5-23-2017 South on the Trace, and west

The day at Muscle Shoals dawned dry, but still cloudy. The local weatherman forecast a 40% chance of showers for the AM, not bad odds, so we left early. Back to the Trace

This day, we did find an open Visitor Center at the Tupelo, MS station. Got the passport stamped, a Trace pin, and motored on south to Jackson, MS where we headed west on I-20, to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park.

We got the passport stamp, then followed an automobile, drivable tour around the park. There were a myriad of monuments to the US troops, but none we found of the CSA troops. Ah well, the victors write the history (and build the parks).  Some of the more interesting monuments and battle placements we did see

a partial shot of the union soldiers cemetery. Thousands buried here. The locals say it was well into the 1920's before anyone here even celebrated the 4th of July.

This completed our day, we are staying at Vicksburg tonight.

326 miles for the day.

5-22-2017 Kentucky

From our overnight at Louisville, and with fair weather forecasted, we continued our journey to visit Abe Lincoln's Birthplace NHP near Hodgenville, KY.

After getting our passport stamped, we toured the grounds for a look back in time, and replicas of pioneer life.

With the tour of the Abe artifacts completed, we headed farther south, for a place we'd not heard of, Mammoth Cave National Park.  The jokes on us... I think we're the only ones who've not heard of this place. It was very crowded, nearly as bad as Carlsbad. The opening pic:

There was a short walk thru explaining how the caves were formed, when found, etc. There was also a guided tour, but it was a ways out, so we didn't participate, electing instead to get a head start to our next destination.  We did stop for a snack and a couple of snapshots of the hills.

Yeah, one of the few pics you'll ever see of me.

From here, we were headed for the end of the Natchez Trace. However, there was a bridge being rebuilt on the northern end, so we entered the Trace at the Meriwether-Lewis Visitor Center near Hohenwald, TN.  But, the VC was closed, so we did not get a passport stamp there. Nor did we get a stamp at the Colbert Ferry Station in Alabama. It appeared to have been discontinued. The day was fast closing, so we exited the Trace to spend the night in Muscle Shoals, AL. Not long after we got settled, it began raining. Good timing.

Miles for the day, 488.

5-21-2017 Chillicothe, OH

Departure from McArthur, OH was around 7.30am. We wanted to try to beat the rain that was moving into Chillicothe. Nope, only 15 miles later, we donned our rain suits to continue on to the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. We arrived around 8.15, but the Ranger didn't open the doors until 8.30 or so. The Park doesn't consist of much, just many burial mounds left by the Hopewell people, dated from 200 BC to 400 AD. We walked much of the area while it was drizzling, before the Ranger opened the Visitor Center.

There was a small museum in the building, housing some flint arrow heads, bone tools and pottery. There was also many decorations made from hammered copper. Very interesting display.

 Excuse the quality, I took the pics with the I-phone, not wanting to get the Nikon out in the rain.

As we left the Park, Mother Nature decided we really needed a shower, so we headed for the closest harbor, a McDonalds right down the road. We ate a leisurely breakfast, I had the laptop out following the front line storms and planning the bestest/dryest route for Kentucky.

All went well, till just outside Louisville, when we got chased to the Economy Inn. We were tired, anyway, time for a break.

Total miles on the day,  264

5-20-2017 Gettysburg, PA

We arose early, and left Frederick, MD for Pennsylvania, Gettysburg actually. The bloodiest, most loss of life, of all the Civil War battles. It's estimated that 50,000 troops lost their lives in these hills.

We didn't get to do much. When we arrived, the entire Visitor Center, the largest of all the NP's that I've seen, was full of school age kids. Many were Boy Scouts, many from private schools, but the fact was, you could not move around. It took over an hour to get our Passport stamp and purchase the pin. The large auditorium, for the historical film, was already sold out for the next three showings. This place has also become very commercialized, costing $15 per person for the film and to see the museum.

We didn't wait for the film, as we had near 400 miles to run for our next NPS stamp.  We headed for Chillicothe, OH...  but didn't make it. Rain caused us to hold up in a small mom/pop motel in Mcarthur, OH. We'll get to Chillicothe tomorrow.

Total miles today,  396.

5-19-2017 A Busy Day, VA, WV, & MD

Three states, three stops, sounds busy, huh? Until you realize "they'z" kinda small states up here.  LOL

We started the day entering the Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive at the southern entrance. After some showers last evening, it dawned cool, but clear, no clouds in sight. Our geezer pass got us onto the Skyline Drive for free. (best $10 I ever spent) And within the first five miles, we had seen a small black bear and a doe, both at the roads edge...  but they didn't stand around waiting on a photographer, so we got no pics, but a great memory.

And again, no trike pic at the sign. There was only a kiosk with a Ranger there to collect your money, which we didn't have to pay. So, off to the hills of SkyLine Dr.

Our murple ride, overlooking the Shenandoah Valley

And, the ride

more

We were able to get two passport stamps on SkyLine Dr, one at the mid-point Visitor Center and one at the entrance Visitor Center. (our ending point)

After SkyLine Drive, we headed for West Virginia to visit the Harper's Ferry National Historic Park. We got our passport stamp, some history from the Ranger, and decided not to wait for the shuttle bus that took customers a few miles to the town proper.

Trike Pic!!

So we still had some day left, the thunderstorms appeared to be holding off for a while, we headed for  Frederick MD to see the Monocacy National Battlefield. That's where there was a battle when the Confederates attempted to seize Washington DC, but were thwarted by Union troops. This battlefield is scattered into 6 (I think) different locations, accessible by automobile. But since the locations we looked at, except #5, all appeared to be working farms, we didn't disturb them.

But, there's a trike pic from the Visitor Center

So after looking for the Visitor Center for Monocacy, there's no published address (idiots), we ended the day staying in Frederick MD.

The thunderstorms did come, while we were dining at the Golden Corral. Oh well, it stormed while we were eating, quit as we were thru. We wiped the seats, I got my windshield cleaned, and we headed back to the motel.

Total miles for the day, 205.  Yup, only 205 miles thru three states. Tomorrow, northward bound... if the thunder-boomers hold off a little longer.

Remember, click on a pic to enlarge it.