Back from the Natchez

    When we left Minnesota the weather was cold and spring hadn't arrived yet.  Nothing was growing in the fields (actually it was below freezing the night before we left and we were worried about our water tanks freezing).  By the time we got to southern Mississippi the corn was thigh high and the weather was in the 90's.
   We stopped at many battlefields, the homes of two presidents (Lincoln and Jackson), one king (Elvis), and Sam Clemons.  We drove all but 15 miles of the longest National park(way) in the country.   We spent time in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and  Missouri.   We crossed a lot of very flooded rivers, including the Mississippi several times, but were gone long enough to see the waters recede as we drive north again.  So many rivers that I have confused a couple.  The two major rivers which come together in Paducah are the Ohio and the Tennessee (not the Illinios).  I will have to correct that in my earlier post.
    We saw a lot of empty store fronts, old cars, worn clothing, hitch hikers, homeless folks with grocery carts, dilapidated  neighborhoods - the economic downturn really hurt the South.  We saw so much tornado damage in the wide swath of twisted and downed trees as well as the bright blue of tarps covering gaps in the roofs of houses still standing.  We saw hundreds of homes and businesses under water or under mud due to the flooding.  Almost all of the campgrounds we visited had workers and families living full time in their campers -  because they were flooded out, lost their home, or because they have to follow the available work.
    On the flip side we saw many families having fun together.  A family of nine shared our space on the deck of the Mark Twain riverboat.  The oldest boy was 10.  He had three sisters and three brothers.  All well behaved, busy, cheerful kids who made me miss our grandsons.  In another campground we met a little girl who never sat down except on her bicycle as she rode around saying hi to everyone.  Last night dozens of families gathered around campfires (and beer) to celebrate the end of a successful NASCAR trial.  They weren't rowdy, just a bunch of Americans having a good time.
   Bin Laden was caught and killed while we were on the road.  The DOW went up and down and up again.  Some Republicans joined the Presidential race, some dropped out.  Summer came to Minnesota and went again.  Farmers got their crops planted and the corn is ankle high. Seems like we have been gone a long time.
   Things went well for us with the new RV except for this last morning when we discovered that the battery in our car was dead.  We need to have battery power to run the machine that provides auxiliary braking for the car.  It was quite the chore to unhitch the car, turn the RV around so that we could use the engine to jump start the car and then drive the car around the back of the RV to hitch it up again.  By the time we got to our first rest stop the battery was dead again so we gave up and drove home on the flat Iowa roads without brakes on the car.  Not a real problem since the RV vastly outweighs the car.  One more thing for us to look into before we hit the road again.
   This was a short trip for us, but a good break-in for the RV.  I am happy to be heading home to see my dear family.  I also know that we will be back on the road in late July for a trip to the Black Hills with my brother.  I love to travel with friends.  We missed having any of you along this time.  I am so happy that you could join us through the blog, however.  Thanks for your comments.  Hope you will join us again soon.

Discoveries large and small

    We discovered a few things today as we left Missouri and headed home through Iowa.  First, we counted the number of things that have fallen off within the RV.  Nothing major, just a few pieces of trim, a hook that WE put up, and a couple of wood buttons that cover screws.  Overall it is very well put together.  I am impressed with Winnebago manufacturing.
    Second: We stopped for lunch just outside Iowa City.  The weather seemed to be getting windier and the sky was getting darker.  I checked the weather on my cell phone and could see a storm moving west in our path.  We drove on, but the wind was gusting stronger and moving us around on the highway.  I looked again at the weather map and saw that the front was getting stronger - lots of dark red at the center of the storm.  We decided to pull off at the upcoming rest stop and wait for the front to pass.  As we pulled off, I turned on the radio to see if I could get some information.  Well, doggoned if we don't have the NOAA weather radio as part of our satellite radio.  The radio knew where we were and gave us immediate weather information about the dangerous storm that was passing by.  A tornado was sited south of us, but did not get to our area.  We just had strong winds and rain.  Finally the storm passed and we moved on.
     We got to our intended campground and found that it is located across the street from a NASCAR raceway and today was a race.  As we left the freeway we could see hundreds of RV's in the racetrack area.  A sign told us that the campground was full.  We pulled in anyway so that we could turn around and decide where we would go.  We stopped in the office "just in case" and it was our luck that there was one site open.  It is a nice, long site with lots of green grass - about 100 yds from I80.  Pretty noisy, but its hot out and we have the air on.  While standing around getting set up Rick complained about how much the rig sways when it is so windy.  We got our third discovery when Rick got a hint from one of the other RVers about having some rear stabilizers installed.  We are going to look into it when we get home as a a sway in strong wind is one of the few things that we don't like about this new RV arrangement.
   A final personal and vastly interesting discovery:  We have traveled from Iowa, to Nashville, Tupelo, Jackson and Memphis.   These are all sites that had Civil War battles.  I wondered if my great, great grandfather, Joseph Shepperle who was in the Civil War had fought in any of these places.  I was astounded to learn when I looked up a history of Joseph's Minnesota regiment, I found that I had inadvertently been following the path of the regiment as it fought in the Civil War.  I know that Joseph was invalided out of the war before the end so he may not have been in all of these places, but it seems a unique coincidence that we have been traveling in those footsteps.
   We are happy to see that the storms have passed through this area and we don't need to worry about running to the shelter tonight.  Sad to see the pictures of the damage done to North Minneapolis.  Time to head for home.
   

