The Natchez Trace, Part II

We stopped near Tupelo, birthplace of Elvis, and stayed at a nice RV park at Barnes Crossing for several days, just to rest and relax and do laundry. We didn’t see any of Tupelo itself; we had seen it once years ago with Cyrus, and you really only have to see Elvis’s birthplace one time in your life.

What!? You didn't visit my
birthplace while you were in Tupelo?!

We got off the Trace again in Kosciusko, Mississippi, because there was a welcome center there and we thought we might get some idea of where to stop for the night. Fun fact: They have something like fire ants—heck, maybe they WERE fire ants—in Mississippi. We parked right on an ant hill. Which was actually a long flat ant community, so not immediately recognizable as an ant hill until the ants started biting my right foot. I didn’t even realize what was going on at first; I thought my foot was just suddenly paralyzed.

A cleverly disguised fire ant community

What ensued was a lot like a Keystone Kops routine, as I tried to get the ants off me and Mike tried to get them out of the camper, but eventually in the battle of Julie and Mike Versus the Ants, we won. However, the trauma was too much to continue on to a possible campground about 40 miles away, so we took the advice of the man at the welcome center about the most decent motel in town. Happily, there were no bugs, and the next morning, we had coffee and bagels at a charming old gas station turned into a coffee shop called simply SIP. I recommend it if you ever find yourself in Kosciusko, Mississippi.

Mississippi’s portion of the Trace is remarkably green. The grass was more vivid than any spring green I’ve seen, even more vivid to me than I remember the Irish countryside. And most of the deciduous trees are still green, too. It was very pleasant to enjoy warmer temperatures as we proceeded down south. But, alas, it was not all balmy breezes. We stopped for the night at Rocky Springs (it’s different than Rock Spring), an official National Park Service campground that has a definite benefit: It’s free. One drawback: No potable water. But we’ve dealt with that before, so we were fine. We had a gallon and a half of water, and we drove 10 miles to the tiny town of Utica to get cell service to call Alice and wish her a happy birthday. While we were there, I filled up another gallon jug in a laundromat, so we were all set.

Green, green Mississippi, overlooking a reservoir
along the Natchez Trace Parkway

We knew it was supposed to rain that night—we were ready to chance it in the camper!—so we battened down the hatches, had some dinner, and heard the rain starting. It rained for awhile, we didn’t have shore electric but we had some nice LED “light bulbs” that ran on batteries (thanks, Amy & Rob!) so we had plenty of light, and it was quite warm. We rolled out our sleeping bags and were comfortably falling asleep when the lightning started. Then the thunder. Storms rolled through all night, and it was pretty darn wild. The next day everything was wet and the campground was muddy, but the camper and van (and its inhabitants) were just fine. And the sun was shining in a blue, blue sky.

The next day, we made it to almost the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway. We got off at milepost 10, just north of the city of Natchez, to camp at Natchez Trace State Park. It was on a lake, which I do not know the name of. We should have gone to the grocery store, but since we did not stop for provisions, we enjoyed an interesting improvised couscous and tuna salad for dinner.

One of the many, many historical
signposts along the Natchez Trace

We did make it into Natchez for a shopping trip the following day, at our “Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market” (huh?), but it was fine and we got what we needed. We noticed some people who seemed to be sweeping under the trees around the parking lot, and it turned out they were scooping up pecans with long hoops with nets on them. I guess public pecan trees give you nuts for the taking. We did see a place near there that announced “We Buy & Sell Pecans.” I guess it’s worth it to the foragers to collect public nuts. So to speak.

After a couple of days at Natchez Trace State Park, we crossed the Mississippi and checked in at Riverview RV Park, right on the river in Vidalia, Louisiana. A lovely place, the height of camping luxury. They had a pool, but told us only European tourists swam there at this time of year . . . it was definitely a bit chilly for an unheated outdoor pool. There was a bike path along the river, somewhat like the one along the Cincinnati riverfront, and I went for a ride down the length of it. I saw a heron fishing, many many cats, who apparently are fed by the staff at the places along the river to keep down the rodent population, some big barges, a  sternwheeler, and a really neat old-fashioned Christmas display. There were big wooden boxes all along a drive, and each one had a clearly homemade Christmas diorama in it. I saw Santa Claus scenes, a reindeer barn, some more religious type tableaus, Christmas in the Country, and so on, each sponsored by a company or family in Vidalia. I rode by during the day, but I could see that they were all electrified and had lights; some even seemed to have moving parts. I am guessing people drive by to look at the different scenes when they are lit up at night.

One night we did go back to Natchez to have dinner. We ate at the Magnolia Grill in the Under the Hill district, which was a bit like a small version of Mt. Adams in Cincinnati. The food was delicious—I had shrimp and pasta, Mike had flounder, and the waitress convinced us to take some dessert home with us since we couldn’t eat another bite that evening. Though we have a very small refrigerator in the camper, I managed to make room for the bread pudding and we had it the next evening. It was delicious.

The Magnolia Grill in Natchez, and the Mississippi at night 

While we were at Riverview RV Park, two other types of fiberglas campers checked in. They were actually traveling together, and we talked to the owners about them. One had a Casita, the other had an Oliver. Both were larger than our trailer; in fact, one of the ladies said we could have a nesting set of trailers, the Scamp would fit inside the Casita, which would fit inside the Oliver. Nice folks--we do meet a lot of people who just come over to look at the Scamp!

We are heading to the Gulf Coast now; though it was definitely warmer in Vidalia, it still got cold at night. We are hoping for slightly warmer evening temperatures soon.