New Orleans to the Palan's - Day 14

I’m sitting at the dominoes table on the shaded back porch of the Palan homestead in Oxford, MS. The sounds of the wildlife mix with the gentle pings of the wind chime, though there is hardly enough of a breeze to sustain a tune. The porch overlooks the Palan pond and you can see the tops of the trees all the way to the horizon.

I airmailed CuzJoe home from the New Orleans at 5AM, and programmed Oxford into the Magellan. Straight back up Rte. 55. At Grenada (Kelli pronounces it Gra-nay-da), I followed signs for golf. Unfortunately, the course was packed, it being Saturday. Did you all know it was Saturday? So I took to the driving range, and based on my output, I was glad I didn’t bring that onto a course. Golf will be soon – I’m thinking Monday.

After that, I was just about 60 miles from Oxford. While heading out of Grenada, I caught signs for a scenic drive, and followed them to the Grenada Lake and Dam. Well worth the short drive. It was so pleasant that I modified the GPS route to avoid major highways. It led me off 55 to another scenic drive to the Enid Lake and Dam that were not nearly as pretty as Grenada’s, but the drive was nice. Then it was just a few more rural miles to Rte.6 and the Palan estate, where I am sipping a tall glass of ice water, and relaxing.

From here, I will be solo to TreasonPals outside Phoenix. It was great to have CuzJoe along to kick off this trek...and it will be great to set off on my own. These first two weeks, while certainly part of the Road Trip, were also as much about a vacation with CuzJoe. It is sinking in that the vacation is over, and I am now moving into the meat and potatoes of the journey, and I'm a meat and potatoes guy.