A day with Mark Twain

     We woke up today to bright sunshine and a campground FULL of people.  There are many more tents here than we have seen in a commercial campground in a long time.  I was happy for them that the weather has cleared up.  The clearer weather also meant that I had access to the Internet through the campground satellite connection.  It is SOOOO slow.  It barely works at all but at least I can read my email.
    Mark Twain's boyhood home is here in Hannibal.  It is pretty much what the entire town is all about.  We started at the Mark Twain Museum.  It is full of hands-on exhibits including a raft to sit on and watch clips from Tom Sawyer films.  The best part of the museum was a collection of Norman Rockwell paintings illustrating scenes from Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.  We learned that name Mark Twain comes from Samuel Clemens' time as a young man on the Mississippi.  Boatmen used a rope with knots tied every 6 feet to mark a fathom of depth.  Two marks on the rope were called out to the helmsman as "Mark, twain" which meant that the river was 12 feet deep.  This was a safe depth for the shallow draft riverboats.  Therefore, Mark Twain meant safe passage.

     A few blocks down the street from the museum is the Interpretive Center, Samuel Clemens boyhood home and many of the buildings featured in Mark Twain's novels: the Becky Thatcher house, the white picket fence, the Huckleberry Finn house, Grant's Drug store and J. M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office.  It was interesting to learn which members of the community became characters in the novels.
     Hannibal has a pretty downtown with lots of gardens and great old buildings.  I found a quilt store just across the street from the Mark Twain exhibit and spent some time looking around a really nice shop.  Rick enjoyed watching the world go by while sitting on the bench outside.
     The Mississippi is not at flood stage any longer in Hannibal so we went down to watch the boats go by.  A Riverboat named the Mark Twain has afternoon cruises.  It was such a beautiful day that we decided to go out on the river for an hour on the Riverboat.  It was a delightful afternoon to cruise along the river near Hannibal and hear more of the history of the area.  We spent some time cruising slowly alongside a Jackson Island across from Hannibal.   It is featured in several of Twain's novels.  It was easy to imagine that we were kids having a great adventure on the island.
    We drove away from downtown looking for a grocery store.  There were lots of empty buildings and almost no one shopping anywhere.  As I stood in line to buy groceries the major topic of discussion was food stamps, unemployment and supported housing.  I think that the little touristy section of downtown is the primary economic support to the community.  Hopefully things will improve.
    Despite predictions that this was going to be a rainy afternoon, the weather stayed sunny and warm.  We had a wonderful late afternoon sitting on our chairs out on the grass and enjoying the breeze.  I can hardly believe that our trip is almost over. Rick grilled some burgers to honor our last day of sightseeing.  We will be home in a day and a half.

Hannibal, Missouri

      Here we are in a campground near downtown Hannibal and watching it rain.  It is Friday evening.  Initially the campground was nearly empty, but folks keep driving in for a fun weekend with the kids.  This place has swings and playground equipment as well as access to Mark Twain's cave.  A good place for kids.  BUT it is pouring!  The rain stops for a little while and then starts again even harder.
    We watched a family put up a large tent while their daughter rode around on her bike.  Seemed like they were going pretty slow considering that there was only a short time between downpours.  Finally it was up and then they started trying to cook dinner without a rain fly.  I am not sure why they didn't pitch the tent next to the gigantic picnic shelter across the road.  A little further down the road a family with 3 kids have set up their tent trailer - I remember the days of being cooped up for a weekend in a tent camper with bored kids.  Actually those were really the good old days.  We had so much fun traveling with the boys.
     This campground has satellite Internet.  When it was pouring earlier there was no connection.  Now I have had one for a little bit.  I am so accustomed to being able to look things up it drives me crazy.  I forgot to get the info on the Mark Twain sites around town and I will have to rely on printed materials found in town.  So archaic.  It will have to do unless the rain stops for a bit.
     According to the news the world will end tomorrow.  Hmm.  We certainly have been having a good time  the past couple weeks.  I guess if tomorrow is the end we will go out doing something we love.  Just wish the guy who couldn't put up his tent hadn't tried to light a fire with wet wood so I will have to spend my last few hours in this world coughing.
   The news also questioned why gas prices go up fast and down slow.  I wonder the same thing.  However, we have been very grateful that we only paid over $4 once on this trip.  Mostly the prices have been just fine and the MPH on the camper continues to improve.  The manual says not to even start tracking it until after 1000 miles.  Ricky had to start at day one, of course.  
     Our new camper has an automatic awning.  We just press a button and it goes out or comes back in.  We use it so much more now that we don't have to spend 10 minutes fiddling with it.  In a rain like this it is very handy.  We can have the door and side window wide open without the rain coming it.  Since it is 75 and humid it feels good to have the fresh air.  It is also very helpful to have a little porch so that when we come in and out the door it doesn't get so wet inside.  The best part is that we will be able to close it up again before we go to bed and won't have to step a foot outside if it is still raining.  I love the new camper.

National Quilt Museum

     The National Quilt Museum is in the historic district of downtown Paducah.  It is a modern building with beautiful stained glass windows which are designed in familiar quilt patterns.  The sign on the entryway says “Honoring Today’s Quilter.”  About 150 quilts at a time are showcased in the exhibit.  Many of the quilts on display are from contest winners who agree to donate the quilt if they take contest money.  This provides the museum with an new, high quality additions to the collection each year which means that the collection continues to reflect current quilting trends.  There were some really spectacular quilts – both machine quilted and hand quilted.  Wow!

     In addition to the basic collection there were two special exhibits.  The first was a set of quilts produced by 10 leading quilt artists.  Each quilter produced two quilts which were supposed to complement each other.  I was disappointed in these quilts as they seemed to be mostly interesting fabric that was hand painted or computer created/printed and then quilted.  Very little piecing in these quilts.  They were more quilted paintings than quilts.   They did show some different aspects of quilting, however.  But not my cup of tea.

