tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18971998124603080332024-02-06T22:26:50.403-08:00Stewart WanderingsThese are the voyages of the Wandering Stewarts. Their 6 week, 2000 mile mission is to explore the Natchez Trace from southern Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, to seek out the last of the 8 Missouri State Parks they have yet to visit and to boldly go where no Higginsville resident has gone before (by bicycle).Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-74599416024801083752011-12-13T21:45:00.000-08:002011-12-13T21:45:26.671-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzG-wzqtNEuZXDspTy9NiaV_z-CQ8UaaCtUR5m-TJvDiYePxYPTuwuqKcsm2oW1GW36D5CyzzIH5f6lXDffZ5A05dfOyIPcyIreF4Zp4Ot8w18E-KX1MihK77XNVMEUet-Y4Gz_HjLiKE/s1600/Geri+%2526+Kay%2527s+Book+Signing+-+2007.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; FLOAT: left; CLEAR: both" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzG-wzqtNEuZXDspTy9NiaV_z-CQ8UaaCtUR5m-TJvDiYePxYPTuwuqKcsm2oW1GW36D5CyzzIH5f6lXDffZ5A05dfOyIPcyIreF4Zp4Ot8w18E-KX1MihK77XNVMEUet-Y4Gz_HjLiKE/s320/Geri+%2526+Kay%2527s+Book+Signing+-+2007.JPG" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-38624682232579346682010-10-16T15:07:00.000-07:002010-10-16T15:07:40.343-07:00SUMMARY - Thanks for joining us on our blog and following our bicycling adventure. As of now, this blog has had 872 visits during our 6 week trip. There were 825 hits from the U.S., 40 from Canada, 6 from the United Kingdom and 1 from Singapore. A special thanks to the Proctor's (Kendrick & Michelle) and the Ligon's (Mike & Karen) and their friend, Jim, who helped us when we needed it the most. We traveled 2153.7 miles on this trip and pedaled for a total of 198.81 hours which averages to 10.83 mi/hr. We covered an average of 50.1 miles per day, but there was one day that we did not travel at all due to weather. Without that day our average was 51.28 miles per day. Our bike, trailer and all gear weighed 184 lbs., including our body weight we were a total 510 lbs. rolling down the road! Our max. speed was 47.5 mi/hr and our highest mileage day was 75.9 miles. If you would like to be included in an e-mail notice for any future adventure blogs of ours, just e-mail us at: <a href="mailto:stewyx2@ctcis.net">stewyx2@ctcis.net</a> and we will let you know the web address of our next travel blog.<br />
Misc. expenses - $495.96 All food (dining out & groceries) - $1147.10 Lodging (camping & motels) - $1494.34 Spending 6 weeks on a bicycle adventure with my best friend - Priceless!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-82574225590959760582010-10-15T07:24:00.001-07:002010-10-16T07:02:03.795-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxXBC0mPKceUMidbDq2hKPmxxaN6xdHtc4Y3Gmk6YS2SZZc-dKaJRLNIRb0A5pHQIzzxkVfA5bT2zr_7PUGYw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwT0ZlKpeHsrpRppO6mMcMP7npu39ACpp8RI44UzBtLUlwuBxjFkpj2QjtY9aqs2vbKDhQ4qJayxE0Wb5WQAg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBn5ELSRhlJpQmNaq885FlSrySQtE7KyTcal2LUtrV5juia3d0zJDLoSLso7mPluqeG1F3IOvv07LDnyxIoiJsXl18WyuHgJt3-cbkKT-HeXw2Ez8TvN2p3FSjWczuCHhjX22Iv0bJhid/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.15.10+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBn5ELSRhlJpQmNaq885FlSrySQtE7KyTcal2LUtrV5juia3d0zJDLoSLso7mPluqeG1F3IOvv07LDnyxIoiJsXl18WyuHgJt3-cbkKT-HeXw2Ez8TvN2p3FSjWczuCHhjX22Iv0bJhid/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.15.10+003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mayor of Higginsville, Bill Kolas, in the Homecoming Parade</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis & Geri before and after photos (see above)</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 43 - With such a short distance to pedal to get home, we took our time leaving the motel and I got caught up adding photos and videos to our blog. I was several days behind with no Internet available for my computer. We finally got on the road at 10:30 AM. What a beautiful day it was! The temperature was perfect and the wind was very light. It was amazingly warm for the middle of October. We had an uneventful trip to Higginsville with just one stop during the 32 mile ride at Alma, MO. for lunch. We made good time and arrived back home before 2:00 PM after averaging 11.6 mi/hr. As soon as we pulled up in front of the house we heard a marching band playing, so we pedaled a few blocks without unloading anything and discovered that the high school Homecoming Parade was just starting. How appropriate to arrive home to a Homecoming Parade! Now, it's time to get to work unpacking and cleaning up everything from 6 weeks of traveling. If anyone is still reading this and is interested, a complete summary of the statistics from our big adventure will be posted by tomorrow afternoon. That will be the final post to our blog. If you enjoyed following our blog and would like to be informed of a future blog of one of our adventures, just e-mail us at: <a href="mailto:stewyx2@ctcis.net">stewyx2@ctcis.net</a> and we will let you know when we go wandering again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-44321071221100047302010-10-14T07:00:00.001-07:002010-10-15T08:11:12.181-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barge on the Missouri River beside our campsite at Huntsdale, MO.