Natchez Trace Part One

 

For this northward adventure we decided to do the whole Natchez Trace Parkway; all 444 miles of it. We departed the Cajun Palms RV park in Breaux Bridge which was beautiful on the 24th of April.

 

 

And headed east on the I-10 as far as Baton Rouge and across the causeway which we have done many times in the past. The lakes, swamps, and rivers are at flood stage because of the relentless rains east of the Rockies and it is really pretty.

After Baton Rouge we turned north on highway 61 for a really pretty trip up to Natchez along the Mississippi and then arrived at an entrance point to the Natchez Trace Parkway just north of Natchez itself.

This National Park is totally open without formal entrance points yet there are many places to stop and information centers along the way like below.

Spring is just beginning and the flowers and trees are really neat and this welcome center is well done.

The sign above is really appropriate as the history of this region is so reflective of our whole history as a country. The Park is 444 miles long and the road is 50 mph for the entire length with no stops ever ... wow. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful scenic road and the history.

The park is a quite narrow piece of property through this country and there are many places to hop off and either park for the night or just shop or get fuel. There is a place to park our big bus almost every mile and many places to stop and eat ... wonderful journey through the heartland and huge history lesson starting with the first natives to use this trail some 5,000 years ago!

As we had left Louisiana some 200 miles before, the Flying Scotsman came to rest at the Springridge RV Park and Mobile Home Villa in Clinton, Missouri. If you look at the pic above and follow us you know that this isn't the kind of place that we really enjoy. Side-by-side hookup and really tight crappy place that we won't be back to. Convenient to the Trace, but ...

Nice picture of the entrance to lure you in but not so hot once you get in there. At this point also, as I went to start the car I realized the battery was dead .... oh man. Now, we can drag the dead car just like a trailer I suppose, but I would like to know why the car died en route. We got a neighbor to help jump start the thing but with a new car what is going on with it... no problems with the old reliable HHR we just traded in ... hmmm??

The Flying Scotsman is Loose!

 

We blasted off from College Station and headed east on Texas 105. After Conroe and just past Cut and Shoot we found one of the old Texas roadside parks that we really like. We had a casual lunch and rest and again fired up the bus to head east. Weather is about 80 outside and very humid.

 

 

After Beaumont we hit Interstate 10 for the balance of our 310 mile trip today. This morning we filled up with 50 gallons at $2.27 a gallon ... won't see that again for awhile.

On I-10 just to the west of Lafayette the traffic slowed down and we were surprised to see the accident that had just happened. We keep saying we have never seen an RV on the road in an accident and wow here it was.

This bus blew the left front tire and departed the opposite lane, came into our side, hit a car and continued into the trees to the right. Surprisingly both vehicles remained upright and there were no injuries ... some life saving driving on the part of the RV driver ... don't know.

Both vehicles were done and the car definitely trashed but thankfully nobody hurt ... helluva ride for the RV driver across all lanes of traffic and it was busy today and then into the trees on the other side ... Harleys in the trailer says it all!

After the excitement, we landed in tonight's park, the Cajun Palms RV park near Lafayette rated a 10-10-10. Nice park with large concrete pull-thrus and efficient office and about $43 for 50 amps ... not bad.

Oh, and my friends who came over when I got low to take the picture, actually pecking at my hands looking for handouts while I was trying to take a pic ... come on guys and gals, eh.

Animal tids and bits

 

While the pasture in College Station was peaceful it did involve cows which I guess we hadn't introduced to Bandit yet. I opened the door and he heard and saw the creatures and took off, saying, " Dad, those are the biggest dogs I have ever seen!" He came back and peered at the bovines but wasn't very comfortable with them this close to the bus.

 

 

 And then a neat find for us. This is what appears to be a scissor-tailed flycatcher on the fence by the cattle. Our bird book says this is a rare sighting for the casual bird watcher and it was a pleasure to see this really neatly colored bird so close to us.

We have talked about the muskrats near where we lived but here is one on a path we were walking in Carrollton. This thing is pretty big and not the least threatened by our presence. What a face!

And Jo-Anne chatting to her brother on one of the walking paths not really thinking about the sign which says, "dangerous snakes, please stay on path ..."

Birthday Boy ... Big 70

 

We arrived in Bryan as always to celebrate some milestone and this time it was for Bruce's 70th ... wow! Here's the four generations with the respective ages of 98, 39, 4, and a really young 70 ... hah. Hey that might not be a bad lottery combination.

 

 

And one of the elders doing a pic of the cake with the question mark on it ... family with a sense of humor as always.

