We were in the breakfast room by 6:30am for  a hot complimentary breakfast. We loaded the van in misty, humid conditions. At 7:00am the temp in Natchez was 76 degrees. 945 miles to the north, in Madison, the current temp was 37 degrees!!!! Some of us wore long pants.

Once on the road we decided to drive in shifts and make the ride non-stop to MSN. Stopping just for gas and munchies we made it home by 10:00pm with no incidents other than a minor slowdown in Jackson, MS, for an interstate accident (not us!!!!).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This was a great riding experience. 444 miles of low traffic, no commercial trucks, a paved road surface that looked like it had just been laid, and at least during the first third of the ride, enough elevation to keep things interesting and provide some vistas was fantastic.

The Park Service does and excellent job maintaining the Parkway and the informational/historic stops make it a learning experience along the way. The weather could have been better but by delaying the start of our trip, to miss the main influence of Hurricane Patricia, we made the best of a bad situation. It’s all part of the touring adventure!!!

The other learning experience was just off the Trace, as each overnights stay added additional memories. Finding restaurants was an issue and the choices were sometimes not what we would have preferred. As we came into most towns we were greeted by fast food restaurants and Dollar General stores  . . . and that was about it. We wondered how these towns held their young people from moving away. Maybe they don’t. Doesn’t seem to be much industry or businesses for future employment. Lots of vacant storefronts. Lots of farming.

But . . . all the people we met were very friendly and helpful. As in most places, when travelling . . . it’s all about the people!!!

p.s.

For those of you out there wondering how the liqueur referendum held on Nov 3 in Tishomingo County and Belmont turned out . . . the 42 vote margin for allowing liquor, beer and spirits sales from the 2013 referendum was reaffirmed this time by over 600 votes!!!.