Oct. 22 Birmingham to Shreveport, LA. Vicksburg National Military Park

7:30 a.m.  59 degrees.  11:00   79 degrees    3:00   85 degrees     this is more like it!

Again today we drove hundreds of miles with trees on both sides of the highway.

Vicksburg, MS.
Cannons, Union and Confederate trenches, monuments to all the various cavalry, battery, and infantry divisions.  The Union units were all from the Midwest:  Ill, Ia, Wisc, Mich, Ohio, Mo., Ind.
Its Army laid siege here for 47 days.  17,000 Confederate soldiers are laid to rest in this cemetery- a terrible price to pay for this piece of real estate.  We didn't see anything about the Union casualties.

                         There were several of these Iowa monuments, honoring various units

 This is the USS Cairo, a Union ship that hit two mines in the nearby Yazoo river and sunk in 12   minutes.  It remained in the river for 102 years.

Drove across the Mississippi River into Louisiana.  A few miles later a sign said there was a rest area and hurricane shelter ahead.  In Shreveport, the timber industry of the 1800's has been taken over by the gaming industry.  Downtown there are several skyscrapers and some casinos are next to the highway coming into town.

Ate dinner at Becca's Steaks and Seafoods:  catfish, hush puppies, rice, and fries for Tom.  Chicken and sausage gumbo and a shrimp salad for me.  Yum.