The Old Natchez Trace

The Old Natchez Trace

The Gordon house

The Old Natchez Trace

Before we left the Merriweather Lewis Park, we were able to get shots of one section of the Old Natchez Trace.  The Old Trace and the 444 mile paved Natchez Trace Parkway wind through what used to be the old southwest wilderness.  The original trail was a walking trail.  Later, as it became a main thoroughfare, the trail was wide enough to travel by wagon.  Eventually, as steam engines and steam boats became more accessible, the trail was not traveled as often.  The technology of the day reduced the Old Trace to a walking trail, much like smart phones have reduced land lines to dinosaur status.  There are parts of the Old Trace that parallel the narrow pave parkway road. I like to imagine groups of pioneers and traders walking the trail as we drive by.  We passed by the site of Sheboss Stand, the former location of one of the inns that were spaced out on the Old Trace where travelers could stop to rest and get a meal.  All those structures are gone now, but as we sit in our "stand" (the Whale) looking out over the landscape, it's not too hard to imagine the small wooden slat building with covered front porch and smoke curling from the chimney.  An inviting sight to a walk weary traveler.

I spoke too soon...  Just as I was writing about the original structures on the Old Trace being gone, we pulled off to take pictures of the Gordon house, one of the last standing structures on the Trace.  It's also one of the first brick structures erected in this area.  The house was built in 1818, but Gordon and his wife operated a ferry on the Duck River from 1801 until traffic on the Trace declined.  Mrs. Gordon lived in this house until 1859.  Pictures of the house when occupied show shutters open and a full front porch with chairs.  I had to just put up with my curiosity to look inside as the  house was closed, tightly boarded up with bars on the raised basement windows.

We continued north to complete our drive on the Natchez trace and now are on 65 north to Louisville.

Whitten Park & Natchez Trace

Home sweet home Whitten Park

We spent our last day on the Tenn-Tom checking out Fulton, TN.  As we drove by the dam and locks on the waterway outside Fulton, we were lucky enough to get there just as three trawlers were approaching the dam to go through the locks.  Although we could not get close we were able to watch as all three entered, tethered to the side, and slowly sank from view before making their way out the other end of the lock.

After three days at James Whitten Park on the Tenn-Tom, we left this morning to travel the Natchez trail north to Nashville.  The Trace is 444 miles of history beginning in Natchez, Mississippi ending in Nashville, Tennessee.  The trace is rich in history and stories too many tell in this spot.  Natchez Trace was the lifeline through the south west of MS / TN.  Traders traveled by foot / wagon to deliver goods.  Rich tales of discoveries, ambushes, conflict and friendships help us to imagine what it must have been like to travel the Trace in 1700's.  By the early 1800's, the Natchez Trace was a heavily traveled road in the old southwest.  One of many points of interest is that as the Trace developed, several people established "stands" which were overnight inns for travelers to rest and eat before continuing their travels.  Although the sites are marked, the building are gone now, and we are left to our imagination.

 In keeping with promises we made to each to meander not rush, we drove for 40 miles stopping every so often to read road markers and enjoy the view.  We stopped for a light lunch and a nap.  Then we drove 45 more miles to set up at the Lewis Merriweather National Park.  There are no hook-ups.  Not a problem.   We are good to boon dock for at least five days if we are conservative with water use.  Besides that, the camp site is free!  Incredible view!

We will be here only one night making our way to Nashville and north tomorrow.  This is definitely a "come back to" spot.

                   

Home sweet home Lewis Merriweather National Park

Good-by to Red Bay... until next time

We pulled out of Red Bay, AL at about 5:30 p.m. Friday evening, October 26th.  Our cabinet work was being finished literally as we hooked up the Jeep and the Whale engine was running.  It's not that we were eager to move on...

We traveled all of 45 minutes to Whitten Army Core of Engineers Park near Fulton, MS.  At this time of year, the park is only a third full if that, and we got our choice of spots.  This is the view from the Whale.  Yes, that's the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  Once we plugged in and sat down with a nice glass of wine to celebrate the next leg of our journey, it sunk in how quiet and dark our campsite is. The parking lot campsite in Red Bay was a bit louder and lit up than we realized.  

