Traveling in January is not without its challenges. Coming from the northern climes, one of the biggest challenges is the cold. We are heading south, but cold is still very much a thing in Tennessee. After arriving at the campground last night, we managed to keep the cabin nicely warm with the afterburner running, but engine heat only lasts about 45 minutes with the engine not running and soon it is blowing cold.
Our usual modus operandi when boondocking on cold days is to accomplish everything that requires a warm cabin first: journaling, emailing, Bible study, route planning, computer work, and so forth, and then as the cabin begins to cool down, climb in bed under lots of blankets and watch something on TV. Definitely warmer with the two of us.
If two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?
Ecclesiastes 4:11
We checked out a few TV series from the library and have seen a couple episodes of *The Librarians*, kind of a mashup of Indiana Jones and National Treasure with quite a bit of hokiness thrown in. Somewhat entertaining, but maybe we'll wander off to something else. At least it's clean.
Overnight it becomes a balancing act of warmth versus remaining battery power. Keep the cabin too warm and we run the risk of not enough battery power to last the night. It's also hard on the propane supply. And when it gets below freezing we run the risk of freezing the contents of the waste tanks. I could turn the tank heaters on, but that takes additional battery power.
I suppose if we did this more often we could spend the money for higher capacity batteries, but, for now, we make it work.
Today was a full day on the Natchez Trace. 351 miles of travel today and we still have about 50 miles to go. At 50 miles per hour, it does take a fair amount of time to travel 444 miles, but this is what we signed up for.
There are lots of interesting things to see here, lots of hikes, lots of history. We blew by most of it. We are still on a limited time budget. But we did stop at a few places...
The Old Trace
Right near the campground and adjacent to the Meriwether Lewis monument and burial site, the original trace can still be hiked. I’m sure they didn’t have a split rail fence to guide them in the 1800’s, but it probably keeps modern inexperienced hikers on the correct path. We hiked this for a while to stretch our legs.
Rock Spring
Water flowing from the ground is always an attraction, here both to man and beaver. A short trail goes down to the pond created by the spring and a beaver dam, even crossing the stream on a series of stepping stones.
Pharr Mounds
A pullout by the side of the road gives you a view of 8 Indian mounds. They appear to be right in the middle of a hayfield. A *big* hayfield. I’m guessing these mounds got their name because they were so pharr away. I had to use a big telephoto lens to get this picture.
French Camp
We stopped here for a couple of reasons. It was the only fuel stop for miles and I had some doubt we would make it to Jackson before we ran out of fuel. And it is the site of a SOWERs project we had considered volunteering at: the French Camp Academy. Since the Trace goes right through it we stopped to check it out.
The gas station was one that time forgot. I started to doubt that they had any diesel because the only two sad looking mechanical pumps near the building were for unleaded and premium. Then I spotted the third pump. Out in the middle of the gravel parking lot, a lone pump, looking like it was about to fall over. It has been years since I have had to operate a mechanical pump, but I managed to satisfy the RV’s thirst.
The price on this pump is scrawled on a piece of pink duct tape with black marker and stuck over the price reels. I’m not sure if I actually got 19.6 gallons, or if I actually paid $3.79 for the fuel, and I’m still scratching my head over the $2.28 surcharge on the receipt. *Surcharge for what?* But it was the only game in town.
Tupelo Bald Cypress Swamp
We stopped here just as the sun was going down and had just enough time to hike the short trail through the swamp before it got dark. We had another fallout dinner (first thing that falls out of the fridge is dinner), then drove for another hour and a half in the dark.
Rocky Springs Campground
This is one of three campgrounds on the Natchez Trace. Very nice sites, widely spaced, modern restrooms and the price is zero. First come, first served. In January, there’s not much call for camping, so we have our choice of sites.
Again, the stars were amazing. We took a walk after arriving here and just marveled at the stars.
The stars may be magnificent, but the cell service is non-existent. We’ll have to get our Internet fix tomorrow.
As we were approaching Jackson, Mississippi, we were treated to some beautiful sunset colors over the Barnett Reservoir. I took a picture through the windshield. Doesn’t do it justice, but gives an idea what it looked like
Miles Traveled: 351
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