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8XvJpmVCk2LAaugpEg49BJwznxEj2vc0Q6GG0amrIkICRWwVXKCrnISnpXGycQ5S3CjxkATy8wZrbb9EOYcIO5AN1d2MAA5K9v9QG2hRXKtNviYdsz1NqKcfCV8_OCTEfp63tRdyK_Fa/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8XvJpmVCk2LAaugpEg49BJwznxEj2vc0Q6GG0amrIkICRWwVXKCrnISnpXGycQ5S3CjxkATy8wZrbb9EOYcIO5AN1d2MAA5K9v9QG2hRXKtNviYdsz1NqKcfCV8_OCTEfp63tRdyK_Fa/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+021.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at the bluffs along the Katy Trail north of Huntsdale, MO.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwIc-NqRdjUidqNk0DjS6_5__X0z2W7DPUgLGr3q9cvjQRTD48PN_TDj79CuZbHDVZgKeWsVFAU3yG5_jz2vQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwy1QOLEuOjxUJ9uC95cBs0SQ2_CUYhD6Yt2WbXUxrVvaq-I_NlzShtjtjXTfWTt_fBZFsf_ZKevM97L24CXA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzCi08pjDHGfq9r8IIMGmXp7FhWjsyZ8QcKwl5myY2dmPS1wOjWTiDPHjfG2SxGnSa7IaqKb0NuXLSEbTyyCg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzhoy8IJpRl5osi-RpgU6l4xEI3PQvvBfwQpkfgergINDRtzrQaLSo46UL9aCMbm7Us99bfcALSCOf6FlNSQw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Day 42 - Do you know how hard it is to get out of a nice warm sleeping bag and start packing up camp in the cold so you can pedal a bike for nearly 60 miles? No, of course, you don't! You have sense enough to sleep in a heated house and drive a car!! Anyway, we stayed in bed late and didn't get traveling until 10:15 AM. The morning lighting was great on the bluffs along the Missouri River as we pedaled north. We stopped for a very late breakfast in Rocheport, MO. I ordered the Paul Bunyan pancake. It was one foot in <span style="font-family: inherit;">diameter</span> and one and a half inches thick! Geri and I ate the whole thing!! The wind was from the NW in the morning, but most of the time we were protected by trees along the Trail. Gradually throughout the day, the wind changed directions from the SW. When we reached Boonville, MO. and left the Katy Trail, it started to really affect our progress, but we decided to try to make it to Marshall, MO. and get a motel room instead of camp at Arrow Rock again. We pedaled nonstop to Marshall and it was a rough 35 miles. Besides the wind, it seemed that we climbed most of the time to get there. Fortunately, when we reached Hwy 65 we had to turn north and we got a very helpful wind aided push for 6 miles to the motel. We didn't break 60 miles today, but we got close. Our average speed was only an even 10 mi/hr today. That provides some evidence of the hard travel we had. We will not be setting an alarm in the morning! It's just a short 32 miles to Higginsville!!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-34522111593657414092010-10-13T13:19:00.000-07:002010-10-14T20:33:24.146-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our wet tent at Bluffton, MO.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgjr8Nim_EqqRSwXyBe-ba1LSEkiFhr3fRp6KfaZoqC4XqF8fx07h-WTc9ABaEZu2ixbsD6x7A1NMj9-3XlOyr-L0ymjsy5Wd6VI8UGd15jUfEBnwJDjiUhVuRend0saIQmp3AJ_FoktI/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgjr8Nim_EqqRSwXyBe-ba1LSEkiFhr3fRp6KfaZoqC4XqF8fx07h-WTc9ABaEZu2ixbsD6x7A1NMj9-3XlOyr-L0ymjsy5Wd6VI8UGd15jUfEBnwJDjiUhVuRend0saIQmp3AJ_FoktI/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+017.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_X2EPCuaOgpHRKRYQKlG9MEvF7BCLwD3sNiwQ2EdzcVCQv7EQflqjkSZZUPwLs-q-xpl_-Q-rXztLcLb4U5M0cnJ4lUH-LVfVJvfn42tjjg4IjA2cnzeVLUwDEP4F5H8lpLGtBWta60S/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_X2EPCuaOgpHRKRYQKlG9MEvF7BCLwD3sNiwQ2EdzcVCQv7EQflqjkSZZUPwLs-q-xpl_-Q-rXztLcLb4U5M0cnJ4lUH-LVfVJvfn42tjjg4IjA2cnzeVLUwDEP4F5H8lpLGtBWta60S/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+020.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Huntsdale, MO.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 41 - Just when we were nearly asleep it started to rain, so we had to jump up and get the rainfly on the tent in a hurry. It rained a lot during the night, so we woke to a tent so wet that we just packed it away without taking the time to let it dry. It felt like it weighed twice as much, but we were able to get on the trail by 8:45 AM. We pedaled to Mokane, MO. and stopped for a late breakfast before continuing onto Jefferson City where we took a very long break, so I could catch up on our blog. We didn't have any phone signal last night, so I was behind blogging and the Katy Trail has no WiFi hotspots, so the addition of photos will have to wait. Soon after 3:00 PM we were traveling northwest into a rather strong wind. Most of the time we had a good windbreak from the trees, but when we were pedaling in the open, the wind hurt are speed 2-3 mi/hr. It was a long 30 miles to Huntsdale, MO., where we got a campsite at a commercial campground. We arrived just before sunset, so we were able to set up the tent in the day light but we had to cook dinner in the dark. We covered over 60 miles again today which makes 4 days in a row of 60+ mile days. We were pretty tired, but we have a great campsite right beside the Missouri River. We passed the 2000 mile mark on this trip today and we are only 85 miles from home. We are in good enough shape now to pedal over 80 miles in a day, but not if we have unfavorable winds. If we have helpful winds, we could actually be home tomorrow!