The Last of Natchez Trace

We've been in Abita Springs, Louisiana for a week.  And I'm just now getting around to updating the blog.  It's not as if we've been terribly busy, either.  Other than going to church (First Baptist Church at Pearl River) and eating a few great meals, we have been extremely lazy.  Tim's done a little fishing, but he's had a terrible earache, so stayed inside more than usual.  It got so bad he actually went to a "doc-in-a-box" (walk-in clinic).  He seems to be on the mend, now.  I hope.

Another factor has been that the humidity here is beyond belief.  Every time I step outside my glasses fog over! Southern Louisiana in late summer may not have been the best idea.  But Tim and I both just had a really bad feeling about traveling any further northeast, and the recent weather reports confirm our decision.

Anyhow, here's a the last of the Natchez Trace pics.  Enjoy!

This is what's left of the Elizabeth Female Academy.  Founded in 1818 in the town of Washington, it was the first female educational institution in Mississippi.  John James Audubon was on the faculty of the Elizabeth Academy.

Kudzu.  Want some?

 

Submarine used to smuggle bootleg whiskey during the Prohibition. Grand Gulf Military State Park, Port Gibson, Mississippi

William Ferguson, and his wife Paulina purchased Mount Locust in 1784 and operated the farm until William’s death in 1801. A short time later Paulina married James Chamberlain, an overseer at Mount Locust, and they continued to build the growing farm. Besides farming, they opened the house as a "stand" on the Natchez Trace, where travelers could get a meal and/or a bed, or at least a place to throw a bedroll.

We took lots of pictures of the furnishings, but my favorites were these toys from the period.

Spinning wheel.

Charlie Chihuahua liked the old brick sidewalks.  Slave labor probably made these bricks. Ugh.  Seems like there are reminders of slavery everywhere.  How could it ever have been an acceptable way of life?  Some things I will never understand.

This house on stilts was in a mobile home community near the Mississippi River, near Grand Gulf Military State Park outside Port Gibson, MS.  The sign says, "The Smith's The Flood of 2011 Soul Survivors"



Ferns and moss grow everywhere.  So pretty.

 

We had planned to spend some time in Natchez, seeing the sights there, but problems with the fifth wheel's landing gear prompted us to head to the nearest Camping World which was in Hammond, LA.  Turned out they couldn't help us, so we just decided to get to Abita a little earlier than planned.
Poor Cowboy has to hand crank the  (insert technical term for "thing-a-ma-bob") to get the fiver off of the pickup, then crank some more to get it level on the ground.  Then do it all again when we hook back up.  Not fun.  Especially in the heat and humidity.  Not fun at all.

Natchez Trace - Tishomingo State Park

Our God is such an amazing artist, isn't He?  We are still taking our time to enjoy His handiwork driving down the Natchez Trace. We are staying at Tishomingo State Park one more night so we can enjoy the surrounding here.  Here are a few highlights from the last few days.



Buzzard Roost Spring

John Coffee Memorial Bridge, Alabama.  Longest bridge on the Trace.  Crosses Pickwick Lake, on the Tennessee River.

Cabin in the woods at Tishomingo State Park.  On the plus side, it's wide open for anyone to walk in and explore.  On the negative side, too many people have used this easy access to carve graffiti into the old logs. Sad.

Charlie loves to hike.  I love all the moss on the ground.  Looks like green carpet.

Closer view of the cabin.

Inside the cabin.  Can you see the graffiti on the left side?  There's lots more that doesn't show up in the photo.  Silly people.

Swinging bridge built in 1939. 

Bear statue outside the park office.

We love quirky museums, and this is one of the quirkiest.  The Apron Museum, in Iuka, Mississippi.  This apron is from the Civil War Era.  And in perfect condition!

This is the owner of the museum, with a designer apron from the fifties.  You can look her up on Facebook.  Just search for The Apron Museum.  This is a wonderful place.  The owner is so enthusiastic, even the Cowboy was interested!  She also sells some aprons made by local women.  At very reasonable prices.  I bought two!

Back on the Trace now. Stepping stones at Rock Spring, on Colbert Creek.

 

 

This stretch of our trip has been so peaceful.  I am amazed that we seem to be the only ones on the road most of the time.  There are only two other campers in the park.  And there is never anyone else at any of the stops we make to hike and explore.  AND, the weather has been perfect - cool, mostly in the 70's, with a little rain every now and then.  Maybe the rain is keeping other people away, but we think it's perfect!

