Came home to a bit of a problem…

The final leg of our Winter Trip 2014/15 went just fine. We spent our last night “on the road” at Rend Lake, IL, Gun Creek Campground..We found the same site we had on our way down was vacant so we pulled in..We liked this site because it was very level and we didn’t have to unhook. This place is also only about  5 1/2 hours from our house, not a bad drive and Interstates most of the way. 

Rend Lake had lots of rain the couple days before we got there…and Dennis “put a little mud on the tires” getting her in the hole…Last year we spent our first night on the road here too, and woke up to 3 1/2” of snow on the ground…I think Rend Lake doesn’t like the Cave Dwellers…

Our last day to drive was 60 degrees and sunny..glorious day for a trip home…

We pulled into our driveway about 12:15PM..MacGyver decided to pull in instead of back in so our Hiker door was on the right side for unloading.  We both went inside the house to check everything..It looked good, but seemed waaaay to cold in the house…Dennis looked at our thermostat on the wall and gave me a worried “Oh Oh..” Turns out our thermostat is run by batteries, and those batteries were dead as a doornail.. This does not bode well.  While I ran upstairs to check on things there, Dennis put new batteries in the thermostat and went to the basement to turn on the water…This was when I heard @#&@!##!! being yelled from our basement. I ran downstairs to find it raining through our soffet lights down onto our kitchen and on into the basement..MacGyver rushed to turn the water back off, but it had really done a number on our kitchen…Well, shucks!

Long story longer, we ran like rabbits, scurrying to find rags and mop up our kitchen..I counted 10 towels when all was said and done..And, it continued to drip for about another hour. We even pulled out the stove to mop behind it, and the basement floor had water in spots too..So much for an easy homecoming.  Oh, and I forgot to mention our kitchen faucet was still frozen (MacGyver got that straightened out) and his old blue truck wouldn’t start.  We have turned the water off to the upstairs for now, and are not using that bathroom. (This makes for a very long and cold run to our downstairs bathroom in the middle of the night..just sayin’..) Looks like we are going to have to tear out the kitchen ceiling to fix that the water pipe…I guess it’s a good thing we never started remodeling our kitchen…yet.. “What about the truck?” you ask?? Well, it needs a fuel filter or some such thing….Whatever it needs, the truck bed has to be taken out to fix it! Yep, good times ahead at the Cave Casa…

And while I’m on a rant about bad things happening, I just found out that our Sandwich Fair Association has decided to tear down our Grandstand at the Sandwich Fairgrounds… This grandstand was used for all the tractor and truck pulls and any entertainment inside the racetrack at the fairgrounds..To give you an idea of just how historic this is , here is a photo of it dated 1914.

..and that is Den’s Grama, Jenny Bark, 2nd woman from the left, with the dark hair ..in the front row…Yep, pretty historic, I’d say.

Apparently they are going to build a sticks and bricks kind of grandstand…Wouldn’t you think a town the size of this could get behind some fund raising to try to save this structure, shoring it up and making it  safe without tearing it down??? I’m just sick about this..Our fairgrounds is one of the oldest and nicest in the state..

Left, is the old structure with covered seating…Right is the grandstand from the fair side of the midway…There were also booths housed under the seats on this midway side..

And this is what it now looks like…

Nothing left..That photo on the right was taken from the midway looking toward the inside of the track. All you see is the back of the outside seating.

All that remains is the seating that was in front of the grandstand…What a loss…

“They paved Paradise to put in a parking lot”…..

So…..on a cheery note, MacGyver celebrated  his 73rd birthday yesterday..Yes, he is an April Fool…and without him I would be lost….

My own personal MacGyver..I wish he would grow his mustache back…very sexy. (wink wink)

HAPPY EASTER !!!!!!

One last “touristy” thing to do..

Right down the road from our campground here is the North Mississippi Fish Hatchery and Visitor Education Center (yep, get ready for yet another “educational” blog )…And, of course, you know we just had to go see it..I Googled it and it was only $2 for us elders and you did a self guided tour ..Why not, right?

