Custer, Rushmore, and Crazy Horse

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

I have upgraded my blog editing program, so now you should not be seeing any advertisements and I should be able to insert little videos.  Let’s see how well this works.

Up at the crack of dawn, we were off to look for wildlife. Custer State Park has a wildlife loop where we found what we were looking for. We saw a huge herd of buffalo. Click on the arrow in the middle of this pic and see if it plays for you.

 

While we were watching the herd a biker came through, slow and cautious, and suddenly one of the larger animals jumped out from the side of the road and head-butted the biker nearly knocking him down. He wobbled a bit but then got control and continued on. When he got by us he said it was a scary thing, and when the lady on the bike behind him came by she was saying “Oh God, Oh God, Oh God.”  It was a close one, that’s for sure.

Biker

Biker

There were wild donkeys relaxing on the side of the road. One was napping.

Wild Donkys

Wild Donkeys

If you read this blog last year you will recognize these pictures. We were here in September on our way back to Minnesota from our Alaska trip. Well, here we are again. We’re in the area so just had to see it all again.

We spent a few hours at Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

There is a trail that leaves from the observation deck that you can hike for a closer look.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

Along that hike we got a glimpse of a mountain goat.

Mountain Goat

Mountain Goat

And, of course, if you see Mount Rushmore you must also visit the Crazy Horse Memorial, so that’s what we did. They’ve been working on it for years, and I doubt they will have it done in my lifetime.

Crazy Horse Memorial

Crazy Horse Memorial

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Native American Dance Demonstration

Native American Dance Demonstration

We spent a couple of hours there too, they have an awesome visitor center.  At the restaurant there we had to have South Dakota’s Official State Dessert….KUCHEN

Kuchen

Kuchen

On our way home be saw this lone antelope and stopped to watch it for a while.

Antelope

Antelope

  • Gasoline:   none
  • Lodging:   $26
  • Admission:   $11 to park, but Mt. Rushmore is free (your tax dollars at work)
  • Admission:   $22 Crazy Horse Memorial (no Federal or State dollars go here)
  • Admission:   Custer State Park (7-day pass), $15
Posted in Daily Post, September, South Dakota | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Badlands of South Dakota

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Leaving Al’s Oasis this morning we continue west, leaving Central Time Zone and entering Mountain Time.  South Dakota is a very flat state. The eastern half is mostly cropland. We some big corn fields, and some sunflower fields. Now as we travel into the western half the flatness begins change into rolling hills and cattle ranches.

South Dakota

South Dakota

Random Skeleton Sculpture

Random Skeleton Sculpture

Next we come upon the Badlands National Park. The entrance fee would have been $15 for us but with Bernie’s National Senior Pass we get in free.  The park roads are freshly paved, which made the drive around the scenic loop easier with this big RV.  We were not able to fit into all of the scenic overlook parking areas so had to pass some of them up, but we had a good view nonetheless. It was 90 degrees.

Badlands of South Dakota

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park

The park road exits right at the little town of Wall, South Dakota, where is the World Famous Wall Drug; a mega-tourist trap, but a very popular stop-over for many years.  In its early days the owners gave free “Wall Drug” signs to travelers and these signs have been placed all over the world. We stopped in for its signature free ice water and 5 cents coffee. The tiny drug store in the middle of nowhere has now morphed into the major employer in this town of about 800 people.

Wall Drug

Wall Drug

Tonight we are staying at Heartland RV Park south of Rapid City, SD.  It’s hot and we want to spoil ourselves with electricity and the city water supply.

  • Gasoline:    $95 @ $3.45
  • Lodging:     $26
  • Admission: free
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Al’s Oasis, South Dakota

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

After a quiet night in Worthington, Minnesota, we continued our trek west into South Dakota. It warmed up to around 80 degrees and was sunny most of the day, a good day for a drive. We drove 200 miles.

