10-3-2012 (Wednesday) Ridgeland, TN to Port Gibson, TN

68 miles
Ride time 6 hrs 21 minutes
10.6 MPH

These socks that our friends gave John May of 2010 are still being worn. 
The heel is getting a little thin but they will definitely last the rest of this trip!

We had a rather nerve racking start to our 39th day on the road today.  After an exceptional full breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express we headed out on hwy 51 towards the Natchez Trace Parkway.  Our maps warned us to avoid the Trace in this area between the hours of 7:00 and 9:00AM and 3:00 to 5:00PM.  However, coming into town yesterday we had seen signs of road closed ahead on the Trace so we thought that there might be a chance that traffic would be reduced because of the detour.  So we thought we’d take a chance.  Highway 51 leading to the Trace was comparable to Grand Avenue in Wausau.  We had to ride about a 2 mile stretch to the intersection with the Trace.  Highway 51 was really no problem however, when we got to the Trace it was literally bumper to bumper traffic of workers coming into Ridgeland and Jackson.  We walked our bike to the stop sign and stood at the intersection and waited for a break in the traffic.  We literally stood at the stop sign for 45 minutes before there was a lull in the traffic and we decided to make a break for it at 7:55AM.  Our thoughts were that anyone who needed to be at work by 8:00AM should be there and there should be a few minutes of reduced traffic before the 8:30 and 9:00 workers would be coming in to town.  So we made our break and rode two miles in heavy traffic until we got to where the road was closed to all four wheel traffic, but bicycles were allowed to continue.  So we went from almost bumper to bumper traffic for two miles to not seeing another vehicle for about 7 miles.  When we got to where they were actually working on the bridge (reason for the road being closed to traffic) we ended up actually having to push our bike down in the ditch and along the side of the road.  With the rains that they have had recently the ditch was a little muddy and made quite a mess of our bike. We had to also push it back up a small muddy hill to get back onto the road.

The rest of our ride was very pleasant with comfortable temperatures and scenic landscapes.  One historical marker that we stopped at today was called the “Sunken Trace” and is located at milepost 41.5.  The trace appears sunken in this spot due to thousands of travelers walking on the easily eroded loess soil. Once again, you can only imagine who traveled over this route over the centuries gone by.


We arrived in Port Gibson at Isabella Bed & Breakfast around 3:00PM.  Bobbie (The Innkeeper) greeted us at the door when we arrived at Isabella’s and made us feel right at home. John was able to clean our bike up while I showered.  Afterwards we sat out on the veranda just off our bedroom. It is very pleasant temperature and a beautiful area.  http://www.natcheztracetravel.com/portgibson-bedandbreakfasts/isabella.html    At 5:00PM we went down stairs and had dinner.  We had each ordered a chef salad and then we had a bowl of smoked chicken gumbo.  It was really delicious!  

Another great day - we have 40.5 miles to bicycle to Natchez tomorrow where we will spend Thursday afternoon and all day Friday before we continue our journey!   

10-2-2012 (Tuesday) French Camp to Ridgeland, MS

83 miles
Ride time – 7 hr 6 minutes
Averaged speed 11.6

The moon was out as we pedaled out of French Camp this morning!

We were up before the alarm went off this morning as we want to get an early start because we have 82 miles to bike today plus we are biking into a heavily populated area and want to make sure we get there before rush hour.  After a basket breakfast prepared by French Camp B&B we were pedaling down the road by 6:05AM with our lights a flashing on the bike.  What a wonderful day of biking it was today - beautiful sunshine and bright blue skies.  After biking in the rain the last two days we certainly appreciated today's wonderful weather.



This is the last of the Power Bars that we purchased at Sam's Club before we bicycled to the West Coast!  Yes we carried those blasted bars from Wisconsin to Anacortes, WA, from Wisconsin to Bar Harbor, Maine and now almost all the way to Baton Rouge, LA!  Thank goodness they are now all gone!  

One of the different and cool scenes that we got to see today is a Cypress Swamp.  It looks like an area that would be really good to be used in a horror movie.  See the pictures below!




We arrived in Ridgeland about 3:00PM and had a difficult time finding our hotel.  When I made reservations they had stated that the Holiday Inn Express was only a mile off of the Trace but it ended up being more like 3 miles and on a very busy highway.  We finally got checked in and cleaned up and then we walked over to Logan Roadhouse and had an absolutely delicious steak dinner with skewer of grilled vegetables and sweet potato.  Yum Yum Yum!

We have about 62 miles to bike tomorrow to Port Gibson and then on Thursday we will only have about 38 miles to bicycle to Natchez, MS.  We plan on meeting up with Dana and Bill Brown there and spending Friday with them before we continue on to finish up this journey.

10/1/2012 (Monday) Houston, MS to French Camp, MS

Miles bicycled today – 54 miles
Ride time – 4 hrs 53 minutes
Averaged 11.1 mph

We were up before the alarm went off this morning and packed and down stairs for breakfast at 6:30am.  Carol, the owner of the B&B, made us a wonderful southern breakfast – she started off with giving each of us a bowl of watermelon and strawberries cut up (eating in restaurants the last 5 weeks we have really missed fresh fruits) and then followed up with homemade biscuits with real butter and raspberry jam.  After that she came out with a serving plate with sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, grits, and hash brown casserole. We were also given orange juice and coffee.  What a delicious breakfast this was.



On our way to French Camp we bicycled through an area that had been hit by a tornado in April of 2011.  One can only imagine the fear and devastation that occurred during that time.  The tornado went right down the Natchez Trace Parkway from milepost 112 to about 107.



We headed out at 7:45 to overcast skies but no rain when we started, however, within 10 miles from Houston it started to sprinkle and it rained on and off all morning.  We arrived in French Camp around 1:00PM and stopped at the French Camp café and I had homemade bean soup and John had potato soup,  We also split “Big Willie’s BLT”.  From there we went and checked into the French Camp B&B.

What a way to travel!

After cleaning up John and I sat on the back deck and played a game of Pinochle.
Tomorrow will be a long day – we are bicycling 82 miles to Ridgeland but it should be fairly flat so although we will be on the bike a long time we won’t be bicycling hills.

9-30-2012 (Sunday) Baldwyn to Houston, MS

58 miles bicycled today
Ride time – 4 hours 44 minutes
Average 12.2mph


The alarm went off at 5:45am this morning and Tom and Jean made us breakfast prior to our getting on the road.  After breakfast Tom and John hooked the trailer with our bike on to the car and Tom took us back to the Natchez Trace mile marker #282.  It was overcast but not raining at the time.  We weren’t on the road very long before it started to sprinkle and we ended up riding the majority of the 57 miles in the rain. We now have a pretty good idea of what a drowning muskrat feels like.  Fortunately it was a warm rain.



We arrived in Houston at 12:30 and stopped at a convenient store and had chicken and jojo potatoes before we went looking for the B&B (Bridges-Hall Manor Bed and Breakfast) we are staying at this evening in Houston, MS.  This house was built in 1884 and is a Victorian-era bed and breakfast and is five miles from the Natchez Trace trail.  There is also a full southern breakfast served in the morning.  Carol is the owner and is very friendly and hospitable.  There are snacks, soda, water, popcorn, and misc other items available for the guest along with books and movies.  Following are picture of the Bridges-Hall Manor B&B in Houston, Mississippi.



Our plan is to bicycle to French Camp tomorrow which is approximately 55 miles from Houston.