Winter Travel, Mississippi Part One

Oh, so beautiful to wake up to sunshine and the Mississippi River, complete with a barge, out my front window!

So began a couple of days with our dear friends in Natchez. Unfortunately, I was so busy enjoying the time together I forgot to take pictures with them.......

Thanks for the "warm" welcome, Bennie and Bobbye!
(Check out that deer above the mantle.)

I just had to take a quick drive past the Turning Angel at the Natchez City Cemetery;

George humored me : )

Here's a little info on the story behind the angel. Read the other two entries and you will have a clue as to why this cemetery nut can hardly stay away.
Some day I would like to take an official tour.

And yes, Jake, the Mississippi River IS wide!

Work awaits, so we had to move on to Macon, MS. George got up the first morning after we had gotten situated in a campground and started out the door thinking, "Well, I won't be seeing any barges this morning." He looked up and this is what he saw.

We had situated ourselves at a campground that is a part of the Tenn-Tom waterway, the Pickensville, AL campground, and were able to see the boats up close and personal as they made use of the opportunities provided. There were the barges, with names like My Pelican, Chippewa, Terah Huckabee, and my favorite, Crimson White. It was thrilling to me to hear that low rumble during the night. I would get up and watch the spotlights sweep the shores, boat all lit up with various colored running lights......the thoughts that went through my head.....

And, there were other boats to watch -

pleasure boats,

fishing boats,

and the best one, the boss's boat!

Mr. Gaunt, in charge of purchasing at the the sawmill, brought his 1948 Century wood boat out to the campground just so he could take us for a ride. His son and family were camping out there for the weekend so he and his wife came on Sunday afternoon and brought the boat. What a beauty. Mr. Gaunt and his (then) eleven year old grandson completely restored it. After the boat ride we were invited to join the family for BBQ beef sandwiches, fresh catfish, fried dill pickles (yum!), and brownies around the campfire.

Backing up a bit, the young man by the boat is Mr. Gaunt's son, John. When introduced to us, here's the conversation that followed:

John       "Mr. George, my Daddy thinks you just might be a 

                Christian."

George  "Well, I try."

John       "Well now, that's not going to do you any good at all!

Me          "It's all about grace, isn't it?"

John       "Yes mam, Miss Jan. It is all about grace!"

Smiles all around and from that point we knew we were with family.

Around the fire that evening we learned that the elder Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt had been missionaries in northern Brazil when their two boys were little. He was a "jungle pilot" for 5 1/2 years, flying other missionaries and supplies into the regions where they were serving. They were stationed far enough into the jungle that they had to order all their own supplies six months in advance, including fuel for the plane. Yikes! Everything was delivered by riverboat. They returned to the States when her father passed away and her mother needed their help.

Needless to say, we had a most blessed evening around the campfire!

Isn't our God great?