     The second special exhibit was more interesting to both Rick and I.  The theme was a quilt pattern called “orange peel.”  Each quilt used the traditional pattern in a new format.  Lots of creativity.  In addition to the new quilts there was a large selection of antique quilts – mostly from the 19^th century – which used orange fabric.  I found it so interesting to see how the quilt makers of the past used the bright orange color in their quilts.  In some cases it was clear that the quilt maker had run out of some of the fabric and substituted similar colors in the final squares – even modern quilters run into this problem.

     After leaving the museum we walked to the levee along the Ohio/Illinois rivers.  The miles of levees could have really impacted the view, but the town painted murals of scenes from the history of the town on the levee walls.  It was really attractive.  We were able to go past the levee onto the riverwalk.  One of the town’s residents told us that the water had gone down only a week earlier so that the gates in the levee wall could be opened.  We enjoyed the view of all the tugboats and barges on the confluence of the Ohio and Illinois rivers.  The commercial traffic had been shut down for several days.

      The town was founded in 1827 by William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  The downtown area was full of 19^th century architecture and nice tree lined streets with pretty parks and alley ways full of flowers.  We stopped for lunch in a cozy little downtown café and watched the world walk by.  Then we went back to the RV for some maintenance work and cleaning up as we get down to our last couple stops on this trip. Paducah was an out of the way stop for us, but well worth it.

Paducah, Kentucky

     We are back in Kentucky on our way home.  This town is the home of the National Quilt Museum which is why this stop is on our itinerary. We will head there tomorrow.  Today we crossed the Mississippi River, again.  I didn't know when I planned this trip a couple months ago that we would be having a record breaking flood.  I have lost count of how many times we have crossed the river, but each time I am just amazed at the power of the water and the enormous area that it covers.  All the rivers that run into the Mississippi are backed up into surrounding fields and towns as well.  In many areas we have seen both flood damage and tornado damage.  FEMA must have its hands full.
    Our campground tonight is next to a car auction lot.  We have seen some antique RV's in this area, including many in used RV lots.  I think that some of them are older than the ones we saw in the Elkhart RV history museum.  I'm sure that not having salt on the roads helps to preserve the chassis.
   We got to this campground by mid afternoon and had some time to set our chairs out on the gravel lawn and watch cars go by.  Not my favorite campground, but the folks are nice, the spots are level and the laundry room was empty.
    We decided to head out for dinner and used Google Maps to find a nearby restaurant.  For $20 we had two draft beers, a chicken barbecue dinner with rolls, beans, potato salad and coleslaw and a half rack of ribs with the same sides.  Not quite the great atmosphere as B.B. Kings, but a great meal.  Rick is off for his nightly walk to wake him up after a big meal and a beer.  Blogging wakes me up.
    Traveling is good for us.  Rick got over his pneumonia very quickly.  My knee has only required daily exercises and an occasional Aleve.  After one or two nights in our new bed we have both been sleeping very well.  I turn on the white noise machine to block out trains, planes and early RV travelers.  With a bed in the back of the RV and a little curtain between the "bedroom" and the "living room" Rick can stay up late reading and I can get up early.  We don't bother each other with our different schedules.  Many of the smaller RVs had a couch that folded into a bed.  This would not have worked for us.  We are happy with our choice.  I love my new Winnie.

Memphis Blues

    So we went to Graceland today – a totally 70’s experience. Green shag carpeting on the ceiling. Big console RCA TV’s in all the rooms. Yellow, green, and orange walls, appliances and furniture. The Graceland mansion was not what I would call a beautiful house. It is on a large piece of property with rolling green lawns and big trees. Today was a gorgeous day in Memphis – sunny, breezy and 68. We enjoyed sitting in the rose garden next to the swimming pool. Elvis and his family are buried in this memory garden. Unless you believe that he is still around.
    We also took a tour of Elvis’s many cars and two planes. Most of the cars had been sold and reacquired by the Foundation. Pink Cadillac, red MG, 2 black Stutz Blackhawks and Harley Davidson motorcycles. In addition scenes from many of Elvis’ movies ran on a big screen “drive-in.” The scenes featured Elvis driving many of his favorite cars. I remembered many of the movies.
   It was a fun step back to the 50’s and 60’s with lots of Elvis’ music to entertain us. It all brought back memories from my teen years when Elvis and his beach party movies like Blue Hawaii were big. I can remember going to see them with my friends and wishing I was part of the Hawaii beach scene.
    After leaving Graceland we drove to downtown Memphis to take a walk down Beale Street. It is near the river and in the early 1900’s was a busy with shops, clubs and restaurants owned by African Americans. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Memphis Minnie, B.B. King, Rufus Thomas and Rosco Gordon  played on Beale Street and helped develop the style known as Memphis Blues. As a young man, B.B. King was billed as "the Beale Street Blues Boy." Today it is still a street of clubs, shops and restaurants. Several small parks along the street feature live music all day. We had some barbecue lunch at B. B. Kings Club, a delightful pork sandwich and coleslaw. I still can taste the smoky sauce. Yum. Then we wandered the shops and listened to some blues.  

     It was a perfect day for wandering around downtown. We couldn’t get down to Memphis Riverwalk or to Mud Island due to the floods. The river has gone down several feet, but the brown water is still running fast and covers an amazingly vast area.  

  

On the road in the South

"The Mississippi delta was shining
Like a national guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war
I'm going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland"

Tonight we are in Memphis.  All day I have been humming the Simon and Garfunkel tune.  We just drove today so I am going to sum up some observations about being below the Mason-Dixon line:

     In a TV ad one of the candidates for Mississippi Lt. Governor says, “Them taxes is too dadgummed high.”

     Another candidate advertises himself as John “Boy” Smith.  (I was so taken by an adult male running for office still using the nickname “boy” that I forgot his actual name.)

     An ad for a local restaurant says, “Come eat with us and get closer to Jesus.”  Either they plan to feed me something that will kill me, or they have the idea that I am more likely to find God in their place than, say, the McDonald’s down the street. 