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-33602008766076077882010-10-12T05:52:00.001-07:002010-10-14T20:20:08.233-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApyAS-BLZuf4mX3qhgv9aHAETOafiGRG21NhyphenhyphenoQ55VoVBecjkPuTkWyZfWXQGf4w9KFkh3ja4QUeDo9202KPRUa_RrDw1UhuPbsSKfpfPSjAzbtl5LDWt0zOZ318-74cYO2FTmzkiDNQO/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApyAS-BLZuf4mX3qhgv9aHAETOafiGRG21NhyphenhyphenoQ55VoVBecjkPuTkWyZfWXQGf4w9KFkh3ja4QUeDo9202KPRUa_RrDw1UhuPbsSKfpfPSjAzbtl5LDWt0zOZ318-74cYO2FTmzkiDNQO/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+006.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back on the Katy Trail!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRxWxdPzNhYZxCuZfDgUA8WwatDa0ds5aZrs4poXHAwgHFVnmOhDJlVoIMZlyapauAhr8mLMy23UVaUw3qsUuvrWRq8taLiTS3wroW_oBgxZ0pT-4_L6NEqzBnxZgChcz4BMUr7kJ_GhH/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRxWxdPzNhYZxCuZfDgUA8WwatDa0ds5aZrs4poXHAwgHFVnmOhDJlVoIMZlyapauAhr8mLMy23UVaUw3qsUuvrWRq8taLiTS3wroW_oBgxZ0pT-4_L6NEqzBnxZgChcz4BMUr7kJ_GhH/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+420+-+10.14.10+007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fall on the Katy Trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwKE-bMxpIRh1jlDz9LC4S947nSJOb-oLRom4_XrpLTMIvKkfk9efRPTPafRj6KDoguqJX7d99jdaU32P6JLw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz_lPkI9DLvM38tBA5ycHmRsAo3g39SAiZ4u4w8bsOVIGzigYXhNmGKkVkN8Lk0mpU2uc402SyzM6-bjtFX' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz8tkXdkPM3b8ABYxyIkh6sMdrgaP61vqTVEILUDnbWjhau0HZgAVeR2-XLxlSUlpEISJH2jaOBlOlxL5zYqA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwf1MLtLcdIXzpkQaFM8KdxYppAH-QupUt28t-l_WNUphWcOBIibI-B4MTYQaVFaI_lEtYhnVp0WnxGcC64cQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Day 40 - We woke up fairly refreshed after such a hard day yesterday and we were pedaling west toward Union, MO. by 8:45 AM. It was cold enough this morning that I had to start traveling with a jacket on. That is only the 3rd morning I have had to do that on the entire trip. There are a fair amount of warm clothes that I brought along for this trip and I haven't even touched them yet! At Union, MO., we stopped for a grocery store breakfast and we crossed the route that we took on the way to Mississippi, so we have completed a huge circle. All we have to do now is retrace our route back home. The highway between Union and Washington, MO. was very busy, but there was an excellent wide shoulder. We still had some long grades to climb and on one downhill section we hit 45.5 mi/hr. After we crossed the Missouri River at Washington, it was just a few miles to the Katy Trail. It was a great feeling to be safely back on the Katy with no traffic. The sounds of internal combustion engines was replaced with the crunch of gravel and the rustle of leaves beneath our bike tires. We were disappointed that the fall colors were not in full swing like we expected. The trees are really late changing this year, but there were a lot of fallen leaves on the trail. The unpaved surface of the Katy Trail does hurt are speed a bit, but we still managed to average 10.6 mi/hr for the day. One of the most exciting moments on the Katy Trail was when an owl swooped out of the woods beside us and flew between us just one foot above our heads. A few minutes later I had to swerve to miss a large black snake that covered 3/4 the width of the trail. Thunderstorm clouds started building in the afternoon, but they looked like they were going to stay north of us, however, later we were caught in a heavy shower for 15 minutes and we sought refuge under a tree, which was still holding on to most of its leaves just for us! We didn't get too wet and the rain motivated us to pedal harder to reach camp before there was a repeat performance. The rain never returned, however, so when we passed a bar and grill north of Hermann, MO. we stopped for dinner. We were not very excited to have to cook tonight after covering over 60 miles today. It was 10 miles west from Hermann to the same self-service campground we stayed at on the way out. We reached the campground a little after sunset and we were the only people in the entire camp,however, we thought it was a little unfair that we had to deal with mosquitoes in the middle of October. We had to hose off the bike and our gear before we could unpack. We were covered with a bit of mud from the rain. We had to set up camp in the dark, but we were both feeling much better than last night. We are even thinking about trying to make it back home from here in 2 days instead of 3. That is not a thought we would have even considered last night!