Saturday was devoted to cleaning and putting the Whale back together.  We literally had three weeks of warranty and custom work being done to the Whale - constantly shifting items from one side or one end to the other so the work could be completed.  In addition to the multi-item warranty list, we had carpet removed and tile installed in the bedroom, cabinet in the bathroom, drawers to replace the computer station in the dinette, new computer station in the front corner of the driver's side slide, custom cut entry carpet, a dash cover, and lumbar supports in the front seats.  All up-grades are wonderful!  While the work was being done, we still had to live in the Whale - mildly annoying with some inconvenience, but as long as I had a bag of knitting, my computer and phone with hot spot, I'm good to go.  The best part of all the work is getting to know the techs who do the work.  While they are working, and I am stuck on the couch with all my stuff and the dog, we talked.  Daniel and Shane installed the tile on a Friday night and Saturday a.m.  Daniel and his wife are expecting their first child after a really sad miscarriage. Shane's daughter came with him Friday evening between school and the football game.  TJ and Greg installed the cabinet work.  TJ and his wife just moved into a new house.  Frankly, I don't know when he might have done the move 'cause he works in the Tiffin cabinet shop all day and installs custom work every evening.  Greg has three grown children, the youngest trying to go back to college.  Some folks reading this might think the info about strangers inconsequential, but I'm finding that as much as we have and will enjoy the places we go, getting to know the people in those places will be the richer reward.  We're all not so different.  

Today is October 28, 2012.  Today is my birthday.  The sky is clear and fall colors are brilliant.  There is just enough breeze to cause a few leaves to fall every so often.  Today I take stock of my blessings.  Jerry and I are acutely aware that many folks do not get to fulfill their life's dreams as we are doing now.  We are grateful.

I also spend time during this day in remembrance of my sister-in-law Penny who died two years ago in May from cancer.  Her birthday was October 26th.  We almost always celebrated our birthdays together doing something we both really loved.  Usually that meant we took an outing to Shipshewana, IN to shop, or we visited a new yarn shop (both avid knitters), or we made a trip to our favorite garden shop. Penny was a much better gardener than I, but I always enjoyed the thought of being good at it.  Penny was a good and very strong woman.  Related by marriage, we became very close friends.  I miss her and hope that whatever I do on this day will be in honor  both of us.

Our plans this moment are to stay on the Tenn-Tom until Tuesday a.m.  We head north to Nashville, the Louisville, and Elkhart.  We are looking forward to seeing family and friends during our brief stay "home" before we travel to Naples in search of warmth.

What do you do for entertainment?

This is the question my brother Ted asked me this week when I told him we would certainly be here for  another week.  Well, during the week we wait a lot.  As I've mentioned, no one gets in too big a hurry to get things done, but when they do, the Tiffin guys do a great job for sure.  Although that doesn't sound too entertaining, it does force us to find things to do in and around the motor home.

The week-ends are another story.  First on my agenda was to retrace steps to find the house with natural air conditioning we saw a while back.  Kitchen on one side and living quarters on the other side separated by an open air porch.  Simplicity of design before electricity / air conditioning.

Since this is our third week-end in Red Bay, we decided to venture further.  While waiting for a pizza I wish I had never eaten, I was reading a local paper advertising a Dulcimer festival on Saturday.  We took off around noon for Tishomingo State Park west of Red Bay into Mississippi.  I don't know much about Dulcimers, but that's the whole point of an adventure.  The day was absolutely clear with just a bit of a chill.  We discovered yet another gorgeous state park.  Nestled deep in the park was the park lodge. Outside, a flatbed trailer had been covered with a cloth skirt for a make-shift stage.  Groups came form nearby states to perform. Some beginners, some quite skilled.  Usually the lead person, such as Peggy Pearl (allegedly a distant cousin to Minnie Pearl?) would be named, and the others were named as "friends."  

There are different types of Dulcimers.  Pictured on our picture page are mostly mountain Dulcimers.  I've included one that is a hybrid of dulcimer and banjo.  The groups also included guitars, mandarins, or the combo dulcimer/banjo.  One guitar I have never seen before is the Martin back-pack.  I think it's just small enough to fit in the Whale.

The Dulcimer, a three stringed instrument, has a rather high, tinny sound.  Folks lay it across their laps to play.  We agreed the groups with Dulcimers, guitars, and other stringed instruments had a much richer sound.  Some groups had vocalists.  The lyrics told stories or were gospel.  Some just made us laugh.  Some groups even had "team" t-shirts.

Reluctantly, we had to leave after a couple of hours of foot tapping music in a beautiful setting.

Homecoming in Red Bay

Once an educator, always an educator...  all things school interest me.  On the way to the post office Friday afternoon, we literally stumbled on Red Bay's homecoming parade.  Main street was blocked.  So why not stop and watch?  No exaggeration - every student in Red Bay Schools (Fulton County Corporation) was in or at the parade.  Most were riding on a fire engine, ambulance, or pick-up truck.  There, of course was a homecoming queen, a football queen (chosen by the football players) and a "queen" for each grade level from 7-12.  I know this only because the lady at the post office was keeping me informed throughout the parade.  She asked me, "I don't suppose you have parades like this  where you are from?"  It sounded like a question, but I think it was really an assumption based on my accent.  Interesting...  the observer being observed.  I told her we had similar celebrations absent the 7th and 8th grade queens and the pee wee cheerleaders.