South Dakota Border

South Dakota Border

The first city across the MN/SD border is Sioux Falls. This is where our mail forwarding company is, so we made a stop there to pick up our mail. From now on they will hold our mail for us until we tell them where to ship it to us.

Driving west on Interstate 90 on the eastern half of the state is long and flat and boring, lots of large corn fields. There are a few little tourist attractions, but nothing that we were interested in. We even passed up the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchel, as we have been there a few times before. For a link to last year’s blog about that click here.

The Missouri River divides South Dakota right down the middle. As we approach the river there is a very nice rest area with a visitor center and a scenic overlook. From here you can see the river and three bridges that cross it.

Bridge

Missouri River, Chamberlain, South Dakota

Misouri River, Chamberlain, South Dakota

Missouri River, Chamberlain, South Dakota

Just across the bridge is the city of Chamberlain. Here we find Al’s Oasis, a popular stop on the Interstate with a grocery store, a nice restaurant, clothing store, a bakery, and more. And the coffee is still only 5 cents.

Al's Oasis

Al’s Oasis

Across the street from Al’s Oasis they have a large parking lot striped for over-size vehicles. We are allowed to stay overnight here for free so that’s what we are going to do tonight.

Al's Oasis

Al’s Oasis

  • Gasoline:  $96 @ $3.09
  • Lodging:   free
Posted in Daily Post, September, South Dakota | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Here We Go Again!

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Beginning our third year of living full-time in our RV!

The majority of our summer was spent parked on old family farm property in Minnesota. Since most of our relatives are from this area there were several family gatherings to keep us busy all summer. But winter is approaching and we would really like to visit Oregon and Washington State before we go south for the winter, so off we go!

Last minute errands and preparations …gas tank full, water tank full, air in tires.  We even topped off our propane tank so that is full too. We’re all set. Finally we get going early afternoon.

We need to get back into the groove gradually and the problem with going west is that we have to drive into the evening sun in our eyes. For our first day out we drove no more than 150 miles, stopping for the night at the Walmart in Worthington, Minnesota.

Walmart

Walmart

The lady at the service counter was very friendly when I asked permission to park here, we feel very welcome. After a bit of grocery shopping we returned to our rig to find that three more RV’s and one semi had appeared in the parking lot beside us, so now we have company. There is not much traffic, it should be a quiet night.

  • Gasoline:  $210 @ $3.13
  • Propane:   $20   @ $2.95
  • Lodging:    Free
Posted in Daily Post, Minnesota, September | Tagged , | 3 Comments

We’re Back!!

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Back to our home state, that is.  Good old Minnesota, where we will spend the summer. I most likely will not be blogging (almost) daily throughout the summer unless we do something really cool. For the most part we will remain stationary and live our lives as we did when we had the stick house. We have a place to park in Hutchinson for the summer but for tonight we are in Blue Earth.

Minnesota Border

Minnesota Border

After visiting with family we stopped to say hello to the Jolly Green Giant who lives in Blue Earth. We will head to Hutchinson in the morning.

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The Jolly Green Giant

 

Posted in Daily Post, May, Minnesota | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Minnesota Bound

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We have left New Hampshire and have been heading toward Minnesota for the last few days. It’s been very windy, and we’ve had periods of rain, and road construction. Sight seeing is not on our agenda this time, just heading home.

The Road Home

The Road Home

Tonight we are in Sturgis, Michigan. A few more days should get us there.

Walmart

Walmart

  • Gasoline Expense:  $200 @ $3.75 and $3.61
  • Lodging Expense:   none
Posted in Daily Post, May | Leave a comment

New Hampshire and Maine

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

It’s too early for most RV parks and campgrounds in New Hampshire to be open for the season. However, there are a few that have seasonal customers who have been here all winter. Circle 9 Campground is one, and it is only about 10 miles from Concord, New Hampshire, where we are visiting our son and his wife. They had a spot for us.