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-68682376963279182962010-10-11T05:29:00.001-07:002010-10-14T19:13:28.472-07:00 <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Robertsville State Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 39 - It was a long, rough day of pedaling for us. With all of the goals of this adventure satisfied, we are anxious to get home, but our planned high mileage day beat us up with a seemingly endless series of long steep hills in the afternoon. When it was all over we had covered 70 miles, our 2nd highest mileage day on the trip, but we only averaged a little over 10 mi/hr because of the hills. Our day started out fine with a motel breakfast and an 8:45 AM start in the cool morning air. We traveled on Hwy 61 all the way to Festus, MO. We did have some challenging climbs on this part of the route, so we were ready for a long rest in Festus. It was lunchtime, so we stuffed ourselves for one hour at an all-you-can eat buffet before heading west on Hwy A. I was expecting this county road to be narrow and hilly, but it was wide, smooth and had a fantastic shoulder over a car width in places. There were many rockcuts so the grades were much easier than expected. After 10 miles we began heading NW on Hwy BB. This was our favorite part of the entire day, except for lunch! We pedaled through a colorful valley next to Belews Creek. The easy grades of the symmetrical hills allowed for fast travel. We were sorry when it ended because once we started pedaling NW on Hwy NN, it was an entirely different road. The hills were very steep and long. Any downhill sections were over very quickly, but we did hit our fastest speed of the entire trip at 47.5 mi/hr. We only missed our record speed by just a half mi/hr! This difficult section of the route lasted over 10 miles and Geri was near her physical limit, but fortunately we reached a much friendlier Hwy O that got us to Robertsville State Park 15 minutes before sunset. We have been to this state park before during our previous pursuit of Missouri State Parks, but we did not camp here at that time. We nearly had the campground to ourselves. We were not very hungry after stuffing ourselves so much at lunch and our exceedingly high physical effort today, so we just ate snacks for dinner and rehydrated. We look forward to getting on the Katy Trail tomorrow and leaving the hills behind for a while as we enjoy the peak fall colors along the Missouri River.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-82211766714121465082010-10-10T17:24:00.001-07:002010-10-10T21:41:32.671-07:00 <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Day 38 - It was so warm last night that I had to sleep on top of my sleeping bag half the night, but the morning temperature was very pleasant. We had our usual slow pack up and got on the road at 9:15 AM. All the hills we had to climb to get to the campground yesterday were now steep gravity friendly screamers and we exited Trail of Tears State Park in short order. We are now traveling in a pretty hilly area of Missouri, but Hwy 177 did a good job missing any big grades. We stopped for a big breakfast just before reaching Hwy 61. I had originally planned to be on Hwy 61 for only a short while, then take a series of country roads to weave our way to Sainte Genevieve, MO., but when we started pedaling NW on Hwy 61 we decided to continue traveling on it. The traffic volume was low and it had a fair 3 foot wide shoulder. It was also a more direct route to our goal for the night and it saved us about 10 miles. We traveled NW on Hwy 61 with moderate rolling hill terrain and nothing of any special interest until the road leveled off a few miles SE of Sainte Genevieve and we pedaled on the western edge of the Mississippi River floodplain. There were rock cliffs to our left and the flat, wide floodplain to our right. We reached a nice motel on the western edge of Sainte Genevieve at 5:15 PM after covering over 60 miles and averaging over 11 mi/hr. We settled into the comfort of what will probably be our last motel stay on this trip, unless the weather changes drastically. The long range forecast is for continued amazingly good October weather, however, so we could be home by Friday!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mississippi River floodplain SE of Sainte Genevieve, MO.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our 48th and final Missouri State Park by bicycle!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtWkh9BbDxe_oLKF07Unbf3_QSCXU7AmiLJDAqJ93o5pkV2EpibMnkrlVNy0y6lMGoCPQ06m-yggm0XNo2AXYo5dm2wVqjVdiiOMnMwrfGbx2n8h5TnRWYlAIUrOC_arbhar1j3E_uL59/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+380+-+10.09.10+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtWkh9BbDxe_oLKF07Unbf3_QSCXU7AmiLJDAqJ93o5pkV2EpibMnkrlVNy0y6lMGoCPQ06m-yggm0XNo2AXYo5dm2wVqjVdiiOMnMwrfGbx2n8h5TnRWYlAIUrOC_arbhar1j3E_uL59/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+380+-+10.09.10+006.