With any luck at all, our warranty work will pick back up tomorrow.  We had tile installed in the bedroom Friday/Saturday.  While that was being done, we wandered the back roads around Red Bay and drove to Fulton Campground on the Tennessee Tom Bigbee (Tenn-Tom) Waterway.  When we leave Red Bay, we will be spending some time there.  The Tenn-Tom is the waterway folks use to navigate from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico.  It was once our dream to live on a sailboat and travel the Tenn-Tom to get to the Gulf.  Now we'll camp and just look at it. Much safer that way.

Hopefully, the floor in the driver's side slide will be replaced tomorrow.  They have to take the entire slide off the side of the Whale which means we have to take everything out of the cabinets etc.  I call this forced re-organization.  Amazingly, they can complete this in one day.  We have cabinet work done on Wednesday evening on that same slide which means the stuff all has to be taken out again.  That should be the end of the major "fixes" on the inside.

Also while here, we are installing up-dates to our data equipment.  External wi-fi and cell phone antennas with amplifier on the cell phone antenna seem to be the way most are going.  Satellite seems to be falling by the way side.  Jerry and I have two different phone services, and we each have hot spots on our phones.  These give us almost total coverage in the U.S. and secure connections when the wi-fi we are closest to is weak/show/unsecured.  The antennas will boost our service...  we hope.

Tomorrow...

I'm starting to realize time has different meanings in different places.  Like the concept of tomorrow- it could mean within the next twenty-four hours, or it could mean in 2-3 days.  As we settle into our 2-3 week stay in Red Bay, we're trying to adapt to the rhythm of daily life here.  I have to admit that after 30+ years of "if you can't be on time, be early,"  I've had to take a breath a time or two.  Jerry seems much more in tune with all of this.  To date, we've shown up at the Red Bay Museum (only supposed to be open Tues. & Thurs. 1:30-4:00) several times only to find it closed.  I feel like maybe we slipped into a parallel time space out of sinc with the rest of the town.  We'll keep trying.

We've met a lot of people so far who live and work in Red Bay.  Everyone has been incredibly friendly and helpful.  When I called the post office to ask if it was OK to have mail sent general delivery (some RVer's tell us some post offices get cranky), the person who answered the phone, Denise, was very excited to say yes.  She told me that's how they get to meet new people from new places.

We even had help picking out ice cream in the grocery store.  We were standing in front of the freezer, and another customer gave us some insight, unsolicited, about the brands we did not recognize.  She was right. It was good!  I know this sounds like such a small thing, but I believe it says a lot about the culture of a community.  The owner of a shop downtown spent at least 25 minutes making phone calls to help me figure out why the museum wasn't open.  Talk about owning the problem until it's solved.

In addition to all the cool stuff we are having done to the Whale, one of the best parts for me is the stories Jerry is telling me.  Although he was born in Michigan and raised in South Bend, IN, his mom and dad's relatives are mostly from Arkansas and Tennessee.  So after 32 years of marriage, I'm hearing more about his memories of visiting an uncle who lived in Tiptonville, TN and stories about his grandmother's house that had no electricity or plumbing.  We actually drove by an abandoned house yesterday while wandering around that Jerry tells me looks just like his grandma's did....  a kitchen on one end and living quarters on the other end, and the ends are separated by a completely open air porch - all under the same roof.

Another "best part" (I have lots) is the longer we stay, the more we get connected to local produce and products.  There's an 80 year old woman who brings loaves of freshly baked sour dough bread to the campground for sale.  She used to deliver it directly to coaches, but they had to make her stop and just bring it to the office.  They were afraid she would fall and hurt herself.

We can also get "fresh from the factory" eggs.  Unfortunately, the weather got chilly the last few days, and the chickens went on strike.  We're hoping there will be a settlement soon...

I'm not usually a big sausage fan, but there's a person who makes breakfast sausage locally and delivers packages to the campground.  If there is such a thing as gourmet sausage, this would be it.  Outstanding flavor!

Harvest here is an important event.  When we first drove through town, we saw several places of business have elaborate fall decorations on the sidewalk with bales of hay and pumpkins.  But as we drive more of the countryside, we see more and more like decorations.  This really speaks to the connectedness of the community, or maybe there's a fall decoration ordinance...  I may have to research that more.

2-3 Weeks in Red Bay, Alabama

One of four rows of RV's waiting for service.
Not the most scenic but serves the purpose.

