Sherman, TX in our rearview mirror, it was eastbound & down. We did an overnighter at the Shreveport Elk’s Lodge where we got invited to join them in a send-off meal/party for one of the locals getting ready to deploy to Iraq. Very friendly folks, we had a good time at the soiree. Oh, yeah, back to the land of “when in doubt, fry it!” cooking style.
Our home at Shreveport Elk’s Lodge. 
Horseshoes, behind the Lodge. 
A very nice pool area behind the Lodge. 
Welcome to the Shreveport Elk’s Lodge 
View out the backside of the Lodge. 
Nice little lake
Our next “lengthy” stay (ha!) was in Vicksburg, MS. We boondocked at the Riverwalk Casino which is right on the mighty Mississip for a couple of nights. It was a tough way to go, we had the back of the parking lot all to ourselves with a great view of the river and all the sunsets. Besides the requisite of donating to the casino economy, we got the opportunity to do a drive-tour of the Vicksburg Nat’l Military Park, site of the 1863 Battle of Vicksburg, a major battle site for the control of the Mississippi River. If I can muster ANYTHING good about this China-virus-hysteria-bullshit, it afforded us the opportunity to do the tour for free (none of the amenities, including the Visitor’s Center, were open). They have a free, downloadable “Vicksburg Battle App” that is a little cumbersome to figure out at the site itself, but still interesting to explore even after leaving the battlefield. Just like all the other Civil War battlefield areas scattered about this here part of the country, Vicksburg is awe-inspiring, humbling, melancholic, all of the above. We spent about 2 hours covering the 16-mile drive tour, which snakes its way through the 1800+ acre area. There are 1,325 monuments, 144 cannons, and the recovered/restored ironclad gunboat “USS Cairo”, among all the other features in the park. The Cairo bears the distinction of being the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. Unfortunately as I stated, the museum building at the USS Cairo was closed because of China, so we could only look from behind the barriers. The following photos will be a collage of our home in Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River, and the battlefield, no captions.
Jeanne wanted to track down the “Vicksburg Riverfront Murals” which she located via TripAdvisor or some such app, so we took a short drive into the downtown/oldtown area, then let Woodrow Wilson lead us on a walkabout.
The Catfish Row Art Park, at the murals 
In the south, catfish EVERYWHERE! 
History everywhere, also. 
The Murals, downtown Vicksburg… 
One of the many… 
…with a plaque description. 
Very cool… 
A look across Catfish Row Art Park at the murals
Moving on, we two-nighted it at the Sam’s Town Casino/Hotel just outside of Memphis in Robinsonville, MS. Sam’s Town has a FHU RV park that was near empty when we were there, and for $27/night to be able to do laundry (on their power, no generator needed), it is hard to beat that price. This particular area is known locally as the casino area, with several casinos well scattered about. The casinos that remain open are generally fairly large but do not draw big patronage, almost like an economically depressed area, and the ones that are closed down tend to appear to have been so for a very long time (years).
Our home at Sam’s Town RV Park 
Thank you, China! Sam’s Town, a real busy place…
From Sam’s Town it was onward and upward to Nashville and a return stay at the Grand Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville, TN (just north of downtown Nashville). During this stay we hit a couple of local breweries to nab some slushy/sour-fruited beers at our son Chad’s request. We spent one morning on another walkabout on Broadway, peeking in on some of the live music at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk, picking up some cowboy/cowgirl boots for the young’uns back in Kalifornia, and just taking in the sights and sounds on Broadway.
Our home at Grand Ole RV Resort 
A shot down Broadway 
Another shot down Broadway 
…and yet, one more down Broadway 
Listening to some tunes at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk
After checking in on Buddy Holly back in Lubbock, we decided to check in/pay our respects to some of the Country music stars who are headlining at the Grand Ol’ Heavenly Opry. Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash are resting at the Hendersonville Memorial Gardens, just north of Nashville. Then we found the likes of George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Jerry Reed (Hubbard), Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens, & Dottie Rambo all resting at the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Berry Hill, TN.
Staying at the Grand Ole RV Resort does have perks – they host live musicians for a couple of hours at dinner time, many of which are studio musicians with experiences playing with some of country music’s HOFers. Even with the China virus hysteria bull$hit forcing the musicians out on the back porch in 40 degree temps, it was a good time had by all. And when the temps got a bit lower, the entertainment went inside.
Ron Crites, playing at Grand Ole RV Resort 
David Thain and his group…
While we were here in the Nashville area, Jeanne & I decided to catch whatever we could along this end of the Natchez Trace. The Trace runs some 440+/- miles from Natchez, Mississippi in the gulf to Nashville, Tennessee, ending near the area of Pasquo, TN. We took a short day trip covering the Tennessee end of about 40 miles of the Trace. We have done lots of parts-n-pieces of the Trace, seen many of the civil war era features, but have never traversed the entire span. I guess it would be a feather in one’s cap to travel the entire length of 440 miles, but we just can’t seem to pull the trigger.
The double arch bridge over Birdsong Hollow, along the Natchez Trace. 
Poor ol’ Jackson Falls off the Trace. We must’ve arrived at the wrong time of year, not much of a waterfall… 
Waterfall??? 
The Gordon House on the Natchez Trace. 
Jeanne found a place called Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant in the area of Leiper’s Fork where musicians, sometimes famous, show up to play at night. We took a drive out there, which is near Franklin, TN, and had lunch at the restaurant. Not a remarkable meal, the highly touted BBQ brisket was way over salted, the beer just OK. We also took another walkabout around downtown Franklin, nothing seems to have changed over the past few years.
Watch out for these speed traps in Leiper’s Fork… 
We just can’t seem to shake that Murphy guy, his laws always catch up to us. While we were here in the Nashville area, we got hit with a little cold weather, OK, snow. And to cap it all off, our middle heater took a dump on us. I guess it was a good thing we are so close to Red Bay, AL. Our next stop was a brand new RV Resort called Red Bay Acres in the downtown megalopolis of Red Bay, Alabama. We scored a reservation with Daniel Humphries at MS RV Solutions to do several minor fixes on the MH, so we spent a few days hunkered down until our appointment. Tiffin pretty much owns the town of Red Bay, they have the main service center, plus an additional 3 overflow RV park areas. This new RV resort, although a bit pricier than the Tiffin lots, had a restaurant on site, fishing pond, pickleball court, and a small camp store. We passed on the previously completed sightseeing (Coon Dog Cemetery, Rattlesnake Saloon, Muscle Shoals, etc.), and pretty much focused on getting in and getting out with our planned MH fixes. We had used Daniel previously, and he did not disappoint us this time. Any Tiffin owners out there, we would recommend MS RV Solutions for any of your needed repairs.
Our home at Red Bay Acres 
Red Bay Acres, office, pickle ball, and restaurant 
Pickleball, anyone?
We high-tailed it out of Red Bay as soon as we could and power drove all the way to Slidell, LA. We are headed toward I-10 to start the westward trek back to see some grandkids in the failed state of Kalifornia. Hopefully the morons in charge get the wildfires under control before we get back. Until next post…