Resting up with family in Houston, then Headed East and Home

Thursday, 28 March to Sunday, 31 March

Sprinty enjoyed some time off while Kris and Darrell joined her family in celebrating the marriage of our nephew Daniel to Diana.  They tied the knot in an informal ceremony last November on the 10th anniversary of their first date.  Kris and Darrell played golf at Atascocita Golf Course (a few blocks away) on Thursday as the rest of the family was arriving on Friday.  Although we had played the course several years ago, we remembered almost none of it.  Kris played well and deserved the honor to buy.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent visiting, catching up, playing Rummikub, getting to know in-laws Diana and Jasper (Kristi’s new husband), and sharing family stories.  Saturday included a pontoon boat ride on Lake Houston.

Photo (L-R) of niece Kristi, nephew-in-law Jasper, Kia, sister Shelly, and niece-in-law Diana.  Includes arm of nephew Kevin (left) and leg of nephew Daniel (right).

Of course, we ate more than usual.  We enjoyed a Philippino dinner one night (Diana’s request), and a Texas BBQ dinner (Daniel’s request) another.  A joyful time that we treasured a lot.

Monday, 1 April

After four wonderful days with family in Humble, TX, Sprinty was all rested up and ready to continue the journey home.  The cold front that came through on Sunday left the entire region with cooler temperatures than normal, and we woke up to 40 degrees.

Reviewing options for golf, we found very few public golf courses in east Texas.  We picked Rayburn Country Resort Golf Course in Brookeland, TX, located about 2 hours 15 minutes away.  It was either that or play the municipal course in Livingston again.  Being a couple hours away allowed for the temperatures to get into the mid-50s, important as it was only partly sunny and breezy.

We called when we were about an hour away to make sure we could get on.  The clubhouse facility was quite nice, and the terrain/layout reminded us of Bridgemill Golf Course near Canton.

The course was not too crowded, and the staff said we could start when we were ready.  We spent some time hitting a bucket of balls and putting on the practice green.  The practice green was quick, and bumpy due to sprigs of poana grass.

We both opened up with nice drives, which Darrell was able to make a par.  He took an early lead, and held it.  He was up by five strokes at the turn as Kris uncharacteristically got into trouble on a couple of holes.  On the back nine, she played better than Darrell, but could not make up enough strokes.  We both felt that after several days off, our goal to just have fun was achieved.  

We played pretty much at our pace, finishing in about 3 hours.   Just as we finished golf, it started to rain.  Since we were done earlier than expected, we decided not to spend the night nearby and we headed further east to Fort Polk, an Army base near Leesville, LA where they had a FamCamp.  Sprinty got a nice pull-thru site with full-hookups near the lake shore for $20/night.

Camping on an Army base meant we got periodic sounds of freedom as helicopter flew overhead.  

Photo out the windshield:

Tuesday, 2 April

We got up this morning planning to play golf, but unsure where.  The golf course on the base was closed on Monday, so we had to wait until this morning to call and find out if we could get on.  We called right after they opened and found they were wide open.  When we arrived, the place was empty - we were the first golfers of the day.  The course was just okay - the rain had prevented the fairways from being mowed, the ground was soft, and the greens were in pretty rough shape.  Somewhat typical of military base golf courses.

Darrell started off with a par to take a one stroke lead.  Kris tied it up on the next hole. And so it went, back and forth, until Darrell made a birdie on the seventh hole.  Darrell made the turn with a three shot lead.  On the back nine, Kris found trouble on two holes and Darrell hung in to take the day.  Being on a military base, there was a Starbucks a few blocks away for Darrell to pay up.

Finishing with plenty of day left and looking at the weather for the rest of the week, we decided to head for Natchez, MS for the night.  Our Plan A was to stay at River View RV Park and Resort in Vidalia, LA, located right on the bank of the Mississippi River.  The reviews were very good.  When we arrived, we found they had sites, but due to the high river state, the City has shut off their sewer system, so no bathrooms or showers.  The staff was very nice and we spent some time talking with them, and learned of the Mississippi Balloon Race that is held every year in October.  Sounds like a good reason to return and stay at this campground.

On to Plan B, which was Natchez State Park.  We arrived only five minutes before the office closed and got a nice back-in site with water, electric, sewer, and a very filtered water view of the lake.  For $16 (senior rate).  Unfortunately, the shower would only get to normal room temperature on the hottest setting.  If we had known beforehand, we would have asked Sprinty to provide us with a shower.

Wednesday, 3 April - Natchez Trace Parkway

A very quiet night at the state park.  First stop of the morning was the Natchez Visitor Center located by the Mississippi River.  Google maps routed us through part of downtown, so we got a glimpse of the older homes.  At the Visitor Center, we watched their video about Natchez, then spent over an hour taking in the exhibits.  The focus of the Visitor Center was on the history of Natchez, not the parkway.

