Friday, November 5, 2021

2021 - 2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 16

Friday, November 5, 2021 -Jeff Busby Campground, Natchez Trace Parkway, MS - 116.7 Miles, 1411.5 Miles for the Trip

Not quite as cold, but still in the 30's overnight. I went for a walk before breakfast & saw an interesting home built trailer. 

Home Built Trailer

I'm convinced that someone doesn't want me on the Natchez Trace. After spending a bunch of time getting my GPS to use the Trace to get to Jeff Busby Campground, I pulled out of Tishomingo State Park, turned left on route 25 and expected to get on the parkway less than a mile down the road. Not to be - there was a detour sign at the next 4 entrances to the parkway. At least the detour directions & signs were well done. I finally managed to hit the parkway, although there was another detour before I reached the campground. 

I pulled into Jeff Busby around 12:30. There were only 2 sites left; I grabbed site #1, although there is no site number visible from the road. I found the number on a post down near the picnic table. It is the first site in the loop, and all sites are free. Technically, I'm in the site backwards - I drove through the entire loop and pulled into the pull through site from the exit. That means I'll have to cheat and go down a short stretch of one way road the wrong way when I leave, but others have done the same and are further down the loop. There is a Casita in one of the other sites as well as a couple of R-Pods. The sites are interesting - the pull through sections are very long, sometimes with two sites in the same pull through. If the person ahead of you doesn't leave before you it is a long backing up job to get out. Others sites have nowhere to park your vehicle. Still, the price is right!

Site 1

There are bathrooms with flush toilets & heat in the center of the loop - no showers.

Not much to setting up - I turned on my LevelMate Pro, a device that lets me use my phone to see how far the trailer is from level front to back & side to side. By moving around the site I found a position that is level in all directions so I don't need to unhook. Since I'm only here for one night, and I'm by myself, I didn't even bother putting down the stabilizers. Since there are no hookups, all I need to do in the morning is lock the trailer door and put in the step. While it isn't all that cold at 50°F at 2:00, with no sun if feels chilly. 

There have been cars, vans & RVs hitting the campground but most of them have not been able to find a suitable site. A few squeezed into the longer pull throughs & will be backing out unless the people ahead of them leave first. Mine only has the one site, so it should not be a problem unless someone pulls into the other end - I'm near one end rather than in the middle.

While on the road I got a call from Natchez State Park saying they will be emailing directions to get into the park - the entrance road is under construction. From the instructions, I should be able to make most of the trip on the Trace, even though Matilda, my GPS sure wants to keep me off it. 

AT&T is showing 53.2Mbps down & 4.5Mbps up, so I didn't check Verizon, although in 2019 it showed usable data bandwidths.

I had a late lunch, so dinner was just a salad.

Until Tomorrow - 

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