Having drive by the current and old state capitol buildings in Jackson MS (They have two, just like in Baton Rouge) yesterday after we had arrived, today we set out to the Mississippi Petrified Forest, which claims to be the only petrified forest on the US east coast. It was very interesting, and good value for the admission price. We had a picnic lunch Claudette had prepared, while on the Petrified Forest property, after which we headed out to drive a 35-mile portion of the Natchez-Trace Parkway. [ The parkway itself runs 444 miles from Natchez MS at the southern end, up to near Nashville, TN. Its significance is that it crossed the traditional homelands of three nations: the Natchez, the Chickasaw and the Choctaw.] By far the most interesting stop on our drive was the Cypress Swamp, which features an interpretive trail describing how swamps work, and the importance of the Cypress tree in the ecology of swamps.