Day 3, part two

After leaving Port Gibson we rode back to the trail. We passed through fields where cotton and soybeans are planted. In one field there was still "fluff" from last year's cotton harvest. I walked out into one field and took those pictures. Lots of fields, some huge and some so little you wonder how they get tractors and equipment turned around on them! We continued on to the Rocky Springs camping area. It's a free campground, run by the National Park service, one of the few along the trail that also have highway access, and the campground was full of RV's. We found a place to squeeze in and set up our tent. I forgot to get a picture before I took my tent down the next morning, but I had my tent between my bike and the campfire ring, kind of behind it on the dirt. The high was 86 again today and we rode 51.6 miles.

Day 3, part one

It was colder last night, got down to 56 degrees! Not as humid this morning either. There were owls hooting this morning, which was cool to hear! We rode back to the Trace and headed North once again. There wasn't much in the way of actual hills, but there were grades where you were either geared down and working some, or coasting along gently with easy pedaling. The white blossoms on the tree to the left are Dogwood. The air was filled with the sweet scent of grass and clover, and sometimes sweeter yet with flowers, and occasionally the lovely tang of wild onions (made me want to buy a steak somewhere and cook it!). Back on the highway we were often assailed by the smell of roadkill, mostly possums, snakes, and turtles. Enough to feed a small town for a week. We did find a bunch of turkey vultures eating "something" off in the edge of the woods. They flew up into a tree when we rode by (see picture). Lots of creeks, mostly slow-moving muddy ones, but this one was more sandy and the current was moving right along. The bridges are all these really old concrete ones, which are great to lean my bike agains! Nice to sit on, too. Around mid-day we went a mile or so off the trail to the town of Port Gibson for lunch/snacks. It was a lovely old plantation town, but the traffic was terrible and no space for bicycles. It took all my attention to get through this town in one piece! But we had to stop for a minute to cross a street, so I snapped a couple pictures. Sadly, there was a "historic" district with lovely old homes, then the rest of the town was real run down. I mean, dirt-poor poverty. Shacks. Just real poor. The only white person I seen in town was an older lady in the hardware store. We went to a grocery store and a gas station, too. The people were SO friendly and nice. It's been like that all over down here. Of course, 6 years in Southeast Kentucky helped, I can speak the "language" here!

Day 2, part two

I worked hard to get this picture of a bumble bee! I had the camera on telephoto and took about 5 shots before I got one where you could see him! We were stopped in the shade to rest and drink some water, and I seen this bee flying around and hovering! Anyway, we got to Natchez in Southwest Mississippi and turned north onto the Natchez Trace bicycle trail. We stopped first at a gas station to replenish our supply of drinks and junk food. The trail was quiet and green, such a relief from the sun and traffic we rode in all day. There were a lot of these "Live Oaks" covered in moss along the trail. After a few miles we turned off and rode east to Natchez State park. We picked a sight near the shower house and enjoyed our first showers of the trip. Nice after such a hot day. We rode 86.6 miles today, and the high temperature today was 86. And steamy humid! I have to say it felt nice after a long Montana winter...

Day 2, part one

April 4, 2010 Sunday. Overnight low was 68 degrees. It was foggy and misty at daybreak. We packed up camp and headed out. First thing we seen when we got back to the county road was this "fish" mailbox! The next picture is some roadside flowers. Flowers, both domestic and wild, are everywhere, as well as flowering trees like Redbud and Dogwood and tulip trees. Lots of things are different, like the humidity. I have to get a mindset that no matter what, everything including myself, will feel damp and clammy! Sometimes it's hard to determine if I'm hot or cold, I just feel "funny" from the humidity! There's water everywhere here, even the ground along the roadsides feels squishy, yet when we passed a Forest Service Ranger Station the sign out front said "Fire Danger: Very High"! My mouth dropped. They don't know the meaning of dry and "very high" fire danger!!! Some thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that it took a while to get used to balancing a 50-lb. load on my bicycle! And you hate to stop unless you have to. It's work to get the bicycle rolling again! Somewhere there northwest of McComb, Mississippi we seen these birdhouses, maybe for Swallows? We got on Hwy. 98 and headed west across Mississippi on a VERY busy highway with no shoulders and deep rumble strips along the white line. Kind of nerve wracking! About halfway across the state we stopped at Meadville for snacks and drinks, and that's where these little cuties came into the gas station in their Easter finery!

