From East To West (10/22/22)

 Paul and I have driven across the United States literally more times than we can remember- and since we weren’t in a rush this particular time, we got out the maps and plotted a course that took us through areas we had not spent much time in.

The first part of our journey took us down the Natchez Trace Scenic Byway.  This road is 444 miles long- it starts near Nashville, TN and continues south to Natchez Mississippi. We have driven it once before, but it rained the entire time, so we didn’t stop much and didn’t see much.  This time the weather was great.

We drove all the way up to the northern terminus, to start there, because we wanted to check out the Loveless Cafe restaurant for breakfast. It gets great reviews, and it was extremely busy, with a 45 minute wait to be seated, but we felt it was more of a tourist attraction, so we wouldn’t bother going there again.

Once we were on the parkway, we stopped when anything caught our interest. The brochure suggests that you take a couple of days to drive the road, enjoying the history, and the fact that there are no houses, billboards, or anything else to detract from the scenery, and that’s what we did.

There are many short hiking trails, and a few long ones, along the parkway- there are also 3 free campgrounds.  This byway has been a road for so long that the original travelers, native Americans and early European settlers, either walked it, or rode it on horseback.  Several of the hiking trails are along the original “Trace”.

We spent our first night at the Meriwether Lewis ( of the famed “Lewis and Clark expeditions) Campground. It is named for him because he died here, under mysterious circumstances, and is buried here.

It’s an interesting story, which I “googled” when I had time. Short Version: After his expeditions, Lewis became governor of Louisiana- during the course of which, he fronted the War Dept money for some projects.  Before he could be repaid, his rival sent letters to Lewis’s superiors, accusing Lewis of fraud.  The mail being what it was, Lewis’s correspondence was too slow reaching his superiors, and he was denied the funds for the projects.  Once his creditors heard, they called in his notes, leaving him essentially penniless.

That’s the background to why he was buried here.  He was on his way to Washington DC with his journals, proving he was not a fraud. The night he stayed at the Griner Inn at this location, the innkeeper heard gunshots, investigated, and found Lewis, dying from gunshot wounds.  It was unclear if he was murdered, or he committed suicide.

Two years after his death, his estate was reimbursed for the expenses he was owed.

As we headed south into Mississippi, the scenery changed from northern woodlands to southern wetlands. One of our walks took us through a swamp.  Instead of pine trees, there were cypress trees.

 

Although they look like normal woods, the leaves are floating on water.

For our final night along the trace, we stayed in a state park In Tishomingo, MS.  There we hiked a 2 mile loop that started at a swinging bridge.  It was just one more example of the excellent work done by the CCC in the 1930s.

Moving westward off the Trace, our next major stop was Poverty Point World Heritage Site. Based on archeology, the first inhabitants lived here about 2000 BC. There are a series of “mounds”. They were built in a specific pattern, and were probably used as residences, and for rituals.   

 

What amazed me was the amount of “trinkets” (circa 2000 BC)that were discovered when they excavated.

Looking for another stop along our route to El Paso, we decided to stop in Carlsbad, NM to explore above ground in the area of Carlsbad Caverns.  We spent one night at the Elks lodge, where, during a conversation with locals, we learned about a nearby hiking trail that leads to a waterfall.  We decided to spend a second night so we could hike to Sitting Bull Falls.  It ended up being a very short walk, but the waterfall was awesome.  There are actually quite a few waterfalls here, fed by a spring. The whole area was gorgeous.

The following day we headed to the National Park. Our plan was to drive the scenic drive and do some short hikes along the way but we learned that the scenic drive, as well as most of the hiking trails, are closed due to flood damage.  Ah well.  Our back up plan was to drive further south and hike to Smith Spring.  Along the way, we came across some bighorn sheep.  This is the most bighorns we have ever seen in one group.  I counted, and there are at least 40 just in this picture.

