Day 29: Natchez Trace

Today was mile marker 300, Alabama, crazy weather, leap year day! Wowie!

We got an early start this morning for fear of the sky opening up on us. Although it did rain and quite windy all day, the weather held off during the most crucial moments of the day: breaking down camp, pumping water, setting up camp. We have gotten into quite hilly terrain and are currently camped on a bit of a slope - hopefully we can keep from sliding off our sleeping pads!

We crossed into a new state today! Hello, Alabama! We finished our walk across the entire state of Mississippi in less than a month, and we are excited to be in a new state! Alabama will last for only a short while though, and then comes Tennessee and the end of our walk here on the Natchez Trace.

Tomorrow we'll walk into the little town of Cherokee, AL for a grocery stop at the Piggly Wiggly. Tomorrow is also new sock day, hooray!

Day 28: Natchez Trace

Today was supposed to be a rainy one, but it still has yet to rain. That might be changing very shortly though!

We walked 14 miles today and got to see some Native American burial mounds along the way. We continue to be amazed by the history that we encounter here. We have also noticed that the terrain is becoming much hillier and the road much more winding. This change makes finding campsites a lot easier! Also, we walked over the Tenn-Tom Waterway, a 450 mile engineered waterway from the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico. We ended our day slightly early today because of a threatening sky and the desire to relax and read a bit. We also were able to explore our camping area (see the photos of us in the field). The other couple photos are of the burial mounds and some views along our route today.

Days 26 & 27: Natchez Trace

Yesterday was our final day off in Tupelo. We started our day by making blueberry pancakes with a dry muffin mix and a little can of evaporated milk - yum! We walked a few miles to a grocery store for supplies, and yet another person pulled over to ask if we needed a ride. Friendly people in Tupelo! Jen also repaired a little hole in the tent with her mad sewing skills :) We shared our campfire in the evening with some colorful folks from the area who came to grill their hotdogs.

Today we walked 17 miles, and it was a beautiful day. However, the smooth sailing came to an abrupt end after three failed campsite scouting attempts. We finally found a good spot just before dark. We capped off the evening with Chris spilling cooked noodles all over the forest and crunchy forest debris in our dinner. Delicious. Chris also discovered a black widow spider under the tarp, which made us quickly retreat to the tent after dinner.

Photos from today are of the gravestones of 13 unknown Confederate soldiers.

Also, a quick announcement: today while walking, we had a couple driving a Jeep towing a Casita trailer slow down to ask Jen how her shin splints were feeling. The only folks that we know who have a Casita and know about our blog are Sheary and Nard of Anchorage (who we met at a campground near the beginning of our journey). They passed so quickly that we couldn't tell who it was! If you were the ones who saw us today, please leave a comment or send us an email!! (Jennifer.giddens@gmail.com)

Day 25: Natchez Trace

Today we came to the conclusion that it is worth spending an extra $10 a night to have a continental breakfast. The first photo is what happens when you buy a cheap hotel without breakfast and no coffee maker for hot water: a backpacking stove in the doorway and strange looks from the cleaning crew. We left the hotel this morning and walked a short way to the main visitor center campground. Overall, a super nice day, a bit cool but we got to see an awesome sunset this evening. We enjoyed our delicious dinner (heavy on the veggies) and are now perched in front of a small campfire with a couple hot cups of tea. Not a bad day. Tomorrow we plan to take the day off for grocery shopping and sorting through some logistics for the second part of the Trace.

Days 20 - 24: Natchez Trace to Tupelo

We have a little catch up to do here... Since our last update, we arrived in the town if Tupelo and crossed the halfway mark! We are now officially closer to Nashville than we are to Natchez. Here's a quick run down of the last several days.

Day 20: We went into the little town of Mathiston today for groceries at the Piggly Wiggly. It's hardly a spot on the map, but we had a great time here. We found a greasy spoon place called the Trace Way Restaurant, complete with hand painted deer murals on the walls and a chicken livers special on Thursday evenings. Boy howdy, was that place a Mississippi country establishment if I ever did see one! We got breakfast of biscuits and gravy, bacon, ham, eggs, and grits for $3.50 a pop. Nice! In addition to the 3 or 4 miles to and from the grocery store, we walked about 10 miles on the Trace through some crazy tornado damage. Some photos are below. The woods in both sides of the road were totally obliterated for almost the entirety of our walk today. Photos today show the water tower on Mathiston and the tornado damage along the Trace.

Day 21: We reached the halfway mark of 222 miles today! Yeah! We walked about 18 miles today to get to the next campground. The camping ended up being a little weird since we were the only campers in what felt like a picnic area right next to a bathroom and pull out that apparently a popular place to take a leak at all hours of the night. A highlight today was seeing the same guy who pulled over and chatted with us on day 17. He stopped again, and again we were left grinning. Also, we saw the same fire crew that we saw back on day 8 and they drove by us with their entourage of six or so engines, all honking and waving at us on the way by. We felt pretty popular :) Photos today are the mile marker photos.

Day 22: This morning we took a quick two mile jaunt without packs to visit some Native American burial mounds, which were in use about 2000 years ago. It's amazing how much history is along this route. We planned to walk only 12 miles today and have an easy couple days to get into Tupelo, the next town. By the end of the day, we got hotel fever and started thinking about a fluffy king bed, running water, hot showers, and tasty restaurant food. So, we tacked on 3 more miles to the end of our day (for a grand total of 17 miles) so we could make it into the next town a day earlier. A major highlight of the day was running into Jenny and Ronny. We first met this nice couple from Illinois back on day 8 when we were at the Rocky Springs campground. Then, on day 18 we saw them again at the Jeff Busby campground (remember the super rainy and terrible tent pad that didn't drain well? And where the only saving grace was the heated bathrooms?). Well, today they passed us on the road, then waited at a pull out two miles off the road until we caught up with them. We could see them for a while, and at first we were thinking that we didn't have time to chat, and that it wasn't even time to take a break yet. However, when we were within sight, they started waving and were clearly really excited to see us. By the time we made it to their RV, they had cold cans of Coke, potato chips, and a plate of cheese and crackers ready for us. It was an amazing sign of support, and it was a good dose of encouragement for both of us. They echoed what most others have: that they wished they would have done something like what we are doing when they were younger.