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzNoDCYVQ-Zia1QzC2fYbO82nb1Drh5iJnkVFKbIoal6LW0dj5Uk-xuMi7Knvpx1uyXnTXkh_3bV0K8ohHek5tD6k5tVEVzrhjftO6wh7EeZ2KpdwF2jucA3js3Kkq4jw0DINKM-NzrFt/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+380+-+10.09.10+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzNoDCYVQ-Zia1QzC2fYbO82nb1Drh5iJnkVFKbIoal6LW0dj5Uk-xuMi7Knvpx1uyXnTXkh_3bV0K8ohHek5tD6k5tVEVzrhjftO6wh7EeZ2KpdwF2jucA3js3Kkq4jw0DINKM-NzrFt/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+380+-+10.09.10+009.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri looking east from an overlook near our campsite</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Trail of Tears State Park</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Day 37 - We slept well in our expensive motel room, but we did not find that it was any better than most of the less expensive lodging we usually stay at, in fact, we were quite disappointed at their free breakfast. We have had restaurant quality and variety free breakfasts at many of the motels we have stayed at on this trip for almost half the price that we paid here. We relaxed until 10:00 AM when the Verizon store called to tell us that our replacement phone had arrived. We packed up quickly, picked up our new phone and headed east through Cape Girardeau on Hwy 146 to Hwy 177 where we turned north. Hwy 177 took us right past Cape Girardeau's Mississippi Riverfront. It was less than 20 miles north from here to reach Trail of Tears State Park. We stopped at the Visitor's Center first and we were enthusiastically welcomed by two of the Park's staff. It was almost as if they knew this was our 48th Missouri State Park and the end of our quest to visit them all from Higginsville by bicycle. We might be the first couple from Higginsville to do this! We spent a long time in the very educational Visitor's Center and learned much more about the horrible Trail of Tears. Our opinion of President Andrew Jackson took a huge nosedive as we learned that he violated a Federal Supreme Court decision and still sided with Georgia State government to have the entire Indian population in several states moved to Oklahoma. The huge loss of life of men, women and children from this forced march west during a horrible winter is unforgivable. Geri and I want to start a grassroots effort to get Andrew Jackson removed from our $20 currency! From the Visitor's Center, we pedaled our loaded bike to the Mississippi River on the east side of the Park before climbing the steep series of hills to reach the nonelectric campground. We unloaded our gear and detached the trailer at our campsite before pedaling to the best overlook we have seen in all the Missouri State Parks. It was a very fitting conclusion to our multiyear goal of visiting all the state parks in Missouri by bicycle and it happened on my 62nd birthday! It was a great birthday present for me and a very satisfying end to this "bucket list" project. We returned to our campsite and cooked a huge spaghetti dinner that we easily consumed. It is amazingly warm for being this deep into October and the weather continues to be great. I can't remember how long it has been since we have seen a cloud in the sky! It was a low mileage day with us covering just a little over 25 miles and our average speed was under 10 mi/hr with all the touring in Trail of Tears State Park and having to climb a lot of seriously steep hills. Our mileage will take a big jump tomorrow as we try to make it to Sainte Genevieve, MO. nearly 70 miles away.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzc7SwUjj9jH9ZnPjrr4RxkxkLLv3fOBCZ9dIRkXgMWPs5L7TuKtqiXVkhx3h0cD2xl7-wj4L8eoR4OkrzCnw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-45139581483435555112010-10-08T05:14:00.001-07:002010-10-08T19:36:32.924-07:00<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BB81jKKKtSqdnjq_sRbF9rvWPK2RFJAXj4a-MYE7QwP5fAiiIVJSxrXgKSwDL0EqiS3zdtKVS4DuwZXXvS_lRZADVU57hT1YXTUYvztgDkaFUabo4taWEMc0aETvQfIPg2H9oyWWSuZB/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+379+-+10.08.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BB81jKKKtSqdnjq_sRbF9rvWPK2RFJAXj4a-MYE7QwP5fAiiIVJSxrXgKSwDL0EqiS3zdtKVS4DuwZXXvS_lRZADVU57hT1YXTUYvztgDkaFUabo4taWEMc0aETvQfIPg2H9oyWWSuZB/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+379+-+10.08.10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most interesting thing we saw all day!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Day 36 - We had a high mileage day planned, so we woke up earlier than usual. We had a great motel breakfast and got on the road well before 9:00 AM. We still had a north wind, but it was not nearly as strong as yesterday and we were able to make very good time on the level roads out of Charleston, MO. Since entering Missouri yesterday, we had not had to climb a single hill, except when we had to pedal over the Mississippi River levee, then it was flat again. It was not until we reached Benton, MO. that we began to experience hills again and it was all of a sudden. It was almost like reaching the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado, except the hills were not quite as large. We enjoyed several miles of roller coaster hills and at one point just before Chaffee, MO. there was a long downhill section on a road that had quite a few sharp curves close