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1/12/2022 We are have moved into an Oasis in the middle of Jackson Mississippi called LeFleur Bluff State Park. It’s a good sized area that is home to A LOT of green space, water, lakes, a campground (of course) and…..a GIANT playground. Genuinely like no other playground you have seen before. Impossible to photograph the entire thing without an aerial view, but here is a picture I stole from the interwebz and even this one is only capturing a portion of the playground, not the whole thing. The website suggests that it was first opened on 12/10/21 (so, only a month prior to our arrival) and is 30,000 square feet in size.
1/12/2022 We are have moved into an Oasis in the middle of Jackson Mississippi called LeFleur Bluff State Park. It’s a good sized area that is home to A LOT of green space, water, lakes, a campground (of course) and…..a GIANT playground. Genuinely like no other playground you have seen before. Impossible to photograph the entire thing without an aerial view, but here is a picture I stole from the interwebz and even this one is only capturing a portion of the playground, not the whole thing. The website suggests that it was first opened on 12/10/21 (so, only a month prior to our arrival) and is 30,000 square feet in size.
It's hard to believe that I could be impressed by a playground, by this place has done it!
It's hard to believe that I could be impressed by a playground, by this place has done it!
This was Grant’s favorite by a country mile! Think of it like a zipline, but you sit in a seat and the “line” is a track instead of cable. He would revisit this many, MANY times before we leave Jackson.
This was Grant’s favorite by a country mile! Think of it like a zipline, but you sit in a seat and the “line” is a track instead of cable. He would revisit this many, MANY times before we leave Jackson.
1/13/2022 Directly across the street from where we are staying is the Mississippi Agricultural Museum. Of course, I never thought, in a million years, that I would be anywhere close to interested in an “Agricultural Museum”, but I’m here to tell you that it was really, REALLY good.
1/13/2022 Directly across the street from where we are staying is the Mississippi Agricultural Museum. Of course, I never thought, in a million years, that I would be anywhere close to interested in an “Agricultural Museum”, but I’m here to tell you that it was really, REALLY good.
Now THAT’S a rocking chair!!!
Now THAT’S a rocking chair!!!
I have decided to call this display “Certain Death Machines”. Look at these things! Every one of them looks like it was designed to kill you BEFORE you turn it on!
I have decided to call this display “Certain Death Machines”. Look at these things! Every one of them looks like it was designed to kill you BEFORE you turn it on!
Look at the one hanging on the wall. It’s an engine you wear like a backpack that drives a flexible shaft to a handheld saw you use for limb cutting. That gives new meaning to the word “NOPE”.
Look at the one hanging on the wall. It’s an engine you wear like a backpack that drives a flexible shaft to a handheld saw you use for limb cutting. That gives new meaning to the word “NOPE”.
And guess what? Even at an agricultural museum, we get to look at planes! Grant and I are happy!
And guess what? Even at an agricultural museum, we get to look at planes! Grant and I are happy!
Anyone who has seen the movie “Planes” knows this one.
Anyone who has seen the movie “Planes” knows this one.
One of the most impressive and sprawling model train displays we’ve ever seen.
One of the most impressive and sprawling model train displays we’ve ever seen.
Here’s another section of it and there is still more of it in this room!
Here’s another section of it and there is still more of it in this room!
Beautiful outdoor boardwalks through the local plant life.
Beautiful outdoor boardwalks through the local plant life.
Reconstructed, 1800’s print shop.
Reconstructed, 1800’s print shop.
Blacksmith shop.
Blacksmith shop.
Now THAT’S a rocking horse!
Now THAT’S a rocking horse!
Complete with live animals!
Complete with live animals!
....who like to smell your camera.
....who like to smell your camera.
I told you, they like to smell your camera.
I told you, they like to smell your camera.
It…….just…….keeps……happening!
It…….just…….keeps……happening!
1/14/2022 It’s Dylan’s birthday today and Grace, being the great sister she is, has made him a pinata out of an old tissue box and filled it with candy. We take turns at getting it open with an old metal pole we found outside.
1/14/2022 It’s Dylan’s birthday today and Grace, being the great sister she is, has made him a pinata out of an old tissue box and filled it with candy. We take turns at getting it open with an old metal pole we found outside.