     Folks riding around in the bed of pickup trucks – on the highway even.  Maybe it isn’t illegal in Mississippi.

     A jeep painted in camo and confederate flags carrying a father and two young sons all dressed in fake camo uniforms.

     A women’s hair style worn by women well over 60 that consists of very long, bleached blond hair held back with a sequined headband.  These women apparently are both sun worshipers and smokers as their faces are so lined they look like prunes.

    Men’s fashion of cutting the sleeves off every style shirt and wearing them either very tight so their bellies hang out or so loose that the shirts hang off one shoulder.  Rick is hoping that I brought a scissors along so that he can join the fashion.

     Shorts so tight and so brief that the wearer cannot possibly sit down or bend over.  In the South these are worn by women until they are in the nursing home.

     We have met many delightful people and have experienced very friendly service almost everywhere we go.  There have only been a few instances where I thought that the person speaking to me was from a mysterious foreign country as I tried to decipher their thick southern drawl.

     We have run into interesting folks in the campgrounds as well.  Yesterday there was a gentleman who said that he travels all over the country in his RV but has never used the stove and has only crackers in his cupboards.  He and his wife eat out every meal.  Somehow that seems like more work to Rick and I than having some fruit and yogurt for breakfast and making a sandwich for lunch.  But everyone travels their own way.  They traveled a lot because his wife is a professional horseshoe champion.  I guess I didn’t know that you could play horseshoes professionally.

     Tonight we talked with a couple from California who are driving to Nova Scotia.  The lady plays a harp.  They are driving a small RV.  The harp rides in the cab over bunk.  We have extra blankets and some maps in our cab over. 

     We are sometimes tired, sometimes annoyed, usually interested, rarely bored.  Life on the road has lots of variety.

Following Nevada Barr

       Rick may seem to many folks like a pretty quiet guy, but put him in a campground and he attracts chatty folks like the smell of a steak on the grill.   I think that sometimes folks are tired of talking to their travel companion and leap out of their RV when they see a nice, smiling face.  This is great, but Rick seems to attract the “talkers.”  Folks who just don’t know when to quit.  Today he went off to take a picture of a tree with nice pink flowers.  I saw these flowing trees along the road but couldn’t get close to one. (I finally got close to one of the blooming magnolias)   Rick found one in the campground along with a lovely older lady who chatted him up for about 40 minutes.  And you thought that Carter got his chatty nature from me?

     We drove more of the Trace today.  We did not make it all the way to Natchez, but within 15 miles of the end of the 444 mile drive.  It was a lovely, sunny, and a bit warmer today.  I was excited because the last section of the Parkway was most discussed in the Nevada Barr novel that got me initially interested in visiting this park.  In many areas the trees came up close to the road.  In one of these areas two grey foxes crossed just ahead of us.  They were beautiful.  All along we have been seeing hawks soaring above the Trace.  Today we saw one very close to our windshield and discovered that they are Turkey Vultures, not hawks.  Not very pretty up close.

     We stopped at Rocky Springs which was a town of a couple thousand people until erosion, the boll weevil, and the Civil War caused most of the families to move away.  We walked a path to see the foundations of some of the old houses, a cistern, a couple of old safes (they must have been too heavy to move), and an old church and graveyard still in use.  It was fun to walk around an area with the whispers of ghosts still in the quiet air.  We checked out the campground, which was very small but quite nice.  There were only a couple campers, despite this being the weekend.  This campground played a big part in the novel.

     Our next stop was the “sunken trace.”   Here erosion and heavy use have worn the track down below the rest of the terrain by about 25’.  Again, this was the site of a major scene in the book.   We are seeing many more bicyclists on the road.  There are a number of outfitters who provide support and lunch for groups of cyclists who want to bike a section of the Parkway.  It would make a really nice ride.  There was almost no other traffic on the road.  We love the quiet.

     Just outside of Natchez we stopped at Mount Locust.    This was a 1200 acre farm in 1784.  It was only a day’s walk out of Natchez.  As more and more travelers walked the Trace, the farm owners decided to turn their farm home into a “stand.”  Travelers could spend the night on the porches and get a meal of corn mush and milk.  Although the building has been renovated back to its 1820 appearance by the Park Service, it is one of the oldest structures still standing in the area.  It was  a great spot to finish our tour back into history along the Trace.

Vicksburg, MS

     Our destination today was Vicksburg. Originally we were going to move the RV there, but decided to just make a day trip of it. The town is located on the Mississippi River and was the site of one of the major battles of the Civil War as the Union sought to take control of the Mississippi. Command of the river would allow Union troops to move up and down the river and would divide Texas, Arkansas and much of Louisiana from the rest of the Confederacy.
     We went to the Vicksburg National Military Park just outside the city. We stopped at the Visitor Center and watched a movie which gave an overview of the extensive battles in the area. Then we took off on a 16 mile one-way drive which winds through the ridges and valleys on the bluffs above the city of Vicksburg and the Mississippi River. Lt. General John Pemberton had about 50,000 Confederate troops to keep the river open. Maj. General Ulysses S. Grant had 45,000 men in his Union forces as they began the first of many attacks on the Confederate Army situated on the high bluffs, protected by artillery batteries along the riverfront. It amazed us to see how close the two armies were during their many battles - sometimes only 100 yds. We could still see the trenches, tunnels and earth redoubts protecting the railroad.
     

  On December 12 1882 the Union sent ironclad gunboats up the Yazoo River, north of Vicksburg to attack the Confederate batteries from that direction. The gunboat, Cairo, was the first boat sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo (now called a mine). When it went down in the Yazoo it sank into the mud and was very well preserved. The remains of the gunboat was recovered and reconstructed. It is an amazing display on the grounds of the military park. I love to able to walk around, touch and really see the size and shape of the historic object, rather than dozens of artifacts in a museum. Eventually, after many lives lost on both sides, Pemberton surrendered.  Grant had finally won by blockading the city and the Confederate soldiers were too ill and hungry to fight any longer.  The taking of Vicksburg was a major turning point in the Civil War.   

