The Rising River

Yesterday evening went to the overlook to check the rising river and perhaps catch a towboat or two heading to their destinations.  Soon saw this barge heading north towards the bend in the river. 

It was a first for me to see two towboats pushing a barge.  On the towboat facing is Capt. W.D. Nunley and could not make out the other one.

With the MS River on the rise, I'm sure Diamond Jacks Casino and the Riverfront Park will be in harms way.  To the right is the entrance into the Yazoo Diversion Canal to Vicksburg's waterfront and the Port of Vicksburg. 

Getting ready to make the big wide turn in the river...

...and heads west into the sun.

Another boat approaches the towboats.  It's a possibility that it could be taking the towboats some groceries. My brother used to work for ERGON at the Port of Vicksburg and managed the store.  If they needed any supplies or whatever the towboats would call in an order and meet the boats passing through Vicksburg.

Unusual Stuff

The pictures speak for themselves that I stumbled upon yesterday at a site called, Stumble Upon dot com.  It's a neat site to check out when you have time.   Very interesting stuff!

Road Rage

These photos are from Thursday, February, 17, by someone from Centurion in Pilanesberg game reserve, South Africa.  The guy in the white Volkswagen was trying to get past the elephant.

 

 

Road rage, it affects us all.....

A New Flood Prediction

As stated in The Vicksburg Post yesterday, the river forecasters have now predicted that the MS River will reach 53.5 feet by May 18, a foot higher and 5 days later than was earlier forecast.  The farmers have begun to move their farm equipment to higher grounds and the City has closed several storm valves next to the Yazoo River Diversion Canal which runs in front of the City of Vicksburg.  I will be posting pictures of the flooding which is considered now to be the worst here since 1973 when it reached 51.6.  The 1927 flood reached 56.2 and the levees did not hold.

I'm now wondering if our Riverfront Park is in jeopardy!  Bob and I enjoy going down and watching the river traffic go by with the sounds of the children playing on the playground.  The park was not there in 1973 so this will be a wait and see situation. The other day we ventured down to the park again and I took some pictures of towboats making their way to their destination.  When the river rose back in March the riverboat pilots were having trouble navigating under the two bridges and trying not to hit the pier spans.  As you have read in my recent posts that a barge towing 30 barges filled with soybeans hit a pier span and broke up and barges went everywhere.  One barge did wrap around the I-20 span for a few weeks and had to be cut away.  This may be a pilot's worse nightmare with the Mighty Mississippi on the rise again and trying to maneuver under the unforeseen conditions to be.

Heading south!

The Crimson Glory in all her glory!

A huge vessel being pushed by...

...Towboat, Judith Ellen.

Found out through searching the vessel's name on the Internet that it had just been built in 2011 in PA and was on it's way to be delivered.

As the sun was going down we took pictures of each other.

The river would have to reach the top of this hill to get to us at the MS River overlook. Don't think it will get this far up but I am concerned about the Vicksburg Riverfront Park.

Five Feet High & Rising!

It looks like we will be singing this song from now on with the Mississippi River on the rise with a crest of 52.5 feet on May 13.  Flood stage here is 43 feet.  It is predicted to be the biggest flood since 1937.  It does not look good for Vicksburg. The last time we had a flood in 2008 the deer at Tara Wildlife, north of town, headed for the levee in droves.  It's really looking pretty bad the officials are saying.  The 1927 flood reached 56.2 feet here in Vicksburg.  In the flood of 1882 a person could take a boat from Vicksburg to Monroe, Louisiana, some 80 miles!  This was almost the case in the Flood of 1927.

2008 deer at Tara Wildlife

Elaine's MS Catfish!

Here is a picture of Elaine Williams who hooked this nice catfish in the Mississippi River on a rod and reel on April 10.  I just posted about Elaine recently where she had caught a huge blue catfish that was released back in to the MS by her grandson, Chad Williams (below).  Looks like Elaine is on a roll here.  My congrats again for GOODFISHING in the Mighty Mississippi!  You go, Elaine! 

Chad Williams holding his Grandmother's blue catfish!

Have A Wonderful Easter!

God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.

~Acts 2:32

Staircase vs Escalator

Watch what a group of engineers did, using fun to get people to use a long staircase with a moving escalator right next to it...at first no one took the stairs, almost 97% of the people took the escalator. Notice how engineers changed how people reacted to climbing a long stair case as first choice...66% more people took the stairs.

View full screen with sound!

Mama Hunter's New Blog

I came across a new blog this morning and wanted to give a big shout out! Mama Hunter, Amy, is shown here with her first deer she shot with her new bow in 2010.  She lives in Minnesota and her blog is about her journey on running a household, climbing the corporate ladder and tree stand all in one day!  She is married to her hunter husband, Tim, and they have a little boy, Andrew, and two dogs!