together. A car had just caught up with us, but it was unable to stay with us through this section of curves. We pulled away from the car like we had a motor on the bike. I wish we could have gotten a video of that fun ride, but we sure were not going to pedal back up that hill to do it! We stopped at a grocery store in Chaffee and I looked for our new Smart phone to call Kent Raider, an old running buddy of mine, who had left a message on the phone that he might be traveling near us and he wanted to know exactly where we would be. I was surprised to find that our phone was not in the pouch we always kept it in. We made a quick search and had to come to the heartbreaking conclusion that we had removed the phone at a quick rest stop in Benton, MO. 15 miles ago and it must not have been returned to its usual traveling compartment. Just as we made this grim discovery, Jerry Harmon drove up beside us to inquire about our trip. Individuals often walk up to us and ask us how far we have traveled. Of course, Jerry happened to catch us at the moment of our despair at losing our fancy new phone. He immediately volunteered to drive me back to Benton to see if it had been turned in at the store we had stopped at. I did not want to inconvenience Jerry, but he insisted, so Geri relaxed at the grocery store with our bike and I rode with Jerry to hunt for our lost phone. Unfortunately, I came up empty handed. Our phone had not been turned in and as Jerry drove me back to Chaffee, I kept my eyes glued to the side of the road we had just pedaled on without seeing the phone. Jerry would not accept any money from me for the gas he used on my search and he seemed more upset for me than I was, although I was pretty disgusted at our carelessness. With no other options available to us, we continued on our journey, but with the large city of Cape Girardeau only 15 miles away, I figured we might be able to get to a Verizon store there before they closed and see if they could help us out, since we did have insurance on the phone. I took my frustration out on pedaling hard; REALLY hard. We covered 15 miles to Cape Girardeau in less than an hour. This helped to raise our average for the 49 miles we covered today to an even 12 mi/hr. We were at a Verizon store before 4:00 PM. We were able to arrange for a new phone to be delivered to this store sometime tomorrow. We do have to pay an insurance deductible for the loss of the phone, but that sure beats having to pay for the full retail price. Of course, our plans to reach Trail of Tears State Park today were extinguished, because we needed to be near the Verizon store tomorrow to pick up our new replacement phone when it arrives. There was a very nice motel located just 100 yards away, so we splurged $90+ for lodging for the night. Interestingly, I am not the type of person that gets the insurance that is often offered on electronic equipment you can purchase nowadays. Just after we purchased our new phone and I was reviewing the sales receipt at home, I found the $6/month charge included for insurance coverage. I was going to call to have it removed, but I was so busy getting ready for this trip that I didn't get around to it, so I figured I would delete the coverage when we returned home. Maybe I better keep the coverage! Our drama with the phone situation consumed most of our afternoon, but we did have a good ride during the morning, however, there was nothing especially interesting to photograph, except for one home in Chaffee, MO. that was really decorated for Halloween. It wasn't that many years ago that the only holiday most people did outdoor decorations for was Christmas, but now, it seems many people adorn their homes for many seasonal holidays. Perhaps the sudden mushroom growth of the rental storage unit businesses everywhere has encouraged people to collect the huge arsenal of decor necessary to participate in so many home decorating opportunities. Anyway, Geri and I were comfortably in our expensive motel room before 4:30 PM and we plan to enjoy the luxury of how some couples spend the night when they are traveling!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-69451566137066794152010-10-07T06:00:00.001-07:002010-10-07T20:19:48.820-07:00 <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the Hickman-Dorena Ferry back to Missouri</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEZh3HMvbstMLGXpllY571UkelxpEJ-IbzzvO2SBhJAUyZSMkMMl8v632OjKiVywdrE8ErZ6tpNv5eeHZehY5iYBuwO2gb79iTUVwAvWNunChStte-fPrlkTCy6cQxoCb7_uRMtQhSfvg/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEZh3HMvbstMLGXpllY571UkelxpEJ-IbzzvO2SBhJAUyZSMkMMl8v632OjKiVywdrE8ErZ6tpNv5eeHZehY5iYBuwO2gb79iTUVwAvWNunChStte-fPrlkTCy6cQxoCb7_uRMtQhSfvg/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+009.