     After leaving the park we drove a scenic route down into downtown Vicksburg. The drive took us along the river which is in full flood. We realized when we got down to the River Drive that we were BELOW the level of the river. Huge levees were holding the water back - leaking a fair bit in places, too. Some of the casinos along the river were half under water. We watched a big barge struggle to get up stream between the arches of a bridge. The river may need to be shut down to all commercial traffic which will seriously affect the economy of the area. We also saw warnings about road closings along Hwy. 61 which is the “Great River Road” that we were planning to follow back home to Minnesota.

Clinton, Mississippi

    It rained hard last night and was raining off and on this morning.  As we got ready to disconnect our power and take off, the rain began again in force.  Rick was drenched below the bottom of his short raincoat.  We waited for a lessening of the rain and then finished closing up and got underway.  As we drove down the parkway we found ourselves in dark green, dripping, tunnels.  Here and there a thick mist drifted past.  I was so happy to be in our snug RV instead of being an Ohio boatman walking home through the wet woods in sopping wet wool clothing after a wet night.

     We saw a lot of tornado destruction today.  Not houses, but areas where all the trees for miles were twisted and broken.  Over and over there were places where downed trees had fallen across the road and been cut up to move them off the road.  It must have been quite the job for the National Park Service to get the roadway open again as this went on for miles and miles.  We have been seeing lots of State Farm trucks in the RV parks and a huge FEMA trailer.  Lots of post tornado work for them all.

     One of our stops today was the French Camp Historic District.  Buildings from many eras of the history of the trace have been gathered here to provide a view of what life was like living along the Natchez Trace.  Pioneer Lewis LeFleur first traded with the Choctaw Indians at a bluff near Jackson, Mississippi. About 1812, he established his stand 900 feet to the northeast on the Natchez Trace. Because of the storekeeper's nationality the area was often called "French Camp.”  Cabins, a blacksmith shop, and carriage house are all part of this historic exhibit.

    At the end of the day we stopped to walk along a boardwalk over a cypress swamp in an abandoned river channel.  Water tupelo and bald cypress trees can live in deep water for long periods. After taking root in summer when the swamp is nearly dry, the seedlings can stay alive in water deep enough to kill other plants.  I saw some turtles sliding off a floating log, but Rick saw a sign warning us of alligators.  We did not see any.

We are spending the next three nights in Clinton, a suburb of Jackson, MS.  The RV park is basically a paved area in the center of a large mobile home complex.  Lots of trees and green grass around the mobile homes, but not much but blacktop for our RV spots.  At least the weather is cooling down so we aren’t sitting in a sea of blacktop when it is over 90.  Nice folks in the next spot to talk with so we will manage.

Tupelo, Mississippi

     We are definitely well into the South. We passed through the corner of Arkansas and are now in Tupelo, Mississippi. I can remember thinking I was so smart when I learned to spell Mississippi, now it is just a long word to type. We have been listening to the local news. Sometimes we find the broadcasters in smaller communities to be very professional. Tonight the weather forecaster was just a hoot. He had innumerable stumbles and a really convoluted explanation of why it will be cooler in a few days. Whatever the explanation, we will be grateful to have some cooler weather. I have been talking to friends and family at home and hear that Minnesota is having some really hot weather too, so we would be uncomfortable there as well.
     This portion of the Trace had dense forest that was right up to the road in many places. We have been noticing more mosquitoes and thought about how buggy it must have been for the travelers who were walking mile after mile on a narrow path in the dense woods. We stopped at several springs today where entrepreneurs had built small “stands” for travelers to spend the night and get a meal. One of the very popular "stands" provided "entertainment." Hmmm!
    For lunch we planned to picnic at Tishomingo State Park which was just off the Trace. The park had many areas and buildings developed by the CCC in the 30’s. It offered a bunch of cabins that can be reserved, as well as a small campground. Rick asked about picnic grounds and was given a map. The lady at the desk assured him that we could get into the picnic sites. Well, we drove past the picnic shelters and never found a place that would work for us to pull off the road. We kept driving through the park and ended up in the cabin area. No place to turn around. One drawback to our new camper arrangement is that we can’t back up with the car attached. We were clearly warned NOT to do this or we would damage the expensive hitch arrangement. We were about ready to detach the car so we COULD back up and get back out to the highway when Rick found a slightly wider spot and with great finesse managed to get us circled around and back out the way we came. Taking the car off and rehitching it would not have been awful, just really tedious on a hot day. 

     I did not make many reservations at campgrounds for this trip. I figured that it is early in the summer and is a less traveled area. I have been calling one day ahead. Good thing I did that for our current spot in Tupelo. We are at the only campground for about 3 hours in all directions. If we didn’t have a reservation we would have been driving quite a bit longer today. Most campgrounds in this area have sites by the day, week and month. Many folks in RV’s come here to live for months at a time. Some of the RVers from campgrounds along the Mississippi have relocated due to the flooding. We now have reservations for the next three days so that we won’t be stuck in a Walmart parking lot.