When she was younger there was nothing more exciting to her than waking up her Dad at 4:00 a.m. to go hunting together.  Then the teenage years came and went and finally she met her husband-to-be and he was a hunter!  She spent many hours with him in tree stands and blinds before she picked up a shotgun again. When she shot her first turkey she had just found out that she was 10 weeks pregnant.  I want to congratulate Amy on her first deer, turkey and her new blog.  I'm looking forward to this hunting season and reading all about her adventures in our great wild outdoors!

Riverfront Park Treat

Yesterday evening Bob and I drove down to the Vicksburg Riverfront Park to enjoy some time just sitting on a bench and watching the lazy Mississippi River roll on by. We were lucky to see one barge going north just passing under the bridges when we got there.  I also noticed that it was very close to the Louisiana bank side.  Then coming around the bend another big barge going south.  All of a sudden we heard a boat motor and as it appeared from behind the trees it was racing towards the bridges going south.  A lot of action on the river all at once!  We also took pictures of each other.  It was a beautiful windy day and it was a perfect one to go down to the park and enjoy the scenic view of the Mighty Mississippi.

Could not see the name very clearly on this towboat pushing empty barge containers up the river.  I was surprised how close the pilot was to the bank.  

Passing each other in the bend of the river.

Small motor boat racing by.

The Gene Neal Towboat

Heading towards New Orleans!

Bob 

Myself  

Runners On The Wall

Yesterday, I went to the Corner Drug Store (a must see in Vicksburg) to pick up some medicine and while riding around saw this mural painting of the Run Thru History runners on a wall near the historic Yazoo Mississippi Valley RR Station.  I had my camera with me and took these pictures.  I'm not sure who the artist is but it's on a concrete wall going up a steep hill towards Washington Street.  Before you get to the top of the hill you can see to the left the ongoing construction of the Lower Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Site, which I recently posted about.  We do have some beautiful riverfront murals that are painted on the flood wall and that's also a must see if you ever come to visit. It's a possibility it may have been painted by the same renowned artist, Robert Dafford, that painted the riverfront murals.

• Herb Roe teamed up with Benny Graeff, a fellow former Dafford muralist, to paint the 55 foot long "Run thru History" mural in Vicksburg, Mississippi in the fall of 2010 . The mural is located across the street from the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals Project on Grove Hill. The murals subject matter is the annual 10k run through the Vicksburg National Military Park and shows several prominent monuments from the park.  (Taken from Wikipedia - Herb Roe)

Belated Deer & Blue Catfish Report

Joshua Boyd, 12, shot this 123-pound buck on private land in Warren County in November.  It was his first deer.  Joshua is the son of Wendy Flatt and Forrest Boyd. Congrats to Joshua on his very first deer in the great wild outdoors! 

Vicksburg resident Chad Williams released a blue catfish back in to the Mississippi River after it was caught by his grandmother, Elaine Williams.  My congrats to Elaine!  You go girl!

MV Mississippi Dry-Docked

A picture I took yesterday afternoon of the MV Mississippi that is dry-docked here on Washington Street and will be part of the Lower Mississippi River Museum that's being erected.  The 1895 Fairground Street Bridge at the rail yard will soon be moved and put back down as part of the project.  (This bridge is located in the area where I grew up and used to play near).  Contract bids for the bridge relocation just went out within the past couple of weeks per my Facebook friend, Charles Bell of Vicksburg News.  He said its a very large project that appears to have made its way past federal budget cuts.  It should be completed sometime in 2012.  I posted an article about the MV Mississippi on March 16, 2009, with a picture taken on September 25, 2007, of its resting place north of town.  You can also check out the Mississippi River Museum Facebook page for further info!

Lower MS River Museum and Interpretive Site, Vicksburg, MS

MV Mississippi on the left and Rusty's on the right, North Washington Street.  

Rusty's Riverfront Grill.  This is a very popular place to eat in Vicksburg but closed on Sundays.  It's facing the motor vessel.  Rusty had a rustic place a few blocks uptown but caught on fire and he had to relocate some years ago.  Could not have been in a better location in front of a tourist attraction-to-be!

We drove behind the vessel to the waterfront to see what was happening and saw...

....a silhouette of geese in the canal on the Yazoo River!

Looks like geese No. 3 giving directions!

Coming to shore at the Vicksburg waterfront.

Let's go for a walk guys!  And...as we drove by...they jumped back in!

A blurred picture of the moon as it was rising yesterday evening near the Vicksburg Playhouse.  It was really a breath-taking site to see going home!