 

Natchez Trace

We are so excited to be back on the Natchez Trace Parkway. No billboards, no McDonald's, no Wal-Mart - just 444 miles of American history and God's glorious creation!

We spent the last two nights at Columbia, Missouri, taking care of boring stuff like getting the oil changed, doing laundry, and buying groceries. 

But we're happy to be back on the trace today. Here's a few things we've seen so far.

 

This is a part of the old trace, used by deer, native Americans, pioneers, lumbermen returning home to Tennessee after selling the timber they'd floated down the river to Natchez, and Jackson's army during the War of 1812.

You can't see it, but there is a deer at the far end of the trail here.

Pretty moss covered rocks on the trail to Jackson Falls.

                                 

A little cave on the trail to Jackson Falls.

Jackson Falls.

This is the Gordon House, built in the early 1800's. This family ran a trading post and a ferry.

Scenic view from Baker Bluff Overlook.

War of 1812 Memorial. It commemerates the many soldiers who never made it home from the war, and were buried in unmarked graves along the trace.

Turkeys. I've never seen so many turkeys! Dozens of 'em! We've also seen lots of deer, including a doe with two adorable fawns. Back in Franklin, we even saw a mama duck leading her children across the road.

 

This is the Double Arch Bridge over Birdsong Hollow.  Isn't Birdsong Hollow a pretty name?

The view from on top of the bridge.

We are staying at Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi for a couple of days.  The woods here are so beautiful.  I keep expecting to see woodland fairies, or at least leprechauns, playing among the ferns and flowers in the woods! 

 

Travel Day

Today is a boring travel day, so here's some random photos feom the last few weeks to entertain you.

while we were in Oklahoma, We drove to Vinita one day for lunch.

Several years ago, my sweet Uncle Charles gave us his two quarter horses. He had trained the mama horse, Miss Spider Barr, himself, but he had never trained her daughter, who he named "Vinita" - so of course we couldn't pass up the town named Vinita!

My Cowboy trained that little filly himself, and still rides her in Team Ropings.

There's not a lot to see in Vinita, but this cool car was parked at the restaurant where we ate.

Route 66 runs through Vinita.

In Missouri we visited the Boone homestead, where Daniel lived near his son the last two decades of his life.

I never knew he had ever lived in Missouri.

His son's house. Where Daniel died.

Squire Boone's house. Squire was Daniel's younger brother.

Oh, this was cool! This is at Lost Valley Lake Rv Resort. It's an air filled bouncy trampoline -y thingy. The kids at the resort loved it!

One of the lakes at Lost Valley Lake.

We hated to leave this place today. John James Audubon Museum at Audubon State Park, where we've been camping this past week. He lived in Henderson, Kentucky for several years.

We saw several barns and other buildings with quilt designs in Ohio County, Kentucky.

We aare traveling through some beautiful country right this minute. I'm posting this from my phone. 

Back in WiFi Land!

Been without a good wifi connection the last couple of weeks....can you imagine? I did have 4G on my phone, IF I sat in the middle of my bed and held my phone in the exact right spot. 

So here we are in Henderson, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Evansville, Indiana.  Yesterday we went to Meskers Zoo in Evansville.  I promised the grandgirls pictures of animals, so here ya go, Indigo and Blue Jay!

Lion

Turtle

Camel

Peacock

Porcupine

Tapir

The zoo was very pretty, with wonderful landscaping.  But we walked forever to see just a few animals.  We were only there about an hour and a half, but between the heat and humidity, the hilly path and the distance we walked, it felt like forever.

We bravely went on towards our next destination, though.  New Harmony, Indiana was started in the 19th century as a religious commune.  It only lasted a couple of years, then another group of idealists bought the whole town and tried to create their own Utopia.  That lasted a little longer, about 10 years, before it also flopped.  But the town still exists, and it's a nice little community, though no longer a commune. 

They have figured out how to cash in on their origins though.  Guided walking tours through the old buildings are $12 a person.  Any other day we might have opted for the tour, but we were already tired, and it was still hot hot hot, we just decided to do a drive by.  We did get a few pics.

This is a modern addition to the town.  This little park is called The Roofless Church.  Interesting

If we'd taken the tour, I could tell you what these old buildings were.

 

 

 

Today seemed like a good day for air conditioning, so we went to a movie.  Saw the Lone Ranger.  And all I've got to say about that is, it's NOT the Lone Ranger I grew up with!

 

Moving out tomorrow.  Headed to Tennessee, I think.