Natchez Trace, Tennessee

    We got to the beginning of the Natchez Trace Parkway today.  First we had to navigate Nashville's endlessly complicated highway system.  It does not seem that Nashville is such a big city, but there are about 6 major freeways that circle the town - weaving in and around each other so that the interchanges are unbelievable.  We finally got through town and suddenly the traffic stopped.
    The Natchez Trace Parkway is a two-lane highway which has no gas stations, no towns, no McDonald's.  It is a rolling, winding road with speed limit of 40 - 50.  We saw miles of trees, wildflowers, wild turkeys, hawks and historic waysides.  There were very few cars, several motorcycles, and a bunch of bicycles.  It was so peaceful - in the few spots where we could walk the old pathway it was so quiet we could imagine that we were one of the travelers on the road in the 1700 and 1800's.
    In the earliest days of the Trace it was a series of hunter's paths between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. In the later 1700's Ohio farmers floated goods down the rivers to Natchez or New Orleans and then walked or rode back home.  By the 1800's the trail was a marked path with inns along the way about every 20 miles.  The new parkway follows the old Trace and in many spots the dirt trail can be seen winding alongside the highway.
    The Parkway has numbered mile markers starting in Natchez and ending near Nashville. We used a map and guide to help us decide which of the many waysides to stop at and read markers telling us the history of the spot.  The Park service has done a great job in making each wayside easy to get in and out of even with our camper and car. I spent some time with a very senior gentleman who had driven in one of the waysides and turned the wrong way on the way out.  He was sure that he was driving south, but had clearly  been driving north for some time.  I showed him the map and tried to convince him that he needed to turn left as he got back on the parkway if he was going to get to Tupelo (his destination).  He drove to the intersection, stopped for several minutes, and then turned right.  I guess when he gets back to Nashville he will finally believe that he is going the wrong way.  Hopefully we will give up our exploring before we get so lost.

    It was really hot again today - over 90 and humid.  We took many short walks to see waterfalls, old buildings,  and scenic overlooks.  By the end of the day we had worn ourselves out pretty much, but it was great sightseeing.  We did not stop at a Parkway campground because none of them have electric sites and it is just too hot to do without air conditioning.  Instead we drove about 15 miles off the Parkway to David Crockett State Park.  Mr. Crockett lived along Shoal Creek in what is now the park.  The campground is heavily wooded and quiet.  A nice spot to spend the night.
    We are still rethinking some of the rest of the trip.  Many of the Mississippi campgrounds are along the river - which is flooding and getting higher - so they are closed.  We'll keep you posted.  For at least tomorrow we are still driving along the Trace.

Hermitage - Andrew Jackson's home

    It was a lovely morning with a cool breeze at 7am so I opened all the windows and watched the campground wake up.  We got going early today to drive a little outside Nashville to The Hermitage which was the home of our 7th president, Andrew Jackson.  Almost all of the 1120 acres of "old Hickory's" original plantation have been acquired by the Ladies Hermitage Association over the past 130 years and are now a National Historic Landmark.  The Association recently put a couple million dollars into additional updates to the property.  It is really beautiful.

    There are many outbuildings and sites to visit around the estate.  We took a horse and wagon tour of the vast back areas and saw cotton fields, foundations of the slave quarters, old wells and the site of the spring house, the cotton ginhouse press, and other buildings on a major plantation.  The mansion has been beautifully restored with many of the original furnishings, wall coverings, and light fixtures.  Jackson's tomb is in the garden behind the house. The roses and magnolias were in full bloom.
    The movie, tour and displays tell the story of the slaves as well as the Jackson family.  There were over 100 slaves on the plantation at some times.  Information about their living conditions, contribution to the success of the business and their daily lives were all part of the tour.  The questions and controversy of owning slaves during that period is discussed as is Jackson's role as a slave owner.  The whole site is quite worth a visit.
    After leaving the Hermitage we ran a few errands and then spent the afternoon relaxing and planning the next few stops.  The ongoing flood on the Mississippi is going to affect some of our stops.  Memphis and Natchez are both on the itinerary and are both really affected by the high water.
    Then we spent the evening listening to some toe tapping, finger snapping, hand clapping music at the Grand Ole Opry.  Our campsite is only a mile from the Opry complex so it was a quick drive to the Tuesday night broadcast.  It was a warm and muggy night as we walked in to the huge Opry complex.  It is quite impressive.  Neither one of us are big country music fans, but the show was terrific with a good combination of some favorite old (one was 90) performers and some of the new voices to country music.  We thoroughly enjoyed the show.  Even Rick started tapping his toes. I would definitely go again if we pass through Nashville.

Nashville, Tennessee

     It's very HOT.  I knew that it would be warmer as we headed south, but whew.  The heat hit suddenly.  Record temps for Nashville this time of year. It is supposed to be even warmer tomorrow. We know that our air conditioning works, anyway.
    It was a short drive from Horse Cave to Nashville.  Outside Bowling Green we saw warning signs that Interstate 40 is closed due to floods.  It seemed worrisome until I looked at a map and saw that it is almost 300 miles away and we are not heading in that direction.  Our stop for the next two nights is at another KOA outside of Nashville right near OpryLand.  We are across the street from the Cumberland River which is also at flood stage  -but not a problem for the campground.  This is a very nice campground with big shade trees and a lots of grass.

    We went downtown Nashville in late afternoon.  I was in Nashville for a Search and Rescue National conference in the early 90's.  Things looked a lot more prosperous then.  It is still interesting to walk along the River (quite flooded now) with a long line of old warehouses across the street.  We walked up to the short street called "Printer's Alley" which housed many printers in small shops in the 1800's and then was home to newspaper offices in the early 20th century.  During Prohibition it became a Speakeasy district.  It is now lined with small bars and nightclubs that spotlight folks who are trying to "make it" in the Nashville music scene.  It looked fairly seedy now.
   Our walk took us past the Ryman Auditorium which was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974.  Then walked down to Broadway where we found the Hatch Show Print Shop which has been in business since 1879.  The oldest known poster print shop in America.  The walls were lined with old print blocks and posters including an really old one for Johnny Cash at the Minneapolis Auditorium.  It was really interesting.
    I was fading fast in the heat so we stopped for dinner at a micro-brewery and then went back to the outskirts of Nashville to our campground.  It has cooled off a little, but I think that we will be having the air on all night.  Still it was lovely to sit outside under the big, old trees and watch people move around the campground - one of our favorite traveling occupations.

