Day 2, Friday, December 29, 2006

Still 41 this morning at Hardy Lake and a crystal clear sky. For some reason we cannot pull out of camp before 11:00 or 12:00 no matter how early we plan to leave, and today was no exception. Left a little before 11:00 and headed to Nashville - the start (or finish, depending on the direction of travel) of the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace is a National Park Highway over 400 miles in length from Nashville to Natchez, Mississippi. Two lane, 50 mph speed limit, limited access, no commercial traffic, no billboards, immaculately cared for and clean, lots of scenic views and historical sites, and free campgrounds if one accepts no ammenities (private campgrounds available with hook-up's for a fee). We stopped for the night at a private campground about 40 miles down the Parkway after driving about 300 miles for the day. We are the only ones here. I guess for winter that is to be expected, but I thought more RV'ers would be traveling the Parkway on their way south and west as we are. My "trucker antenna" for the cell phone went bad and had to be replaced in Nashville. The manufacturer replaced it for no charge even though I was the one who damaged it. My Brake Buddy problem was hopefully fixed by a call to the factory. It needs to be direct-wired to the unit to function properly. I already have the wiring kit, I just need to install it tomorrow before getting back on the road. Nothing really exciting so far as scenery goes 547 miles into the trip. The Trace, however, is a very pleasant, peaceful, drive right through the middle of the country that is a "must do" for everyone sometime in their life. I'll get a few pictures of the campground in the morning just to give you the "flavor" of the area. We plan to travel about 200 -250 miles of the Parkway tomorrow then get to Natchez early Sunday afternoon for NYE preparations either at the State Park campground or in town if possible.

HARDY LAKE STATE PARK CAMP SITE