Day 38--Beginning the Natchez Trace

We headed out first thing this morning and, after nearly 4 weeks of exploring it, we bid farewell to Texas. We had traveled nearly the entire Texas portion of I10, which is about 880 miles, underscoring just how big the state is. We took lesser highways on a diagonal across the lower half of Louisiana, coming out at Natchez, Mississippi. After a stop at the visitor center overlooking the Mississippi we drove around the town a bit, marveling at some of the large old mansions. By about 2:00 we looked for the Natchez Trace Parkway. We took a wrong turn and went under it then returned to town and found the beginning so we could truly say that we drove the entire thing. And what a pleasure it’s going to be! The Parkway is administered by the National Park Service and is two-lane, limited access, running parallel to the original Natchez Trace. It is closed to commercial traffic and we experienced practically no other vehicles the rest of the afternoon. There are numerous historic sites the whole way and we stopped at pretty much each one, including the Emerald Indian Mound, two places where one can walk in the old Natchez Trace and other interesting places. When we stopped at Mount Locus, the oldest and only remaining Inn (or stand, as they were called) we toured the restored building and talked to two volunteers who told us that the three campgrounds along the Parkway are free (the good news) but that we were probably too late in the day to get a campsite (the bad news). They said they fill up this time of year with Canadians heading home who stop at each campground and stay for the 14 day limit before moving on. We continued on with trepidation, stopping only to walk in the Trace where it was worn down thirty feet deep. When we stopped at the first campground, Rocky Springs, we were thrilled to find that, far from being full, there were only two campsites occupied other than the host site! We took an easy, level, pull-through site near the bathroom with no one around us and didn’t even unhitch the trailer from the truck. We set-up and warmed up leftover chili (stretched with leftover spaghetti sauce and leftover baked beans) and settled in for what may be a cold night, with no electricity to run one heater, but the gas furnace to help keep us warm.