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7dtBzV6h3bAbcCJllhIBlywZrGSd7VYQv5ro7UAdnzlIufN-x6a47fLOwPfImGIp_71nXJTaI-UFrFYspqJmfyoBcIKPsIcu6QO_I_CVtYTrq0K6qsKnGVR-PtEPbk-N4sCzAuAhNHF4/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7dtBzV6h3bAbcCJllhIBlywZrGSd7VYQv5ro7UAdnzlIufN-x6a47fLOwPfImGIp_71nXJTaI-UFrFYspqJmfyoBcIKPsIcu6QO_I_CVtYTrq0K6qsKnGVR-PtEPbk-N4sCzAuAhNHF4/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOLtCRm9hpquCFW6KbGw3fsDbROhyphenhyphenONPT13_nDVqzOGLZggqX-rNTxnRIG4q6vDIXA8ydUX9oa_AkmW584vNuJlDmnpwsqKi81J-sdlutmN07LLKEVNjxH3WNE4QTcuAewjBqa2a9yTfQ/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOLtCRm9hpquCFW6KbGw3fsDbROhyphenhyphenONPT13_nDVqzOGLZggqX-rNTxnRIG4q6vDIXA8ydUX9oa_AkmW584vNuJlDmnpwsqKi81J-sdlutmN07LLKEVNjxH3WNE4QTcuAewjBqa2a9yTfQ/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7hFwtHyG4T_hhWqCXV1pjs7aimv1Uu74XR5OlVewzou6IM01tLlmqNCpTa5h7vvvfa6TLI6yfYDC1Syg8mmu-nI4yhdCLf-e0icv2LwS9GnFb09sJmoaD50S0XYExbfEH-ZwR8eVxpAO/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7hFwtHyG4T_hhWqCXV1pjs7aimv1Uu74XR5OlVewzou6IM01tLlmqNCpTa5h7vvvfa6TLI6yfYDC1Syg8mmu-nI4yhdCLf-e0icv2LwS9GnFb09sJmoaD50S0XYExbfEH-ZwR8eVxpAO/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+360+-+10.07.10+018.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri looking at the fallen Slippery Elm former state champion</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 35 - The morning was warmer, so after a big motel breakfast we were on the road, just a little after 9:00 AM, but we made a Wal-mart stop and were not really traveling until 10:00 AM again. It was much warmer today, but it was still comfortable weather for biking. We headed NW out of Union City, TN. on Hwy 5 and into the same NW wind we had yesterday. I don't understand how we can still be having a NW wind with the temperatures rising back into the 80's. We pedaled in 3 states again today. We left Tennessee early in the day and entered Kentucky. When we reached Hickman, KY. we caught the Hickman-Dorena Riverboat Ferry to get across the Mississippi River and back into Missouri. We met Vernon Bess who was on the ferry with 5 of his 6 daughters. We enjoyed talking to Vernon for a long time. When it was our turn to pay our ferry ticket, we discovered that Vernon had already paid our fare! Thanks Vernon!! The ferry put us just a few miles from Big Oak Tree State Park, our 47th Missouri state park by bicycle. We were disappointed with this park, however, because we expected to see some really big trees, but there was a lot of tree damage from wind and probably ice storms. Many of the state champion trees that were located here have fallen. Honestly, the large oak tree we see along the Katy Trail south of Rocheport, MO. is much more impressive than any tree we saw in this state park. I majored in zoology in college, not botany, but the forest in Big Oak Tree State Park did not look very healthy to me. Most trees were missing many limbs and there were a lot of standing large dead trees. This state park was a day use only park, so we had to head north on Hwy 102 to find lodging for the night. This highway ended at the ferry, so we practical owned the road as we traveled. We only saw 3 vehicles in 10 miles! We reached a motel in Charleston, MO. by 6:00 PM. Even though we covered a little less than 50 miles today, we were a little worn out pedaling into the wind all day and getting used to the warmer temperatures again. This might be our last night of luxury for a while. We will start to have campgrounds available again as we travel to the next state park and eventually return to the Katy Trail for the final push back home.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-20666355862816316202010-10-06T06:01:00.000-07:002010-10-06T18:22:27.124-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10s27zB7oe_ubE2MHlV22Yqa4vt1GtZHq4xniI0Ni5QeEtlbH37fULHM7G-vPNSaxJRAGiUa8aRreutIMsCJQ6JddeXvIVBJGXZ6b2eQVub69dcxl4HQg__MLOdHYYBXhmMUtuL3gi-1O/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.06.10+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10s27zB7oe_ubE2MHlV22Yqa4vt1GtZHq4xniI0Ni5QeEtlbH37fULHM7G-vPNSaxJRAGiUa8aRreutIMsCJQ6JddeXvIVBJGXZ6b2eQVub69dcxl4HQg__MLOdHYYBXhmMUtuL3gi-1O/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.06.10+003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A much more enjoyable road to travel on</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4f55qItfUdrQFPQd0qW2a3v9vHgYelhCoKxNSISRxyfLALmnqnE-RyXojKVjQeWfNbTw_IEzFF2W7oylg7Cn2TM8otQxcpfi39O9koYny_weBVnnU94xRlMoIuBNVrJUa9z8ebrMjffC/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.06.10+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4f55qItfUdrQFPQd0qW2a3v9vHgYelhCoKxNSISRxyfLALmnqnE-RyXojKVjQeWfNbTw_IEzFF2W7oylg7Cn2TM8otQxcpfi39O9koYny_weBVnnU94xRlMoIuBNVrJUa9z8ebrMjffC/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.06.10+002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVccqDa6NbgPMHE5j977KRilR_uZy6rtjUDaba9CtPsy0hs8NceedCC2B29mTDmn1l35mrtvmb5xMjp0A3IIvmv4t8WOVZY9eckAaiJiRYTqAz0PGGlE85PAS0XoGwWqkd-_RRENrk4GhX/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.06.10+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVccqDa6NbgPMHE5j977KRilR_uZy6rtjUDaba9CtPsy0hs8NceedCC2B29mTDmn1l35mrtvmb5xMjp0A3IIvmv4t8WOVZY9eckAaiJiRYTqAz0PGGlE85PAS0XoGwWqkd-_RRENrk4GhX/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.06.10+005.