World United States Mississippi French Camp

Herb & Ginger's RV Travel Adventures

French Camp May 15, 2012

Sat 5/12/12

We knew we had some weather coming in and the campground was likely going to fill up with people coming for a fund-raiser they were having here, so we decided to head out. It was starting to rain as we hit the dump station. We made several stops and were staying ahead of the rain until we stopped at the visitor center near Kosciusko, MS (named for the famous Rev. War era officer Tadeusz Kościuszko, who designed many fortifications including West Point). It was now raining hard. We drove up the road stopping at more POIs. We decided to stop at the Jeff Busby NPS Campground. No hookups here but we don’t need any. Expecting that we might dry camp somewhere I had loaded water at Ratliff Ferry.. We chose a site and waited out the heavy rain over lunch. After the rain stopped we went back to French Camp where they were having their annual Pioneer Day.

We enjoyed touring the French Camp historical area with its period houses, some good southern bluegrass/gospel music, etc. We visited with a lady from NH who winters at French Camp and was doing a living history impression in an early 19th century home. We had dinner at the “café”. French Camp is home to the “Academy” which is a Christian-based multidiscipline school for kids coming from troubled homes or circumstances. Before leaving we had a nice conversation with the lady cashier in the gift shop about life in French Camp. Many people have moved here to live in a small Christian-based community. And their young people are bucking the trend and staying where they grew up, choosing quality of life over affluence. As with many other rural areas employment opportunities are not plentiful. The primary occupations in the area are the nearby coal mine, associated power plant near the mine and logging.

Upon returning to the campground we found two couples that had set up across from us in modified Unimogs. I talked with one of the owners for awhile. These are interesting vehicles and I guess they will go just about anywhere but . . . they aren’t for us! It rained more overnight but not hard. We went 70 miles today and got 11.0 mpg .