Day 1 of riding

Pictures: Me at the Hammond, Louisiana train station, bike together, loaded, and ready to ride. An "above ground" cemetery in Amite, Louisiana. A rare palm tree, although the climate is warm enough, the ground isn't sandy enough for palm trees. Me at the state line. And there's my tent, it's darker than it looks in the picture! The train got to Hammond, Louisiana around 1:30. Hammond is about 30 miles north of New Orleans, near the bay. We collected our bicycle boxes and gear from "baggage" and assembled our bikes and loaded on the gear. I had packed my bike bags into a big old suitcase, which I donated to the train station. The ticket lady said it would be easy to find someone to give it to. It's a poverty area of the deep south, and people show up to get on the train with their stuff in trash bags sometimes. It was 2:45 when we pedaled away from the station, west on residential streets. It was like being in a dream or a movie, all the old houses with huge sprawling trees and flowers all over. It was warm, probably in the low 80's. We rode north on Hwy. 51 out of town. It was mostly flat with a moderate breeze from the east. There were so many birds singing and chirping that if you added some classical music it would sound like a nature sounds CD! I could hear the occasional bullfrog and spring peepers. We reached the Mississippi state line after about 35 miles, and now the terrain changed to low, rolling hills. Just enough to make it more work on bicycles! At the town of Magnolia we turned west, and it was starting to get dark now. By the time we reached Percy Quin State Park it was dark, and we rode over 2 miles with flashlights to the campground. Our 45 mile day turned out to be 52.7 miles! We pitched our tents in the dark! It was warm and humid and we were near the lake. Lots of people fishing all night.

On the trail

Hi Everyone! We're in Jackson, Mississippi, day 4 of the bike trip. It's been in the 80's and sunny, with a breeze that can't make up it's mind which way to blow. The air is sweet with grass and clover, and lots of flowers and wild onions. Oh yeah, and the aroma of all those dead possums on the road... We pedaled 52.7 miles the first day, 86.6 miles the second day, 53.6 yesterday, and so far today we have gone 35 miles and have about 25 to go. We're at a Wendy's having lunch, and I'm using their free Wifi. We haven't seen a fast-food place or a Wal-mart the whole trip until now. We've been on roads and trails that skirted town. So we stopped at the first one we seen today. The eating has been great, though. Every gas station has a little fried chicken stand and I'll tell you, that there is some GOOD fried chicken! It's either that or catfish, and I'm not big on catfish! Some of the gas stations have deli counters, but no corn dogs or burritos or "Montana" type food! Besides the fried chicken there are "tornadoes", which are spicy enough to take the lining off your mouth. They're like "Pizza sticks", or round burritos, and I have no idea what's in them (froglegs? Possums? crayfish?) and spicy. The deli counters all have dishes of rice and you get this gravy-type stuff they call "Jambalaya", spicy Cajun New Orleans stuff. Oh, speaking of New Orleans, the graveyards have the people buried ABOVE ground, it's cool. I took pictures, which I'll post later. Thanks to those 6 years in SouthEast Kentucky I can almost speak the language! Well, till next WIFI spot, so long, we're ready to roll.

Finally starting the trip!

Steven took me to Whitefish Tuesday morning where I got on the train (first picture), and I reached Chicago Wednesday afternoon. I had a 2 1/2 hour layover between trains, so I wandered outside Union station. People everywhere (second picture)! It was fun to sit there along the river and watch people come and go! I went for a walk up a couple blocks, over a block, and back, and people in Chicago walk fast! Then I got on the train to South Bend, Indiana where my brother lives and met me at the train.