'The Adventure Has Begun!

It was bittersweet leaving Dean and Judy's house this morning. They have been such good friends for so long. At the Children's Ranch, we were able to do things together with them several times a week, and we saw them at activities almost every day. This morning we knew we were bidding them farewell for a longer time. But thanks to the marvels of email, cell phones, and good old U.S. Mail, we know we will keep in touch.

A very special send-off was when their son-in-law Scotty, on his way to an emergency electrical repair for an elderly woman, saw our camper and truck in D&J's driveway and stopped to say good-bye. Not only good-bye, but he prayed the most beautiful blessing over us, for our health and safety, our activities, our travel, and the people we would meet and the adventures we would encounter. It brought tears to my eyes, and it was such a beautiful start to our real camping adventure. We're looking forward to returning to Dean and Judy's soon, to see what new improvements and remodeling efforts they've made in their lovely new home, below.Before noon we crossed the Mighty Mississippi at Natchez, leaving Louisiana behind (but not before we went through the picturesque town of Frogmore, LA.!)

After lunch we toured around Natches National Historical Park before finding our goal for the next few days, the Natches Trace National Parkway. 

This is a 444-mile scenic roadway that follows the Natches Trace Trail. This trail, which stretches between Nashville, TN and Natches, MS, was used by Indians, explorers, soldiers, westward-bound settlers traveling on foot, on horseback,and in wagons for 150 years from about 1710 until right around the Civil War in the1860's. 

Lewis&Clark, Davy Crockett, and Daniel Boone were among some of the well-known explorers and frontiersmen who used this trail. Thomas Jefferson declared it a National road to help defend the new United States against Spain, who dominated the lands to the west. The Parkway very closely follows the original trail, which can be accessed by many points on the parkway. It's almost totally unspoiled and impacted very little by cities or development. 

Some spots on the Natches Trace Trail were so well-used that they have worn down as much as 30 feet below the forest floor above. This is one of those low spots.

We found the site of a once-flourishing town, Rocky Springs. All that's left of the town now is a sweet little Methodist Church, quite well preserved and maintained by faithful friends, and a couple of rusted out safes. I'll let the next few photos tell the story of Rocky Springs:

There's much more to write, but I'm afraid if I make this too long, you won't come back for more. Some day soon when there's not much to write about, I'll tell you about my new heroine, whom I heard about for the first time today. A hint: her name was Sarah Dickey, and she lived from 1838-1904. If any children are reading (my grandchildren, music students, or children at the Big Springs Ranch), I'll mail a special souvenir from somewhere on my trip to the first one who can tell me what Sarah's life work was, and who she did it for. You can either place a comment on this blog, or email me.

Signing off from a lovely campground near Jackson, Mississippi..... Karen