It's now the beginning of May 2017, and I considered skipping over this part of our journey, since it's anything but timely. However, this is my blog, dammit (!), and the history of the Natchez Trace spans back tens of thousands of years, so I'll consider these past four months between us and the Trace but a blink of an eye in the grand scheme. I'm going to share some excerpts from my journal and pictures from this quiet, isolated, and damp piece of America, but, first, a little context.
Big Red Gets Stolen
After we were done working at Amazon we had a couple options: 1) go crying to Mom or 2) forget about buying a generator, camp cheap and live off of beans and rice until our next job. And beans and rice won out! So, we took a look at the map and looked for a new route to get south, then west. And there it was, a long vein that avoided highways and interstates, a place we had never heard of. Forty miles from where we sat, stretching through part of Alabama, and deep into Mississippi: The Natchez Trace Parkway.
History of the Natchez Trace Parkway
With the introduction of the steamboat, traders could more efficiently bring goods down the river and complete their return trip upriver by boat, making the Trace obsolete. In the early 1900s, a group of women known as the Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution made it their duty to preserve the forgotten and historic Trace. Due to their efforts, the Natchez Trace Parkway was designated a national park in 1938.
The parkway is a leisurely drive with a maximum speed of 50 mph. Also a designated bike path, motorists share the road with many cyclists in the summer months. The three campgrounds along the Trace have no hookups, but they are free and anything but primitive otherwise, with paved sites and heated bathrooms.
Week 1: Camping at Meriwether Lewis + Tombigbee State Park
January 1, 2017
We went to Meriwether Lewis' death and burial site. Interesting the plaques didn't say he committed suicide, but rather "met his death." We went on a run around the Meriwether Lewis exhibits and down part of the Old Trace. It was drizzling and about 50 degrees - we were well soaked by the end.
Last night seemed colder. We put towels on the floor to keep the trailer dry, but also for more insulation. We're mostly living by candlelight and LED puck lights to conserve our battery. The hope is we should be able to keep our battery above 50 percent charged for five days (any lower will hurt the holding power of the battery) before we need to go recharge at a campground. The house rules to conserve battery power and stay off-grid as long as possible: 1) Use the campground bathrooms, 2) Only use battery/fire powered lights, 3) Try to live without the furnace.
Tonight, we've turned the furnace on every now and then to heat up the trailer, but lots of layers and candlelight heat are keeping us warm enough in 40 degree lows. We added two extra blankets last night, and it was a little too much. Now, we're planning where to hookup in a few days when the temp drops into the teens. We don't want to freeze our plumbing AND we're thinking heat sounds nice.
January 2, 2017
Because sitting in the drizzle all day wishing for warming temps won't make you warmer, we went for a drive today to check out some of the little towns off of the Trace. We headed toward Columbia, but first stopped to walk around in the tiny town of Mount Pleasant.
Outside of Columbia, St. John's Episcopal Church jets high above the trees, surrounded by ornate gravestones. No longer in use except for special services, the church was founded by the Polk family in 1842. During the Civil War, the church was ransacked and used as a confederate hospital. The church later closed for good due to low attendance and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
We also drove into Hohenwald, just a few miles off the Trace, where we saw an Oliver Travel Trailer (It's a much more expensive and tricked-out fiberglass trailer than our Casita that we dream about owning). Then we realized it was parked at the Oliver manufacturing plant! So, just for fun, we called and made an appointment to take a tour of some of their models. As we were standing in the four-season double-walled fiberglass trailer complete with solar power, I couldn't help but think about the cold candlelit night we had ahead in our non-insulated three season trailer. Oh well.
January 4, 2017
Yesterday the highs didn't climb much above 40 and the lows dropped into the 20s. But, we were determined to eke out another night of free camping before having to pay for it over the next few days. In the morning, we sat around and read until we noticed our breath hanging in the air and our fingertips were numb. Then, we bundled up, picked a trail on the map, and hiked some Tennessee hills until our fingers and toes were hot and we were peeling off layers.
We got the idea to put Reflectix over our trailer windows about 10 mins after the hike when we were standing in our sweaty clothes and started to shiver.
After warming up around the fire, we came inside... where we could see our breath and the meat thermometer read 46 degrees. (Yes, we use a meat thermometer to take our trailer's temp.) We boiled water for spaghetti, drank some wine, then hot tea, and got warm enough to shed our jackets and get into bed under a pile of comforters.
This morning, we woke up early, found the nerve to jump out of bed, and were hitched up and in the heated van in record time. We're headed to Tombigbee State Park in Tupelo - which is right off the Trace - because the next few days should only be reaching 30 degrees, with lows in the teens.
January 5, 2017
Today we travelled 130 miles south to Tombigbee.
On our way, we stopped and walked around Rock Springs.
Watched a Great Blue Heron fly over the Tennessee River...
...and Cardinals and Robins swoop in Buzzard Roost Spring.
We spotted eight of the ancient Pharr Mounds...
...and walked along the Old Trace past the graves of thirteen unknown Confederate soldiers.
January 8, 2017
Today is Elvis’ birthday and we’re in Tupelo!
We went to the Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum, but left before they cut the birthday cake. A reporter from the local paper was there asking the nervous event organizer to talk into his recorder: "I just need a couple quotes." There were also three misplaced hipsters walking around who turned out to be a French film crew shooting for a TV travel documentary. Through eavesdropping on their conversation with the reporter, the premise of the show is they pick a famous person from any time in history and travel to the places where the famous person lived. Today the crew was in Tupelo, and from there they were headed to Memphis. They had also done a show on Leonardo DaVinci throughout Italy.
We'd picked up a brochure somewhere along the way for the Battle at Tupelo, so we thought we might as well check it out to round out our historical journey through the south. The monument is on the corner of a busy intersection on the main thoroughfare through town. There isn't a parking lot, so we parked at the eye clinic next to the battlefield. There were a few confederate gravestones littered with trash.
We also stopped at Todd's Big Star Supermarket for bright red sausages and smoked chicken. Tonight is our last night at Tombigbee and then we're off to the next free campsite on the Trace: Jeff Busby. The sun is scheduled to come out tomorrow and looks like 70 degree days all week.