We left around lunchtime and headed south. First stop -> Mississippi! None of us have ever been to the Magnolia State and we are ready to check this one off the list.

As an added bonus, Jena has been considering Mississippi State University, so our goal was to stay in Starkville and do an unofficial walking tour of campus.

First stop on the way… Buccee’s!

We stopped at Buccee’s in Smith’s Grove, KY on the way down. Always a good choice.

Now, onward to Mississippi!

Except… we started getting word that they were expecting severe weather exactly where we were headed. PDS (Particularly Dangerous Situation) weather warnings were starting to pop up. We stopped near Nashville to reassess the situation. Unfortunately we decided to continue on to Mississippi wasn’t worth the risk, and decided to detour in the direction of our next destination and head into Alabama instead. We spent the night at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Athens, AL hoping it was far enough north to avoid the more severe weather.

Ends up we made a good choice, as Starkville, MS spent the night riddled with tornado warnings. Even up in Athens we had a few storms overnight, nothing severe, although the electricity did flicker several times overnight.

After a not-so-good night’s sleep, we hit the road again in the morning.