Ohio, Tenn, and Mississippi

After leaving PA I headed back to Ohio.
On the way I stopped in Burbank to meet mum and grab some food. Then headed down to Columbus and stayed with Lauren for a few days. Unfortunately she had to work while I was down there but we got to hang out for a bit after work which was fun! :)
From there I headed down to Nashville, Tenn to stay with Karen. I went downtown to see the Parthenon

It's a replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece

Beautiful Details


On the grounds there was a beautiful park!






From there I went down to Broadway and 2nd where all the shops and restaurants are, it's a really neat town, music floating through the streets, delicious food smells all around. Only a few signs of the flood remained, the Opry was closed, and a few windows on the strip had signs.

The architecture was pretty awesome as well!

The combination of the old brick buildings with new style buildings created a unique scene. This photo looks like an alien spaceship landed in Nashville!





When I got back Karen and I grilled steaks and had a nice relaxing evening! The next day I headed out, after building a bookshelf and Karen loaded me up with tons of food for the road! :) It was fantastic!

My next stop was Grenada, Mississippi. "hello mother, hello father, here I am-a, camp Grenada." haha ok maybe I'm the only one who found that funny. Online, I found a pretty state park there to camp the night before so I made reservations only thing was I had to be there by 4. From Nashville there was about a 5 hr drive so it was going to be close "30 minutes, it was going to be close" So I left about 10:30-11 ish so I had time to stop at JoAnne Fabrics to get some canvases and there was a Staples next door so I sent my dear Staples-ers a store-to-store fax :) I hope they liked it!
Finally I was on the road! After about 3 hrs of twisty turny roads I made it to Memphis where I realized I would barely make it on time, but I pushed on, staying optimistic and singing to the radio full volume. About 75 miles from the camp it was 3:45(even after the time zone change) so I call them to see if there's any way possible to check in later than 4 and they laughed and said you made reservations don't worry about check in. o_O So I took my grand old time the rest of the way!
When I got there I drove around and checked out the sites, the lake there goes on forever! It's very beautiful! I then stopped at the ranger station and got my pass and directions to my site. When I got there it wasn't quite what I expected, I was thinking I was getting a regular campsite, ya know, grass, place for a tent, etc., turns out it was a hard dirt/paved RV spot. Always making lemonade I decided it was an opportunity to try out my nifty cap-bed-sleeping-area I have set up!

After I arranged everything and made some ramen noodles (thank you Brittany!<3) I started painting for a bit and a guy drives up in a golf cart and starts asking me about a camper that was for sale next to my campsite, I had no clue about it so we start chitchatting and he said he and his wife were making a big pot of Gumbo and that when his wife got back he'd send her down to pick me up! So I continue painting for a while kinda thinking they forgot about me then she pulls up and we chat for a bit then head over to their site where they're having a family get-together and everyone there was so nice! I had never had gumbo before but OMG it was so good! And there was garlic toast to go with it! Mmmm. Then we all chatted till it got dark so they made me a to-go plate for the morning and took me back to my site. It was Southern Hospitality at its finest! When I got back to my site I noticed one of my camper neighbors sitting outside on a picnic table in the shadows, so I continued doing my thing always keeping half an eye on him just to be sure. Finally I was ready for bed and he was still out there so I figured if I don't introduce myself my mind will wander to worst-case scenarios all night and I wouldn't be able to sleep and it'd be all bad so I head over there to say hi (with my mace and whatnot, don't worry!). So I say hi, introduce myself, and make small talk for a bit. Turns out my neighbor is a retired border control guy who moved up there from Texas and now lives at the camp full time. So we talked for a few hrs and I learned about his family and views on border control (we should have open borders, it's a lost cause, basically like the Speedy Gonzalez cartoons) and about the campsite (apparently most people stay there full time and it's like a big family) So after I knew I was safe I went to bed (with my knife I my pocket) and slept surprisingly well for being in the back of my truck. I only woke up once when the raccoons decided to get in the trash and cause a ruckus. When I woke up my neighbor was making coffee so I joined him for a cup then headed out toward Louisianan!
View of the lake early morning style. All those dots are dragonflies, they were out there in swarms, I felt bad driving through them but there was no avoiding hitting them. It was really awesome!
Now time for my next adventure!