Circle 9 RV Park

Circle 9 Campground

We enjoyed visiting the kids over the weekend, but today they are working, so we made a little day-trip to Maine to visit our friend, Peter, who lives there. Peter took us out to Portland Head Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in Maine. It’s over 200 years old. It was cold and windy, and the museum and gift shop were not open, so it didn’t take us long to see it. But it was a fun day and we enjoyed seeing Peter again.

Portland Head Lighthouse

Portland Head Lighthouse

 

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Mohegan Sun Casino

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We’re still kickin’.  I did say this is an “almost” daily diary.

Last weekend was spent visiting our daughter, Teresa, in New Haven, Connecticut. Almost all RV parks in CT are not yet open for the season. But we were lucky to find RV parking in a RV area of Totoket Valley Mobile Home & RV Park in nearby North Branford, CT. This placed us only about 6 miles from Teresa’s house.

Totoket RV Park

Totoket Valley RV Park

After spending the weekend in New Haven, we have moved on up to Mohegan Sun Casino, CT, where we can park the RV for free for up to two weeks if we need to. Hopefully, we won’t be here that long. Our next destination is to visit our son and his wife in Concord, New Hampshire. However RV parks and campgrounds are not yet open for the season up there either. The further north we go the harder it is to find open RV Parks this early; funny how that works. Hopefully, after a few phone calls, we can locate a place to park. We have a few ideas.

Mohegan Sun Casino, CT

Mohegan Sun Casino, CT

The weather has been ok, but today is quite windy and cold. We even had a few moments of hail this morning, but was no big deal.

We did go exploring into nearby Norwich, CT.

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Downtown Norwich, CT

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Norwich City Hall, 1870

  • Gasoline Expense:  $100 @ $3.79
  • Lodging Expense:    Free if you don’t count gambling losses
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Hersheys Chocolate

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Done with Washington DC for now (we will be back) we left Greenbelt Park and drove north to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Patty, a high school classmate of mine from Jackson, Minnesota, who lives here now, came out say hello. Talk about a blast from the past, it’s been many years since I saw her last; was great to see her again and we had a nice visit.

Harrisburg is just a few miles from Hershey, Pennsylvania, so of course we had to go see Hershey’s Chocolate World. There are several Hershey attractions in this area, but we are just visiting the Hershey tour today. We each received a free Hershey Kiss as we entered the tour. Not an actual tour through the real factory, this is more like a Disney ride as we sat and were taken through the exhibits in the dark while animated cows sang to us, music played, and a narrator explained the chocolate making process as we moved from one display to the next. A small pack of Rolo’s was given to us as we exited through the gift shop.

Chocolate World, Hershey, PA

Chocolate World, Hershey, PA

And then off we go again, north and east on I-81 only as far as Wilkes-Barre, PA. The wind was picking up making it unpleasant for us to drive the motor home. The Mohegan Sun Casino was right there when we made the decision to stop, so we pulled in and will be spending the night here in their parking lot. This is a smaller vision of the Mohegan Sun Casino we stayed in last year in Connecticut.

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Mohegan Sun Casino, Wilkes-Barre, PA

  • Gasoline Expense:  $130  @ $3.69
  • Lodging Expense:   none
  • Admission Fees:  none
Posted in April, Daily Post, Pennsylvania | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cherry Blossom Parade

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Back again to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Parade. Getting there was easy enough on the train and we only had to walk a few blocks to get there. The first thing we saw was some cherry blossom inflatables. This marked the beginning or the staging point for the parade entries. We walked up a couple blocks and found a place to sit in front of the Museum of Natural History and across the street from the Internal Revenue Service.

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Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossom Parade

Cherry Blossom Parade

George and Abe

George and Abe

Every year the National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Japan in 1912. It has grown over the years and now lasts for five weeks.

Cherry Blossom Parade

Cherry Blossom Parade

After the parade we attended the Japanese Street Festival just a few blocks away. This covered several blocks and was filled with all kinds of Japanese food vendors and displays and activities. Lots of people dressed in Japanese attire and some in Japanese media characters.

