With COVID issues and work schedules squeezing in on us, we push hard to get back to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, but stop at one more state park. Gotta shower occasionally…!

Our time spent in New Mexico was short but great, and every few minutes there we told each other we would have to come back and spend more time. It is on the list.

With COVID cases rising but public health directives still somewhat lacking, we pushed east. Texas, to their credit, allowed overnight stops in their highway rest areas, so we took full advantage. Two overnight rest stops saw us through the state and into Oklahoma. We could also overnight in that state, so we did. By this time, we badly needed showers so looked for a state park where we could shut down for a bit and clean up. We settled on Natchez Trace State Park in Tennessee, conveniently just off of I-40 in about the middle of the state. The park surrounds Pin Oak Lake, and our site was right on one of the many little coves of the lake.

We did a quick bit of exploring but mainly fixed dinner with baked cornbread (shared with the wildlife) and hit the hay.

The next morning was calm and photogenic.

Natchez Trace was created during President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Program. The roughly 48,000 acres of land the park was carved out of were purchased using New Deal money and developed by the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps. Many of the buildings built by the CCC are still in use today. We had a quick stay overnight but hit the road early the next day.

After one more full day on the road with seemingly every semi on the road, we spent the last night of our Colorado trip at a Cracker Barrel in Virginia and shared a take-out fried chicken meal sitting in the van. It will be good to get home…