After getting diesel for Sprinty, we made our way to the southern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway and headed north/northeast.  With a beautiful day in the weather forecast, and ran for the following days, we set a tentative goal of taking the parkway to Tupelo, MS, just over halfway.  Using the National Park guide, we picked items of interest to stop and visit along the way.  The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile greenway from the southern Appalachian foothills of Tennessee to the bluffs of the lower Mississippi River.  It was established as a unit of the National Park System in 1938, but was not completed until 2005.  

• “The Natchez Trace Parkway is not a highway, but a long, narrow park” - Dawson Phelps, National Park Service Historian.

Our first stop was Emerald Mound (MM 10.3), an eight-acre ceremonial mound built between 1200 and 1650.  The exhibit signs showed how the Natchez Indians built the mound on a hill, cutting off the top.  Later, the mound was expanded, which would have required a lot of fill dirt to be placed.  No information on the site as to where the fill dirt came from, or how it was transported to the site.  Just the engineer in me wanting to know.

The next stop was Mount Locust (MM 15.5)which was a restored plantation.  The house served as an inn as people traveled the Trace.  The house is the only remaining inn of over 50 along the Trace and has been restored to what it looked like in 1810.

One of the highlights of the day was our stop at Sunken Trace (MM 41.5) where we walked on a short trail through a deeply eroded section of the original Trace.  It was reminiscent of the iconic photos of the Trace we had seen over the years.

On up the road, we stopped at Rocky Springs (MM 54.8) where we walked the short trail to the historic town site.  Being all woods now, it took some effort to try and imagine a city of almost 3,000 residents back in the 1800s.  Disease and the boll weevil were credited with the demise of the town.

On up the road, we stopped at the Parkway Information Cabin (MM 102.4) and learned it was only open Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sundays.  On to Cypress Swamp (MM 122).  As we pulled into the rather small parking area, we were surprised that the only vehicles in the parking area were RVs - three of them being Class As.  We walked the short trail through the cypress swamp which was where the Pearl River flowed before it was rerouted.  Along the way, we saw a small alligator.

We continued northeast enjoying sparse traffic except near Jackson, MS.  Sprinty seemed to enjoy the drive, catching dozens and dozens and dozens of bugs on the windscreen, and delivering over 20mpg as he cruised at the 50mph speed limit.  The Parkway is similar to Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway in that there is no commercial along the way, several places to visit historical features, and a few places to picnic or camp.  But a lot flatter.  Two-lane asphalt road with soft shoulders.   And mostly farms, forest or swamps on either side.  The average width of the Trace is 800 feet.

Our next stop was the Jeff Busby Stop (MM193.1).  Jeff Busby was a Mississippi congressman who is credited with getting legislation approved to have the Trace surveyed, considered a major step in the path to getting designated as a National Park.  We elected to drive to the top of the hill, which at 603 feet elevation, is one of Mississippi’s highest points.  There we ran into a Roadtrekker from Michigan whom we talked with for a bit.

We continued up the Parkway to MM 256, where we got off to head for Tombigbee State Park.  When we checked earlier in the day, it indicated a couple of sites available on a walk-up basis.  Mississippi uses the ReserveAmerica system, which does not let you make same-day reservations.  Based on the very positive reviews, we decided it was worth a chance.  We arrived after the office closed at 5pm.  As we cruised the campground, all the sites were taken.  A staff member saw us and flagged us down.  He said the only available sites were their overflow sites, of which two had electric, no water, no sewer.  Perfect for Sprinty.  And he said we could settle up with the office in the morning.

Thursday, 4 April

Last night, the forecast was for rain to start about 11am.  When we got up this morning, the forecast was for rain to start by 8:30am.  As soon as the office opened at 8am, we settled up for our overflow campsite for the night.  We then headed for the Tupelo Visitor Center.  We had gotten a brochure suggesting it was interesting.  It did not meet our expectations.  The main highlight was the very friendly and helpful staff member who genuinely made you feel very welcome to Tupelo.  BTW, Elvis Presley’s birthplace is in Tupelo, MS, and has quite the museum/exhibit there.  With the rain, we decided to save that for a future trip.

On the the official Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center located on the parkway on the north end of town.  There we reviewed the exhibits, several of them were duplicates of ones we had already seen.  We watched the video which was very nicely done.  The video presented the history of the Trace, and did a nice job explaining how the mounds were constructed without wheels.

By now, it was raining steadily with rain forecast for the next several days.  We had several options for traveling home, and we decided to just press on.  By driving blue highways, we encountered little traffic, and after a little more than an hour, we got in front of the rain.  We arrived at our home in Canton about 4:30pm EDT.  It took us less than an hour to completely unpack Sprinty and get him ready to take to the storage facility.