Driving to the deep South in a very hot July–What were we thinking?

Our preference is to flee the heat and humidity of Arkansas by heading to the mountains – when we can.

US 65 in southeast Arkansas, July 1, 2011.

This year, that’s not an option.  I’ve got contract work through the hottest part of the year, so we’re not planning on a trip until later.

This fourth of July weekend, though, I had the opportunity to make it a four day weekend, if, on Thursday, we were able to get done with everything that needed to be done at work so we didn’t need to finish up on Friday.  I texted Karen to let her know, “May take tomorrow off and make it a 4 day weekend if we can finish this exam on the simulator tonight.”

“Ok, you probably need a break,” she replied, and then a little while later, she asked, “Do you want to take a day trip or overnight for something different to do?

I texted back, “Don’t know as hot as it is.  It’d be different if it were cooler.”

Karen: “Biloxi MS is to be in the mid to low 90’s maybe a shower or two. – Day drive look around – just an idea.”

US 65 in southeast Arkansas, July 1, 2011.I liked the idea, but decided to check to see just how long a trip that would be.  “That’s over an 8 hour drive by google,” I texted.

So there we were the next afternoon, south of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with the heat mirages shimmering off the blacktop, without even a clue of the road construction traffic backup we would run into east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, or that we would end up in an extended crawl in Friday rush hour traffic in Jackson, Mississippi going into a long holiday weekend.

We didn’t take our motorhome, though there were plenty of recreational vehicles on the road.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Donna Jul 7, 2011 @ 7:05

    It is so hot it makes it hard to have fun… We decided to stay around north Florida this years and it is so hot you can barely sit outside! Hope you had a GREAT weekend anyways!
    Donna

  • Mike Jul 7, 2011 @ 7:42

    It’s pretty hot here in Arkansas, too. Last year at this time, it was cooler here. We had just left on our 2010 fifty day trip. While we were gone, it warmed up into a heat wave, with higher temperatures than we’ve seen so far this year.

    I wish we were able to head for the Rockies right now. However, the contract job I am working will not be over until the end of next month.

    We did manage to have a good weekend. Saw some interesting things. More coming in later posts.

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