Lay of the Land

My high school friend Colin, currently on his trek out west with our fellow best friend Jared, has inspired me with his beautiful pictures of all of the national parks out there, to post a few things here about Mississippi and how it looks. I scrolled back through my posts, and realized I took pictures of things (mostly cars, sorry) and I didn't really share anything with ya'll about the landscapes here.

So, here are a few treasures I dug up to post, since I wasn't smart enough to post them when I initially took them. Kindly note that they don't even pale in comparison to the rolling landscapes and Mother Nature that Colin and Jared are currently immersed in. However, next weekend I am riding by train to see New Orleans, and I definitely plan to hoard the landscape-y photos on that trip.....

Driving over the railway center that pulls into the backside of the Nissan plant...

MS highway 49 plowing right through DeSoto National Forest. This is a hurricane evacuation route. When an evacuation of the coast is issued, the southbound lanes of this 4-lane highway (shown here) are swapped around to be northbound as well, allowing traffic to gush northwards to safety.

The woods that backs up to my apartment complex...Mississippi is fairly flat in comparison to the ups and downs out west. This supports Mississippi's lucrative history with growing cotton.

Mother Nature growling towards my front door with a typical splash-and-dash afternoon thunderstorm rolling up off of the Gulf of Mexico....

A doughnut cloud?? It is raining only in the center of this puppy, a perfect example of just how spotty the rain clouds can be, here. They come, destroy, and leave, all within the course of 7 minutes.

I really hope to post more picture-based posts in the remaining 2.5 weeks I have left here. :( I also plan to take pictures from the road, when Joe and I will make our 2-day trip back to WI.

Kudos to all of us out there traveling and having adventurous summers. We're all showing each other up!!