put them in the water. There was a steep bank with the most glorious mud
you have ever seen at the bottom. We weren't too upset at missing this
part.
Joan backed the U-Haul across a field, being careful not to drive it into any swampy areas. We parked under the bridge where route 61 crosses Little Bayou Pierre. There we unloaded everything. We just pulled everything out and laid it on the ground (fortunately in the shade of the bridge).
Katy and I were selected for the
job of buying the groceries so we took off and left everyone else to load
the boats and
put them in the water. There was a steep bank with the most glorious mud
you have ever seen at the bottom. We weren't too upset at missing this
part.
[BOB: While they were gone, we sorted through all the stuff, tried to get two paddles and two life jackets in every boat, and pretty evenly distribute the rest of the stuff. Walking down the bank, it was either loose sand, or the most slippery mud you've ever seen. We finally took to loading the boats most of the way, and then sliding them down the bank into the water holding them with a rope. I, Bob, also reviewed a schedule I'd had faxed to me at the Columns, and tried to call into work to give them comments. They'd already left for the day, and little did I know, it would be Thursday before I'd be able to call again.]
Before we left, we asked everyone if there was anything in particular they wanted us to buy. At what would become one of the most important moments of the trip, Mark asked for garlic.
Some people around the court house directed us to the Piggly-Wiggly store a few blocks away. This is a standard grocery store chain in the south. We parked the truck on the edge of the parking lot. The back of the van was empty except for three coolers.
By now it was getting later in the day than we wanted. So Katy and I shopped as fast as we could. We split up trying to find every little thing on the list. I was dressed in my new straw hat from Walmart ($1.88), Tevas, and the clothes I wore the day before. We were shopping for an adventure. Meanwhile most of the other people in the store were women doing their daily or weekly shopping for their families. I got a few odd looks but people were quite polite to me. Perhaps they were scared of me.
We bought lots of Lipton noodles, instant mashed potatoes, instant oatmeal, instant grits, hot-dogs, buns, lunch meat, onions, and so on. Garlic was on my list and I was stumped trying to find it. All I found was a small jar of chopped garlic in oil.
We were about to settle for that, but Kate somehow remembered that many places put garlic cloves in little boxes for some reason. She returned with three cloves.
The beer selection was miserable so we decided to try one more place for that. Meanwhile, back under the bridge, Mark looked at the time and said he knew it was taking so long because Eric and Katy were trying to find good beer. The total cost without beer was about $125. We put everything in the back of the truck where it looked pretty lonely then drove to a convenience store for beer.
The choice was the same there. We got three or four cases of basic American beer and nine bags of Ice. I vividly remember banging my head hard on the ice machine as I reached in. [KATY: Hugh and Randy H. would have been appalled that the best beer on the trip ended up being Old Milwaukee. And worse than that, we ignored the extra 12-pack rule - another action later to be regretted.]
When we returned to the bridge, everything was ready. We only had to return the truck.
While the truck return was going on, Mark taught us how to eat garlic. He had heard from a "hairy armed" woman friend that eating raw garlic will keep the bugs away. A natural insect repellent. (It doesn't really work). So he careful peeled a clove, popped it in his mouth, chewed for a few seconds, the took a few big swallows of beer.
I was very suspicious when Bob tried to get me to do it. But somehow there under the bridge on a hot Mississippi day with who knows what to come in the week ahead, I felt like I had nothing to lose.
It was great. Not as hot as I expected but very strong. I think it enhances the flavor of the beer, I didn't even notice it was Natural Lite. We were to do this over and over all week. It would get you going in the morning or raise your spirits when you were tired. I highly recommend it.
Stay tuned for Chapter IV, Wherein we narrowly avoid camping on alligator tracks.
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