week we have decided to help in a church with which we are familiar. We travelled the 50 miles to Gulfport to locate the Salvation Army. On a main street we saw their Christmas distribution area. It was in a large abandoned bakery warehouse. We were a little unnerved by the presence of army personel and armed security guards who greeted everybody who entered the drive by loop. The S A director of distribution informed us that people had become disgruntled and then appeared threatening because the goods they received were not what they expected.

We were welcomed to help however we could not find anywhere to place our RV. The one available spot near Biloxi was very small and twice the price we were paying south of Hattiesburg. We are not sure what to do. The spots were taken by out of area contractors etc. Jannich saw a sign on a contractor vehicle advertising shingling of roofs for the cost of $50US per Sq. ft.

Destruction and despair...

December 11th we travelled to Slidell, New Orleans back to Bay St. Louis and Gulfport, then north again to Hattiesburg.
A feeling of dread, disorder and despair could be discerned hanging over these areas like a cloud. People seemed to be going about their business and the roads were cleared of debris and of the massive trees that had been blown over but desperation seemed to fill the area.

Every place of business and restaurant was advertising for employees yet the jobs were going unfilled in spite of posted signing bonuses from $1000 to $6000 up front. Piles of rubbish lined the streets. Within a couple of blocks from downtown, in a very poor area, a woman barely visible from the rubbish waved at us as we drove by.

The streets were empty and clear of people and traffic in downtown New Orleans. After locating the very prosperous looking church complex in Slidell with which Jannich had been in touch we both felt that somehow this was not the right place for us.

Just 4 blocks away from this church was total destruction: Wreaths hanging from poles marking deaths, battered cars still on the side of the road, clothing hanging from trees, large appliances and office furniture side by side with unrecognizable pieces of houses.

We arrived back at our mobile cabin in the woods feeling quite humbled and unsettled.

December 9th. North of the Gulf...

The Paul Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg Mississippi became our next stop.
Realizing that this city of 45000 was about 50 miles north of Gulfport and seeing the destruction in the forest and on the buildings we decided to stop here to evaluate our plans.
We got the last available spot as the park was full of FEMA trailers (most of them were empty), contractors and insurance adjusters that were working in the area.
The churches dotting the countryside and town streets are numerous and are with unfamiliar names. Some we can't locate information about on the internet. We are not sure of what direction to take.

Here is an example of one of the hundreds of tall, mature trees that have been destroyed in our area of the park. Whole areas are in the process of being cleared by workers. The trees were a tangled rubble perhaps downed by one of the 18 tornadoes that touched down as the hurricane passed over. Most people here were without power for 3 weeks.

A picture of a couple of our neighbours, Henry (R) from Oklahoma and Dwayne is from Nebraska. Our RV is in the background.

December 7th. Isolated but beautiful.

Before leaving the Nashville area we visited a landmark eatery "The Loveless Cafe and Motel" circa 1951. Here we experienced our first BAR-B-Q (pork roast and hot sauce), brown beans, and GRITS.

December 7th and 8th we stayed at an isolated but beautiful state park, The Sardis Dam project south of Memphis in Mississippi. Before finding this park we pulled the RV 15 to 20 curving, hilly miles into rural Mississippi locating our destination in a very desolate economically deprived area only to discover that the sites were too small. The park personnel wasn't concerned. She said "just go back the way you came (20 miles) drive around the lake toward Memphis and maybe we can accommodate you in another park! Okay, we decided to travel further south to Sardis Dam. Here we met our first evacuee from the Hurricane area. An 80 something man alone who had left his trailer-park in Waveland on the Gulf coast when he heard the warning and who had not returned. All his friends had disbursed and the park was destroyed.

Nashville TN.... and still cold...

On Saturday Dec. 3 we had planned to take in the Christmas parade in downtown Lexington. It was advertised as the largest parade in the state of KY. However in the AM we decided that 9 AM was too early to be downtown.
At noon we visited an architually pleasing modern Library on Main Street in order to send and to receive e-mails. We located a Historical Kentucky site later; The Henry Clay House. We learned how gas lights work from the use of a fan blowing the fumes of gasoline into a house through underground pipes and thus providing gas to light their lamps. Henry Clay ran for president 3 times only to lose. The interpreter at the site stated that his policy re slavery (liberate) was not popular and is thought to be the reason he lost. Apparently slavery is a topic America is now addressing and is including it in historic tours such as this. This stop was interesting with underground conical roofed stone silos where food and dairy was kept cold all summer preserved on the estate.

Sunday December 4 we travelled to a State Park camp ground outside Nashville TN.
One Interstate exit is starting to look like the last one with fuel and fast fast food signs.

Did our eyes deceive us? ALL YOU CAN EAT QUAIL...$9.95 at the Catfish Kitchen,


We went for supper there Sunday and discovered that quail is only available Wednesday and Thursday nights. We settled for seafood platter and all you can eat fish (catfish). As an entree they served HUSHPUPPIES! (deep fried cornmeal balls with a thick crust) This was an experience and a half, first we did not get any knives to use and most people there ate with their fingers and we have never eaten this much deep fried food at one meal.

This picture is taken Downtown Nashville on a windy and cold day.

Lexington KY... still cold

Hey, the sun is shining here in Lexington, but the temperature is still only minus 2 degrees. No snow today so far.

This is a very friendly state as Ohio was. People say hello and smile at you as you meet them on the street and in the stores.

Towing the 5th wheel is not the fastest way to get around and so far we have not had any other motorist give us any grief while on the road.

We are staying at the Kentucky Horse Park at Lexington Kentucky. The view from our RV is fantastic: Rolling hills, expanses of white fences, horse chestnut trees, horses grazing in large fields and animated Christmas figures lining the road. In the evening there is a steady stream of people in their cars viewing the lights. From our windows we can see other campers but this very large RV camp ground is vertually empty because of the time of year.


Today we are driving into Lexington to explore the area and do a bit of shopping (extra large eggs at 77cents a doz).
We have discovered the merits of the KROGER card. Kroger is a large chain of grocery stores here. The first time shopping at Kroger in Ohio Ruth responded to the question when checking out: “Do you have a KROGER card?” with “NO WE ARE USING CASH” well, live and learn about discount cards.