4/20-4/30 Weather is expected to be great for next four days with no more storms until next Monday night. This is great since our kids are demanding that we leave the state of Mississippi. Arrived in Vicksburg around noon and stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center where they offer coffee and information about the state and Vicksburg. This is located right on the river across from LA with some beautiful views. Checked in to our campground the Ameristar Casino RV Park across the street from the riverboat casino. Interesting park with full hookups, Wi-Fi, Cable all for $22.50 and a free shuttle to the casino. Checked out the casino and the buffet that afternoon. Never realized that Mississippi had so many towns with casinos and we met tourists who just travel from one town to the next gambling. George and I can’t even take the smoke for one day and we never gamble (can’t figure out the slots or the games). This park is located right off the interstate 20 and you can hear the traffic from the highway and the trains as they go across the tracks over the river. There are also five other casinos all within about a half of mile of each other. Vicksburg also has mansions to visit and two scenic tours to follow which go by all the interesting places to visit in the city especially their famous murals downtown. Visited the National Military Park on Saturday. Visiting this battlefield is an all day excursion. It was very interesting and the drive on the park road was not that busy so we took our time. Went downtown to see historic Vicksburg and especially the murals downtown that depict the history of Vicksburg by local artists.

Still in Mississippi and the storms

4/24 We had to change our plans this morning because the storms are coming in earlier then they expected so needed to continue down the Trace. Stopped at a number of historic sites on the Trace especially the midway point where riders from Nashville and Natchez met and exchanged mail. It took many riders over seven days to make the complete trip and that would only happen if the Indians were friendly. Left the Trace and drove four miles off it to stay at the Davis Lake Recreational Area, a National Forest Service campground right on the lake. Beautiful site right on the lake with water and electricity and very peaceful. Since we came in on Easter Sunday we were able to get a great site. One can swim, picnic, water ski, fish, put their boats in and tie them right next to your site. Bird watching is big here – actually MS has a bird watching trail that covers the state from the North to the South stopping at a number of state parks along the way. Plan to continue down the Trace tomorrow and hopefully stay at one of the free campgrounds right on the Trace tomorrow night. Tuesday we will have to decide where the violent storms will hit and might have to drive over 200 miles to get below the next set of tornadoes.

