After 5 nights in Oklahoma, it was time to move on to our next stop: a visit with cousin Meg and Monte in Mississippi. We said our goodbyes and left way too early in the morning on Friday the 27th. It was a long day on the road, but we felt well-rested and ready for it!
We pulled into Gulfport around 5:30PM. Meg and Monte helped us unload and led us out to the back patio where we hung out, caught up on life, and snacked on an array of appetizers. We learned that Monte is a master tortilla maker. He had whipped up the best corn tortillas and we enjoyed tacos next to the bonfire!
The next morning, Meg and Monte took us to the property they recently bought and showed us the house they’re working on renovating. It’s in a great location with over 2 acres. It seems like such a daunting and overwhelming task, but they have been hard at work every weekend chiseling away bit by bit to fix it up and bring it back to life. I can’t wait to see the finished product!
In the afternoon, we took a 1 hour drive west to New Orleans. When planning this trip, Meg came up with the idea of spending a night in New Orleans the weekend before Halloween! Since it was just a week after her birthday, we decided it would be a great birthday celebration too. We talked through a few costume ideas, but eventually settled on a modern version of The Wizard of Oz cast. It was perfect because even her dog, Cooper, landed himself the role of Toto for the evening!
We had so much fun and enjoyed the energy of the French Quarter. Lots of people stopped us for a picture and asked to pet Cooper! The next morning we stopped at Café Beignet and walked around a while longer before heading back to Mississippi. It was a beautiful sunny day and we opted for the backroads and enjoyed the drive.
We spent a few more days and had a great time visiting and exploring the Gulfport area. Monte took us to some mountain biking trails in the DeSoto National Forest. It was an awesome trail system with lots of varying terrain and not at all what we expected! One night we had the best BBQ at a well-known local place called The Shed – a unique conglomeration of structures pieced together full of lots of antiques and collectibles. And since it was the Halloween season, we started a scary movie marathon and kept up with our routine each night.
Almost a week after we had arrived, we packed up our car and got up early on Thursday morning to reach our next destination: Uncle Bob and Aunt Patsy’s house in Kentucky. It was hard to believe, but we were nearing the end of our fifth week on the road! In some ways the days of driving were long, but in other ways, the weeks have flown by. We said our goodbyes and hit the road bright and early as we were going to lose an hour crossing over from central into eastern time.