Hello to Waveland, Mississippi

When we arose in Natchez on Dec 9th we found it had dawned a nice morning, and our reservation had terminated, so we packed up and moved on down to the Gulf of Mexico at Waveland, Mississippi. Waveland is half way in between New Orleans and Biloxi. We chose an RV Park called Bay Hideaway RV Park, for that reason. There were several in and around Biloxi, but those were too Urban for us. This one is quite rural. Arrived here by shortly after noon and got set up. Had lunch, took a nap, and then went for a short drive to the beach that is only 3 miles away. We drove east along the beach road, all the way to the bridge over the entrance to the Bay of St. Louis. Returned home on Highway 90.

Stopped along the way and bought KFC for supper.
Not much to report for the last several days other than rain, rain, rain, and more rain. I don't know how many inches we have had in total, but one night I know I told someone that I was sure we must have had 4" overnight. Well, during the next day I was talking to the owner of the park and he told me that we had 7" that night. He knew that for a fact as in his swimming pool, he had checked the night before, and it's level was at the bottom of one of the 6" tiles. The next morning it was above that tile and up onto the next. Before that we had a full day of heavy rain, and since we have had 2 days of sometimes torrential downpours. I'm sure we must have had at least 12" of rain.
We had planned on going to New Orleans and then out along the Mississippi River to the delta, a distance of about 65 miles, one day, but we watch the detailed weather on my computer, and it just keeps giving flood warnings every day for the "Big Easy" so we have declined going there. Again, listening to the weather man, who reported that several roads were flooded in the area. He tells us that there hs been 22 inches of rain already in December. The highest precipitation prior to this year was 12 ½ inches in the total month of December.
Even around here water is everywhere. You cannot walk away from any elevated ground before you are in water. The land is so flat that the whole landscape is basically slightly submerged. All that rain has to get to the gulf, but it flows very slowly.
We also wanted to go to NASA's Stennis Rocket Testing facility here, but it is only open on Wed, Thur, Fri, and Sat. We went with the intention of going on Sunday, but of course it was closed. Now we plan on leaving tomorrow, Wed, so I guess we will miss it this time around. There is still lots more to see here so I think on our return from Florida we will stop off here again. Hoping the weather better then. On Tuesday the 15th,although it was still raining we decided we had to go and see some of the sites of the Gulf towards Biloxi. Highway 90 is right on the beach, and lined with huge old Oak trees.

We stopped and looked at one that is 500 years old, called the Friendship Oak. It is huge with a span of at least 200 ft. Oh, how I would like a chunk of one of its limbs to turn some bowls from it.

Many of the trees that succumbed to Katrina, have had their stumps carved into sea creatures and seabirds by an artist from Destin, Florida.

We drove along the Gulf, even past Biloxi, and over a long bridge over the Bay, to Ocean Beach. Here was a large carved structure of an Indian chief. We then headed home on I10, as it was quicker, but did take to time for a short detour to see the biggest rocking chair in the world, then home, and to the Silver Slipper Casino for their Buffet supper.

It was well organized and presented with several different types of fair. Asian, Italian, Southern, and traditional were just some of them. We indulged heartily, and as always ate too much.