I was away from the news most of the time during the NSS Convention.
On the Saturday evening following the convention, we were in central Alabama on
our way back to Houston. We asked around to the locals what they knew of
the
latest news on Hurricane Dennis.
The general response was,"I du know - I live on that hill over there."
I called home on the cell, and my parents acted like I was crazy for being in
Alabama.
Their reply was, "don't you know about the frickin hurricane, you dumb*$s."
I tried to explain
to them that nobody here seems to be concerned about a hurricane and the
weather is
great.
At this time, I really wish I had one of those cheap NOAA radios. You can
get them
now in all kinds of configurations. Most walkie-talkies pick up the
station, and some
even have a direct weather button.
Since I had a baby in the car, and 2 other people who tend to get hysterical
around emergencies,
I decided to go home thru Shreveport which was just a few hours out of the way.
The problem
was since it was now late at night, I did not want to be on the backroads of
Mississippi.
So we headed to Tupelo, which was way out of the way. There we spoke with
some
sheriff deputies. I told them I was going to Shreveport, and they advised
me against it.
They suggested going home thru Arkansas.
http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/usams1.gif
That sounded crazy, so I decided to compromise. I ended up taking the
backroads of
Mississippi into the southeastern tip of Arkansas. I was predicting a
worst case scenario
of hoards of people leaving southern Mississippi for Jackson. So, my
theory was it would be easier
to find a hotel and there would be less traffic along Hwy. 82. That theory
failed. We ended up
driving all night and eventually checked into a hotel in Monroe, Louisiana at 4
in the morning.
( a drive we could have made easily from Tupelo, without taking the backroads )
We spent Sunday afternoon sightseeing in that area, as the storm ended up being
a long ways away.
We swam at one of my favorite beaches at Lake Claiborne State Park.
Did Hurricane Dennis affect anybody's trip after the convention?
David Locklear
