Wednesday, June 20, 2007
June 20, 2007
I left the Wal Mart in Meridian, MS after doing some shopping, as it seems I can always buy something whenever I stop at a Wal Mart, plus I checked the fuel prices at the Jackson, MS Flying J on the Internet and found that by using my Wal Mart shopping card that gives me a 3 cent discount per gallon, I could save some money by fueling at the Murphy station at the Wal Mart, so I filled up before I left Meridian.
I headed out of town continuing using US 80 as I had before, but soon was reminded why it wasn’t a good idea to do that in Mississippi, as it is narrow and has a lot of even narrower bridges on it, so the first chance that I could get up on I-20, I did so and continued on it all the way to Jackson, MS where I stopped at the Flying J to meet and have a short visit with Dan Williams and to also change my Perkins diaper, that I’m still having to use to absorb the oil from a leaking gasket on the front of the engine. I thought that I had it fixed, by replacing the timing chain cover gasket, but it seems that there is another gasket behind another plate on the engine front that is still leaking, so I continue to use the bed diaper that is similar to a Depends placing it under the Perkins and it does a good job with the small leak that looks like a bigger one when you see the oil sitting under the engine, so I guess that you can say that I have a geriatric Perkins :o)
I left the Flying J and proceeded on to Vicksburg where I found a somewhat short campsite at the Ameristar Casino Campground, where I stuck out on both ends of their campsites, but it was where I wanted to be, so I could be close to my old classmate Bob Phillips and his wife Marianne, who came by to pick me up and we went over to the casino’s Buffet for supper, where I grazed like a lonely bull in a fresh green field. The variety of food that they offer there is unbelievable and I went away very full. It was good to see Bob and Marianne again, the last time I saw them was when I brought my ‘Bird home from Texas after I purchased it.
Monday morning I started calling local tire dealers to try to get a leaking valve stem replaced on one of my rear tires, but they all had a long waiting list, before they could get me taken care of. One of the dealers refereed me to the TA truck stop just twenty miles west of Vicksburg at Talulah, LA so I aired up the tire, that silenced the Pressure Pro Tire monitor alarm, which I had just purchased before the trip from my friend Stephen Birtles and headed to the truck stop. I got right in to the tire shop at the TA and the tire buster found that both of the right rear tires had bad valve stems, so I had both of them replaced and then after paying the $90.00 bill I was on my way.
I headed west through town on to US 80 again and drove on it all the way to the KOA campground at Shreveport, LA. I spent the night there and got up Tuesday morning and found that it was already very hot and humid out side. After breakfast I broke camp and headed over to the Flying J at greenwood, LA to top off the fuel, I figured up my average fuel mileage to this point and it was 6.6 mpg which is not bad for the ‘Bird and trailer. I left the Flying J and headed out onto US 80 again west into Texas, this was familiar territory, as it was this area that I purchased the ‘Bird a while back, plus I had escorted may loads across Texas using the same road. I took US 80, which is for the most part a decent road, that is four lanes for a lot of it, all the way to just east of Dallas, where I headed north to where I am at now, the Plantation Place RV Park at Sunnyvale, Texas. I will spend Tuesday and Wednesday night here, visiting with my Nephew Kevin Finn and his family. I will leave here on Thursday and head further west to Abilene, TX and a visit with my brother Jim and his wife Velma.
** We are both doing fine, getting plenty of treats and attention, as we give guidance to John on this trip, it takes a combined effort from both of us to keep him in line and make sure that he doesn’t get lost after all he is getting older you know. While he thinks that we are just sleeping as we go down the road, we are checking the G.P.S. on the laptop computer, to make sure that he isn’t lost, so far he seems to be doing OK, but remember that he is getting old now so we will still keep checking on him, as his mind tends to wander at times. While Cally seems to be content with just staying inside and hasn’t even tried to escape like she did at the Flying J back home, she stays inside of her container when we are driving down the road and John lets her out whenever we stop for any amount of time. I enjoy my walks throughout the day when I can convince John that I NEED TO GO OUTSIDE!!!! He is pretty good at seeing that I get to take care of business throughout the day and he even seems to enjoy the walks himself, but in the mid day when it is very hot and humid, he doesn’t want to stay out side for very long, so I guide him back to the ‘Bird, where the three air conditioners are keeping the interior very comfortable, he finds Cally and puts her into the carrier, gives us both a treat which we definitely deserve and we are on our way again, to our next destination. I will post a report again later when I feel like it.
