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:
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
