NOV 24, Monday, Still in Jackson
Another warm night. Temperature went up to a balmy 68*F but it did rain as forecasted. One thing about rain her is that the soil becomes really muddy and sticky. It is like red clay that clings to everything.
We went into town to do our internet thing. Uploaded my pictures and blog and downloaded the e-mail. We also went to the drugstore to replenish our drugs supply to nourish my cold. We came home and I made reservations on our campsites for the next few weeks. We will be going to the city of Natchez, MS for 3 days then to Gulfport, MS and eventually end up in New Orleans to meet Andre and his girlfriend and hopefully Audrey and Marcel. The Fleetwood dealership also called to let us know that our parts are in and we have to be there at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Hopefully, this will be fixed for good this time.
NOV. 25, Tuesday, repairs
I don’t know if it is my cold or my anxiety but I was awake at 5 this morning; just couldn’t sleep!? We were on the road this morning by 7:30 a.m. after dumping. We drove south on I-55 through Jackson and arrived at our destination, Turning Wheels RV Dealership, on time with 5 minutes to spare for our 8 a.m. appointment. They started on the repairs for the office slide right away and worked on it until 4:30 p,m. The opening for the slide was not square so whenever an adjustment was made to correct the opening of the slide, it would not fit properly in the opening thus the ripping of the rubber roof. The manager told me that they’ve seen a few of Fleetwood product like this where they rush through the construction and don’t always square things up.
In the mean time, we went for breakfast then we drove the section of the Trace which we will miss due to where we are now situated. This consisted of a distance of about 15 miles from I-20 to I-55. We then drove to Flying J where I fuelled and came back to the Dealership and sat around for the rest of the day. We also took a short drive south to a park which turned out to be a meeting place for gay men. There were a few of them there already and it was very obvious. Boy, oh boy! The situation we find ourselves into sometimes!! I also filled the propane tank, $31.
We finally got our rig back at 4:30 p.m. and we decided to stay a local park, the Swinging Bridge RV Park, a Good Sam park for the night as it was getting too dark. This way it will also give me a chance to inspect the job thoroughly tomorrow before we head to our destination, the town of Natchez and the end of the Trace.
Total distance today: 184 KM, including all the sightseeing
NOV. 26, Wednesday, to Natchez City, MS
We stopped at the dealership before going on so that I could get a couple of minor touch up done then we were on our way via I-20 and I-55 and finally back on the trace.
Our first stops were historic site then we went on to Rocky Spring, an old town which was busy in the old days. Now all that’s there is remnants of foundation, an old church and a cemetery. A trail took us to all of it and it was quite impressive. We had lunch here. There is also a Camp ground which was where we were supposed to camp last night.
After lunch, we went our way to our next stop, Bullen Creek where we took a nature walk then it was Mount Locust, a rebuilt Inn from the Natchez Trace days. It was very impressive. We walked the grounds, saw the bedroom and kitchen then we looked over a slave cemetery still containing approx. 15 bodies. A little further was the owner’s cemetery and what a contrast! There, we saw beautiful Headstones for each member of the family and well kept grounds where as the slave cemetery only had one little headstone remaining.
We continued on south to our next stop, the Natchez State Park, approx 10 miles off the trace on a small hill with a dam lake. We paid $16/night and will be here 3 days. It is a bit isolated but only 10 miles from the town of Natchez. On the way up here, we saw an old, old farm with buildings just like you see on TV when looking at hillbillies. No kidding! The buildings looked like they were about to fall down anytime. We even saw a black man with coveralls and suspenders on the porch. REALLY!!!
Our site was an easy back in and we got set up with no problems. The place is full of young families, here for the Thanksgiving Week-End.
After setting up, we drove into town on an emergency run to the Animal Hospital. We picked three ticks our of Tucker and one of them was on his eye lid which swelled up and was very reddish so we were a bit nervous and got him checked. The doctor told us he would be Ok and gave us some antibiotics for him. We had a good scare but they were wonderful. Even met a black teacher who got an award for his teaching skills. ( we learned that from one of the nurse there).
NOV. 27, End of the Natchez trace and the town of Natchez
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!
We left around 10:30 a.m. and got back on the Trace. We drove south west and stopped first at the Emerald Mound where we saw a couple of poor blacks with their bottle of moonshine ( no kidding). Then it was to the Elizabeth Female Academy, built in the 1800’s by the Mississippi government to educate their women. Talked about forward thinking! All that’s left now is an old wall which is also falling apart.
We have arrived to the END OF THE NATCHEZ TRACE after over 400 miles of wonderful highway, awesome sceneries and a history to fill you with pride and adventure. It was a wonderful drive and we would recommend it to anyone. We drove over 400 miles without seeing one light, no stop signs nor any traffic jam. We learned a lot and were impressed with the cleanliness of the road side and the parks. It will be hard to beat and we will miss it.
We drove into town to the Tourist Info centre but it was closed due to the holiday. For that matter, everything was closed today including most of the restaurants and pubs. We crossed the Mississippi River into Louisiana, visited Vidalia, a small town on the Louisiana side then came back into Natchez. We saw the floating casino but didn’t go in. I think that Glenda and Terry would be impressed with this one. We drove through town and saw lots of old historic houses and churches.
As luck would have it, the truck started acting up again. The throttle control switch again. Guess what I am doing first thing tomorrow…back to the Ford dealership for the third time. I really can’t believe this string of bad luck I am having! Really frustrating.
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