May 23

Yesterday Carol and I attended worship services at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Village, while John and Ruth drove to Monticello and attended Pauline Missionary Baptist Church. They have some lifetime friends there and it was a good time to visit with them again.

Also, yesterday about 6:30 pm, John and I walked 2.8 miles to the RV park where we are staying. By doing that, no one had to take us to the starting point this morning. At 6 am, we simply stepped out of our RVs and started walking along the banks of Lake Chicot. Lake Chicot is the largest oxbow lake in North American and is the largest natural lake in Arkansas.

After a few miles, we were joined by Casper Pearson, who is John nephew. Casper is the supervisor of a construction crew that is widening Highway 65 from Lake Village to the approach of the Mississippi River bridge. Casper knew we were coming and he wanted to walk over the bridge with us. In a short time, we came to the bridge and started walking over.

The new bridge, completed in 2009, is the largest cable-stayed bridge across the Mississippi River. It is impressive and long, about 2.5 miles counting approaches. The old bridge, built in 1940, has, since 1972, sustained more barge collisions than any other bridge over the Mississippi. And because of that fact, the old bridge will be demolished.

 A barge just happened to be going downstream as we crossed over. Casper had a crew member pick him up on the other side. Good job Casper.

WE ARE IN MISSISSIPPI! 

This is a huge milestone for us. We have walked through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. No wonder my feet are sore.

Today we found and open end wrench, an Oklahoma license plate and .02 cents. Stay tuned ...