Here’s a pro tip from me to you: don’t pack a pinata with hard candies…..oh, let’s say lollipops…..and then hit it REALLY hard with a metal “stick”. You will end up with candy confetti “shards”. You’ve been warned.
Here’s a pro tip from me to you: don’t pack a pinata with hard candies…..oh, let’s say lollipops…..and then hit it REALLY hard with a metal “stick”. You will end up with candy confetti “shards”. You’ve been warned.
1/14/2022 Just to be clear, we are staying in the same park as a 1-month old, 33,000sq/ft playground and it’s free….yeah, we’re going to go back and play a “few” times!
1/14/2022 Just to be clear, we are staying in the same park as a 1-month old, 33,000sq/ft playground and it’s free….yeah, we’re going to go back and play a “few” times!
1/15/2022 Mississippi Museum of Natural Science is also in the same park we are camping in, so yeah, we’re going there for sure!
1/15/2022 Mississippi Museum of Natural Science is also in the same park we are camping in, so yeah, we’re going there for sure!
I think Grant’s eyes are closed here. I’m not sure he quite understands how these things work!
I think Grant’s eyes are closed here. I’m not sure he quite understands how these things work!
They have a genuine…and yes, live…..2-headed snake.
They have a genuine…and yes, live…..2-headed snake.
Don’t worry, they have regular snakes too!
Don’t worry, they have regular snakes too!
This Praying Mantis sculpture was made entirely out of woven grasses.
This Praying Mantis sculpture was made entirely out of woven grasses.
1/16/2022 Vicksburg National Military Park. We’ve done a lot of Civil War sites this point and they all rate somewhere between “good” and “great”. In my opinion though, Vicksburg is the best of the best. It’s just the complete package in terms of war history site. The views, the landscape, the monuments, the visitor center(s), the signage throughout the park, the relics…..it just has everything and everything is done incredibly well. We spent (virtually) all day here and I think we were rushing it towards the end because they were going to lock the gates. This is a “Do Not Miss” kind of place.
1/16/2022 Vicksburg National Military Park. We’ve done a lot of Civil War sites this point and they all rate somewhere between “good” and “great”. In my opinion though, Vicksburg is the best of the best. It’s just the complete package in terms of war history site. The views, the landscape, the monuments, the visitor center(s), the signage throughout the park, the relics…..it just has everything and everything is done incredibly well. We spent (virtually) all day here and I think we were rushing it towards the end because they were going to lock the gates. This is a “Do Not Miss” kind of place.
One of the key elements they have here that can’t be witnessed elsewhere is the ironclad called “Cairo” (pronounced Kay-Row). Sunk in December of 1862 in the Mississippi river, it was finally raised in 1964. It wasn’t until 1977 that the display was made available to the public and the accompanying Cairo Museum was completed in 1980. It’s in poor condition for sure, but just being able to see one of these things in the flesh and get a sense of what they really looked like and how they were assembled is something that cannot be duplicated elsewhere.
One of the key elements they have here that can’t be witnessed elsewhere is the ironclad called “Cairo” (pronounced Kay-Row). Sunk in December of 1862 in the Mississippi river, it was finally raised in 1964. It wasn’t until 1977 that the display was made available to the public and the accompanying Cairo Museum was completed in 1980. It’s in poor condition for sure, but just being able to see one of these things in the flesh and get a sense of what they really looked like and how they were assembled is something that cannot be duplicated elsewhere.
The mighty Mississippi!
The mighty Mississippi!
The size of these monuments is something to behold.
The size of these monuments is something to behold.
1/21/2022 I’m walking through the woods with Bear and I see what appears to be small pieces of trash scattered around the ground. There’s a lot of it and it wasn’t there the day before. Maybe wind brought it in or ???? …..anyway, further investigation would reveal that it’s not trash. I went back later in the day to take more pictures and they were all gone! At the time, I had no idea what it was, but follow along for a little while and you’ll see it again.
1/21/2022 I’m walking through the woods with Bear and I see what appears to be small pieces of trash scattered around the ground. There’s a lot of it and it wasn’t there the day before. Maybe wind brought it in or ???? …..anyway, further investigation would reveal that it’s not trash. I went back later in the day to take more pictures and they were all gone! At the time, I had no idea what it was, but follow along for a little while and you’ll see it again.
