Natchez Trace Parkway-Rock Spring nature trail / roadside waterfall

 Another couple of stops along the Natchez Trace.  Top pictures show the Rock Spring nature trail and lower ones are a waterfall that we strolled beside at another stop.  The Natchez Trace was an awesome drive and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to make a road trip.  There was no commercial traffic, lots of places to stop and picnic, hike or rest.  Rest stops with flush toilets were plentiful.  There were visitor centers located in each state with very pleasant informative staff. I would do this road trip again for sure only next time I would plan better to make sure we don't miss as much.

Moss covered tree and Tennessee river bridge

 Lots of trees along the southern portions of the Natchez Trace have moss hanging from them. We were searching for the perfect picture and suddenly the trees seemed to be getting less covered so Deb settled for this tree.  Lucky we stopped because soon there were no more moss trees, guess we were too far into mountains.

Below are some shots taken from a park beside the Tennessee river along the Trace.  Info at the park discussed the Colbert ferry  and the fact that Mr. Colbert had charged $75,000 to ferry the army across the river during the civil war. 

Cyprus Swamp

 So cool, this swamp was right along the roadway on the Natchez Trace.  You can see the boardwalk/ bridge built for easy access to the swamp.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to get up close to the trees in the swamp and later we discovered that there are alligators living down there too. I guess it is a good thing we didn't know that when we were there or the no-see-ums might have eaten Deb alive while I searched for a gator.  As it was, she was bitten many times by the pesky little bugs.

Natchez, Mississippi

 While in Natchez we drove around checking out the many civil war homes and mansions located in town(sorry not many pics).  Down at the river we wandered through the riverboat casino.  The link will show you someone's  photo of the riverboat since we didn't take any.  Natchez is also the beginning of the Natchez Trace road which we enjoyed so much.

Mobile Bay ferry to Dauphin Island

While touring the gulf coast we came to the end of the road and had to take a ferry across Mobile Bay. I was very surprised at how many oil rigs are located in the bay.  It certainly points out just how much the oil companies take advantage of us when they raise gas prices because they have to shut down a rig or two due to poor weather.  With this many it is very obvious that shutting down a couple would have no effect on the overall production.  While waiting for the ferry we wandered around some old military storage areas located nearby.  I think the structures we saw were part of the old Fort Gaines. 

Osprey by a bridge in Georgia

 During our road trip we saw quite a few Osprey nests.  This was one of the first we saw and it just happened to be located very close to the side of a bridge we were crossing.  Since there was very little traffic and a nice wide bridge, I simply stopped the car and we got out to take some pictures of the parent feeding the young one.  We are such lucky people to be able to enjoy sights like this.

click on any picture for a closer look

Pensacola Florida

A few shots of the surf and white sands of Pensacola beach and some Pelicans flying overhead.

We first saw Pelicans a few years ago on our road trip to western Canada. They nest in many areas of the northern states.

Mockingbirds and black vultures

Mockingbirds were everywhere in the south.  They are very loud and make so many varied noises that it often sounded like flocks of birds in the trees when it was only one or two of them. The pictures here show one singing at the top of a tree and then a  shot of another who did a little mating dance for our entertainment while we enjoyed a picnic lunch.

Black vultures appear to hang out in groups.  We came across a bunch lounging around the edge of a small lake and these few seemed to be the lookouts perched above the group on a bridge. As we approached these guys let the other know we were coming and everyone flew off before we could get a group photo.

Another interesting group of birds we came across in Mississippi was Cattle Egret.  This type of Egret hangs out in fields or grassland and often with groups of cattle who stir up insects for them to consume.  Unfortunately the single flock we watched was too far away in a field of cattle for us to get a good picture.  They were roosting in a tree and jumping around following the cows.  Very cool to watch since we don't have these in Canada. click the link to see what they look like.

 The following pictures were taken at Providence Canyon near Lumpkin, Georgia.  This wondrous sight is not so natural. It was actually created by poor farming practices in the early 1800s. Deb read about this in one of her novels and decided we just had to check it out.  I am so glad she reads lots and then checks to see if what she reads about is real or just part of the novel.  We very much enjoyed this beautiful park despite our limited ability to do most of the trails available there.

More great pictures of the Providence Canyon