Japanese Street Festival

Japanese Street Festival

On the way back to the train station we passed the Navy Memorial. The United States Navy Band was performing.

The US Navy Band Concert

The US Navy Band Concert

Sailors at the Navy Memorial

Sailors at the Navy Memorial

Coast Guard Having Fun

Coast Guard Having Fun

  • Gasoline Expense:  none
  • Lodging Expense:   $8
  • Admission Fees:      $20
  • Transportation:       $16
Posted in April, Daily Post, Washington DC | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cherry Blossoms in DC

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

The last few days have been windy and cool and rainy. But today was to be a beautiful sunny day, and it did not disappoint. We went to Greenbelt Station and took the Green Line into DC. We got off at Chinatown and found a restaurant there for lunch.

China Town

China Town

After lunch we walked to where the cherry blossoms are. This took us by the White House and by the Washington Monument, across the National Mall, and down towards the Jefferson Memorial. On the way we enjoyed seeing all the different styles of architecture in the city. One in particular that got our attention was the Dwight D Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Executive Office Building

Dwight D Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Our walk took us by the north side of the White House. There is always a crowd of people on the north side as well as the south side. The streets on both sides are closed off to traffic.

The White House

The White House

A few blocks further south brings us to the National Mall where we walked by the World War II Memorial. The reflecting pond and the Lincoln Memorial can be seen in the distance.

World War !! Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial

World War !! Memorial

The Washington Monument is across the road from the WWII Memorial, we walked around to where the cherry blossoms are blooming to get a nice picture.

Washington Monument

Washington Monument

Then south of there is where all the excitement is. There were thousands of people here, busloads of tourists and school field trips. There was live entertainment and a food tent, so we enjoyed the music and had an ice cream sandwich for dessert. I’m so glad we got to see this.

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Cherry Blossoms at Washington DC

Enjoying the Cherry Blossoms in DC

Enjoying the Cherry Blossoms in DC

Jefferson Monument

Jefferson Memorial

Taking the train was so much the right thing to do. Traffic was thick with tourists and busses and I don’t even know where they all parked. There is a Metro stop just a few blocks from here and we caught the train for the Greenbelt Station just as rush hour was beginning.

The Metro

The Metro

  • Gasoline Expense:  $19.90 @ $3.62
  • Lodging Expense:   $8
  • Transportation:      $18
Posted in April, Daily Post, Washington DC | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Washington DC

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We took the Metro train into Washington DC today to visit the nation’s capitol. We have been here a few times before but it’s so interesting and there is so much to see we’re going back for more.

Our first stop was to return to the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum. As with the many other Smithsonian Museums this is free to visit. New this time is an exhibit of Felix Baumgartner’s giant leap from space. The first person to break the speed of sound in freefall without the protection or propulsion of a vehicle. The original capsule and exhibits explain all the details about it. Fascinating.

Felix Baumgartner

Felix Baumgartner

Next a walk through the Sculpture Garden.

Sculpture Garden

Sculpture Garden

There were a lot of people in the National Mall today, and in all the Museums. Busses line the streets unloading thousands of people.

tyurtyu

Busses Unloading at the Museum of Natural History

Too bad I didn’t have my checkbook with me, I could have dropped off all my money at the Internal Revenue Service. Oh well, they will have to wait until the last-minute deadline of April 15.

Internal Revenue Service

Internal Revenue Service

A few blocks off the National Mall is the Old Post Office Tower. Built in the 1890’s, it has fallen in disrepair,  survived potential demolition a few times, has been renovated and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

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The Old Post Office

The last time we were here the inside of The Old Post Office contained a nice Food Court and we had planned to go there for lunch today. However, all the food vendors are gone now. A security guard told us that Donald Trump will be turning the old building into a hotel now.

