Meriwether Lewis Campground

Saturday April 11…10:00pm

We were up at 6:30am, and we hit the road right away. The next free campground, at the Meriwether Lewis site, was 200 miles (320 kms) to the north east, so we had a fair bit of driving to do today.

We stopped at Tupelo for breakfast. This small city’s claim to fame is that Elvis Presley was born here. We checked the internet for anything else to do in the area, but don’t find much of interest. They wanted $8 each or something to tour this little house where Elvis was born, and then another $6 to see the church where he went, and then another few dollars for this small museum. What a money grab! The only other thing that caught my eye was a car museum, but the $10 entry fee quickly turned me off that idea.

So we decided to carry on and stop at some of the small hiking trails along the way. The entire 444 mile (710 km) long parkway is loaded with small historical sites and walks and visitor centers with self guided tours and things like that. Todays drive took us from Mississippi, through a small corner of Alabama, and into Tennessee about 75 miles south west of Nashville.

Ruth at Cypress Swamp

An alligator in Tennessee!

We pulled into the Meriwether Lewis campground at about 1:30pm, having stopped several times along the way. It was really 4 hours actual driving, at 50 mph. It’s such a nice drive, with very little traffic and you just set the cruise control and relax.

It turns out that Meriwether Lewis (never heard of this name before) was the Lewis of “Lewis and Clark” the explorers. This is where he died, in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee.

This campground has 32 sites, and there were about 12 vacant. We quickly found a suitable site, and went for a walk. Not as many Quebecers here, and even a few tenters. But we’re close to Nashville, and it’s a long weekend, so it’s convenient for locals. But it’s colder too, and we’re quite a bit further north now. In fact, the most noticable thing about today’s drive is that there are no longer leaves on the trees! Some of them just have some buds coming out, so there is that tinge of green starting.

The high today was about 64F (18C) and it was cloudy, although it cleared up quite a bit by late afternoon. And it’s a clear sky now, so I think it’s going to get cold tonight!

Campground is almost full now.

Total nights sleeping in a motorhome…531

April Fuel $340.00 CAN

April Grocery $223.14 CAN

April Overnight costs $ 46.50 CAN