March 19, 2024
We did most of prep for leaving on March 14 (Thursday) and we were able to pull out of Flat Creek Family Campground and RV Park on Friday (March 15) at 9:30 am.
The drive started out pleasant enough. We pulled into a rest area on I-10 to for a bio break and verify the rig was still looking good.
We continued on our way along I-10. The reflection on the truck window does mean some of the pictures didn’t come out the well.
We crossed into the Central Time Zone in the middle of the Apalachicola River.
We saw this truck with a trailer driving at highway speeds along the shoulder for several miles.
The rest stop before Pensacola, FL has a jet on display. I love the road bridge design in Pensacola, Florida, Home to the Blue Angels.
We left Florida and crossed into Alabama on I-10 over the Perdido River.
As we got closer to Mobile, AL, we hit stop and go traffic for about 10 to 15 miles until we were through the tunnel and onto our exit heading to I-165.
Nox woke up and looked around since we came to a stop. I was able to get some good shots of roadside flowers and some birds in Mobile Bay.
We were routed onto AL-198 W, since Hwy 98 was closed at the Mississippi border. Al-198 becomes MS-198 and then runs into Hwy 98.
We crossed into Mississippi and fueled up at a Love’s Truck Stop at Lucedale,MS. As we headed to Hattiesburg, MS, we drove into a major thunderstorm.
The storm slowed us way down, Bruce was creeping along at 30 miles an hour.
We drove through the storm before we got to Hattiesburg, MS. As we got to Hattiesburg, we saw signs warning that there was road construction on the exit to Hwy 49 from I-59.
We decided to exit onto Hwy 49 from Hwy 98 and drive through Hattiesburg.
We passed the sign for William Carey University. When Bruce and I were students at University of Southern Mississippi, it was William Carey College.
I didn’t get any pictures of Southern (University of Southern Mississippi) as we drove past. Trying to take pictures through the driver’s window just doesn’t work.
We arrived safely at Dry Creek Water Park in Mt Olive, Mississippi.
Blackberry Homestead 
I am glad you made it safely through all those travel obstacles, especially the heavy thunderstorm. Hope you enjoy your new spot.
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The thunderstorm was scary! We were exhausted when we got in.
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Oh, my, hello Southern neighbor! That was some ordeal–have driven I-10 from Florida to MS a few times now. How long will y’all be in Mississippi? We had some rain off and on the last few days, and 27℉ this morning, but sunny and pretty nice up here today.
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We are in Mt Olive until Friday, then heading to Vicksburg for 10 days. Then on to Arkansas for the total solar eclipse. We’ll be there for two weeks. Then we’ll be traveling back to Jekyll Island for my father-in-law’s 90th birthday. After Jekyll, we’ll start heading to Golden, Colorado.
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Seems part of that was pretty dicey! Glad y’all made it safely. I wonder what was with that one vehicle traveling so fast on the shoulder.
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Thank you! We never did figure out why someone would drive at freeway speeds on the shoulder when traffic was fine. Maybe he was road crew?
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What is a Purple Alert? Did you make that whole drive in one day? 😳
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A purple alert is for a missing person. They provided the car description and license plate information. We did make the drive in one day. It was long and hard on me, so I can just imagine how hard it was on Bruce, since he was driving.
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Thanks to my eyes, I’ll probably never go more than 20 min from home for the rest of my life. It makes me marvel at those who can do great things like drive all day!
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We prefer to only pull the rig 3 hours, but sometimes things just don’t work out. Just driving the truck or riding the motorcycle is different. We can go 6 to 8 hours, though Bruce can go more.
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That storm looks pretty daunting! And I hope Dry Creek Water Park stayed dry enough. I’m sure you’ve seen the photos on my blog of the inaccessible camping areas. Sigh.
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I saw the flooded roads pics in your blog post! It was really something!
The storm was daunting and we were so glad to drive out of it. Dry Creek Water Park drains well, so even though we got another downpour on Sunday, we had a dry site.
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Glad you weren’t flooded out!
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