Tuzigoot’s Last Trip By way of some serendipitous, maybe inspired, sudden developments it came to pass that Tuzigoot now belongs to the Mississippi Methodists, who will use it to provide living quarters for site coordinators in the Church’s Disaster Recovery Center, located in Ocean Springs, Mississippi – Hurricane Katrina country. At about the same time we found a 2004 Allegro Bus in Columbia, TN, that had features we liked. Thus, in one quick week, we delivered Tuzi to MS, then picked up Tuzigoot II, or Tuzi-two (we haven’t quite decided on the name yet).
Before we left for MS we made an appeal via church e-mail for paper goods and money with which to buy water – the MS folks said they could always use these things. Contributions were bountiful and we left Sunday p.m., after church. (I was hoping to load the PT with TP, so it would be the TP PT, but we didn’t quite fill Tuzi’s storage.) Made it to Lubbock that night. Next day, on to Abilene for lunch with and provided by great friends there, and then on across TX (it’s a big state!) to Hallsville, near the LA state line, where we spent the night. Very hot day (thought we should rechristen the town, Hellsville) and Tuzi’s A/C just barely kept us coolish. I-20 skirts the south edge of the D/FW Metroplex, which must be at least 80 miles across, and there was enough traffic to provide some white knuckle moments.
Next day we made good time and got to a campground in Ocean Springs Tuesday evening. When you’re traveling the interstates, not stopping at tractor museums, historic business districts, and the like, you can cover a lot of distance, even at 60 mph, which is about our speed. Total distance, Albq-Ocean Springs, in 2.5 days: 1300 miles. Robert Sharp, construction manager, came to the campground to greet us. Tuzi will be parked at St. Paul United Methodist Church, which is the headquarters for Methodist volunteers in the area. A Georgia company donated a large number of mobile buildings that are being set up as a volunteer dormitory – sleep about 100. The building will also provide an office for helping the homeless get access to relief services. Other churches have donated shower and refrigerator trailers (you don’t want to go into the wrong one with your soaponarope). Up until now, large numbers of volunteers have been living in tents on the church grounds. Tuzigoot will be the residence for the site facilitators -- a couple from Indiana who have sold their home and will be volunteering in this capacity for one year. We would have liked to meet them, but they will not arrive for a few days. Robert Sharp is a former hurricane pilot – flew into hurricane eyes to collect data for the modelers and predictors – those statisticians want only the best data. He did not, however, fly into Katrina. He and his wife evacuated to Nashville. Sharp drove us down by the Biloxi Bay Bridge. The storm surge just ripped tons of steel-reinforced slabs of concrete off the lower levels of the bridge roadway and tossed them up against the shore. Awesome. Work has not yet started on repairing the bridge – I’m assuming its higher reaches were undamaged. Sharp told us he thought bridge contract was just let – something about Mississippi politics slowing down the effort. We drove through what was once a posh gulf-front residential area, across the bay from Biloxi. Some properties, nothing left but a slab; others not far away, perhaps situated a few feet higher, not seriously damaged. The storm surge was up to 25 ft. high in this area. There’s not a lot of evidence of returning and rebuilding by those who lost everything, but maybe it’s not yet easy to get building material. Or insurance money. I’m reading a book about Katrina, called The Big Deluge, in which the author says that, at least early on, the insurance companies said storm surge was not covered under hurricane policies – just wind and rain. Sorr-ee. The Methodist volunteer work, Sharp told us, is focused on the lower income areas, back in some of the bayous, but we didn’t see any of this – ‘twas almost dark when we got to the beach areas. The Methodists have a five-year plan (fancy that!) for continued work in the area – working on housing, jobs, and social services for Katrina victims.
Wednesday morning, we drove Tuzi to the church parking lot and turned her over to her new keepers. Was hot and hectic, so we didn’t take time to feel nostalgic. Here are a couple of pictures, showing part of our cargo of donated paper products and water, and the ceremonial transfer of the keys. (In case you’re wondering, that’s not Robert Sharp; he had business elsewhere.)
Spent the rest of the day driving north toward Columbia, TN, where we are picking up Tuzi-two. Some of these drivers down here are NASCAR wannabes – they come roaring up behind you, draft a while, then, after what they think is adequate time for you to change lanes, but you haven’t, they whip around you to make room for the next guy so he can draft and slingshot around you, too. So, we abandoned the interstates for a while, took a more direct route toward TN, but probably slower. Stopped for the night in Athens, AL, near the TN border.
So, here’s Tuzi-two. Biggest difference is it has a diesel engine. (Susie says its greatest attraction to me is that it’s called a BUS, so it matches my interest in collecting toy buses.) It’s just a foot longer than Tuzigoot, which means it will fit into our driveway, an important criterion. Lots of other features that are definite upgrades over our 2002 Gulf Stream. Spent most of Thursday morning on paperwork and getting oriented, then headed west. The previous owners are real nice people, State Farm agents, who mostly used the Bus for tailgating at Alabama football games. They’re upgrading to 2006 42’ version. I found T-II much easier to drive, particularly on rolling terrain – more power, smoother shifting. We made it to mid-way between Memphis and Little Rock for the night. No problems in setting up for the night or getting under way the next morning.
Friday it’s on to OKC, actually Edmond, to visit my Mom, sister and her family. Other Edmond sister was out of town. Still very hot – near 100 real degrees, not feels-like degrees. There are several I-40 stretches in OK that really administer a pounding. Mentally, I composed letter to governor suggesting he put up signs apologizing for the condition of his highway. OK was home to Mother Road (rte. 66), now it’s got the Miserable Road. Saturday we make it to Amarillo for lunch with friends, then home by early evening. Blissful cool, rain-washed air. Drove through some pretty strong wind and rain near Santa Rosa, but from look of water in streets and yards there, it looked like we missed the worst of it. No motorhome trips planned soon, but when we hit the road, we’ll be let you know a-a-a-ll-ll about it. Cheers. Susie and Rob

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