Day 23: We spent day 23 walking about 16 miles or so into town. We got a lot of honks today - some we think are folks who have seen us several times in their daily routines and are beginning to recognize us. We got another ride offer today from two folks who said they were headed for Alabama. It was a super nice gesture, since they had to pull over on a sloped shoulder, wait forever for us to catch up with them, and then wait several more minutes on a busy road before they could turn around again. Nice folks in Mississippi! Photos from today are the lovely agrarian vistas we admired just outside of Tupelo.

Day 24: Today we are in Tupelo! We started the day with a nice greasy breakfast, a delicious break from the usual oatmeal and dried fruit. We walked into downtown to run some errands and were convinced to visit Elvis Presley's birthplace by a lady who pulled over to offer us a ride, a gentleman at the post office, and also by the barista at a coffee spot. All of this turned out to be terrible advice, since after we walked several miles to the site, it was not worth our time, and frankly, a little weird. We were mistaken for German tourists though, which was amusing. Also, it was the third day in a row with unsolicited offers for rides. The only photo from today is the old school gas station.

Sorry for the long update and long absence! Hopefully we will be able to charge our phones more frequently for more consistent posts.

Days 18 & 19: Natchez Trace

Yesterday we walked 13 miles from French Camp to Jeff Busby Campground, mostly in the rain. It stopped long enough for us to put up the tent, but we woke up in the middle of the night in a puddle. Congratulations to the Park Service for the amazing decision to create a tent pad with non-permeable crusher fine. The guy that came up with that great idea obviously does not camp in tents. Thankfully, there was a heated bathroom for us to dry out our wet sleeping bags in the morning.

Today was a better day - clearing skies and no rain expected tonight. We passed mile marker 200, so we are almost at our halfway point. We are camped at around mile 205 and we'll head into a small town of just over 700 people in the morning for groceries.

Included in the photos for today is one of some tornado damage in the area from April of last year. It's pretty crazy to see in person. Another photo is of Chris pumping water from a stream with our water filter. That little piece of gear is a big factor in our ability to be flexible - always having fresh water available is huge. However, the silty Mississippi water is kicking our filter's butt, and we just had to order a new cartridge even though we just got a new one right before this trip.

We're making a push to Tupelo this weekend, and won't have a chance to charge our phones before then. We'll be missing some blog posts this week, but hopefully we will get some good photos to share this weekend...

Day 17: Natchez Trace

Today we hiked about 15 miles to the delightful little town of French Camp. We set up camp just outside of town and walked in for a delicious sandwich dinner. Of course, Chris ordered two whole dinners and Jen had to try the bread pudding - yum!

The weather was super nice today and we thoroughly enjoyed the sunny blue skies. A highlight of today's walk was when a guy stopped his car to say what an awesome thing we are doing to walk this route together and take the time to go on an adventure when we are young. We both were grinning as he pulled away.

In other news, Jen's shin splints seem to be on the path to recovery. She could be seen walking backwards along the Trace today, much to the confusion of cars passing by. Between the backwards walking, ibuprofen, and shin massages, her shin is progressing nicely. Hurray!

We are wondering if anyone has some good suggestions for two person card games (Erick? Toni?). We bought a deck of cards but don't know any games.... Thoughts?

Lots of photos today, although a little out of order... :)

Day 15 & 16: Natchez Trace

Yesterday we spent in the small town of Kosciusko so Jen could rest her shin splints. She was able to talk to a physical therapist and find out how to recover.... In fact, Chris is massaging her shin right now :) Chris took advantage of the day off by going on a run through town, while Jen did stretches and walked backwards around the campsite (doctor's orders!).

Today we woke up and shopped for groceries and some other supplies before hitting the road for a short day. One of the things we bought today is a new tarp! We will be using it for cooking and eating if it is rainy. We are excited to have it for our next rainy breakfast or dinner (probably tomorrow).

As a side note, the funny thing about Walmart is that it has gone from our least favorite store to a beacon of civilization on the southern horizon... We know it will be consistent wherever we go, and we can buy tarps and cheese in one shot.

Day 14: Natchez Trace

Today we woke up to Jen's shin splints bugging her. They have been bothering her for the past few days, so we decided that since Jen needs a couple more days to recover and the prospect of severe weather is in the forecast tomorrow, we would hitchhike to the next town. So, we skipped ahead about 40 miles and tonight we are in a campground outside of the small town of Kosciusko. We were grateful for the kind gentleman who picked us up and dropped us off right at the campground.

We wanted to share some things we've been cooking so far on the trip (this is for you, Beth!). Tonight we made black bean and rice burritos! Yum. The Blogger app won't let me control the order of the photos below, but you can get the idea. We sautéed a green bell pepper and half an onion, and mixed it with brown minute rice and dehydrated black beans. It turned out really well, so we think it will be a new staple. Most of our dinners only require one pot, do this one's a fancier option for us.

Tomorrow we'll sit tight through the severe thunderstorms that are in the forecast, and hopefully we won't get too stir crazy!