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The Old Post Office Food Court Skeleton

We were still able to take the elevator ride to the observation tower, also free. We could see the Capitol building as well as all of Washington DC.

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Pennsylvania Avenue

And then a few blocks west from there is the White House. Hundreds of people lined the street for a look.

The White House

The White House

And then a few blocks south of the White House is the Washington Monument. It is still closed due to repairs from that earthquake in 2011. The last time we saw it there was scaffolding all the way to the top, that’s all gone now. It is due to reopen in May! Yay! I hope we get a chance to come back to visit it.

Washington Memorial

Washington Memorial

Today is National Pillow Fight Day. I did not know that. But on the grounds of the Washington Monument there was a huge crowd of people with pillows having at it. They were having a great time. And us without our pillows.

Pillow Fight

Pillow Fight

Our main reason for returning to DC at this time was to be here for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The blossoms are later than usual due to the crazy winter we have had, but they are getting ready to pop! A few more days of good weather should do it. We will be here for a while so we will see it.

Cherry Blossoms Almost

Cherry Blossoms Almost

  • Gasoline Expense:  none
  • Lodging Expense:   $8
  • Transportation:       $16
  • Admission Fees:      none
Posted in April, Daily Post, Washington DC | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Move to Greenbelt

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Since Cracker Barrel was kind enough to allow us to stay the night in their parking lot the least we could do is go in for a good breakfast before we hit the road. Apparently many of the Canadians in the Walmart parking lot were hungry too. I think we were the only English-speaking people there! I was hearing a lot of French. And a lot of laughter; what a fun group of people.

Highway Driving

Highway Driving

Eventually the parking lots emptied of RVs, us being the last ones to leave. We only went about 85 miles but it was intense driving. Neither of us likes to drive in big city traffic and we had plenty of that today. We would much rather have a leisurely drive down a nice wide four-lane road with light traffic. By the time we got to the park we were tired.

Eventually we made it to Greenbelt Park (National Park Service) which is only about 12 miles from Washington D.C. It’s an urban oasis. Kinda like being way out in the middle of a forest but is surrounded by city.

Greenbelt Park, #75

Greenbelt Park, #75

 

There are 174 campsites here in four separate loops. While the literature said the campground is open all year, only one of the four loops was open. Signs say that rigs longer than 30 feet were to go to Loop D only. Since that was a closed loop we had to squeeze 34′ into one of the smaller spots in Loop B. There are only about 10 other campers here with us today and room for more. The Camp Host said Loop D should be ready soon. If it does we’ll probably move. The best part is that thanks to Bernie’s Senior Pass we only pay $8 per night. No hookups, but we’re self-contained and there is water and a sanitary dump station available.

  • Gasoline Expense:  none
  • Lodging Expense:   $8
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Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Our plans are to stay in the Walmart parking lot in Front Royal, Virginia, tonight. They told us we had to park in the far back lot but that was filled with commercial 18-wheelers so we went to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant lot and parked there. They are known to be RV friendly. We unhooked the Jeep, left the RV at Cracker Barrel and went to Shenandoah National Park where we drove on Skyline Drive, a scenic road atop the northern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

The road reminded us of the Natchez Trace Parkway that we drove recently except steeper and more curves. There are many pull-outs, and instead of historic points of interest these are scenic overlooks. The visitor center was still closed for the season and the several campgrounds in the park do not open until late in May.

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

Although it was a nice warm sunny day there was still some snow and ice remnants on the north sides. The roads were clean and dry.

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

When we returned to the RV we discovered that while we were gone all the commercial trucks had left the Walmart back lot but a caravan of RV’s had taken over. They are French-speaking Canadian snowbirds on their way back to Quebec, Canada, and traveling together. A few more RV’s showed up later, there are seventeen of us all together in these two lots.

