Still on the Trace, Tuesday

Last night was a horror show for us. We knew it was going to be cold so we moved Mac to the back of the coach with us. We closed off the back and just used that furnace to keep us all warm and save on battery usage. Furnaces really eat the juice out of your batteries so everyone was running their generators all night. I saw no reason to do that with the set-up we have and everything was going fine till 2:30 am.
The cheapo thermostat on the bedroom furnace decided to start acting up. The furnace would start but would not fire the propane for heat. After about three minutes of running, it would shut off. The only way I could get it to supply heat was to set the thermostat to 70 degrees but that is too warm for us. So I ended up using the galley furnace and had to heat the entire coach in order to get some sleep.
Today I dug out another thermostat that I had and swapped out the bad one in the bedroom, everything is working good now.
As we left our free camp that was located on the Trace, we came upon the Meriwether Lewis grave.

The memorial

The Inn where Lewis met his death.

Meriwether Lewis Home

As we moved on we came across this old Tobacco Farm along the Trace

Tobacco Farm Barn where the leaves were hung to dry.

A view from an overlook along the Trace.

A section of the old Trace towards the end in Tennessee

Mac running away!!!!!!

Mac changing his mind.

As we came closer to the end of the Trace in Tennessee, the flowering trees became more common.

The Birdsong Hollow Bridge that we crossed, and wow what a cross wind that hit us.

Just a short video of the sights.

We are now about nineteen miles east of Nashville. We plan on traveling into Nashville for a look tomorrow.

Still on the Trace, Monday

We headed out from our camp our first stop was Line Creek and what a surprise we got!

This is a bit tough to see but this dog was curled up in the leaves, and looked to be starving to death. We cut up some hamburg and leftover pork chops and feed this poor dog.
Our next stop was 1/2 mile down the street to inform the park Ranger so the dog could be picked up and taken to a shelter. She is a boxer that had some scares on her back. Joyce has been on the phone with the park ranger and a woman that travels the Trace picking up strays like this. Apparently, this is a big problem in this area. Dogs area constantly by dropped off along the Trace by people that no longer want the dogs. Joyce is waiting to hear on the progress of this dog, the woman she spoke with stated that she will call Joyce with a follow-up on the dog.

At our next stop we found these four pups waiting for us. Man, this is unbelievable!!!!

These four dogs are pups but I am not sure of the breed, three of the four had flea collars, and all four are female. These pups were in good shape and I believe that they came from a home close by. Joyce wanted to load them all into the motorhome but we left them sitting on the walk watching us leave.

These were signs along the Trace that pointed out some of the historic sites.

The graves of thirteen unknown confederate soldiers

One of the headstones.

The Trace along the burial site.

A boy and his dog!!!

The Pharr burial mounds. The pictures below give an explanation.

Sunken Trace

One of the three cuts.

We camped at another free campground that was right on the Trace. Was a really cold (36 degree) night with flurries.

Camped on the Trace

We got an early start from Walmart with a 70 mile ride to get to the Natchez Trace. The day also started with a light mist of rain.

Our approach to the entrance of the Trace.
There are various stop along the Trace that spell out the historic spots.

The reservoir is very large, we saw a lot of the locals fishing off the banks.

Burial Mounds

The Indians would bury their dead much like us but when another family member passes, they would bury that body on top of the first one. Dirt was mounded on top of each body and it continued resulting with some mounds looking like large hills.

Nice walk through the swamp!

Can you see the Gator?

The Mission is gone but the sign says it all.

French Camp

Looks like mud wasp!!

Pretty area with all the flowers.

We stopped at this small rest area and Mac loved rolling in the grass so I got this shot of him. He has been in tough shape the last few days, but today was one of his better days.

The campground at this stop is full, I mean there area three RV's in pullout that for one RV. The gas station is closed so I pulled up close and we are watching the NASCAR race. As the race goes on, we are getting company all around us. There area five RV's with us now and I'm sure there will be more before the night is over.

Most of the morning, our travels were in a light mist of rain. This was the first rain we had seen since we left home December 28th. As the day went on, the sun came out and it turned into a nice 80 degree day. Lets see if we get booted out of our camping spot by the ranger!!!!!