Gobble gobble gobble

Total distance: 2607.9 km

Irritatingly, we're having trouble uploading images on the computer we're currently using... oh well....  We shall have to update the photos of our exploits  some other time.  In a nutshell, here's what we've been up to:
En route out of Memphis we stopped briefly for a quick photo-op at the front grates of Graceland, which while interesting from a purely been-there-done-that perspective also made us glad we hadn't bothered to pay the entrance fee and look around - it seemed very tacky and commercial. We then continued south and crossed into Mississippi, stopped for dinner and met a waiter named Jesus (so we can say that We Have Found Jesus!) in a Mexican restaurant (he was a lovely fellow), and then headed into the countryside, and a town called Lake Cormorant, where we found ourselves a church yard to camp in. The next morning, we got up at the crack of dawn, and powered onwards through the day to Helena, Arkansas. We had arranged (via the website warmshowers.org) to meet up with Kevin, a local who arranged a place for us to stay for teh night. Kevin and his friend and Bart worked as a team to put us up in a very funky little work-in-progress building, where old window frames are restored. Bart's astructural engineer while Kevin, who works in insurance, has actually worked in politics and been trained by Al Gore to give presentations on global warming. We wound up having a great discussion with him over dinner (Mexican again) about science education, funding, and related topics. Kevin suggested we head to Mound Bayou back in Mississippi, to make use of one of his connections who might be able to help with our visas, so we might extend them for this trip.  So after getting up the following morning, and meeting the John, owner of the Quapaw Canoe Company we went back across the river, and spent the night in Clarksdale, pitching our tent behind the Quapaw Canoe Company building.  The following morning, we made another very early start, and powered into Mound Bayou, where we had our appointment, and we will find out over the phone on Monday what our options are.  It was in Mound Bayou where we were led to a little general store called New Deal by a kid named Jeremy.  We had our first ever serving of succotash there, which was delicious.  Think tomato, okra, corn, onion, and an interesting sort of sweet spicy flavour.  Prior to that, all we knew about succotash was that Sylvester the Cat said "Thufferin' Thuccotash!" a lot.We also ended up getting interviewed by the nearest newspaper, which was kind of fun, and met Julius Voss, a local plumber who offered us some space in his backyard to pitch our tent.  We happily accepted, and rode the rest of the way to his place just outside Cleveland.  As things transpired, the following day was Thanksgiving and Julius took us along to his various family Thanksgiving celebrations. We ate so much turkey it almost came out of our eyeballs, and Sundance discovered that he has a couple of extra stomachs reserved just for Pecan Pie. We truly got to experience Southern Hospitality in all its glory.  The food was delicious, and the company was great, though there were too many names to remember. Even Julius admitted he doesn't remember all his relative's names.

Today, we got a slow start, partly because we wanted to see the newspaper.  As it turned out, we were on the front page, which put a bit of a smile on our faces.  In any case, it was mid-afternoon by the time we actually headed off, so we only clocked another 40km or so, but these things happen.  At least the weather was pleasant, and the scenery was flat, and there was very little traffic.

As it started to get dark, we decided it would be best to find somewhere to turf surf.  After two failed attempts, we came upon the house of Charles and Marida, who were happy to give us a little backyard space. :-)  Speaking of which, it is very close to sleepy time now, so it must be time to crawl into the tent.
Next update next time we have internet access.