Smith Spring is actually located in nearby Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  It is a short 2 mile loop, with a spring about halfway through the hike.  The shade was welcome after hiking in the sun.

I was going to finish this post by saying our “final stop” before getting home was…… and then I realized we had 3 final stops.

The first final stop was a 2 day stay in El Paso to check on Paul’s mom, who is doing pretty well for her age…

The second final stop, after we left there, was Hatch New Mexico, where we have been trying to visit because Hatch Chiles are the only ones we will use for our chile Rellenos, and they happen to be in season.  We left with a bunch of fresh chiles.  We actually watched them being roasted.

Our Final final stop was in Casa Grande to see some friends before we got home.  The rain was nonstop, but it was warm out, so we caved in and didn’t worry about getting wet.

And then we were home.  For a few days.

New Orleans, LA

The Natchez Trace Pkwy was an easy ride, and probably would have been fun for us to explore, if it hadn’t rained all day the day we were driving it. We did stop at one museum along the way, but that was about it. We also took one wrong turn which was a big mistake. Most of the museums, trails, and scenic views require you to turn into a parking area that isn’t totally visible from the main road. No problem, except, after we made this particular turn into the road to the parking lot there was a sign that said “No RV Turn around”. It would have been more effective if the sign had been visible before the turn off. 30 minutes and many frayed nerves later, Paul finished his 20 point turn and we got out of there. That pretty much soured us on taking any more turns off the main road. We did spend the night at the free campground on the Pkwy and it worked out awesome for us. It was our first FREE night, with no fee! Once we arrived at New Orleans, we were immediately happy with our decision to pay more to stay within walking distance of the French Quarter. The RV Park is the nicest one we’ve been in, with great sites for parking, a great hot tub and pool, and we were greeted by a guy wearing a SUIT! Hahaha. More upscale than we needed but it served our purpose well. Our first night we decided to walk to the French Quarter, just to check it out. Many hours later we staggered back home. We tried a “Hurricane” which is one of the strongest drinks around. Bourbon Street is one of my new favorite places. Similar in spirit to Duval Street in Key West. So much music coming from so many venues! People everywhere, walking down the street with drinks in their hands, wandering from one club to the next. Its so Alive! The weather was perfect for it- in the high 70s. The next day, during the daylight hours we walked to the river front- almost took the ferry over to Algiers, but decided at the last minute to not do it. We walked Canal street, ate lunch at a restaurant in the French Quarter, and headed home to rest up for night time. This time our plan was to walk down to Frenchman Street where most of the Jazz music is played. I don’t know, maybe we were just in the wrong mood, but it was so quiet there, we lost interest after a while, and headed back to Bourbon Street, for another lively evening. Halloween in New Orleans is similar to Mardi Gras, but on a smaller scale. The buildings are decorated, the bars are decorated, there are parades, music, you name it. Eminem performed last night and tonight KISS is performing live downtown. Yesterday we moved to our new park, just outside the city- we’ll take their shuttle into town, then have to take a cab back. We washed the Everest yesterday- took us a loooong time. I have no idea how it got so dirty! Most RV parks won’t let you wash the RV, so we took advantage of the fact that this one does. Today is Halloween so we are headed into town for an early dinner, hopefully we’ll be in time to see the parade…..

