The sound of the birds singing in the morning was a wonderful way to wake up. We heard wood thrush, robins, cardinals, blue-gray gnatcatchers, and red winged blackbirds. After a leisurely breakfast we folded up the tent and loaded everything back in the car and trailer and headed out.
Our first stop of the day was Pinson Mounds State Archeological Park. The museum is located inside a giant mound. The ranger on duty let us know there was a 20-minute film that we could watch, and he could start it on request. A few minutes later while we were starting to look at displays in the museum he found us to let us know that he would be starting it for some other people and asked if we would like to join them. The film was worth watching as it told about the history of the site and the amount of work that went into building the mounds. The largest mound was 80 feet tall. It is now 72 feet due to erosion. The 1,033 acre site has many mounds of varying sizes and most are believed to have been used to track and predict astrological events. The amount of work that went into digging up the soil using stone and bone tools, carrying it in a basket, then piling it into enormous mounds is staggering to consider. The park has trails through woods and fields and is meticulously maintained. We spent a couple of hours walking and enjoying the nature trail, the view from the top of the tallest mound, and learning more about the history of the site.
The town of Henderson is only a few miles from Pinson, so we made a brief detour on our way to Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in Millington, TN. The weather deteriorated from mostly cloudy to all rain and it was pouring when we arrived at the park. There were plenty of campsites available and they had one where the electricity was not working. We do not need electricity, so they gave us the site at a discount. Bill also receives senior and military discounts. The price for the campsite for the night was $14.75. The rangers gave us recommendations for places to eat in town since we did not feel like cooking in the rain. We drove into town and had BBQ for dinner then came back to the campsite and used the covered and screened in picnic shelter to read books until bedtime.
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