We Got Married in a Fever...

Can you sing the next line?

"Hotter than a pepper sprout.
We been talking 'bout Jackson
Ever since the fire went out.

We're going to Jackson."

Ha! We've been singing that song again. When we were first married, Larry was in the Air Force Blytheville, AR. From NC we would travel through Jackson, TN to get to Cottonwood Point to catch the ferry to cross the Mississippi. From Nashville to Cottonwood Point, we would sing that song. And as we headed out from Hohenwald we were singing again at the top of our lungs. Johnny and June we ain't, but it's still fun.

This part the Natchez Trace is just as pretty as what we have already seen. And there are many more chances to see the history of the area. I keep reminding Larry and myself that this trail has been used for thousands of years, maybe tens of thousands of years, first by bison following the salt deposits on the ridge line, then Native Americans, then settlers and traders, and now us. I just find the evolution of the area fascinating.

The Indian mounds and their history and construction were interesting too. They were built around the time of Christ. When you think it was 1500 years after Christ that Europeans came to this country, it sort of gives a perspective on the age of the mounds. Maybe the Mormons are right and Christ did visit the Indians after his crucifixion. I'm not sure you can see the mounds in the distance here, but there supposedly are eight.

But this one is clearer because we could get closer to it. And the neat part of this picture was we met two couples here, three of whom were on bicycles. (There are a lot of bicycles on Natchez Trace, but because it isn't crowded or curvy, they don't seem to startle us like the ones on the Blue Ridge Parkway do.) The fourth person was driving a van. The oldest of the cylists was 85 and the youngest was 70. The 85-year-old said his goal was to cycle the length of the Trace, 444 miles. We shared some persimmons from a nearby tree. They were just delightful people. The wife of the 85 year-old said that they had been RVers, and both couples had driven to Alaska. They were adamant that we would love it. I tell everyone every chance I get what we are doing in the hopes they will have advice.

 We saw our first cotton field along the route. This is another memory of our early marriage. There was a lot of cotton grown around Blytheville. Look at those mountains in the distance. I thought my camera was pointed west, but maybe not. I just didn't notice the hills at the time, so I don't know where they are.

This last picture was made the day before left Hohenwald. We like to feed the fish but our method is a bit complicated. We go to WalMart and buy some night crawlers. Then we attach them to a fishing hook. Sometimes it takes a long time to get the fish to nibble away at all your food, (Some people call it bait, but I don't know what they are baiting.) If you are like me and don't attach the night crawlers to the hook well, you can sling a good many loose on your first cast. But that makes the day go by much too fast so it's important to hook 'em on more than once. But I liked this picture of Larry feeding the fish.

We spent the night at the Piney Grove Campground on Bay Springs Lake, along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in northeastern Mississippi. Without phone or internet we were ready to leave the next morning although it was a lovely campground. We are learning that these Corps of Engineers places are really very nice, but they are intended for people who are going to stay for awhile, not for passersby. By the time we drive to their out-of-the-way locations, we could have paid for a place nearer the highway. And we are anxious to keep moving. I'm not sure that's the exact purpose of the trip, but it's who we are.

And the next morning, who did we pass along the road?/The bicylclists we had met at the Indian Mound/persimmon tree. Neat, huh? Makes me wish I could ride a bike.  Somehow riding my tricycle down the parkway seems a bit dumb. But "We're going to Jackson".