4/25-4/26 We headed down the Trace and drove over 200 miles to get below Jackson because of the violent storms expected for the next two days. We did make stops on the Trace on the way down. Stopped at Pigeon Roost where messenger pigeons landed and took off midway and also stopped along the Ross Barnett Reservoir that the Trace follows. We will be staying at the Reservoir on Wednesday and Thursday. Headed for Rocky Springs and stayed at this free campground for two nights.
Rocky Springs Campground – Milepost 54.8 – Natchez Trace, MS Sites not numbered. Free – This campground is in the recreational area of the Rocky Springs Site. No electricity or water but water at the bathrooms. This campground needs some work. Sites need to be leveled and repaved. We had driven down here on the Trace to avoid some violent storms that were going through Jackson for two days and it was a good stop. There were four other campers in the park for the first night and only us for the second. Another camper had told us three weeks earlier the snowbirds heading home on the Trace squeezed 43 RV’s in 19 sites. The Rocky Springs Site and trail in the park is fascinating with the old church, dried out springs and markers for the whole town in the woods. This park is also near Port Gibson which was not burned by Grant because it was too beautiful on his march through MS. The Windsor ruins are worth the drive to go see. If we traveled the Trace again we would stay here for a one night stay. It was very peaceful!
The second day we visited Port Gibson viewed some beautiful homes there as well as their historic church which has on top of it a gold hand pointing to heaven. Also, took the drive out to the Windsor Ruins. This was interesting – narrow road way out in the woods. Drove by a number of sinkholes that were overgrown with beautiful trees and greens. The ruins are down a dirt road and the most beautiful plantation in the south Longwood was here but it survived the civil war and then thirty years later a careless smoker in the 1890’s burned the house down. All the columns are still there – huge with very detailed sculptures at the top. The ruins are worth seeing. This is where Eliz Taylor filmed part of Raintree County which was always one of my favorite movies. This is also the plantation that Grant and Sherman used for their headquarters. Continued on down this back road and drove into and by Alcorn State University then back up the Trace where we stopped by some of the turnoffs until we got back to the campground. Took a different site and right now no one else is here. Hope someone else comes in. We have no cell service at this campground and I guess our kids were quite worried about us with all the violent storms. Steph was even thinking of calling the National Guard or the Memphis police and showing them a picture of our camper (not of us but of our camper!). We had a good laugh about that because we are not anywhere near Memphis. Verizon does not work that well in MS and we told our children that before we went on this trip. Not only have we been trying to miss the violent storms the Mississippi River is at the highest peak right now and they expect it to crest in the next two weeks. We will be on the river in three days for about five days so that is another weather alert we will have to keep an eye out for. Hope we are in Florida when it crests. This has been the worst April weather pattern for the state of Mississippi in its history.
Well – I could not sleep last night so got up at 2 and turned on the TV for a weather report. A new storm was coming right at us with tornadoes, thunder, lightning and hail. Woke up George and pulled in our slide out and got my tornado bag ready for a run to the restrooms. Did not have to run – the worst part with 65 mile hour winds hit 23 miles below us but we did get the storm. The next morning there was another storm but Jackson where we were headed was going to be just on the line. We decided to get up and head for Jackson and it was beautiful out for driving the Trace. Stopped at a number of stops including the Mississippi Crafts Center where they have crafts from all over the state. Drove to our next campground Timberlake Campground – a county campground that is on the Ross Barnett Reservoir on the outskirts of Jackson. The park was full and crowded with close to 200 RV’s, many of them are local campers who stay for the season on the lake. We did not have a lake campsite but we were in a quieter section that backed up to the bike trail that goes all along the reservoir. Nice park next door with tennis courts, picnic tables, boat dock and walking trails. Everyone exercises around here. Within an hour of getting settled the sky turned dark and the wind started to blow and the tornado siren started to blast. Tornadoes had hit the ground in Port Gibson and were heading to the campground that we had just left three hours before and then heading east. Tornadoes did cause a lot of damage in the county we were in with homes destroyed and people killed but the storm did nothing where we were – not even rain. The storm went by and the sun came out and it was beautiful the rest of the day and the next. Took walks and rode the bike trails around the reservoir. I put some pictures up of the park next door and saw some Canada Geese with their chicks, really cute. Heading for Vicksburg on Friday morning but I am hoping to watch the wedding before we go!

4/20- 4/22 – We were expected to get more thunderstorms again but the day turned out to be pretty good. Stopped at the COE Dam visitor center first. Drove down the Trace to Tupelo and on the way stopped at some Indian Mounds that cover about ten football fields. This was a burial site BC and they have found pottery, gold, bodies, Indian heads and anything else that would have been buried with the dead. The mounds are very interesting. Also stopped at a pullover that had tons of dogwood trees in bloom and a section of the old trace with high sides. One could not travel the Trace by themselves because of the dangers of been robbed and murdered by Indians, thieves and back woodsmen. Stopped by the Trace Visitor Center in Tupelo. Stayed at Tombigbee State Park in Tupelo but did not care for it. The State Park is run down but we did meet some nice campers staying for just the night like we were. One couple had two huge black great dames.
The next day we went to Elvis Presley Birthplace Park where the home that Elvis was born in is as well as his church, museum, walk of fame, statues and the story wall. Elvis bought the land and the house about ten years before he died and deeded it to the town. Very interesting and the story wall had quotes of people who grew up with him including his best friends and his sixth grade teacher. They all said that he never forgot anyone he grew up with even when he was rich and famous. Also, stopped by the Tupelo Battlefield but no place to park but we were able to stop at the National Pvt. John Allen Fish Hatchery which provides stock for all the lakes, rivers etc for these southeastern states. The ranger gave us a private tour and we were able to look into the vats and see baby Alligator Gar as well as young adults that weighed about 200 lbs. Never saw these before and they are huge – largest one caught by a pole was over 224 and by a net close to 400. This hatchery was fascinating! Stayed the next two nights in Tupelo at the Campground at Barnes Crossing with some big units next to a pasture and very close to the Trace. Relaxing stop – actually had cable, sewers and Wi-Fi for the first time. Really cute office – lots of birds, flowers, swings and atmosphere.