We left Lakeshore at 9:30 this morning. We drove 296 miles to the Civic Center RV Park in Brookhaven, MS. I had looked at the routes suggested by my Garmin RV GPS & by Google Maps, I didn't like either of them so I did the routing..
We drove south down through the edge of Iuka and got on the Natchez Trace Parkway about mile marker 302 and took it all the way to Jackson, MS, about mile marker 102. It is a beautiful drive. The Trace is two 11' lanes, one each way, with minimal shoulders most of the way. The speed limit is 50 mph. There are a lot of curves but none require dropping your speed below 50 mph. The pavement is mostly in good to excellent condition.
Traffic is almost non-existent. Only two cars passed us. The only thing we passed was two people on bikes, with lots of luggage. There wasn't one stop sign or stop light the entire 200 miles. There are lots of places to pull off for scenic views or historical points of interest. We were more interested in making miles today, plus the parkway didn't really have 40' motorhomes towing vehicles in mind when it designed it scenic parking areas. We pulled off at one roadside parking area and ate lunch in the coach. At another of these little turn outs someone was laying on the asphalt, not 20' off the edge of the roadway, fully covered by a blanket. A big pack was next to the person. We did pass a guy with a big pack walking northbound.
We both are sure we have driven some of the Trace before but we can't remember when. I remember doing some research on it back then. It is an interesting piece of our history. Read about the "Kaintucks" at
https://www.nps.gov/natr/learn/historyculture/index.htm#:~:text=The%20Old%20Natchez%20Trace%20is,%2C%20Chickasaw%2C%20and%20Choctaw%20nations.
When Kathy got up this morning she started having leg cramp problems. Pickle juice and a muscle relaxer seemed to help. She drove the first 40 miles and then I took over. I drove until we were 18 miles from the campground, so that I could do any necessary navigating.
We have stayed here before. It is quite a complex with everything from a variety of different sports fields to an arena for animal shows. There are full hookup RV sites around the perimeter of a big parking lot. In the future I doubt that we would stay here again. All the spaces are back ins so we had to unhook the car. Also, the place is 5 miles off the highway. It is relatively cheap, $30 I think. Kathy called and made a reservation when we were an hour out. She was given the site number and we didn't even have to bother with check in. We found the site, parked and hooked up.
We were at an I55 rest area when we did the driver switch. The rest area had a dump station for RV's. I wonder it that is a Mississippi rest area thing or this was just an isolated case. There were "No Overnight Stays" signs posted in the rest area so pulling in, dumping your tanks and then spending the night is apparently unacceptable.
I did text Chris today, the Pastor of the Cowboy Church we attend, to tell him we were arriving early next week. I asked him to think about what I could help with while in Texas. He told me to catch him after church and we would discuss options.
Enough typing for tonight. I think a beer before bed is in order, I'm not even going to proof read this, hopefully those who read it will forgive my laziness.
Today's high was mid/high 60's. Tonight's low is forecast to be 39.
God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He had blessed me.
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