(Continued from here.) Day 7: Let’s all get drunk and go to Cher’s house! WOOOOO! Whoa. Sorry. I don’t know where the Hell that came from. Let’s get on with the trip report, shall we? I spent the last few days of my Mississippi State Vacation gradually crossing from … Continue reading Mississippi 2024 Trip Report (final few days)
Day 5: The plan for Vicksburg was to spend as long as it takes to see everything at the Vicksburg National Military Park, as much as two full days. If it didn’t take a full two days, then I would use my remaining time to visit … Continue reading Mississippi 2024 Trip Report (Days 5 and 6)
Day 3: Unlike the night before, I remembered to take my bedtime pills last night. So, I haven’t had any Parkinson’s-caused walking trouble today. However, because of the damage I did yesterday, I woke up today with an aching hip. Luckily, one of my morning meds is meloxicam, … Continue reading Mississippi 2024 Trip Report (Days 3 and 4)
One of the main problems for the traveling Parkinson’s patient is keeping track of the large number of medications and dietary supplements some of us are on. At home, I have divided my meds into two groups: daytime and bedtime. Daytime meds are lined up along a … Continue reading Mississippi 2024 Trip Report (Day 2)
And just like that, my Mississippi state vacation is underway. Just like what? Well, like this…
The plan for Day One was to leave home at 4:00 AM for Charlotte Douglas International Airport, then fly to George H. W. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Once in Houston, I was to change planes, then fly to Jackson, Mississippi. I would then rent a car and drive to Red Bluff. After photographing Red Bluff, I would then drive to a hotel in the city of Natchez. That was the plan. Here’s what actually happened…
I left home at 4:00 AM for Charlotte Douglas International Airport, then flew to George H. W. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. All good so far. Once inside the terminal, I checked the “Departures” monitor to see which gate I had to get to next. To my shock and awe, next to the gate number there appeared the word, CANCELED. This was a little concerning. I made my way to the listed gate anyway, to ask the gate agent what options they might have for me. As it stood, there was ONE more flight to Jackson today, for which they could give me “priority standby”. And there was an available seat on tomorrow morning’s flight. They gave me both of these, but the gate agent seemed to think it was rather likely that one or both of these flights may end up canceled as well. It occurred to me that I may be able to alter my car rental reservation to start at Houston rather than Jackson, so I asked about retrieving my checked bag at Houston instead of them flying it to Jackson. The gate agent suspected this may take 4 or 5 hours, as the baggage folks were facing serious issues due to a slew of cancelations the previous day.
And so I left the gate and headed for the baggage claim, to get the baggage department’s opinion on the matter. On the way there, I looked at Google Maps and found that a drive from Houston to Natchez would take about six hours. This would require eliminating Red Bluff from my itinerary, but I went ahead and called Enterprise and successfully changed my car rental. Fortunately, the baggage folks didn’t have any trouble retrieving my bag for me, so I had it within just a few minutes. I also had no trouble with the just-changed car rental, so I was on the road less than two hours after landing at Houston. I drove north out of Houston, then east across Louisiana’s, um, ankle. I only made four stops: one for nappin’ and three for caffeine. Well, and maybe about eight more stops to scream at the Google Maps Navigation app.
© 2024 by Cedric Williams “Butterflies!” she exclaimed with delight as he entered the garden. “It most certainly does not!” he retorted, thinking himself quite clever. But as he turned to face her, he was immediately struck in the jaw by a flying stick of … Continue reading A Most Unusual Romance
Given everything you’ve seen on this blog to date, I’m sure you’d all agree that Colorado is a very scenic place. Thus, it should come as no surprise to learn the state government has designated some of Colorado’s roads as official Colorado Scenic Byways. The first to be … Continue reading Peak to Peak Scenic Byway (June-July 2012)
Well over a decade ago, I read somewhere that air fares tend to be least expensive from 18 to 28 days prior to the flight. This has proved true time and time again over the years. Many times, I have looked at flight prices over a month in advance, and been tempted by a good price. And many times, I have waited until that 18 – 28 day window, and been rewarded with an even better price.
But not so this time. A week from tomorrow, I will be leaving for Mississippi. This trip will conclude with a one-way flight from Birmingham, Alabama back home to Charlotte. When I was initially plotting this trip a couple of months ago, I was tempted to buy this ticket the first time I looked, as it was only $133 at the time. But, as always, I waited, hoping an even better price would emerge. This time it didn’t; I ended up paying $204 for this flight. This isn’t as bad as it sounds, as the flight I ended up booking is with Southwest airlines, which does not charge to check a bag. The $133 flight would have been with either American or United, and I would’ve had to pay at least an additional $30 to check a bag.
About a month ago, I told you about a dietary supplement that I had added to my routine: lion’s mane mushroom extract. Since that report, my off periods have been less frequent and more tolerable than before. Of course, Parkinson’s symptoms come and go as they please, and there are other potential factors involved. Time will tell whether this fungus is really helping, but right now it seems to be doing some good.
Today on ThrowBack Thursday, we pay a visit to where it all began (depending on how you define “it”, and “all”, and “began”). Gold was officially first discovered in what was to become Colorado in late 1858. These initial discoveries were (as is almost always the case) … Continue reading Black Hawk, Colorado (May & August 2012)
‘Tis the beginning of a different year! Some might even call it a NEW year. A few might go so far as to dedicate the first day of this NEW year to observance of this NEW year. Those people are (to use the terminology of an OLD year) whack.
As the days slowly get longer, I hope to spend more time writing outdoors, as a lot of my best material has resulted from train-o-thought writings, which are much more varied when the activities of nature and neighbors are thrown into the mix. I am also hoping to become more productive in general. I’ve seen some good signs in that direction lately. I seem to be increasingly successful at adhering to my mantra of “Don’t Lament, Implement!”
Wishing a good year to everyone who reads this, and a mediocre year to everyone else…
-Cedric, DAMMIT!
Voyages with Parkinson's 