This place was amazing..It features a 10,000 gallon aquarium, displays, interactive exhibits and artifacts.  The North Mississippi Fish Hatchery is a technologically advanced center for fish culture..Here, hatchery staff mimic the conditions of wild spawning by controlling water temperature and light levels.  Under these carefully controlled conditions, the fish can be induced to spawn at the hatchery.  March through June is the busiest time here, handling large volumes of fish. As many as 500,00 Large Mouth Bass “fry” might be present at one time.

This aquarium had Catfish, Black and White Crappie, Bass, Gar Fish, Buffalo (no, NOT the animal, the fish), Blue Gill, and a Eel who refused to peek out from his log…

Soooo, the 2 legged refection is not a Banty Legged, White Topped, Flannel Clad, Blue Jeans Fish…it’s MacGyver’s reflection. I was going for the Alligator Gar Fish.” The fossil record traces the existence of alligator gars back to the Early Cretaceous over a hundred million years ago. They are the largest in the gar family, and among the largest freshwater fishes in North America. Gars are often referred to as "primitive fishes", or "living fossils" because they have retained some morphological characters of their earliest ancestors, such as a spiral valve intestine which is also common to the digestive system of sharks, and they can breathe both air and water. Their common name was derived from their resemblance to American alligators, particularly their broad snout and long sharp teeth. Anecdotal scientific reports suggest that alligator gars can grow up to 10 ft (3.0 m) in length and weigh as much as 300 lb (140 kg).”  In my humble opinion a simple explanation of this fish is …BUTT UGLY!..

Can you imagine landing a fish that ugly AND that big???

The Museum was really great! They had old fishing poles, motors, lure, even an old FISHERMAN…Oh, woops, that was Dennis. There was a lot of info on the Enid Lake area. The Enid Dam was begun in 1947 and finished in 1952.  The Mississippi freshwaters are known for World Class Crappie, Bass and Catfish fishing. Enid Lake and nearby Sardis,Grenada and Arkabutla lakes are considered some of the best places for Crappie fishing.

They have 16 1 acre “rearing” ponds outside, and some big tanks too….

One of the tanks outside held baby Koi fish..They raise these here at the hatchery strictly as food for the bigger fish…They told us it was less costly to raise their own “fish food” than buying it elsewhere…

“The process of culturing fish may be as simple as allowing them to spawn naturally in one of the ponds (the do this with the Blue Gills). Sometimes it requires hatchery staff to hand strip “brood” fish. Once the staff has determined that the female fish has ovulated (don’t ask..), the staff hand strips the eggs by gently putting pressure on the abdomen, releasing the eggs into a bowl…(Bear with me..).  Simultaneously, the male fish is squeezed to release “milt” (whoever Milt is…JUST KIDDING!) over the eggs. Fertilized eggs are then incubated at specific water temperatures in a carefully controlled environment.. OK, you want to see this “environment”?? I knew you would…

Tra Da!! Sort of like test tube babies, in my opinion..These fertilized eggs are Southern Walleye.  YUMMY!

“When they hatch, they are called "fry". When the fry are 2"-3 " they are released into the rearing ponds (they have 16 1 acre ponds), growing larger living on a steady diet of zoo plankton. Some fish are allowed to grow to 6" to 8" on a diet of minnows or dry pellets. Once fish grow to desired length, the hatchery staff harvests the fish and loads them into distribution trucks to desired predetermined locations”...This was like a Biology lesson. The Non Sex life of a fish..One of the employees said they have a "resident" Bald Eagle who visits the rearing ponds regularly for his buffet lunch..hahahaha! Of course they allow him that luxury..He’s an AMERICAN BALD EAGLE!!!

Above are 2 of their 16 “rearing” ponds..This North Mississippi Hatchery is HUGE!

Ok, so I just have just got to say that this might be one of my most informative  ridiculous blogs to date. In truth, I did find this place a wonderful lesson and a great idea to keep the fish plentifully supplied in our natural lakes, rivers and streams..