Walmart Boondockers

Walmart Boondockers

  • Gasoline Expense:  $135 @ $3.25
  • Lodging Expense:   none
  • Entrance Fee to Shenandoah National Park:  Free with Bernie’s National Senior Pass
Posted in April, Daily Post, Virginia | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Moving North

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Still slowly creeping north on our way to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms. We’ve heard about how beautiful it is there at bloom time and we want to witness it for ourselves. Because of the harsh winter weather this year the actual bloom time is later than it has been in previous years. Right now, according to the 2014 Bloom Watch we’re looking at April 8-12 as the peak bloom period. Normal bloom time is April 4. So we have plenty of time.

Today we found Endless Caverns RV Resort & Campground to spend the night. We found them in our Passport America membership directory so we can stay for half price for one night. They told us that today was their first day of the year to be open and the place was almost empty. There are over 100 campsites here an there are only a few campers spending the night, it’s very quiet, we should sleep well. That’s quite a change from last night where we stayed in a very noisy Walmart parking lot. The farther north we go the more challenging it will get to find a campground open this early.

Endless Caverns RV Resort & Campground

Endless Caverns RV Resort & Campground

But look at that blue sky! And for the first time this year we experienced temperatures over 70 degrees. Spring has sprung!

  • Gasoline Expense:  $80 @ $3.19
  • Lodging Expense:   $22
Posted in April, Daily Post, Virginia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

It’s been raining the last few days so we haven’t done much at all, just drive a little, wait a little, drive, and wait. Today was much less rain and we have now crossed the Tennessee border into Virginia.

Virginia

Virginia is for Lovers

Tonight we stay at Hungry Mother State Park. We have a nice long pull-thru spot with full hookups. There is a lake here with sandy beaches, canoe rentals, and all that, but it’s just too cold yet. The campground is nearly empty. We are getting into higher elevations and it is cold, due to freeze overnight. They had two inches of snow here last night, but it melted before we got here.

Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia. #24

Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia. #24

Hungry Mother State Park is one of the six original CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) parks that opened in 1936 and is in the National Register of Historical Places. We did not explore the park because we were too cold and it was getting late, but we did check out a nearby hiking trail.

Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia

Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia

The park gets it name from a legend about when Native Americans, after destroying several settlements, took Molly Marley and her small child. They escaped and wandered in the wilderness, eating berries. Molly collapsed and her child wandered down the creek. When help was found the only words the child could say was “Hungry Mother.”

  • Gasoline Expense:  $150 @ $3.22
  • Lodging Expense:   $32
Posted in Daily Post, March, Virginia | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Nashville, TN

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

I guess we came too far north too soon!

Our plan was to explore Nashville today, and we gave it a good try. It snowed, and it blowed, and it was cold. The high temp today was 35-40 degrees and very windy, so that kinda took the wind out of our sails. Yes, you can laugh at that. It was the coldest I have been all winter. But we were determined to see the city and decided not to turn back.

Nashville, TN

Nashville, TN

The snow let up by the time we finished our lunch, but it was still cold and windy.

One of our first stops was to visit The Parthenon, the only full-sized replica in the world of The Parthenon in Greece. This was originally built for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition and now is the centerpiece of Centennial Park. It also serves as the city’s art museum.

The Parthenon, Nashville, Tennessee

The Parthenon, Nashville, Tennessee

Next, we made our way across town….

Nashville, TN

Nashville, TN

to visit Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. This is a beautiful park and if it hadn’t been so cold and windy we would have spent some time there walking around and enjoying all it had to offer. As it was, we took some pictures and moved on.

Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Nashville,TN

Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Nashville,TN

No visit to Nashville can go without seeing the Grand Ole Opry.

The Grand Ole Oprey

The Grand Ole Opry

Nashville has a TON of interesting things to see and do and if we were going to be here longer we would see and do more. And if it would warm up! The low temp tonight is supposed to be 22 degrees.

 

Posted in Daily Post, March, Tennessee | Tagged | 3 Comments

Natchez Trace Parkway. Done!