1/22/2022 Never in all my years would I have expected Jackson Mississippi to be a place where you’d have to worry about freezing conditions. Here it is though, in the flesh. We all had to disconnect from the water spigots and campground personnel came around cracked open the valves just a little bit so they wouldn’t freeze. The frozen water spray patterns on the ground were hard for my camera to ignore.
1/22/2022 Never in all my years would I have expected Jackson Mississippi to be a place where you’d have to worry about freezing conditions. Here it is though, in the flesh. We all had to disconnect from the water spigots and campground personnel came around cracked open the valves just a little bit so they wouldn’t freeze. The frozen water spray patterns on the ground were hard for my camera to ignore.
There is a thin layer of ice over the top of this entire swampy area. Again, my brain struggles with seeing frozen water in this area of the country.
There is a thin layer of ice over the top of this entire swampy area. Again, my brain struggles with seeing frozen water in this area of the country.
The southern border of the state park is the Pearl River and they make no attempt at keeping people away from it….which is just fine with us!
The southern border of the state park is the Pearl River and they make no attempt at keeping people away from it….which is just fine with us!
1/23/2022 Today we are at a museum that is really two museums in one. The single entrance in the middle here presents you with two options: go to the left and you are in the Museum of Mississippi History or go right and you are in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Naturally, we are going to do both of them.
1/23/2022 Today we are at a museum that is really two museums in one. The single entrance in the middle here presents you with two options: go to the left and you are in the Museum of Mississippi History or go right and you are in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Naturally, we are going to do both of them.
I’ll be honest, it’s a lot to take in. It’s a lot of information, facts, figures, displays, videos, etc to soak up. I’ll spare you all the personal commentary about either place and sum it up with this quote that hangs on a mirrored wall because it’s important….
I’ll be honest, it’s a lot to take in. It’s a lot of information, facts, figures, displays, videos, etc to soak up. I’ll spare you all the personal commentary about either place and sum it up with this quote that hangs on a mirrored wall because it’s important….
1/26/2022 Back into the woods and more of this “trash” scattered around the forest floor. This time know better and can easily determine that it’s ice formation around the stalks of some of the plant. They are like nothing I have seen before….never. Genuinely unique to my eyes in every way and they are captivating!
1/26/2022 Back into the woods and more of this “trash” scattered around the forest floor. This time know better and can easily determine that it’s ice formation around the stalks of some of the plant. They are like nothing I have seen before….never. Genuinely unique to my eyes in every way and they are captivating!
Hand for size reference.
Hand for size reference.
Dylan and I have gone off-trail and found this HUGE building foundation! This was the basement of something big at one point in time.
Dylan and I have gone off-trail and found this HUGE building foundation! This was the basement of something big at one point in time.
Mother Earth is inching closer and closer to reclaiming this brick structure!
Mother Earth is inching closer and closer to reclaiming this brick structure!
Outside of flowers, it seems like the color purple is an oddity in Mother Nature’s world. I like to take notice when it’s found.
Outside of flowers, it seems like the color purple is an oddity in Mother Nature’s world. I like to take notice when it’s found.
1/27/2022 Walking down one of the nature trails, Grace spots this crayfish just laying on one of the boardwalks. Obviously dead, but how did it get here? We’re at least 4 feet from the surface of the water and crayfish aren’t known for their jumping skills.
1/27/2022 Walking down one of the nature trails, Grace spots this crayfish just laying on one of the boardwalks. Obviously dead, but how did it get here? We’re at least 4 feet from the surface of the water and crayfish aren’t known for their jumping skills.
Crouching down to investigate Mr. Crayfish, Grace spots a small black box under the railing of the walkway…she’s found a Geocache location without a GPS device. Now that’s talent! We would later go back with a pen and sign it because….well….she found it, so why not?
Crouching down to investigate Mr. Crayfish, Grace spots a small black box under the railing of the walkway…she’s found a Geocache location without a GPS device. Now that’s talent! We would later go back with a pen and sign it because….well….she found it, so why not?
Yes, back at the playground again.
Yes, back at the playground again.
Grace and Bear watching a movie together.
Grace and Bear watching a movie together.
1/30/2022 Just call him Tarzan!
1/30/2022 Just call him Tarzan!
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