 

 

Yep, they are very aware who won the Civil War, but still determined to acknowledge the “Stars and Bars”…A very proud group of people these native Southerners…and I do admire them…

 

 

 

 

 

From one of the last great “swingers”…See y’all back in Sandwich IL!!

Had to show you this site…

  Our new diggs at Lake Enid, MS…Wallace Creek campground, site 30

 

Winding Down

OK, this is our last full week of our Winter trip…We will be getting home next Monday afternoon..Not sure I’m too excited..Sandwich just got 3” of snow today..SAAAAY WHAAAAT??? Oh well, it has rained here this past week, but it’s still better than snow..

This place is full of Civil War History..MacGyver and I visited the site of a Confederate Fort this past week..

This is where one of 8 Confederate forts was built to protect the railways in and around Grenada, MS. That picture on the above right is the Grenada-Graysport Rd, or what’s left of it. It was on this road 1700 Confederate Soldiers marched with General Earl Van Dorn into Holly Springs to destroy General Grant’s supply depot, forcing Grant to abandon his plan to attack Grenada… You can see by the other photos that the site of the fort sits up very high for a good view of the surrounding woods…

Dennis and I also visited the Confederate Cemetery here in Grenada…

 

.180 graves marked “Unknown Confederate Soldier” were found under the tall grasses, vines, and bushes just behind the Odd Fellows Cemetery. In 1985 it was recognized in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History as a place of historical significance.  The rain had finally subsided  enough for us to explore this old cemetery.  It was right behind the Odd Fellow’s Cemetery, which was also very old and very interesting…(OK, I spent my teen years living in a cemetery, so I have a vested interest in these places!)

I feel so bad that many stones are broken or in ill repair..I’m thinking many of the family have passed, and no one is around that cares to fix them…

Not ones to waste a day where the rain has finally stopped, we continued our drive into the “historical” part of Grenada, MS…There were some very cool older homes that were on National Register of Historical Places…

The Jones House, 1860

Some of the features of the Jones House include the original carriage house, a veranda and a mysterious chande­lier from New Orleans with one bulb that chooses not to work...hmmmmm.

Left is Morrison Heights, built 1845………………and right is the Thomas House, 1900

 

Left, we have the Heath House, 1907………………….and right is the John Lake House, 1880..

This is the Dubard House, 1860…just look at the steps and that wall around it..Many of these homes were set up on a small hill with steps leading from the street/sidewalk…

An old courthouse used to be in the town square, but they tore it down and replaced it with a park…and a statue dedicated to the Confederate Soldiers of Grenada County, MS.

I found that saying on the statue base, middle photo, very interesting..”To the noble men who marched ‘neath the flag of the Stars and Bars and were faithful to the end.”..and underneath, “Glorious in life, In death sublime”…

The road into the actual downtown area of Grenada is built right through a swamp..

 

…and their trees are now in full blossom in the open areas…

That photo on the right is the road that goes across the Grenada Dam to our campground…alive with blossoms!!

OK…WAKE UP!!! I SAID…WAKE UP!!!!!..It is now safe to go back to what you were doing…I am done with my History lesson and photos..Tomorrow we are moving the Hiker ever so slowly further North, to Enid, MS..only 33 miles from here. We plan to be there 5 nights…This Sunday, we will drive to Rend Lake, Illinois for one night…and Monday, God willing and the creek sleet don’t rise, we will arrive at 518 W. Center St., Sandwich, IL..about 1PM, we HOPE!! Not sure if I will get another blog in before then, as my blogging has been very sporadic lately..I hoping my depressive mood swings will be addressed soon..I do have another appointment with Dr. Michael Moore at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis on April 21st..about my parathyroid issues..

One last thing…I want to wish our youngest child  and daughter, Christie, a very wonderful birthday today, March 23rd…WOOT!WOOT!

Yep…our cute little baby girl…turned into a beautiful young woman!!