Buddy
I left the Wal Mart in Meridian, MS after doing some shopping, as it seems I can always buy something whenever I stop at a Wal Mart, plus I checked the fuel prices at the Jackson, MS Flying J on the Internet and found that by using my Wal Mart shopping card that gives me a 3 cent discount per gallon, I could save some money by fueling at the Murphy station at the Wal Mart, so I filled up before I left Meridian.
I headed out of town continuing using US 80 as I had before, but soon was reminded why it wasn’t a good idea to do that in Mississippi, as it is narrow and has a lot of even narrower bridges on it, so the first chance that I could get up on I-20, I did so and continued on it all the way to Jackson, MS where I stopped at the Flying J to meet and have a short visit with Dan Williams and to also change my Perkins diaper, that I’m still having to use to absorb the oil from a leaking gasket on the front of the engine. I thought that I had it fixed, by replacing the timing chain cover gasket, but it seems that there is another gasket behind another plate on the engine front that is still leaking, so I continue to use the bed diaper that is similar to a Depends placing it under the Perkins and it does a good job with the small leak that looks like a bigger one when you see the oil sitting under the engine, so I guess that you can say that I have a geriatric Perkins :o)
I left the Flying J and proceeded on to Vicksburg where I found a somewhat short campsite at the Ameristar Casino Campground, where I stuck out on both ends of their campsites, but it was where I wanted to be, so I could be close to my old classmate Bob Phillips and his wife Marianne, who came by to pick me up and we went over to the casino’s Buffet for supper, where I grazed like a lonely bull in a fresh green field. The variety of food that they offer there is unbelievable and I went away very full. It was good to see Bob and Marianne again, the last time I saw them was when I brought my ‘Bird home from Texas after I purchased it.
Monday morning I started calling local tire dealers to try to get a leaking valve stem replaced on one of my rear tires, but they all had a long waiting list, before they could get me taken care of. One of the dealers refereed me to the TA truck stop just twenty miles west of Vicksburg at Talulah, LA so I aired up the tire, that silenced the Pressure Pro Tire monitor alarm, which I had just purchased before the trip from my friend Stephen Birtles and headed to the truck stop. I got right in to the tire shop at the TA and the tire buster found that both of the right rear tires had bad valve stems, so I had both of them replaced and then after paying the $90.00 bill I was on my way.
I headed west through town on to US 80 again and drove on it all the way to the KOA campground at Shreveport, LA. I spent the night there and got up Tuesday morning and found that it was already very hot and humid out side. After breakfast I broke camp and headed over to the Flying J at greenwood, LA to top off the fuel, I figured up my average fuel mileage to this point and it was 6.6 mpg which is not bad for the ‘Bird and trailer. I left the Flying J and headed out onto US 80 again west into Texas, this was familiar territory, as it was this area that I purchased the ‘Bird a while back, plus I had escorted may loads across Texas using the same road. I took US 80, which is for the most part a decent road, that is four lanes for a lot of it, all the way to just east of Dallas, where I headed north to where I am at now, the Plantation Place RV Park at Sunnyvale, Texas. I will spend Tuesday and Wednesday night here, visiting with my Nephew Kevin Finn and his family. I will leave here on Thursday and head further west to Abilene, TX and a visit with my brother Jim and his wife Velma.
** We are both doing fine, getting plenty of treats and attention, as we give guidance to John on this trip, it takes a combined effort from both of us to keep him in line and make sure that he doesn’t get lost after all he is getting older you know. While he thinks that we are just sleeping as we go down the road, we are checking the G.P.S. on the laptop computer, to make sure that he isn’t lost, so far he seems to be doing OK, but remember that he is getting old now so we will still keep checking on him, as his mind tends to wander at times. While Cally seems to be content with just staying inside and hasn’t even tried to escape like she did at the Flying J back home, she stays inside of her container when we are driving down the road and John lets her out whenever we stop for any amount of time. I enjoy my walks throughout the day when I can convince John that I NEED TO GO OUTSIDE!!!! He is pretty good at seeing that I get to take care of business throughout the day and he even seems to enjoy the walks himself, but in the mid day when it is very hot and humid, he doesn’t want to stay out side for very long, so I guide him back to the ‘Bird, where the three air conditioners are keeping the interior very comfortable, he finds Cally and puts her into the carrier, gives us both a treat which we definitely deserve and we are on our way again, to our next destination. I will post a report again later when I feel like it.
Buddy
# posted by John Finn & Buddy & Cally Cat @ 4:55 AM 
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