Greetings from Mississippi!
We’re at our November project, Harvest Ministries in Carson, MS (it’s pretty close to Columbia, MS which is actually on a map!). The area is directly above New Orleans (about 70 miles) so it was pretty hard hit by Katrina. This camp has countless LARGE trees down, and damage to about 5 of their buildings. The roads have been cleared, but there are still huge amounts of debris around. I’m sure there will be lots for us to do here.
We’re settled in, checked out downtown Columbia, and are looking forward to a busy time here. While our time off is always refreshing, it’s still nice to stay put, do a little “nest building” (getting out pictures and pretty things), and getting into a routine.

I think I see chain saws in Gary’s future! =)

Another Walmart Campground tonight, just outside of Jackson, MS. From the time we hit the road this morning until 6PM we just moseyed down the Trace, stopping at every historic marker, walking every nature trail, and just plain enjoying the beautiful fall day that God had provided for us. I would highly recommend a trip down this road. Not if you’re in a hurry, but if you’d like to take your time, see some beautiful scenery, and learn something of how we used to “move about the country”, this would be the trip for you. Here’s a shot of the road today -

And here is a section of the “Old Trace” – the original path from Natchez to Nashville -

If you’d like to see some other pictures from our Natchez Adventure, you can go here….
In all honesty, the trip was much prettier than these pictures!

Tomorrow we depart from the trip down the Trace and head over to Vicksburg, MS to see the Civil War Battlefield and Cemetery there. The rest of the Trace (from Jackson to Natchez) will have to wait for another time, since from there we’ll heading to our project in Carson, MS. But I know it’s a trip I’ll keep high on my list of things to do!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Well, we took off from the campground early on Monday and continued our trek south. We managed a small detour off the Trace to Red Bay, Alabama where the Tiffin Motorhome Factory is. We enjoy factory tours in general, and figure it’s always good to see how the “other” folks make these apartments on wheels. It was a fun tour, but we were happy to climb back into Lizzie and know we were home. The more we see other folks’ coaches and window shop the new units, the more we realize how happy we are with what we have.
Oh, back to the trip….
So after the factory tour, we headed to Tupelo, MS where the official Visitors Center is for the Trace. (It’s also Elvis’s Birthplace, but we didn’t make it there!). We parked at Walmart and left Lizzie there today to go see the parts of the Trace we had missed by doing the factory tour. And then we did a couple of additional Civil War sites – Corinth and Brice’s Crossroads. Corinth has a new interactive center that was excellent. I personally have done about enough Civil War Battlefields, but since we’re in that neck of the woods I know we’ll hit a couple more before our Mississippi days are over! In fact, tomorrow’s schedule includes Vicksburg. We’re staying overnight again in Tupelo, and will head south again tomorrow. Our final destination is Harvest Ministries, in Carson, MS – which is about in the middle of nowhere – but we don’t have to be there until Friday or Saturday. It’s been nice to be able to take our time and enjoy this week between projects.

Early the next morning – there’s frost on the pumpkins! (or at least on the orange truck!). Good thing this baby has heat!

We had a lovely day driving along the Natchez Trace. Lizzie stayed put at the campground and we toured around in the truck. I don’t know what the traffic is usually like on the Trace, but I highly recommend the Fall as a time to see this part of the country. The trees are changing into their fall finery, the traffic is almost nil, and the sights delightful. Briefly (and copied directly from the Natchez Trace website )-
The 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates an ancient trail that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River to salt licks in today’s central Tennessee. Over the centuries, the Choctaw, Chickasaw and other American Indians left their marks on the Trace. The Natchez Trace experienced its heaviest use from 1785 to 1820 by the “Kaintuck” boatmen that floated the Ohio and Miss. rivers to markets in Natchez and New Orleans. They sold their cargo and boats and began the trek back north on foot to Nashville and points beyond. Today, visitors can experience this National Scenic Byway and All-American Road through driving, hiking, biking, horseback riding and camping.
Lots of history and a very beautiful drive to boot!
Here’s the road at mile 399….

And here is just one of the scenic spots along the way…..

We took a side trip to Shiloh National Military Park - the site (again copied from the website-)
…the first major battle in the Western theater of the Civil War. The two-day battle, April 6 and 7, 1862, involved about 65,000 Union and 44,000 Confederate troops. This battle resulted in nearly 24,000 killed, wounded, and missing.

So many men lost their lives there. A very poignant visit.

The day was cool and a little drizzly – and it’s supposed to go down to the 40′s tonight. That down comforter will be just what the doctor ordered!
Sweet Dreams!

We were the last couple to leave the project Thursday. It was sad to say good-bye to folks who had become such good friends in the short three weeks of our stay there. But truly it isn’t really a “good-bye”. We often say – see you here or there or in the air! Several of the couples were headed to Florida, so needless to say the State of the Storm was on everyone’s mind (and TV!) Most had decided to take a slow trip home and we all were praying that the storm would just fizzle out once it got to the Gulf.
We set off to Nashville to do the (expensive) post-project restocking! Costco, Walmart, Home Depot – we did our part in supporting the local economy!
From there we set off down the Natchez Trace, a National Scenic Highway that goes from Nashville to Natchez, Mississippi. We started with a late lunch at the Loveless Cafe at the beginning (0r end depending on your point of view) of the Trace. Amazing hot biscuits, pretty darn good pulled pork! Anyway, about the Trace….
It’s a beautiful winding two lane highway with a speed limit of 50. NO TRUCKS!!!! We’ve only gone about 60 miles and are staying overnight at a free campground that is on the Trace. So far, so good! Lots of historic places to stop along the way –in fact this campground is the Meriwether Lewis Campground, as in Lewis & Clark, where Mr. Lewis is buried (hopefully not at campsite 2!). Tomorrow we’re taking just the truck and going exploring.

Here are some shots from today -
This is the Double Arch Bridge – the Trace is going over the bridge -

And this is the view from on top of the bridge – (have I said before how beautiful Tennessee is?)

And here is one of my windshield shots –

We have almost a week to do these 400 miles, so we’re going to take our time.

Ah – it’s a good thing!