And the four year old saying, "I have no idea what is going on here and only wish I were home reading my favorite kid book in my comfy kid bed ... there are really way too many old people around me."

Because this was a Texas A&M parents weekend most of the parks and certainly hotels were at max capacity and rate we again stayed at the Karstens RV park to the east of College Station.

As we got the coveted end site on the row this was a great site and was about $36 for the night. Nice lot and good hosts. Comfortable in and out and well laid out with some odd quirks, but great. Behind me is a pasture of several hundred acres with many cattle, which is cool as our main complaint is parks near highway noise ... not here ... mooing is the only thing in the morning ... neat!

We must get Dad off to the dentist tomorrow for a tooth extraction ... a bit more challenging as he is 98.

After that a glass of wine and then plan the trip to the east and north on Thursday ... gotta keep moving on!

 

Happy Anniversary!

 

Not necessarily for the old guys’ being together for almost 43 years so far, but for our mode of travel. With the publication of the latest Have Gunns Will Travel coffee table scrapbook (pictured below) it reminded us of how far we have traveled and what adventures we’ve had in the motorhome. Unbelievably, we have now completed eight full years of travel in a motorhome and have dutifully posted it all on this website and now have eight books to prove it.

 

Our first post to our website Have Gunns Will Travel was on April 27^th 2007, and all eight years (200+ RV facilities) are available for viewing here including several memorable trips to Europe … not in the bus of course. I’m trying to hook a PDF listing of the parks to our site and expect that will happen soon. We have watched over 70,000 miles of road disappear beneath the tires of the Flying Scotsman and it has been great.

We are now entering our ninth year on the road and will shortly be heading back north toward Canada and experiencing more roads less traveled and hope everyone who can, will enjoy this great continent and world as much as they possibly can. Hope we see you on the road!

 

And to celebrate the arrival of the summer transition from south to north here is the Bandit in his new “do”. In previous years we have combined his annual haircut with some other cat function that required his being asleep. This time he was just getting his annual shots so the technician was brave enough to clip the unwilling (growling, hissing, spitting) critter while he could comment on the process. The lion cut will carry him through the summer with less problems with the hairballs that we, and he, once had to deal with.

RV Home Renovation 101

 

After many years of ad hoc computer tables and old file cabinets and office chairs that are disintegrating it became time to step back and say, "this is our home office ... make it so."

 

Therefore here is the old boy, minus instructions, assembling the new chair ... disregard the glare from the top of the head eh. The chair was ordered off Amazon and was here within a day of ordering, even though we are in an RV park.

 

 

The finished chair with its new computer desk. If you look in the picture above you can see one of the many desks and chairs we had used for the computer. The new desk was ordered from Bradd and Hall in Elkhart. This is a fine piece of Amish finished furniture, made specifically for our setup and finished to match our trim (sent them a piece).

It took about a month from the order and design discussion to the delivery; all exactly as relayed on the phone and email and exactly within the time and cost expected.

The desk contains a file cabinet and printer drawer, the normal keyboard drawer, and a small credenza to the right for supplies .... all to my specifications.

We'll see how the new "office" works out on the road but already it is much more efficient and space saving than our old mess of stuff.

We still have the two captains chairs on order from Bradd and Hall but those will have to wait until we get to Elkhart to have them installed ... they most likely use the instructions ....

Eggs: real, fake, and poached

 

Easter Sunday was, of course, when we hide many cascarone eggs around the RV for when Brooks and Leigh arrive with the grandson Ev. The eggs are filled with confetti and it is huge entertainment for the 4 year old ... and oldsters ... first to watch him excitedly hunt for the hiding places, and then to watch the exploding paper over the head of his pop.

 

 

The bald head didn't offer much insulation for a pretty strong whack ... I know ... gramps got whacked as well! The dozen paper eggs seemed to last forever.

And then we went off to eat a really great lunch at another place in Addison called the Dream Café where we all had a great meal but were having too great a time to take any pictures. It was a rainy day as many have been but the brunch was super and they even have a kid playground. Fun day for all.

To switch gears, because I was thinking of brunch we had hit another place in Addison earlier in the week and did get a couple of pics of that meal. Benedict's is about a block from the Dream Café and also offers a great brunch menu for a reasonable price.

Jo-Anne had their signature eggs benny with "Canadian Bacon" (OK sort of but not really) and a great hollandaise sauce.

I got bold with a mushroom and goat cheese version with spinach which was excellent. Between us is a sample of their cheese blintz for tasting. Overall excellent service, super flavors, and variety. The only thing we missed at this place that was available at the Dream Café with the kids were the mimosas ... hey what's brunch without a mimosa, eh?