Nashville, TN

Nashville is only about 100 miles south of Mammoth Cave, so we had time that day to do some shopping. We didn't buy much, but did get a couple of things for the Everest that Paul has been wanting. One is a special Level that you can mount on the Trailer so its easier to find out if its level, before you actually get out of the truck. I learned a lesson with this Nashville portion of our trip. If we are going to want tickets to something that is popular, we need to either plan far enough in advance to get good seats, or be content if we get lousy seats, or no seats at all. It all worked out fine, but next time I will know to pay more attention.I wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry while in Nashville, but didn't realize that not only would Trace Adkins be performing that night, but also Montgomery Gentry and The Oak Ridge Boys.Tickets were hard to come by- we ended up in the second to last row, but luckily the acoustics are great there, and there really isn't a bad seat in the house. We attended the concert Saturday night- the late show, which didn't start until 9:30. The way this show works is that there are many acts, and the three I mentioned were only 3 out of about 12 performers. Each of them played a couple of songs, although since the Oak Ridge Boys were last, they did a couple of extra songs, and ended with "Elvira". The other tour I wanted to go on was the "NashTrash" Tour. According to Tripadvisor, its the #1 rated attraction in Nashville. Its sold out for over a month, so the only way to get on the tour is to go where the bus loads and wait for "standby".So, we started our adventure in Nashville by waiting at 9 am on a Saturday, to see if we could get on Standby. We couldn't, because everyone showed up who was scheduled to take the "tour". As it turns out, it was Tennessee History Weekend. That was great for us.... especially since it takes place at the park we wanted to check out. Bicentennial Mall Park in Nashville, is an incredible park. There are granite posts and walls all around the park that have the history of Tennessee engraved in the granite, starting with a billion years ago (which interestingly enough, mentioned God, and not evolution). There is also a map of Tennessee engraved in granite that is probably 25 feet by 75 ft. A lot of towns and rivers are shown on the map. Really awesome. There is a farmer market there every weekend.Since it is History weekend, there are people dressed in period costumes for the time periods that include wars. So there are people from the 1700s, up through the vietnam war. At different times during the day, they have a variety of re-enactments, including a civil war battle, a world war II battle, and speeches from Daniel Boone and Abe Lincoln. It's a great day in Nashville! After walking through the "timeline" and seeing the exhibits, we wander over to see if we can get on the 2 pm Nashtrash Tour. This time we made it. I think the performers ( two sisters) felt bad for us, since we had been there since the morning. The tour is actually a comedy show, that does a little touring of the town. These two are hysterically funny! They spent the first 20 minutes learning the names of all the people on the bus (33 people), and teasing then about where they are from, etc. They are originally from Michigan so when they heard we are from there, they made many wisecracks about the state and what part of the “hand” they are from etc. We had a blast! They also allow people to bring their own booze, and if you didn't think of it, like us, they make a stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and you can buy a drink and bring it back to the bus. Too funny! Sunday was regroup day for us- we did laundry, went food shopping, hung around and in general did nothing much. We were going to go bar hopping Sunday night, but Paul wasn't in the mood, so we skipped it. Monday we drove out to Franklin, TN, to explore the town that was pivotal during the civil war. It was pushed into the limelight by the book "Widow of the South" which is based on the true story of Carrie McGavock of Franklin TN.On November 30, 1864, a major battle took place in Franklin, right outside the home owned the Carter family. The Carters, and several of their neighbors, hid in the basement of the house while the battle raged for 5 hours. They all survived, but in those five hours there were almost 10,000 Union and Confederate soldiers killed or wounded. The Carters' son was a lieutenant for the south who was mortally wounded in that battle. One of their outbuildings had so many bullet holes, apparently it ranks as the “most bullet-ridden” building in existence in this country today.Nearby, Carrie's McGavock’s house was used as a hospital, and she, instead of hiding away, helped the surgeons and the soldiers the best she could. Two years after the battle, she dedicated 2 acres of her own land so that the confederate soldiers, who had been hastily buried after the battle,. could be properly buried. After an early dinner, we hit the bars in downtown Nashville. We started at Coyote Ugly, and despite the constant urgings of the bartenders (all women), I did not get up on the bar and dance with them. We also didn’t do body shots, although it was tempting…from there we just meandered in and out of the tons of bars in the area, listening to live country bands. It was fun, more for me than Paul, who was driving, of course. In New Orleans, he really wants to stay at a campground that’s walking distance to the French Quarter, so he can relax and not drive. At this moment, we are driving the Natchez Trace Parkway. We have left Tennessee and are in Alabama. We hope to spend the night in one of the free campgrounds along the parkway.