Mother's Day at Mammoth Cave

     We both had a good night sleep and woke up ready to hit the caves today.  We packed a picnic lunch, water, some warm clothes for in the caves and my knee brace and cane.  You may notice something missing - the camera.  We were quite a few miles towards the caves when I remembered the camera.  Oh well, you will just have to visit here to see it too.
    Mammoth has many options for cave tours.  From easy to "groan."  We wanted to get tickets for one of the easier tours so I could make it with my bad knee.  We chose the "Frozen Niagara" tour which had some optional  stair climbing for those who wanted more adventure.  The tour was an hour and a quarter a took us to one of the newer entrances to the cave complex.  There are over 390 miles of explored cave passageways- the longest in the world that we know of.  Only a small portion of the cave is damp.  The rest is very dry due to a "roof" of sandstone that does not let water seep through.   Several rivers run through the lowest levels, but much of the rest of the cave is dry.
   The tour was great.  Some pretty steep and slippery walking, some crouching to get under low ceilings and some sucking it in to get around tight corners.  But we saw some great cave formations, a waterfall and a cavern that was many stories high and dropped very low into a pond.  It was amazing.  After returning to the Visitor Center Rick walked down to the historic opening to the cave - discovered and used by Native Americans over a thousand years ago.  The cave is a National Park, a World Heritage site, and an International Biosphere Preserve.
    After a relaxing picnic lunch (did I say that it was a perfect warm sunny day?) we drove around the park.  One road crosses the Green River with a small ferry operated for free by the park.  It took two cars at a time.  Really interesting to see a ferry operating using ropes and pulleys to guide it across the river.  Then we took a few pretty rough back roads to get further into the park.  It is beautiful, green and wooded.  A lot like northern Minnesota.  Our drive back was on a narrow highway through small horse and dairy farms.  Rough old wood buildings, small fields full of wild flowers, new calves and foals.  Very picturesque - oh yeah, the camera is back at the camper.
    We got back and turned on the AC since it was 85 in the camper.  It cooled down very quickly. .  I LOVE my new Winnebago.  Rick pressed a button and the awning opened out.  We sat in the shade as I iced my knee  and watched several salamanders skitter around.  I got to read some text messages from my family to wish me a good Mother's Day.  Then Rick grilled some brats for my Mother's Day dinner.  A very good day, indeed.  

Horse Cave, Kentucky

     First I must add something from yesterday.  Springfield is on Route 66.  It goes right through downtown and we drove bits of it all day yesterday.  At several of our stops we ran into bus loads of Australians who were taking a tour of the US via Route 66.  I looked it up on the Internet and found several Aussie and New Zealand tours focusing on Route 66.  What fun!
   Today, well it has been a longggggg day.  Our projected drive was especially long because the campground I originally scheduled to stop at cancelled our reservation due to high water in the reservoir.  At the last minute I had to find another and went with a standard KOA which turned out to be close to Mammoth Cave, but quite a long way from Springfield.
    Knowing that we had a long drive, Rick got up early.  But everything with a new rig takes longer.  By the time we had closed everything up, driven to the dump station, dumped the tanks and hooked up the car we had already spent an hour getting ready to take off.
    Our drive took us south out of Springfield, then east through Indiana and more south into Kentucky.  We took a longer route to avoid some smaller roads because all the rivers in this part of the country are in full flood and we didn't want to get detoured.  The Little Wabash, Wabash and Ohio Rivers were all flooded into most of the surrounding fields for miles and miles.  They were fast and very brown with sediment.  I felt sorry for all the farmers in the area, but at least the water wasn't being funneled into the towns.
   Most of the scenery was flat - miles of corn fields.  And pretty windy so it was a chore to keep the RV on the road.  Finally, as we reached Kentucky, the fields became rolling hills with many rocky outcroppings.  Very pretty, except that every creek and stream was very high and dangerous.
   We finally reached our campground at 6.  Quite a late stop for us.  However, we have begun to coordinate our arrival tasks and had the car detached, the camper setup and dinner on the table by 6:30.  A glass of wine made the day seem shorter.
    Our campground for the next two nights falls into the lose column of the win some, lose some category.  Our spot in the Illinois State Fairgrounds was quiet and beautiful (a win),  this place has lots of road noise, extremely small campsites, and gigantic security lights which make it like daytime all night.  I only get extended coverage on my Verizon phone and no TV reception.  I am probably just cranky from the long drive, but so far this falls into the bottom part of my list of campgrounds we have stayed in.  Ah well.  Good books and, oh wonderful, campfire smoke and music from the camper next to us.  I am sure that it is just what I want to listen to all night. Perhaps it will drown out the noise of motorcycles blasting up the hill on the Interstate. Tomorrow is another day.  Mother's Day in fact.  Happy Mother's Day to all of you.

Abraham Lincoln Home

    It was a beautiful day for walking tours.  We started at the Abraham Lincoln National Landmark which is in downtown Springfield.  A four square block area around Lincoln’s home in Springfield has become an historic district.   Many of the homes were built in the 1800’s along with Lincoln’s.  We started with a great film in the Visitor Center which gave us a good overview of Lincoln’s time with his growing family when he lived in Springfield.  Then a National Park tour guide explained the history of the area.  Of the many interesting things we noticed about the house, the one that stuck with us is that one of the upstairs bedrooms had “venetian” blinds.  They were original with the house.  I had no idea that they were used in the 1860’s.

