HTBT: Mt. Locust and Jackson

12-1-14:

our winter home

Arrived at our new "home" for the winter. We will workamp at historic Mt. Locust in the Mississippi delta near Natchez, MS. It is a site with the National Park Services. We are at mile marker 15.5 on the Natchez Trace Parkway. It's a beautiful place to be for the winter! Lots to learn in the way of history, local culture, flora and fauna!

at the gate

a look at the mound from the road

12-2-14: Today we did a little exploring beginning with Emerald Mound along the Trace. It's supposed to be the 2nd largest Indian mound in North America.

a look at the road from the top of Emerald Mound

the secondary mound in the distance

reading about this large mound

long and winding road

Walked a couple of miles around Mt. Locust. Lots of good hiking in the area, BUT lots of hunters out this time of year, too.

Rocky is loving his new backyard

Mt Locust Inn from our walking trail

this split rail fence surrounds much of the NPS property here

the trail near the family cemetery

we get to walk this pretty road and listen to the pileateds, kingfishers, and various other birds

the hay field in front of Mt. Locust, owned by NPS, harvested privately

Ferguson/Chamberlain family cemetery on the property

Enjoyed exploring some of the property today with David and Rocky. Looking forward to learning much more!

We stopped in at Belk and went our separate ways to our particular departments. We each found a little something and when I got home I noticed on my online banking that there were 2 charges for the same amount. I thought, "great, they charged me twice". Our bank must've thought the same thing because they sent me an email about it. But when I pulled the receipts out, we had each spent the exact same amount! We finish each other's sentences, but dang! haha

12-3-14: First day on the job! David gives tours of the historic inn, and I work in the visitor center.

NPS VIP''s

Ranger Mike oriented us with the place, and then cut us loose about noon. So we went into Natchez to the public library for wifi. Only way for David to post FB pix and for me to work on my blog.
Tonite we had the pleasure of listening to a Great Horned Owl as we lay in bed. I'm sure we are in store for lots of new sounds over the next 4 months!

atop the MS capitol

12-4-14: David needed to go to Jackson today to pick up his credentials. This was the first time either of us have been to this city. We took Rocky with us for a road trip. I had googled a couple of things I wanted to see there, so we enjoyed the day. Jackson is the capitol of MS and is a big city with a small town feel. At least downtown.

the old capitol, now a museum

new capitol

pretty grounds

loved this monument which honors Confederate women: mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters

Mississippi's Merci Train boxcar given by France in 1949

the old depot

On the way back to Mt Locust on the trace, we got a glimpse of something we didn't know was in the area: a nuclear reactor at Port Gibson

12-7-14: Made an unplanned trip to Texarkana to spend a few days with Edith. She's come down with pneumonia and is in the hospital. David took me to Shreveport where Cranford and Kathey met us and brought me on in. Kathey said that sounded like they were picking up a fugitive.

bear sign around Vicksburg

On I-20 just outside of Vicksburg, we noticed bear signs. Not bear "sign", but bear "signs". Seems Mississippi has reintroduced the black bear. At last count they have about 40 - 50 statewide. Southern MS has the Louisiana black bear and the north part of the state has the American black bear. They are not distinguishable other than their skull sizes. I would love to see one, but won't be measuring the skulls!