May 25

Ruth took us out today and we started walking toward Leland, MS. We were there in a short time and saw the sign, "Highway 61 Blues Museum. More about that later.

 

Mississippi being a poor state can't afford shoulder on highways. We have about 18 inches of asphalt shoulder and 5 feet of gravel shoulder. The gravel is almost impossible to walk on. It's like walking in sand, no traction. So while John walked on what little bit of shoulder we had, I chose to walk where the gravel meets the grass. A little bit better than walking in the gravel. But that wasn't the big problem. The big problem today was wind.

You would have thought we were in west Texas or Oklahoma. Strong wind from the south. Knocks you off your stride and it makes you feel awkward.

 

A few miles out of Indianola, a first happened. We were delayed by a train. We heard it before we could see it and since we needed a break anyway, we just waited for it to pass. It was a long train and it took a while for it to pass. Which was OK since we now were fresh and decided to walk another mile, 13 miles for the day.

 

After Ruth and Carol picked us up and we came back to the RVs, we ate lunch, showered and Carol and I went back to Leland to visit the Highway 61 Blues Museum.

We walked in and a local musician was playing Delta Blues on the guitar. The museum is heavy on local blues musicians, but it did have some memorabilia on B B King, Muddy Waters, Howl'in Wolf, etc. We left a tip in the tip jar for the guy playing guitar and left for Indianola and the B B KIng Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.  We were met by Ann Jennings Shackelford who is the Communications Director for the Museum. If you haven't figured it out by now, Carol and I are big blues fans, Zydeco music also, but that is a different story. The museum is fantastic. It tells the story of B B's life and how music shaped his life. This museum comes highly recommended.

 

We told Ann about the walk and she got real excited and wants all to come back after tomorrows walk for some sort of interview,

 

Today we found a towel, a 7/16 wrench and .43 cents. Stay tuned ....