From Bessemer we took I 20 to Jackson Mississippi. I had determined to follow the “Natchez Trace“ to Natchez. I fully expected to get lost because I have never been there before. The navigator and I do much better the second time around. Another 300+ miles day but we were going to make it to Houston with only two nights in Hotels. My Butt still aches from the pounding. Just outside Jackson we ran across the Trace.
I didn‘t know that the Trace is a National Heritage Site and commercial development is very restricted. That meant no gas stations. We had about half a tank at the start but we were on E when we got to a gas station near the end. Near the start was a sign commemorating the Civil War Battle of Raymond. My brother is named Raymond so we took many pictures to send to him. The road way is much higher than the surroundings. I had a hard time translating the modern roadway to the path or trail that earlier settlers used to get to Louisiana and Texas.
Natchez looked like a nice mid sized city. We were supposed to stay at the Ramada Inn oberrlooking the Mississippi River. When we found the place I was highly impressed with the setting. What a beautiful view in the crook of the river. Beat Hell out of Baton Rouge. The bridge over the river is so graceful and well proportioned that Caro and I kept trying for the perfect scenery shot. Unfortunately Kudzu also seems to have overwhelmed all the surface along the river.
The pool looks bigger in the picture that it looked in person. I didn‘t feel like driving to find a place to eat so we tried the restaurant. We almost had the place to ourselves. There was only one other couple in the dining room. We had fish. And “bad pop”. The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and took off for home.
Somewhere in Louisiana after Alexandria we got lost. The major, according to the map, road we were on just petered out and we ended up on a tiny two lane road that threatened to turn to a dirt path at almost any moment. We finally found a real highway that headed south to I10. Not where I wanted to be but at least we knew where we were. We drove through cotton land like I had not seen in 40 years. They were planting in places, barely blooming in others and picking in many places. Looks like they were getting at least three crops a year.
We stopped for drinks and snacks at a drive in grocery store and saw pallets full of “deer corn“. Then we noticed a bull squirrel. He had either torn a hole in one the sacks or he had found the corn scattered under the bag. He would stretch full length and pull out a kernel and set there on his haunches to eat it. He would only leave when someone walked real close to him. Obviously he was in “Squirrel Heaven“.
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