On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina came ashore west of Biloxi, MS with devastating force. The ancient live oak tree that sat beside Millie and Jake’s home in Biloxi succumbed to the ferocious winds and fell on their roof. The damage caused by the falling tree and water’s subsequent intrusion made it necessary for […]
Blog entry #11 Epilog (Summer, 2010) Millie and Jake, Hurricane Katrina) Read More »
We arrived home Saturday April 3, 2004, 15 days after our journey had begun, safe and sound with a feeling of accomplishment and a bushel full of memories. Amazingly, after 49 hours and 21 minutes in the car together (whose counting?), without a radio, neither of us had suffered any lasting wounds; and our
Blog entry #10 (April 3, 2004) Home-Sweet-Home, Cary, NC. Read More »
Unquestionably the most memorable 15 miles of the return trip was a trip around the rim of Little River Canyon in northwestern Alabama. Boldly disregarding a sign that contained the words “WARNING”, “Steep, Winding” and “Impassable”, we set off in our 72 horsepower, fully laden, shoe brake, top heavy wagon to explore this thin, wiggly
Blog entry #9 (March 31, 2004) Tense Moment in Little River Canyon, AL Read More »
We dropped off of the Natchez Trace Parkway in northern Mississippi. The balance of the return trip to North Carolina included stops in Alabama at the Natural Bridge in Natural Bridge, a 270 ft covered bridge in Cullman, the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Hanceville; in Georgia at Consolidated Gold Mine, Dahlonega; Historic Travelers
March 28th being Sunday, Jean and I attended Mass at St. Michael Church in Biloxi. Then, after brunch at Beau Rivage Casino, we started north on the first leg of our trip home. We headed for Jackson Mississippi to hook-up with the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace Parkway follows the historic Indian route used
Jeep inspection and maintenance having been completed, Jean and I headed off for a guided tour of bayou country east of New Orleans. That evening, on our way back to Biloxi, I could not resist pulling into a well-aged junk yard that I had spotted on the way to bayou country to see if there
Blog entry #6 (March 27, 2004) Bayou Tour, Pearlington, MS. Read More »
The morning of March 27th, I brought the Jeep in for service at TORRICELLI MOTORS INC.’s modest one-man auto repair facility. I had brought with me from North Carolina a photocopy of the original 1950 Owners Service Policy in hopes of finding Sadler Motor Sales, the Willys-Overland dealership that issued the Policy. Jokingly, I had
Blog entry #5 (March 27, 2004) Jeep Maintenance Adventure Read More »
We arrived in Biloxi, Mississippi on March 25, 2004, 6 days and 1,076 miles after our departure from Cary, North Carolina. Mixed feelings of anticipation and apprehension were overridden with the slow realization that we had actually made it to Biloxi to fulfill our pilgrimage. After calling Millie and Jake to let them know that
Thanks to Jean’s navigating ability and investigative skills, the trip to Biloxi, Mississippi and back was punctuated with numerous side trips, ranging from the historically mundane (speak for yourself, Dan) to the death defyingly harrowing (speaking for both of us). A round trip that is calculated by MapQuest to be just under 2,000 miles, took
OK, trip time. Was there any doubt as to what had to be done? In December of 2003, we began preparations for a March, 2004 trip to Biloxi, Mississippi. The Jeep had been pretty thoroughly rebuilt (notice, I refrain from the use of the word restored in deference to my purist compatriots) in the late
Blog entry #2 Trip Preparations (January 2004 – March 2004) Read More »
