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walk the natchez trace line
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Andra Watkins

Walk the Natchez Trace Line

All Dad could talk about was fried chicken. Somewhere around Mile Marker 8 or 9, Dad and Alice found me. Sweaty. Disheveled. I'd just been chased by a horse. Yes. Really. I expected to have to dodge wild animals on the Natchez Trace, but NOT horse animals. Anyway.

All Dad could talk about was fried chicken. Somewhere around Mile Marker 8 or 9, Dad and Alice found me. Sweaty. Disheveled.

I’d just been chased by a horse. Yes. Really. I expected to have to dodge wild animals on the Natchez Trace, but NOT horse animals.

Anyway.

Dad: We had to come all the way out here to tell you about this fried chicken we found.

Me: pantpantpantpantpant

Dad: Yeah. Best fried chicken I ever had in my life.

Me: pantpantpantdroolpant

Dad: I ate two big ole pieces of it. Cook even came outta the kitchen and sang to me.

Me: What….pantpant…..did he……..sing?

Dad: That ole Sugar Pie Honey Bunch song.

Me: He sang THAT to YOU?

Alice: I think he was singing it to me, but—

Dad: YEAH! To ME! I can’t get any sweeter.

I wanted to SHOW him sweeter. Dang fried chicken. I thought about it the rest of my fifteen miles. Through text messages and Face Times and e-mails and tweets. You absolutely know how to keep me entertained, Dear Reader.

Thank you for making my first 15 miles of my 444 mile Natchez Trace walk memorable.

Don’t forget to enter the To Live Forever Journey to Charleston Contest. The more you enter, the greater your chances to win. Click here to find out more: Support My Aching Feet.

Read the book that started all this nonsense. To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis is available in paperback and e-book at these great places: Click to Purchase To Live Forever.

Natchez Trace Walk Day One Photos are here: Andra Watkins Tumblr

Today’s To Live Forever reader question, answered in my charming Southern drawl. You know YOU want to ask me a question. Send them to mystories(at)andrawatkins(dot)com.

Tomorrow, we’ll visit our first scene from the novel. I even peed on the ground there today.

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83 Comments

  2. Crap. Now I am hungry. I want some friend chicken…. and for someone to sing to me.

    Please tell me they either saved you some or took you back there when you were done walking.

    1. Neither. I got a chocolate malt and slurped the whole thing in front of Dad.

  3. Sitting here, still in my pj’s, re-reading yesterday’s post and comments, while awaiting this post!

    Love that you’re “marking” important places along the way, that Roy is being Roy, and that you don’t look any the worse for wear after the run-in with the horse! Walk on! I’m gonna go get the Nook and walk with Merry and Em for awhile this morning! 🙂

  4. This post made me laugh. Best of luck to your on your journey. And best of luck dodging horses, skunks, badgers, ring wraiths, and orcs.

  5. If I had a smart phone, I’d send you peppy little inspirational quotes but, alas, I am still in the Luddite phone age. At least it’s not a flip phone, thanks to my friend Susan, who took pity on me and gave me her old phone when she got a smart phone. Now at least I can text with letters and not numbers! Thinking of you and sending prayers up for good weather the whole trip. xxoo

  6. Questions: When you talk to yourself, do you answer? Did you bring toilet paper? Have you told Roy not to mention fried chicken again unless he brings you a piece?

    1. You got one of your questions answered today, Mary. Stay tuned a few days……….

  7. Fried chicken and sugar pies! Great incentives to keep on walking. Love the video of you answering a question. How adorable are you! Good luck today!

    1. Thanks, Maria. Loved loved loved the KFC cheer. 🙂 🙂 🙂

  9. Oh my gosh you are funny. This whole journey of yours is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, Andra — and certainly the most inventive novel launch idea ever.

    1. I’ve always thought if one does what everyone else does, the most likely result is the same one everyone else has. Think about that as you plan to do. xo

    2. I walked past a group of four men and two little boys. The men were trying to wrestle a spooked horse into a trailer, and it was having none of it. It bolted, right out after me. I expected to hear lots of things coming up behind me, but not hoofbeats on the pavement. One of the guys mounted another horse and chased it down. Completely cool, he nodded at me and said, “How are ya?” I nodded, also completely cool on the outside, and said, “Great. How are you?”