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

We’re almost finished with the Natchez Trace Parkway. Our first stop this morning was at the grave site of Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark explorers. This is the location where he died and where he is buried.

Meriwether Lewis

Meriwether Lewis Grave Site

Next stop, an old phosphate mining area. We walked a short path along an abandoned railroad bed where a miniature train hauled small carts of phosphate ore to an ore washer in a nearby town.

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Dinky Train Bed

Interpretive signs tell about the mining history and point out abandoned phosphate mines.

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Abandoned Phosphate Mine

A tobacco farm exhibit is next. Signs explain about the history of tobacco farming in this area, begun in 1932, and about how it is done. The park service still plants tobacco in a small garden near the barn and hangs it in the barn to dry.

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Tobacco Farm

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Tobacco Drying

And a stop at milepost 407.7 at the Gordon House Historic Site. One of the few remaining buildings on the Trace. This house belonged to the Gordon family who operated a ferry across the Duck River at this location in the early 1800’s.

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Gordon House on Natchez Trace Parkway

And then one more stop, the monument memorializing the soldiers of the War of 1812 that are buried along the Old Natchez Trace.

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War of 1812 Memorial on Natchez Trace Parkway

And we finished the entire Natchez Trace Parkway! We’ll be spending the next three nights at the Nashville I-24 Campground and will explore Nashville before we head west towards Washington DC.

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Nashville I-24 Campground

Time to update our travel map. While we have been through Tennessee before this motorhome has not, until now. Two years and 40,000 miles later we only have ten states to go!

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Adding Tennessee

  • Gasoline Expense:  $150 @ $3.35 and $3.19
  • Lodging Expense:   $32
Posted in Daily Post, March, Tennessee | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Natchez Trace Parkway

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

Our trek up the Natchez Trace Parkway continues.

Milepost 308.4 Cave Spring. A natural cave. A sign there talks about how sink holes are formed.

Cave Spring

Cave Spring

Milepost 308.8 Bear Creek Mound. Another Indian mound. This one was built between 1400 and 1600.

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Bear Creek Mound

The Trace leaves Mississippi at 308.9, runs through a bit of the northwest corner of Alabama, and enters Tennessee at 341.8.

Milepost 381.8 Napier Mine. It’s hard to take a picture of a big hole in the ground, but this point of interest shows where an open-pit mine was that was worked in the 1800’s. This provided most of the ore for nearby iron making operations.

Napier Mine

Napier Mine

Tonight we are staying at another one of the free National Park campgrounds, this is at milepost 385.9. Tomorrow we complete the Trace and move on to the Nashville, Tennessee area.

Internet service at this location is very slow, but we do have good TV 🙂

  • Gasoline Expense:  none
  • Lodging Expense:   none
Posted in Alabama, Daily Post, March, Mississippi, Tennessee | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tishomingo State Park, MS

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Marsha Brecht

I would not call this a sunny day; the sun came and went all day long. But the temperature did reach 72 degrees, which was nice. Tomorrow is supposed to bring some rain and storms so today was our day to explore the park and do some hiking. There are 13 miles of trail here which is more than we can do in one outing. We chose one 2-mile loop alongside Bear Creek which took us through the forest and by several large rock outcroppings.

There are many years of history here. The park is named for Chief Tishomingo, the leader of the Chickasaw nation. Massive rock formations and boulders cover the hillsides and add to the beauty of the park. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the cabins, pavilions, bridges, trails and roads back in the 1930’s including the Bear Creek Swinging Bridge. And the Natchez Trace Parkway runs right through the middle of the park.

Swinging Bridge

Bear Creek Swinging Bridge

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Bear Creek

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Natural Flowing Spring

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Tishomingo State Park

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Tishomingo State Park

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1840’s Restored Log Cabin

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Tishomingo State Park

  • Gasoline Expense:  none
  • Lodging Expense:   $13
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