To South Mississippi for Family Visit - 2009
Several photos are posted at www.kodakgallery.com; sign in or
register with email of lewis_nolan@yahoo.com
and password of LN9876 and click on Harvey Trapp Visit album.
Return to Nolan Travels Index for additional
travelogues and index information.
- Updated Jan. 12, 2009
Aug. 14-17, 2009 – To Harvey Trapp
farm near Newton, MS & SuAnne Turnage visit at Pearl, MS
Betty and
I arose fairly early in our Memphis home on Friday, had one of her excellent
breakfasts (at least I did) and drove our Ford Taurus station wagon loaded with
Fiona, our pet greyhound, to the dog kennel at the Southland Park race track in
West Memphis. There we had a delightful but short visit with Vicki Cohen, the
vivacious director of Mid-South Greyhound Adoption and its boarding kennel. We
left Fiona in her capable hands along with a supply of the dry food she is
accustomed to and a few toys and other items.
We dropped
the Taurus off at our home in geographic center of Memphis and switched cars about
10 a.m. to Betty’s pre-packed, Ford Focus station wagon for the about 330-mile
trip to her older brother Harvey Trapp’s big farm near Newton in South
Mississippi. The day was warm but delightfully dry for the drive. Betty handled
all the driving due to my physician’s advice for me to steer clear of driving
when possible to minimize the slight chance of another brain aneurysm rendering
me unconscious like the one I suffered in March, 2006.
Traffic on
Interstate 59 South to Jackson, MS was fairly heavy. Betty had pre-packed a
fresh salad of lettuce and other trimmings including leftover chicken for me to
have for lunch. It was good. I reserved a patty of leftover grilled hamburger
steak for my mid-afternoon snack. Both Betty and I have been fairly faithful to
our
South Beach, low-carbohydrate diets for two months and I wasn’t about to
abandon the moderate weight loss program for this trip.
With a
full tank of gasoline, we stopped at a rest area about 120 miles south of
Memphis and then again at a filling station at Newton, MS, arriving at Harvey’s
farm just before 2 p.m. The total driving time was just under 5 hours, quicker
than we had expected.
The
primary purpose of the trip was so Betty could visit her older brother, Harvey
Trapp, at his 450-acre farm at the beginning of his treatment of chemo and
radiation therapy to be followed by surgery for a serious illness; her fear was
that over time the intensive therapies could possibly make him less than his
usually delightful self. We also enjoyed being with his wife, Ann Rushing
Trapp, and their granddaughter, Maggie Nowell, their beautiful, 7-year-old
granddaughter. (Maggie, with blonde hair and resembling Betty in her very early
pictures, is the only child of Harvey and Ann’s daughter, Tonya Newell, and her
husband, Jimmie Nowell, of nearby Decatur, MS).
Predictably
tired after the long drive, I soon repaired to bed for a nap in the Trapp’s
guest room after our arrival. But I first had a chance to say hello to the
brother of Betty and Harvey, Lamar Trapp. Lamar, a retired union plumber, was
installing a new water heater in the farmhouse he helped Harvey build some years
ago. The modest gifts Betty presented to Harvey, Ann and Maggie (including
children’s books and a nifty “cage” for captured insects) seemed to be a hit.
That
evening, Betty performed her usual magic on the stove and prepared for the
family a delicious, low-carb meal of baked chicken, fresh butter (Lima) beans,
green beans and sliced tomatoes, followed by slices of her home-baked Angel
Food cake served with cool whip and fresh strawberries.
I retired
about 9 p.m. while Betty stayed up to visit with Harvey and also longtime
friend Ann. We were up about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday to continue the visiting.
After another lunch of chef’s salads prepared by Betty, we all drove to a
rendezvous point on the highway near Decatur, where Tonya joined us for the
drive to nearby Meridian, MS and visits to TJ Max and Sam’s Stores so the
ladies could shop.
We had a
nice family dinner at the Olive Garden branch in Meridian. Betty and I went for
our usual meals of soup and unlimited salad at the chain restaurant. Later, we took
a detour on the way back to swing by a modern education complex in Decatur that
provides Elementary, Middle and High School education to children of Newton
County. Tonya, a special education teacher in the Middle School, impressed us
with her pride in teaching at the school. We admired its snazzy-looking
buildings and the elementary school Maggie attends with most windows decorated
with student artwork.
After
watching TV for a while with Harvey and his family, I went to bed about 9:30
p.m. and slept pretty well on a queen-size bed in their guestroom while Betty
stayed up to visit.
On Sunday
morning, Betty again cooked me (and Harvey) a great breakfast of scrambled eggs
and sliced ham. We loaded our bags into her car and said our goodbyes. The
Trapp’s were soon on their way to the Methodist Church in Decatur and promised
they would visit us in Memphis before too long.
Our drive
from the Trapp farm to the home of SuAnne Turnage, Betty’s long-ago suitemate
at East Central Junior College at Decatur (where we met and brother Harvey
served later as Business Manager for some years before retiring took a little
over an hour. SuAnne lives in a nice home she purchased in Pearl, a suburb on
the outskirts of Mississippi’s State Capital, Jackson. She had recently changed
jobs at the University of Mississippi’s Medical School in Jackson and was under
a bit of stress due to the new nature of her work and surroundings.
We treated
SuAnne to a lunch at the restaurant of her choice, an outlet of Newk’s Express
Café chain in the adjacent town of Brandon. We all enjoyed the enormous,
specialty salads of mixed greens and grilled chicken with small portions of
gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, grapes, artichoke hearts, pecans and
croutons served with sherry vinaigrette and breadsticks. After eating, we
repaired back to SuAnne’s home where she and Betty continued their visit and
mutual progress reports while I checked my email on her computer.
With Betty
again handled the driving, I tried to snooze off-and-on as we drove north on
Interstate 55 on a cloudy and warm afternoon to Memphis, arriving home just
after 5 p.m., making good time of a little over 3 hours.
# #
Return to Nolan Getaways / Return
to Nolan Travels