      1. Lordy that would have made my heart beat right out of my chest.

  14. It looks so nice there. Safe travels. Watch out for more wild horses, or the Rolling Stones, whichever comes next.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE2B_kCfvss]

    1. Wouldn’t THAT be something, for the Rolling Stones to come up behind me.

  15. My deah, that horsie was chasing you because it wanted you to RIDE it. You know, a little Rosie Ruiz action on day one? That, or it read your book and wanted an autograph.

    Sing along now:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_PZPpWTRTU

    Hi-Yooooo (Silver)!

    Fortune: Tomorrow, a chicken will chase you. And peeing on the ground where ghosts walk brings forth more ghosts. Watch you step. Chance of rain: 4%

    1. No chickens today. Several men stopped on the road and wanted to give me a ride or know how I was. When one of them asked how he could help me, I whipped out a card and said, “Buy my novel!”

      1. Ha! That’s the FUNNIEST part of the video because it stopped on my slow connection, and I looked away for a few seconds at some work I was typing only to see that cover whiz into the screen. I thought you had added special effects in there somehow (Roy, working furiously at a bar on a laptop somewhere with a chicken leg in one hand)…

        I bet that guy is sitting at home now reading on the toilet while is wife is wondering what he’s up to and why he got home with a grin on his face…

        1. Dad doesn’t even know how to turn on a computer. He’s practically clueless about his phone.

  16. Now that I’ve heard you talk I’m going to hear your voice while I’m reading. It will just make it seem more authentic. 🙂

    1. Frightening. One theater reviewer wrote that my voice sounded like it was etched in acid. I’ve always been self conscious about my voice since. I can’t stand making videos.

      1. What?? Was he nuts?? It’s been many years since I last heard it, and I was delighted to hear your voice and it’s South Carolinian drawl. 🙂

  17. Bucket List: Chased by a horse. You are winning at life.

    Did they bring you any of the chicken? if not then it never happened.

    1. They did not bring me chicken, Jon. Dad just talked about it for hours and hours and hours.

  18. Chased by a horse AND teased with stories of fried chicken half way thru your walk…and you still managed your 15 miles, with a smile. You are killing it, Andra. Killing it!

    1. It’s killing me at the end of Day Two. Very open blister. I was just telling Alice I wish I could figure out how to put a piece of the bathroom rug in my shoe for tomorrow.

      1. Put a bandaid on the blister and then duct tape over the bigger area (over bandaid). The duct tape will prevent any rubbing. Sounds weird but totally works (to prevent blisters too).

          2. Remember to put pieces on any “hot spots” – areas that rub, where you might get future blisters. And don’t put tons of lotion or the tape won’t adhere.

  19. At least you weren’t chased by a fried chicken and Roy didn’t eat a horse. Remember what Diana Vreeland said ‘Worse things happen at sea.’ Safe travels and wishing I was there.

  20. Chased by a horse, that’s scary. Horses are my worst nightmare – I even got bitten on the leg by a circus poney. And you peed outside and survived! Go go go Andra! Lovely to hear your voice and tell Roy to bring you some take-out next time.

  21. I just realized this is the first time I’ve heard your voice. It was exactly what I expected.

    Keep having a great walk

  22. Ya’ll don’t sound as Southern as I thought ya’ll would. :mrgreen:

    1. Glad to hear people enjoy those. Fire away with your questions, Lisa. 🙂

  25. I could make some silly remark about ‘horse sense,’ but I will restrain myself.

  26. Audra, thanks for keeping us all in the loop! Travel well and safe!

  27. Uh oh! I thought of you when I read the weather today. Some bad stuff may be coming your way!

  28. I would love to call you this week! I’m just so impressed with you! I have every intention of writing a book review and posting it on my blog, my friend. I want to do it justice, so that will be later this week. We are all sending you our love and best wishes. I’m so glad Roy is having fun! I really am. ox

    1. Your reviews on Amazon and Goodreads made me tear up, Debra. Thank you so much. You know where I am if you have time to call. 🙂 Ha.

  30. I talk to myself a LOT whether I’m walking or not. Read these posts backwards. Oh, well. Have a great day, Andra.

    Hugs from Ecuador,
    Kathy

  31. Okay, so now I’m hungry! Thanks Roy!

    1. Roy is never hungry, probably because he is always taking a preventative.

    1. Oh and PS I didn’t need Roy to make me think about fried chicken, I swear it’s always on my mind and on my restricted list.

  33. I love seeing the tuft of voodoo man over your shoulder! He really adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the whole experience.

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