Springtime on the Trace

Since things didn't quite work out like we'd expected, to spend time in Texas during Spring Break, we decided to take a short camping trip down the Natchez Trace Parkway. Before that, we spent a few hours at the Jackson Zoo. It was nice to actually visit the zoo before the heat of the summer sets in.


It was beautiful weather for camping, though still a bit chilly in the morning for mid-March in South Mississippi. We took advantage of the free National Park Service campground at Rocky Springs. Not only did most of the campers seem to be from out of state, but I got to see a European RV/camper for the first time in person, still with the European license plates. And the campground provided easy access for the kids to play around in Little Sandy Creek. It was a much more restfull and stressless night than can usually be expected with six people in a tent! For the first time that I can remember, both Cynthia and Jesse actually stayed in their sleeping bags all night, with hardly a peep.


The main attraction though was a visit to the Owens Creek waterfalls just a couple miles past Rocky Springs. But we didn't rush over there too quick in the morning since I wanted to let the dew dry from the tent and we didn't have any real rush. In the mean time, I put myself through the frustration of getting a fire going. Without any matches, I resorted to using the van's cigarette lighter and napkins. The problem was that the van was parked about 20 yards from the fire pit and pretty much all wood in the area was wet. The only reason I was able to get any good tinder to start was that there was a recently fallen tree nearby that was sort of splintered in the middle.

After packing up, we let the kids play for a while in one of the waterfalls. After that, we headed further down the Trace and south of Natchez to St. Catherine's Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately everyone else was getting a little tired and frustrated, and most of the roads on the wildlife refuge were flooded by backwaters from the Mississippi River. I had forgotten that it was time for the spring floods. Eventually we did manage to see four turkeys, before turning back for the drive home. We also saw several deer along the way back.