Heading to Teddy Roosevelt National Park

We had to replace out tires on our truck after our trip up to the haul highway in Alaska last year.  Costco to the rescue!    Luckily the tires on the motorhome are good for at least one more year!  We had the MH serviced at the factory in Gaffney, and we are prepped for the trip.

We left mid-afternoon and took a leisurely drive across Georgia and Alabama and camped in Mississippi for the evening.  In the morning we finished our drive to Vicksburg.  Once we were set up in town, we searched for a restaurant downtown for dinner.  Complying with Covid, they were limited on seating and there was a very long wait.  We chose to “dine in” at the motorhome and save the dinner for the next night.

We made the short trip to Natchez in the morning and spent most of the day exploring the historic town.  The Mississippi was high due to recent rains up north.  Jason tried his darnedest to get wet!

The homes can be fantastic downtown, some dating back to the late 1700s.

This is another view of the river, with a barge coming in to view upstream.

Jason enjoyed exploring the locks on bridge (we first saw this in Peru), finding all of the “special ” shapes.  Here he is holding a heart-shaped lock.

The barge made it downstream of us and managed to make a 180 degree turn before docking this load.

There was a procession of police, firemen and townsfolk in Natchez to memorialize the recent death in Minneapolis by circling the town in a mock funeral drive.  Jason was playing in the fountain when the police pulled up to start the procession.  Oops . . .

Here is County Sheriff Patten and Natchez Police Chief Armstrong.

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Sporting Covid masks, Battalion Chief Arlington and Fire Chief Green viewed the procession.

After spending time exploring Natchez we headed back to Vicksburg, taking the historic Natchez Trace.  We stopped at this spot to let Jason see the depth of the actual path, worn down by foot traffic over the hundreds of years.  Meriweather Lewis is buried along the trace, further up.

The actual footpath is probably about twelve feet deep at this point.

Arriving back in Vicksburg we made a beeline to the restaurant for a nice dinner.  They told us to be there at 5:00 for the opening of the dinner seating.  Turning the corner in downtown, we were met with flashing blue lights, flashing red lights, protesters, placards etc. and, of course (mostly peaceful) protestors.  Back to reality!  Of course, we decided to “dine in” at the el resturante de motorhome again! Oh well, on to the Dakotas in the morning.

Leaving Mississippi, we headed towards North Dakota and stopped at the George Washington Carver National Monument.  Jason recently read about Carver in school and we thought this may reinforce his education.

Jason pushed the button on the speaker at this bust and we actually heard part of a commencement speech Carver delivered in the early 1940s.

This is the site of the original cabin that was Carver’s birthplace.

We took a short hike down by the stream and found this stature of young Carver:

We spent the night in Nebraska and visited the Lewis & Clark Center on the Missouri River when it opened in the morning.

Jason and I hiked down to the river to take a look at what Lewis & Clark may have seen.

We took the “Overlook Trail” down to the river and the longer “Bird-Watching” trail back up to the top.