Two Hams on the Road

Monday, March 10, 2014

What a glorious day!  We woke up to overcast skies and a glassy lake.  Everything was very peaceful.

Steve called the park we hoped to stay at Monday night, and she politely laughed at us.  Turns out it’s spring break.  At 8 am she only had two empty sites and they don’t take reservations, so chances are good they won’t have room for us.  Time to punt.

We were soon on our way on the Natchez Trace.  The clouds dissipated slowly over the morning as we headed south.   Steve asked what Tupelo meant.  I said “Elvis’s birthplace”  as mentions of Elvis are everywhere.  But actually it’s a type of tree.  There’s a National Battlefield at Tupelo commemorating the 1864 battle there.  We didn’t stop there, but did stop at the first place we could walk the old Trace.  The modern parkway parallels the old Trace, not all of which still exists.  It didn’t come under national protection until the 1930s.  By then parts of it had disappeared under roads, farms and towns.  But walking on part of the old Trace is walking on a millennia of history. 

This is a picture of the part of the old Trace that we walked.

As we proceeded south, the skies cleared and we had a bright, sunny day.

There are Indian burial grounds along the Trace dating back 2000 years. We passed the site of Hernando de Soto’s winter camp in 1540.  He was a Spanish explorer.  Sites of Indian villages dot the trace.  Civil War battles were fought near the Trace.  Andrew Jackson, John Audubon, Daniel Boone, Jefferson Davis and Ulysses S. Grant all walked the Trace.   Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark) died on the Trace and there is a monument to him on the northern section.

I can’t imagine spending a month walking north on the Trace to return home to the Midwest, especially through some swamps.  But thousands of people did.  It was a major thoroughfare until steamboats made it easier to go back up river by boat rather than walking or riding in the early 1800’s.  Although designated a post road (mail route), as cities such as Jackson, Mississippi, were established on nearby rivers and not on the Trace, the road fell out of use.

But the parkway preserves what is left of the old Trace and encompasses a modern trail for most of it’s length.  The roadway itself is restricted to noncommercial traffic and has a 50 mile an hour speed limit, which cuts down on traffic.  It winds through forests, prairies and farmland.  It’s a relaxing drive.  We saw several deer and as we rode south, we saw more and more signs of spring.

At the park ranger’s suggestion, we stopped at Jeff Busby lookout.  It’s one of Mississippi’s highest points (603 feet) and has lovely views.  It also contains a campground, where we stopped and had lunch.  

We had the place to ourselves, so I checked on the other campgrounds on the Trace.  They don’t accept reservations and don’t have hookups, but are nice campgrounds.  We decided to try Rocky Springs campground, not far from I20, where we were planning on leaving the Trace anyway and heading west for Dallas.

Before we reached Rocky Springs, we stopped and did a hike through a swamp.  Obi, who didn't want to go near the lake yesterday, only shied away from the water once.  It was dark water and I'm not sure he knew what it was.

We reached Rocky Springs Campground in the late afternoon.  While not empty, we had our pick of campsites and settled in (in a pull through site) for the night.  This is the view from our rear window (after I cleaned it.)

Somehow I didn't imagine doing housework while traveling.  But it does have to be done.  Luckily, both of us try to keep it clean, so that helps.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

No Internet access last night, we were in a dead zone.  So last night's post is combined with tonight's.  Amazingly we don't hit too many dead zones, although we went through on as we were headed towards tonight's campground.

We are in a National Forest Service campground, Beaver Dam, in Louisiana.  Easy pull in site with water, electricity and a lake view.  All for $9.50, senior rate.  Here's the view from our rear window.

Mark Davis sent us email saying the weather was better and we could come home.  But I wouldn't have working conditions like this:

Being able to rest my eyes on a lake view makes keeping up the blog easy!

I need to go and check out places near Plano.  The place we stayed last time is full and we're still looking.  We may stay here another day while we look.

Take care!

Deb