In Search of Warmer Temperatures!

Saturday, March 9, was our grandson Christopher's 8th birthday!
Monday, March 11,was my brother Walter's 72nd birthday and Aunt Julia's 90th birthday.
Friday, March 15, our son-in-law Andy celebrated  his 41st birthday.
Monday, March 25, Bob's sister Andrea celebrates her birthday--I won't publish her age:)

We decided it was time to leave  Siloam Springs in search of warmer weather. Of course, we headed south in our quest for warmth. Our first stop was an Army Corps of Engineer Campground near North Little Rock, Arkansas. We made Willow Beach our home base for two nights.

The last time we stayed in this area, we camped at Little Rock AFB in Jacksonville, AR. During that trip we picked up quite a few geocaches. This time we found some of the caches in the Americana Series we missed the last trip and a few others.

Since we were in bayou country--that's right, Arkansas, not Louisiana, we found some caches near bayous with many tupelo trees in them.

 We also saw this private plantation, Marlsgate. It looked like an interesting place to live.

The campground had 20 sites and all were nice. Our site was waterfront and we had a view of the water behind the sites across from us, also.

 Of course we were treated to a magnificent sunset across the Arkansas River.

When we left Willow Beach, our route took us through Stuttgart which claims to be "Rice and Duck Capital of the World." As we neared Stuttgart we could see many rice storage silos. The most prominent was one marked 'Riceland.'

After a drive of about 250 miles we stopped at Rocky Springs Campground on Natchez Trace. In the past we had stayed at the other two free campgrounds on The Trace, so it was time for us to try  the third campground. This one was just as nice as the other two and was not yet crowded with 'snowbirds' heading north.

 The campground is about 25 miles south of Vicksburg and the closest town is Port Gibson. Port Gibson was not burned during the Civil War because the antebellum houses were considered too beautiful. 

Bob and I drove through Port Gibson and saw a few antebellum houses, but the Chamber of Commerce was closed. They had maps of the homes for self-guided tours. When we returned to the campground, we drove to the site of the former community, Rocky Springs.

Some signs marked where buildings stood when the town was prospering, but not much else remains....

...except the Methodist church.

 It is still in use today.

 Since we had no Internet and no cell phone coverage at Rocky Springs, we decided to leave after one night. We drove through Mississippi to a national forest campground in DeSoto National Forest--Turkey Fork Recreation Area. Believe me, you will never find this campground if you are on the main highways of Mississippi-it is OFF the beaten track! It is east of Richton and south of Waynesboro. It was a great place for us to stop!  There are 20 sites with hook-ups and also a tent area near the swimming beach.

 One good thing about Turkey Fork, there was a trail that lead from the campground to the boat ramp. Bob and I walked this every day!

 We also did some caching! The caches were few and far between. One cache was located at an old CCC camp.

 Not only did this monument recognize the CCC,

  but it also memorialized DeSoto's  travels through the area in the 1500s.

 The memorial was located on a very narrow county road in the back woods of southern Mississippi.

 Our site at Turkey Fork overlooked the lake.

 It was a very peaceful campground and believe it or not, we got good television, Internet and cell phone coverage--even though we were in the middle of no where!

 We spent two days geocaching. One geocache was near this abandoned bridge near Richton, Mississippi.

 We enjoyed our stay at Turkey Fork and I am happy to say that we finally found warm weather! I have put away our heavy jackets and stowed the electric and propane heaters. I don't think we are going to need them any more! The night time temperatures are in the high 50s and the daytime temperatures are in the upper 70s! I think we are going to roast!