Falls Lake, Durham, NC

October 23, 2002. Well we caught the Interstate somewhere south of Richmond and got as far as Falls Lake State Recreation Area, just north of Durham, North Carolina. There we found one of the most ideal camp sites ever. We had virtually the whole campground and lake to ourselves. The weather was perfect, the last day of good weather until we reached El Paso.

The next day, October 24,  it was raining of course so we continued our journey heading down I-85 toward Atlanta where we would catch I-20 which would eventually take us most of the way across the south and hook up with I-10 just easterly of El Paso. We camped at Lake Lanier Islands Resort Campground, which was poorly maintained and managed and overpriced. Other than that, it wasn't so bad.

October 25, 2002. Guess what? Raining again. Here is what it looked like from the van::

We drove through Georgia and Alabama and into Mississippi where we found a KOA near Meridian. On Saturday, the 26th, we got to the beautiful (not!) town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and checked into a motel so we could spread out, dry out, and hopefully watch the PSU-Ohio State game. We managed two out of three. We had to go to Harrah's, a "riverboat" casino to catch the PSU game because the local ABC affiliate apparently thought the Texas-Iowa State game was more important.

Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg was the site of an important Civil War battle that took place at around the same time as the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Once Vicksburg fell, the Union controlled the Mississippi River.

October 27, 2002. RAIN AGAIN! We toured the Battlefield sticking mostly to the van. Well the Battlefield wasn't sticking to the van, we were.

Cool cannon, huh?

Another cannon shot. There were many types of cannon used at Vicksburg. Each used different technology depending on whether it's purpose was to sink a ship, pound a fortification, strike a distant or near target or just make a lot of noise to scare people.

If you read this, you will know more than most people know about the Battle of Vicksburg.

Reconstructed Confederate fortifications; One of the ten zillion monuments strewn about the Battlefield.