After breakfast at the hotel this morning we got back onto the Natchez Trace and drove over two hundred more leisurely miles on the parkway. This is the third time we took this route through Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi either to get back to the Midwest in the spring or to get to the southwest in the wintertime.
The parkway follows the route that the early settlers used to return home to their farms and towns after floating their crops and furs south on the Mississippi River. The roadway was used in the early eighteen hundreds and by the Civil War was pretty much abandoned. The federal government bought up all the land along the route and built a modern roadway for 440 miles. There is not a single stop sign or traffic light for the entire length of the parkway. The speed limit is 50 for the majority of the way on a two lane highway through the country side. Imagine driving 440 miles from home how far you could get and then imagine never having to stop the whole way unless you needed gas or a break! (There are numerous pull outs for historic sites and scenic views as well as Indian mounds and picnic areas).
We made it to the end of the Trace at Natchez, Mississippi and drove further southwest to Alexandria, La. One more night at a hotel and tomorrow we should be able to make it to San Antonio and we will set up the camper and spend a few nights. Hoping for sunshine!!
A view through the windshield on the Natchez Trace Parkway. This was the typical view for four hundred forty miles of roadway. It's a totally relaxing drive. Just set the cruise at 58 MPH and steer!
At one point in Mississippi we had a reservoir along the highway. Most of the rest was either forest or farmland.
Crossing the Mississippi River from Mississippi into Louisiana late this afternoon.
Hopefully this is the last night the camper sits in a Hampton Inn parking lot!!
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