    A few blocks away from Lincoln’s home was the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.  The campground host at the State Fairgrounds encouraged us to go to the Museum.  It was great.  There are very few “artifacts” and a lot of films and exhibits to give a real feel of living in Lincoln’s time.  One presentation used holographs created from photographs of Lincoln to give a real sense that he was in the theater talking with us.  Despite the many school kids racing around it was an amazing museum.

      On our way back to the campground we stopped at Lincoln’s tomb.  It is set on a hill in a huge cemetery with wonderful rolling hills, old trees and large expanse of green lawn.  All the flowering trees are in bloom and it smelled just wonderful.  Lincoln, his wife, and three of his four children are buried here.  It was quite a beautiful and peaceful resting place.  

     We got back to the camper in time to enjoy a nice rest in the sun on our lawn chairs.   Now we are just back from a little shopping and a nice steak dinner.  

Springfield, Illinois

    We found spring today.  Suddenly we noticed that the trees were mostly leafed out and all along the road there were beautiful spots of pink and white from flowering crabs and apples.  The rivers are all running very fast and near flood stage.  We crossed the Illinois and the Mississippi today and saw the preparations for the expectation of even higher waters.  One campground that we planned to stay in near Mammoth Cave emailed a reservation cancellation due to high water.
    It rained some last night and was blustery.  We will have to pile more blankets on Rick tonight.  He was chilly.  I turned up the heat when I got up this morning and got the RV warmed up for him.  Fortunately the rain had stopped before we needed to disconnect our power and water.  It takes us longer to get going while we establish a routine with the new camper - we could pack the 5th wheel up with our eyes closed.  I'm sure it will get much faster in a few days.
    We had a longer drive today - mostly on freeways - and the first few hours of driving were tiring due to the wind and many big trucks.  The plus side of driving freeways is easy access to rest stops.  Lunch today was at an Iowa rest stop that was decorated with paintings and tile work which were copies of quilt blocks.  These block designs were used as symbols to send a message to slaves who were escaping the south on the Underground Railway.  There were 14 stops on the Railway in this area.
      Our destination today was the Illinois State Fairgrounds.  There is a 300 site campground on the fairgrounds.  I saw a review of the place on RVParkreviews.com and thought that it sounded good since it is very close to the Abraham Lincoln home and museum.  The sites are either on rolling, grassy areas or a cement parking lot.  We chose the grassy area with some big trees nearby.  The place is almost empty this time of year and the water has just been turned on.  We love the quiet open space.  Our only problem was getting the car unhitched while parked on uneven ground.  However, Rick was finally successful and we had a nice but short time sitting outside in our lawn chairs on the long grass having a glass of wine.  Then the expected showers blew in and we escaped to the camper.

Off in our new RV

     Our day started slowly.  Rick found out yesterday that he has walking pneumonia again so he slept a little later to try to stay rested as we begin our trip.  We can’t turn on the refrigerator while parked at a tilt in the driveway so we still had all the refrigerated food to put into the camper.  By 10:30 we had hooked up the little Honda to the back of the camper and were on our way.

     We headed south on SH 52 through Rochester and then further south on SH 63.  It was a windy day, but sunny.  This RV reacts a fair amount to wind and big trucks passing us so we had to keep  our minds on our driving to stay on the road.  We thought that we would see a lot more green grass and leaves on the trees as we headed south, but it has been cool here too and not much further into spring than Apple Valley. 

     We stopped for lunch at a “wayside” at the Iowa border.  No picnic tables or toilets, but a nice place to pull off the road and have lunch.  Our first in our new home.  An info sign told us that we were in an oak savanna - an area between the prairies and hardwood forests which had many Bur oaks.  Big, old, gnarly trees.  I liked them and I am happy that a bunch of really old ones were preserved in this southern Minnesota area.

     After many miles of flat Iowa corn fields we are now in more rolling country.Our stop tonight is just outside of Cedar Rapids, Iowa at Lazy Acres RV Park.    I am surprised at how busy the campground is.  I guess other folks are getting an early jump on vacations as well.  We have already discovered that we have forgotten a few things – nothing critical yet – so we will be doing some shopping while we are in Springfield, Illinois.  Our next stop.

     We are happy to have some sun, slightly warmer weather and a good first day on the road.

Leaving for Natchez in 3 days

     Sooooo much to do and the weather is just rotten.  It was a little warmer yesterday so Rick drained the anti-freeze out of water tanks and put in some bleach water to clean them out.  We are lucky to be able to use Marlene's (Amanda's mom) driveway to park the RV while we work on it.  We can fit this RV in our townhouse driveway, but it is at a pretty good angle which is not good for working either inside or out.
    We are headed for the Natchez Trace National Parkway.  It is over 400 miles long and goes from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi.  The Parkway follows a trail that was used by both Native Americans going to the lands of the Chickasaw nation and by Kaintuk boatmen who floated goods down the river, sold the wood from their barges, and then walked back north to do it all over again.  I read about this area in a book by Nevada Barr whose main character is a National Park Ranger who works in many parks.  I have been interested in following this historic trail ever since reading the book. (In addition we can add many new states to our list of states we have visited in our RV travels.
     Rick had problems with the towed vehicle while driving the camper to Marlene's.  A complicated and lengthy process makes it possible to tow our Honda CRV with all wheels down.  Hopefully the problems were due to a mis-step in the process.  This trip will be a real break-in period for this new combination of Class C RV and towed car.  We had become pretty relaxed with the 5th wheel and truck combination, so I am sure that by trip's end we will also be comfortable with our new setup.  For now, however, Rick has made up some checklists and cheat sheets to be sure that we remember everything.
    Tomorrow I will make up our camper bed and get the rest of the non-perishable food into the cupboards.  All the maps and books are on board as well as some games, movies and insect repellent, sunscreen and sun visors.  Hopefully we will find some sun as we head south.  I am getting very excited!