I'm back

Yes, Christmas vacation has come and gone. Now it's back to work -- almost. We have an "all employees" meeting today and I've got "duty days" the rest of the week, but classes don't start until the 8th. Still, I'm back at work.

Oh, last week's roadtrip was fun. The delta is very, very, very flat -- just as I remembered. I did, though, see and do a couple of new things. First, I climbed the observation tower at the Great River Roads State Park in Rosedale, MS. It's kind of weird. There's just this gigantic wooden observation tower about 0.6 miles from the main river channel. Given how flat everything is, though, you can see for miles. I also took a path out to the river and that was kind of cool. I found a "jetty" of sorts and I was able to walk almost halfway across the river. Oh, and I skipped rocks in the Mississippi -- one more thing crossed off my life list.

After leaving Rosedale, I drove down toward Greenville. My original plan was to head back toward Hwy 61 and Vicksburg from there, but I decided to cross the river and go down the Arkansas/Louisiana side of the river. I hadn't realized it, but they're building a tremendous new bridge at Greenville. I have to go back once it's finished, but I could already tell it's going to be a gem. For the time being, though, you still have to cross on the old, NARROW bridge. Actually, it wasn't the width of the bridge that bothered me, it was the height. See, as you approach the river, the bridge starts going up, up, up. By the time you reach the actual river channel, you are FAR above the river and the guard rails are not that high. I felt really exposed up there, but the view was fabulous. Oh in case you are wondering, the AR/LA delta is just as flat as the MS side. I did, though, stop at the Panola Pepper Company. That was kind of interesting.

Of course the highlight of the trip was visiting with Angie and her family. I even got to watch Allie Kate's dance group practice for an upcoming competition. Eventually, though, I had to come back home. I always sleep better at home, but I wasn't too tickled with what greeted me New Year's Eve morning. I was awakened at 5:00 a.m. by water dripping onto my bed. I first thought Gumbo was punishing me for leaving her alone for a couple of days, but no the roof was leaking. I called Builder Bob (of the bathroom renovation) and he indicated he had a guy. No work has been done yet, but hopefully the wheels are in motion. Yep, a new roof for me. What a way to start the year.

Okay, I'm through complaining. Oh, here's a picture of the ironically titled "Full o' Love" shack I stayed in at the Shackup. [Grr, photo uploading is not working; here's a link to the picture.]