This year we again just headed south from Memphis, Tennessee on our way back to Shreveport, Louisiana just to make a stop in Jackson and see both the Mynelle Garden and the Jackson Zoo.
In early January we just highballed across the state escaping from dad in Shreveport, Louisiana and trying to make Montgomery, Alabama before dark and a developing illness totally wiped me out. Later in April we meandered down the Natchez Trace with a stop in Jackson to see both the wonderful Mynelle Garden and the Jackson Zoo. Then we followed the remaining part of the Trace to Natchez before wandering across southern Louisiana back to Shreveport and dad's taxes.
In 2009 Mississippi was just another pass through state on the was to someplace else. We had to cross the southern edge to get from New Orleans, Louisiana to Mobile Bay, Alabama. Later in June we crossed through Jackson taking the southern scenic route back to Columbus, Ohio but more actual stays will wait for another year.
In 2007 Mississippi became a sort of stop along the way to someplace else state for us. After January in Texas and a week with my dad in Shreveport, Louisiana we stopped for a couple of weeks in Jackson on the way to a photography seminar in Auburn, Alabama and discovered the wonderful Mynelle Garden shown on this other page. After seeing the doctors and friends in Columbus, Ohio we did the Natchez Trace from Nashville, Tennessee down to another few days in Jackson on the way back to my dad in Shreveport, Louisiana.
One of the legacies of the intense cotton farming is the Mississippi Petrified Forest near Flora. Erosion of the abandon worn out fields carved deep gullies that exposed trees that had been buried about 36 million years ago. Now in a beautiful forested valley a nice park has been created from adversity.
On the way back to Jackson after visiting the petrified forest we found this tree covered with mistletoe. Unlike the Spanish moss shown on some of the other pages, mistletoe is actually a parasite that lives off and damages the tree. Large clumps kill the branch they live off and a heavily infested tree like this can be killed.
In 2006 Mississippi was an interesting alternative route to John's dad in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dropping down from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson was just different from the normal quick route through Little Rock, Arkansas. I'll be adding a lot more later about Jackson and the Natchez Trace among other parts of this fun state.