We spent all of Tuesday, October 2nd breaking our first made cardinal RV rule.... do not drive over 150-200 miles per day.  We drove over 500 miles on Tuesday in order to get to the Allegro Campground in Red Bay, Alabama early on Wednesday.  Red Bay, population  3,300, is home of the Tiffin Motor Home Manufacturin, and all roads (actually none directly) lead to Red Bay when your Tiffin is still under warranty or you need work done.   This is quite an operation.  The campground is actually a giant parking lot accommodating about 150 RV's with full hook up all the way to dry camping.

Dry camping means you better come in with your tanks empty 'cause there's no dump station.  We were lucky to get water and electric hook up when we pulled in.  On Friday we were moved to a full hook up.  Good thing...  the belly of the Whale was almost full.

We had an appointment on Thursday.  Before we knew it, a technician wanted to check out three areas of the Whale that had become problems - the cap rails on the roof, the floor in the water bay area (where all the hook-ups are) and the floor in driver's front slide out.  Behind door number three we won a new floor in the driver's side slide-out.  That wasn't even on our list!  The company is checking every RV that comes in for service and will fix whichever one or all of these problems whether the RV is still under warranty or not.  We have other warranty items as well.  Our stay will be lengthy.

The company has about 50 work bays.  You can either make an appoint months in advance, or you can just drop in for "Express Service."  Getting an appointment is about as easy as winning the Lotto, but if you call seconds after midnight on the date given to schedule three months away, you might get lucky.  Some folks who drove in for "Express Service" have been waiting for a week or two to get in.  Tiffins don't have any more issues than any other large piece of machinery.  The overload comes from folks wanting their coaches fixed by the technicians who know the coach in and out.  These guys are really good!  People are willing to wait.

There's also this whole underground of technicians who do custom modifications after hours and on the week-end with the company's blessing.  While we have been parked here, we have already seen some of the modifications others have had done (show and tell), and we are ordering changes also.  The work is done by those who work for Tiffin.  They are reasonable, and the work is well done.

The other great thing about being here for 2-3 weeks is we get to explore the area.  Red Bay, at first glance, is not the vacation spot of America, but that's  not what we're after anyway.  Both Jerry and I want to experience whatever location we are in as part of the journey.  More about Red Bay, Alabama tomorrow...

One day in Sioux Falls

Our day in Sioux Falls started at 8:00 a.m. Central time at Alternative Resources, our mail forwarding service.  The folks there are so helpful! We picked up our mail and actually saw our address "spot."  The Whale would definitely not fit.  We filled out paperwork to register to vote before driving downtown to the Municipal Building where we got our new drivers' licenses.  Three ladies handled a steady stream of customers.  They could give lessons on the right way to run a license bureau.  Then we went down stairs to submit our registrations to vote,  and we voted.  From beginning to end the whole process took less than 1.5 hours.  Just like that.  We are SD residents.  On the way out of the Municipal Building, we were stopped by two folks who were getting petitions signed.  "Are you SD residents?"  I almost said "No, I'm a resident of IN" but caught myself.  They were petitioning to have snow trucks not leave the mound of snow at the end of residents' driveways when they plow.  After years of dealing with those mounds left by snow trucks, I felt it was a cause I could join.

We spent another few hours exploring Sioux Falls.  My first impressions were that it's bigger than expected, and the city seems to be one continuous strip mall.  They claim to have over 400 restaurants.  I wonder if McDonald's counts as a restaurant? We discovered a bread shop, Harvest Breads, where bread is baked hourly I think.  All I can say is mmmmmmmm!

At 2:00 p.m. we headed south and drove from fall color to late summer green the further south we traveled.   Interstate 29 meanders down the west side of Iowa and Missouri until you get to Kansas City.  Because we are headed to Red Bay, Alabama to get the Whale serviced, we are now headed east on Interstate 70 out of Kansas City and will be taking various smaller state roads to get to Red Bay.  There's no direct way to get there (very small town) which means we will be seeing the countryside.

Our stop last night was in St. Joseph, Missouri - Wal-Mart parking lot at Exit 50.  Even though we have made several trips before in our motor homes, it's different when you know this is your place of residence, and establishing "ease of use" procedures is more important for the health of the marriage.  For example, when the slides (pop-outs / cheeks) are all in, there are a couple of "no passing zones" down the center aisle.  If you are headed in opposite directions, one person must back up.  We've also discovered when we pull into a parking lot for the night, RV etiquette is you only open slides on the curb side.  No blocking traffic flow.  We always park with  the driver's side against the curb as those slides give us more room to move around.  Thus, eliminating the "no passing zones."  We continue to figure things out as we go.