NATCHEZ, MS

We got a nice early start on our trip Wednesday morning. The past few years we made two long days to Houston stopping at a Wal-Mart in Jackson, TN for our overnight.

This year we decided to take three days and have a more relaxing drive down the Natchez Trace Parkway which starts about 15 miles West of Nashville and goes 450 miles to Natchez, MS.

http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm is a good site to view maps and information on the parkway. The cool thing is there are no stop signs or traffic lights for the entire distance. And at this time of year there is virtually no traffic. The speed limit is 50 mph but we averaged about 55. The Trace ends in the town of Natchez. There are 3 free campgrounds that  are nicely spaced along the way. We overnighted at Meriwether Lewis Campground on Wed. night near the start of the Trace.

We arrived early enough to visit the NP visitor center and take a walking tour around town seeing some of the grand old mansions.

Friday we will head to visit my Cousin in Houston.

Early Thanksgiving

Like the last few years we invited the family over for a Turkey Dinner before we head off to Mexico. Six couldn’t make it but we still had a good crowd since we have 4 children, 4 spouses and 11 grandchildren.

Dinner is served, Peggy making sure everyone has a full plate.

Leah. Peggy, Pam, Devan & Erika.

Joan. Brian, Meg and Jeff dig in.

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The little kids eat in the kitchen. Jake, John, Jett and Sierra,

Erika, Devan and Leah relaxing after dinner

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Our Four Kids – Pam, Meg, Jeff & Joan.

My new macerator pump just came, hopefully all will go well with installation this afternoon. 

We plan to visit my Cousin Rich, his wife Tracey and their three kids in Houston on our way to the Texas border.

Getting the RV ready to roll

Today was work on the RV and make sure all systems are go.

I took the RV to Sam's Club early this morning and had all 7 tires rotated and balanced. It cost less than $30. Two tire stores near me said they couldn't do it even though I'm under 10' high and will fit in their doors. A nearby truck place wanted $90 for the same job. So we drove over to Sam's in Elyria and after 2 hours we were ready headed back home.

Our next problem, I filled the water system and everything was fine, but when I tried to dump the water that I had put into my Grey water tank I found out that my Sani-Con Macerator Pump was rusted and would not rotate. It also blew the switch from the high current draw. So a quick phone call to the RV manufacturer who for only $250 will ship a new one out tomorrow. Hopefully a switch comes with it and installation goes well.

We installed a new window awning last month to give Peggy a little more shade in the bedroom.

The rest of the packing is going well.

On Sunday we are having the whole family over for a early Thanksgiving dinner since we hope we will be on the road by late next week and will not be back until we fly back for our Christmas vacation.

In between getting the RV ready we have been raking leaves which have been coming down like rain. Don’t want the piles of leaves to matt down and kill my grass over the winter.

One Month before we head South

Our plans so far have not changed. 2011-12 Mexico RV trip plans
I will post a map and description for each travel day as we move along through the trip.
Most of the trip will be through areas we have traveled before.
Our plans except for our airline reservations are very flexible. The weather and what we find when we get to each area effects our decisions of when we move on.
Feel free to post comments or questions.

Starting to plan our 2011-12 Winter in Mexico

See Map 1
I have been reading about all the drug violence in Mexico and comparing with my own central city of Cleveland, OH. They both sound bad, so we just won’t go near where the problems are.
Over the past three winters that we traveled to Mexico we ended up in the Yucatan. Xpu-Ha is not far from Cancun and has the whitest beaches in all of Mexico. We had previously moved up and down the West coast of Mexico but never found beaches as nice as those on the Caribbean side.
The campground is small but we have found friends here that also are planning on returning again this year. Claude & Mags and Gerry & Ann from Ontario. Reed & Elaine from NM, Pat & Mike from CO. Still there from last year is Vera & Dierck from Germany. So our plan is to return and again fly back home for a long holiday vacation over Christmas and New Years with our family and hometown friends.
We are looking into camping again at La Pesca in the state of Tamaulipas. This state is where all the drug violence is but La Pesca is a sleepy little beach down guarded by a Mexican Navy Base. I figured if we made an early morning drive from Los Indios at the border that we could get there safely. From there to Ciudad Valles should not have any problems that I have heard of,
We usually tour around on our way down or back home. I thought it might be fun to head to the mountains near Ciudad Valles and camp along the Rio Micos river on our way down. Here is a photo of when I paddled the Rio Micos 11 years ago.

It’s in an area called La Huasteca Potosina.  However the fall is more rainy than the spring and some of the rivers could be in flood, so a last minute decision will have to be made,
I looked at an alternate route entering Mexico west of Laredo at Columbia. This route consists of more turnpike driving but is more than 100 mi longer and has tolls of $70. We have gone this way several times and it is not as pretty a drive as the easterly route. It also passes the outskirts of Monterey which is where a lot of the violence has been occurring. However, I believe the fact that you are on a turnpike should make it more safe.
After an our stay near the Rio Micos it is an easy one day drive to the Emerald Coast bypassing Tampico. This is a good thing since the police there are always seeking bribes from RV’ers for trumped up traffic violations.
If any of my RV friends have any comments or updated information about my proposed route please feel free to add comments here or in the Shoutbox on the left. As I get more information our plans could change.