Monday, November 18, 2019, Mississippi Petrified Forest, Flora, MS

We had no idea there was petrified wood in Mississippi but we found a museum where we learned something new. Petrified wood can be found in many States and in many countries worldwide. All that was necessary was the right conditions to preserve the wood allowing the fibers to be slowly replaced by minerals. The petrified wood in Mississippi was certainly not as colorful as that found in Arizona's National Park but it was still impressive.

During the Cretaceous Period, 145 to 66 million years ago, the global climate was much warmer in North America than it is today. The sea level was quite high and divided the continent in half.

During the Oligocene Epoch, 34 to 23 million years ago, global temperatures began to gradually cool and sea level again dropped. Almost half of the state was dry land or swamp. Rivers cut new paths and formed floodplains. Logs were entombed and petrified in the sediments of these ancient rivers.

During the Great Ice Age, 11,700 years to 2.6 million years ago, nearly all of Canada and the northernmost US was repeatedly covered by glaciers as a series of temperature swings resulted in more than a dozen major glaciations. Rapid warming at the close of the Ice Age probably contributed to the mass extinction of many large terrestrial animals.

The petrified wood found in this area did not grow here, they are from the north. Mississippi was once covered by a shallow sea. These trees were probably brought here as driftwood 36 to 38 million years ago, stranded in a log jam of the area's lowlands and quickly buried in over 70 feet of soil from the murky waters.

140 years ago this land was 60 feet higher than today. How many more logs might be exposed in another 140 years?

This area was once "badlands" but has since eroded and been reclaimed by flora, leaving the petrified logs exposed.

"Caveman's Bench" lies right on the Forest Trail and signs encourage you to have a seat. In the old piece of canyon wall beside the Bench are a number of log sections still embedded, which were once all part of the same huge tree.

A small museum at the end of the trail showcased petrified wood from sites all around the world as well as many interesting mineral specimens.

The Mississippi Petrified Forest history page has an excellent explanation of how this came to be.

Saturday, November 16, 2019, Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Jackson, MS

One of the nice features of LeFleur's Bluff State Park location was that it was adjacent to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science which meant the drive was only a few miles. It was also on the list of ASTC reciprocal facilities so our admission was covered. It was a surprisingly nice museum with many interesting and informative displays. Around the museum were many nature trails through some of the same woodlands comprising the state park. On a nicer day, we might have done some hiking but we chose to spend our time indoors.

Most of the dinos were animatronic and very colorfully imagined. Why not, after all, we have no idea what their flesh really looked like. Some were even covered with feathers now instead of scales - a very recent discovery gaining popularity. 

I spent a good deal of time watching these two Diamondback Terrapins (she's on top, he is on the bottom - adult males are noticeably smaller than adult females.)

She is sitting on him for the moment (she is the size of a dinner plate, he is the size of a bread plate.

I was fascinated by the three-foot-long congo eel, a three-toed amphiuma (longest amphibian found in North America). Yes, he does use that little leg.

Quite the local attraction, a two-headed rat snake.

Resting under heat lamps, all so still, we had to wait for eye blinks and toe wriggles to assure ourselves they were alive! I was sure that alligators would eat turtles and found many disturbing YouTube videos showing just that. My guess is they are very well fed, so why bother.

Who knew there were dreaded ROUSes in Mississippi!  Ok, it is really a Russian Boar, but come on, it must have been the model for the "Rodents Of Unusual Size" in The Princess Bride.

Back to my favorite couple! They were now joined by a beautiful Blue Crab (female - red-tipped pinchers).

Friday, November 15, 2019, Mississippi Capitol, Jackson, MS

Time for some sightseeing. Just driving out of LeFleur's Bluff State Park in Jackson, MS, provided beautiful views of Mayes Lakes and the cypress trees.

The Capitol was almost the tallest building in Jackson so it was easily visible no matter where you were.

The eagle is solid copper covered in gold leaf. It is 8 feet high with a wingspan of 15 feet.

I find it amazing that this Capitol was built in only 28 months between 1901 and 1903

at a cost of $1,093,641, funds awarded to the State of Mississippi from a lawsuit against the Illinois Central Railroad for back taxes. (1980s reno cost $19 million.)

The globe with a basket weave motif in the middle of the picture is approximately 10 feet across.

After the dome tour in the Kansas Capitol, I was interested in the architecture above the inner dome. There was no dome tour here - reaching the top of the outer dome required crawling through some outdoor hatches and several long ladders - I'd pass even if it were allowed.

Having been built just after the invention of the new-fangled light bulb they chose to include as many as they could. They did not, however, have a good plan for replacing bulbs without erecting a lot of scaffolding so we saw a lot of missing lights. I thought the bare bulbs everywhere detracted from the overall beauty of the building.

Yes, the bare bulbs are original and at the time a new technology. 750 bulbs are used in the Rotunda alone. There are 4,750 throughout the building.

David thought the bulbs brought images of penny arcades of the 30s (now that is all I see!), but in 1901 it was cutting edge.

The elevator was restored to its original elegance and still had an operator sitting at the controls inside.

I love my new sweater, Katie, thank you!

The flourish on the Corinthian columns was a bit over the top (no pun intended) and I missed having a handrail on most of the stairs but they really wanted to make their capitol a showplace.

The architecture is Beaux Arts style (defined as scholarly, self-confident, grand and lush), popular from the 1890s to the 1920s.

The heavy brass fixtures with globes were much more what you would expect to see in a well-appointed capitol building.

Thursday, November 14, 2019, Move to LeFleur's Bluff State Park, Jackson, MS

Today's drive of 192.4 miles (95,781.0 total) landed us for the first time in the state of Mississippi. Our reservations in LeFleur's Bluff State Park put us very near the heart of the capital city, Jackson. My first impressions were positive. The roads were well paved and Jackson seemed to be very easy to navigate without a lot of traffic.

The campground was such a surprise. We were surrounded by woods and water. It was a mile from the check-in gate to our site along a winding road that was nearly covered by leaves and surrounded by Mayes Lake. It was easy to forget we were in the middle of the state's capital.

The lake level was high and the grounds were still a bit muddy after recent rains. Clearly, the park had experienced flooding in the past, hence, the bathhouse built 12 feet above the ground.

Most every morning the calm lake afforded us mirror-like views of the fall colors.