Note:  There are 3 photos in the post.  Photos by me (Bruce) were taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro or SONY alpha 6400, unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

WEDNESDAY 18 October 2023 —  NTNP 1 of 14 — Departure

The planning was done, the reservations were made, and it was finally time to start our long-anticipated journey down the Natchez Trace National Parkway.

A friendly goat at the Benton Family Farm in Walton, KY.  (Photo by Linda)

Our first day’s drive took us from our home in Michigan to the Benton Family Farm, a Harvest Hosts location in Walton, Kentucky, a bit south of Cincinnati, Ohio.  This was a familiar drive down US-23 in Michigan and Ohio and then I-75 through Ohio and into Kentucky, but a new Harvest Host location for us.  We pulled out around 9 AM for the 290 mile / 5-hour drive, which got us through Cincinnati before the evening rush hour, and arriving at the Benton Family Farm mid-afternoon.  A phone call brought someone out to greet us and show us were to park.

Harvest Hosts (HH) and Boondockers Welcome (BW) locations are presumed to be “dry camping” sites without any hookups or other amenities/services.  However, many BW, and some HH, sites offer some sort of electrical hookup, usually for a small donation, and that was the case here.  Potable water is also sometimes available, but the ability to dump waste tanks is virtually non-existent.  With that in mind, we arrived with a mostly full fresh water tank, full propane tanks, and empty black and gray waste tanks.  In general, this is how guests are expected to arrive.

Goats in the goat pen by the goat barn.  Benton Family Farm, Walton, KY.  (Photo by Linda)

We’ve been members of the Harvest Hosts (HH) and Boondockers Welcome (BW) programs for quite a while now, and a host location for BW for as many years, but have made limited use of each program as guests in that time.  They started as separate programs and we were acquainted with the respective owners, both of whom eventually sold.  They are now combined under a single ownership with an integrated website, but the website keeps the two programs separated, which works well for us as a BW host.

Bruce poses with the very large “welcome pig” at the Benton Family Farm, Walton, KY.  (Photo by Linda)

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