Yes, I’ve made a major change in my upcoming trip route. I’ve been keeping an eye on Mississippi and its “Bathroom law” situation. They made one state-wide step in the right direction when they decided not to fight the federal guidelines defining student use of school locker rooms and bathrooms based on their gender identity. However, the law itself is still on the books, so I’ve removed Jackson, Mississippi, from my route. Gulfport is still there because it’s in about the same situation as Charlotte, North Carolina, as a city trying to be welcoming to the LGBT community despite the backwards-leaning state government.
Instead of Jackson, I’ve added Vacherie, Louisiana, site of the Oak Alley Plantation. They offer a tour that focuses on the history of the plantation’s slave population and how they lived during the Antebellum Period. This seems a very fitting addition to the Civil Rights history aspects of my trip.
So, this is the updated map. It’s kinda weird because the new route takes me into Texas briefly, then through Shreveport and Baton Rouge, parts of Louisiana I’ve never visited. It also adds several hundred miles to the proposed route that I didn’t expect. Perhaps the terrain between Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Vecherie forced the additional distance. I’ll check Tripadvisor to see what’s interesting to see and do in either city.
Speaking of Tripadvisor, I’ve found it to be very handy for my past trips, especially their listings of things to do and other travellers’ ratings of sites, restaurants and other features in the areas I visit for the first time. Because I have found Tripadvisor to be so helpful, I started contributing reviews myself. I just discovered that they had generated a map of cities I’ve visited–or at least acknowledged visiting–on the North American continent. They tally the distance as 28,761 miles (not sure how they came up with that number), only representing 3% of the world–EEK!! gotta do something about that!
Anyway, my scheduled departure date is fast approaching. RB tested well during our two brief excursions to Madison County, Iowa, but I’ve scheduled an appointment for her to visit my mechanic to double-check her road worthiness before we begin this latest adventure. And my playlist is nearly ready.
Oh, my Star Trek–I mean Comic Con–convention t-shirts have either arrived or are on their way. I’m afraid that’s the closest I plan to come to wearing a costume.
But, then again, who knows. 😎
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