Columbus, Mississippi

Yesterday was grooming day for all of us. I gave Jim a haircut, then followed that with grooming both dogs. I wasn't done in quite yet, so I worked on my own hair. I think it came out ok, at least in the front. Practice is needed to get the back done the way I like it!

Today, we drove down to visit Shirley and Charles; and check out a possible place for us to park the Castle when we return there later this month. I first met Shirley several years ago through the Weight Watchers online community. She and her husband, Charles, live just west of Columbus, MS. For the past several years, several other women from the online WW community have gathered for a long weekend at Shirley & Charles' "Camphouse", about 3 miles from their house. The camphouse is located on a bluff just above Tibbee Creek. Here's a picture of the creek, taken from the bluff near their camphouse.


When we got to their house, we visited for a few minutes, then went over to the creek with their boat, and hopped in for a ride. We went down the creek to the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway and took that upriver for a ways. We stopped at the Tiki Bar, located on the Waverly Marina for lunch.



This boat was moored at the marina:

All along the eaves of the little restaurant, there are hummingbird feeders, and fishing poles that have been placed for them to perch on. Here's a little hummer who sat still on the end of a fishing pole for a photo:

These water hyacinth are incredibly thick around the creek. Charles and Shirley would like to be able to get rid of some, but there is a rule that they cannot spray them, so they just have to live with them.
We saw many egrets and herons, a turtle or two, and possibly the back of an alligator as it dove under the water. We also saw a couple of osprey nests, and a bald eagle nest. When I attended the annual gathering at Shirley's place, We've seen the bald eagles, but there were no signs of them today, other than the massive nest.


We saw one campground from the river, but I'm not too sure it would work for us. So, we're still on the lookout for a place to stay there. The day went all too fast and it was time to make the 90 mile drive back to Red Bay.

We are thinking about all the people in the possible path of Hurricane Gustav, praying for everyone's safety.