After 3 weeks in Louisiana hiking, geocaching and generally enjoying the warmth, we moved on to Mississippi.

In Natchez, Mississippi we set out on a 444 mile journey on the Natchez Trace National Parkway. We couldn't have asked for a better way to spend 4 1/2 days. There are no stop signs, no traffic lights and the speed limit is 50. In addition to having beautiful scenery it is is a historic trial with 2-4 stopping points every 10 miles which is why it took so long. We walked to waterfalls, visited historic monuments, and visited confederate graves. We learned a lot about the original Trace where tradesmen, armies and natives all walked at various times. If you ever get the chance drive all or some of it!

This spillway over the dam at Natchez State Park reminded me of a Plinko game.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife on the parkway but his horse appeared to have gotten out of his pasture and tied traffic up for a while!

While walking a path through a cypress swamp we saw lot of turtles and a baby alligator.

This lovely old Methodist church in an abandoned town on the Trace is still used once a month for services.

Lives were hard in the 1800s. There were graves in this cemetery of 3 siblings born in successive years who all died under a year old. Many of the adult graves were individuals under 40.

Thousands of soldiers, tradesmen and Indians walked this path, including some Indian relocations. It is part of ''the trail of tears''. It is sunken due to the softness of the earth and the thousands of people, horses and wagons that traversed it.

The graves of thirteen unknown Confederate soldiers buried along the Trace.

In the middle of our serene ride along the Trace, right before we crossed the northern Mississippi border we took a 2 night break at a state park. About 10:45 I received a severe weather alert on my phone. Our state park was the first location named and we were warned of an approaching tornado and advised to seek shelter immediately. Since we don't have a car we put on rain gear, got flashlights and trudged almost 1/2 mile to the bathroom. There we spent almost 2 hours in the women's bathroom with about 15 other people and several well behaved dogs. The men's side was similarly full.The wind was howling, the lightning was constant and the rain was torrential. It was probably one of the worst storms I have ever experienced. When the threat was over we had to trudge back through the pouring rain, tree branches, flooded roads and pitch darkness since there was now no power.  We were soaked when we got back but at least it wasn't cold out. Guess we now get to add tornado to our previous camping encounters with floods and fires! The next day dawned bright and sunny and after avoiding the downed trees on the road we were back on the Trace.

 

I did have to move this one large tree out of the way though.😂

All water and warmth had bluebells blooming everywhere!

Due to the heavy rain, the steep trails to the waterfalls were somewhat treacherous but the falls were beautiful.

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And, after 5 days we were done with the Trace. We did a one night stop in Tennessee where we met up with a second cousin, Rob Everetts and  then one night in Kentucky where our park had all these fun Big Twig figures and now we are on our way home. 

What a trip!

Our last stop in New Mexico was the Organ Mountains National Mountain. Hiking was a bit rugged but it was a beautiful and unique mountain range. We hiked back to a cave and to a tiny waterfall.

Very tiny waterfall

We left for Texas in a terrible sand storm. We set up in our lovely campsite and stayed inside the rest of the day with no power and wind rocking our camper. We couldn't see our neighbor or the nearby mountains. The next day dawned sunny and calm and power was restored. Now out to hike and look at petroglyphs!

I think this looks like a dinosaur but I'm pretty sure they were extinct 4000 years ago! Maybe a lizard?

 A herd of mountain goats

The chain trail. Zoom in to see the chains you can use to help get up the mountain. And, yes we did make it to the top where we saw some petroglyphs and crawled into a small cave.

 Texas is evil. Everything is trying to hurt you. This thorn went all the way through the sole of Denny's shoe! And, while geocaching, a snake fell out of the tree I was under, scaring the s**t out of me!

   Trees grow in crazy shapes in Texas.

Black vultures drying their wings or catching some rays. There were a LOT of them.

 At our next to last stop in Texas we were joined by my great niece Brittany and her charming daughter Charlotte. I forgot how busy babies are and now know what needs to be done to baby proof the RV! What fun!

Sweet Charlotte

Hiking and hoping for a nap 😀

Next it's on to Louisiana and then the Natchez Trace Parkway.
 

 One sunny day we hiked Mt Graham. Lots of mountains and elevation gain and tired bones at the end. But worth it! We climbed about 800 feet from clear trails to partially snow covered trails. At least it was warm out. It was beautiful from up high.

Mt. Graham

Snow by the creek

Yup, we're up there!

Increasing snow on the trail as we gained elevation

 

The following day we hiked up to a native cliff dwelling at the Tonto National Monument. It was a steep climb with many switchbacks.

Our motor home on the far right far below.

Native Tonto Apache cliff dwellings

After a few more cold and rainy days we lucked out and had one nice day at Chiricahua National Monument. We hiked Echo Canyon where it was very steep but the rocks were gorgeous. When we got to the bottom we came to a raging creek. Denny wanted to turn around and go back up but I wanted to continue the loop. So, I crossed the creek by using my poles and walking across a log. This made Denny so nervous that he didn't even snap a picture. It was tense. Denny found a different way across by climbing down a 4 foot boulder (which I could never have done with my short legs!) and crossing on widely spaced rocks. Whew!

Yes, there was some snow on the trails but the sun made us take our jackets off.

Monkey rock?

Walrus or bird?

Brick shit house😂

Organ pipes rock formation

Big rocks!

We've been high for days!

Back at our campsite, the Cattlerest Saloon and RV park, the following day it rained all day and we had 70 mile per hour gusts with sustained winds of up to 40. What a day! The small out building in front of us blew down. We pulled in our slides and hunkered down. The next morning it had settled down and the Roadrunners and Gambles quail were back out.

Roadrunner

Gambel's quail

After a visit to Tombstone in the rain, wind and cold, we decided we had had enough of this bad weather and are headed toward Texas where hopefully we will find some sun and warmth!