I am writing this post to tell one story. It was so wild and crazy to witness and be part of, I hope I am able to tell it with enough gusto.

We are on the way from Jackson, MS to the Memphis metro area (Mississippi side of it). I wrote about this before, just setting the stage now. We are traveling up I-55. We all got a bit peckish and pulled over to chow down at Waffle House, a family favorite. As we approached, we saw there was access to the building on both sides, like a loop around, so we pulled right into the parking lot.

There was no through way!
          The two sides were divided by a barrier and water drainage!
                    Eyeballs wide!!
                              Sphincters puckered!!

We looked at each other. What are we going to do, this is such a narrow parking lot. There was the building, space to drive, a line of parking spots. Narrow. I asked Chris if he wanted to back up out to the street…He was like, I guess so. So I got out and attempted to provide adequate direction to back up and onto the road.

Once the camper was back to the front of the building we both saw that there was another row of parking next to the building, a short row but a it offered a bit more space nonetheless. Chris got out and we looked at the space and at the camper and at the space. “I think I can make a 3 point turn,” Chris said. “I think you can too,” I responded. We are both wide-eyed.

We assess the area, agree on where the truck and camper should go, cross our fingers and hope our spatial geometry is up to the task.

My man, Chris, backed that camper up to the first spot I stood with just a little bit of direction and encouragement from me. Then he pulled forward and backed it right up to where I stood and he needed to be to pull out and be on our way.

I said, “I think you can back this right back up to that little row of parking spots in the back so we can still eat.” He agreed.

My man backed that bad boy right into that parking spot!
          A three-point turn.
                    A parallel parking spot.
                              My man rocked that shit!!

What a relief. I am so proud of Chris’ ability to stay cool and just do the thing that comes next. Neither of us freaked out (at least not vocally) or yelled at each other (which easily could’ve turned into a finger pointing extravaganza), we both looked at each other and believed that the other could do it. He believed I could direct him (I had the easy part), and I believed he could back that thing up right to me.

Since I had to tell that story, I will also add that LeFleur’s Bluff State Park in MS has a sweet camping loop. It is surrounded by Lake Mayes, and cypress swamps that fill in the space between the lake and the Pearl River. We only stayed the night, which was kinda unfortunate as the park is home to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science and the Mississippi Children’s Museum. They also had an AMAZING playground area, the kids got to spend about 45 minutes there before dusk. Jackson, MS sure has changed since I lived there. But the bathrooms were gross, so it’s also good that we only stayed one night. 😉

LeFleur's Bluff State Park
Mayes Lake surrounded the loop of campsites.