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis showing off his fine "roadkill" hat</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 34 - It was another cold morning, so we watched a movie on cable TV and then enjoyed a great motel breakfast before getting on the road at 10:00 AM. From Huntingdon we headed NW on Hwy 22, which turned out to have an excellent smooth, 10 foot wide shoulder and was a designated bike route. We found it ironic that Hwy 22 was a 4-lane highway, but it had far less traffic than 2-lane Hwy 70 did yesterday. We had to fight a moderately strong NW wind all day and, since we are pedaling in that direction now, it greatly reduced our efficiency. We only averaged a little over 10 mi/hr today. We can't complain, however, since we have had clear, blue skies for over a week without a hint of any rain and the 7 day forecast is for the same weather pattern to continue. The temperatures are great for traveling by bike, after the morning chill, and we don't even sweat or, if we do, the humidity is so low we don't even notice it. Although we enjoyed the great shoulders of Hwy 22, it was a rather dull day of pedaling. Geri didn't even get attacked by any roadside bears today! It's pretty bad when the highlight of the day was seeing an interesting triple geodome home and finding a nearly new "roadkill" hat that I really liked. We reached Union City, TN. before 6:00 PM after pedaling over 55 miles and checked into a really nice motel. Normally, we would be camping to save money, but we have not passed a campground since leaving the Natchez Trace. That will change soon after we get back in Missouri.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-59860780278541829482010-10-05T07:24:00.001-07:002010-10-06T06:02:31.529-07:00<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MvzRm4I1nuJzj2aJ2PAko7M2DbrdKmbi7kuqppkLh33tgMcYkiymMazLrGXx6su22Td5N7Ud-68nh9BKsghDVNhdVyg9ALQkWGCJg-cuQAdVsnh7N5xNG0GtYQLjhrzwmxiw_7Bmu_Q4/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MvzRm4I1nuJzj2aJ2PAko7M2DbrdKmbi7kuqppkLh33tgMcYkiymMazLrGXx6su22Td5N7Ud-68nh9BKsghDVNhdVyg9ALQkWGCJg-cuQAdVsnh7N5xNG0GtYQLjhrzwmxiw_7Bmu_Q4/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roadside dangers!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwkqkpICH34XKndLoZ4WGzwN__k0Mp_vKQKzENcXIERNL-t52bNZnwnK1cp-VkeHyLymk7d6DCqVuSqLuStgQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Day 33 - The alarm woke us up at 7:00 AM, but we were not anxious to start traveling with temperatures in the 30's. We relaxed watching TV and finally got on the road at 10:00 AM. With the opportunity for so many roadside attractions behind us now, we had a high mileage day planned. We still had to deal with a north wind, but since we were heading west now, it was not head on and we made good time averaging 11.6 mi/hr today. The only things that slowed us down was Geri getting attacked by a roadside bear and a front flat tire. Geri said she caused the flat because she had just thought how great it was that we had not had a flat tire in quite a while. The sharp, metal beer can fragment that I found embedded in the tire, however, did not look like a superstition to me! Anyone who knows me very well knows that I am very competitive, so one of the highlights of the day for me was when we actually caught a moving train and started passing the cars one by one. This continued for some time, even as we crossed a bridge over the Tennessee River. The highway we had to travel on today had moderately heavy traffic all day. The shoulder would vary from a magnificent 15 foot wide runway to a 1 foot ribbon with half of it covered with 2 inch deep rumble strips. We never knew how long a good or bad section of the shoulder would last, but we sure enjoyed traveling on the wider one rather than having to focus every second of attention following a narrow 6 inch track. We arrived at a nice motel in Huntingdon, TN. just before 6:00 PM, of course, compared to the motel we stayed at last night anything else would have been nice! We covered 67.5 miles today and our bike passed its 19,000th lifetime mile.</div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy848tQuqJMoKsvmWsVPlBH2S3tPJZpdeWqG89JexerKTOR5TNFcucLlKvlEPshetdufmeTZJ2AHNSef8ZJQw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwY0HsgjG8Bqlwnwr1OQbdCBWLmztpDSwrW2WlHFvAznMw0HNKJxuuosytB78eNGE7k8zREuLnCdWqxyo9ERw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-67173861938430094812010-10-04T07:24:00.000-07:002010-10-05T18:05:55.488-07:00 <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGj2ggvdrHs2j3hPRkWgWAZSFgo-o7d4dA9Z4inhih7wxGYP090eKdERsG4xHx9jh2pZyeCh3sAK24qXMui24dNVOmc-N_8o5wb5_nQ4ocx45PySLfZPPz4GXe8bZEWuzWh4bhwHvzlNa/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGj2ggvdrHs2j3hPRkWgWAZSFgo-o7d4dA9Z4inhih7wxGYP090eKdERsG4xHx9jh2pZyeCh3sAK24qXMui24dNVOmc-N_8o5wb5_nQ4ocx45PySLfZPPz4GXe8bZEWuzWh4bhwHvzlNa/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyMOKZ3TODHKvmjwTfSkYZoauK9kV4gQSzF3jSi2lGMH15cjVIlOEZi-Kqf0whW7zSIz1Z9LVSoOCIub_bc7A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCm5SEp1qggTdLuFNPnGmJUVvx6SC_3SgaXZyK9ycb4YijO0hY_NUrWZ5iMmmszt5qRMfr4R9sOZr8TOXWPULTCJcNt31_8VnPLhYAj6UMTxwJ6bZzcaO0b-xrgJnb3k7Dck-wP_5EU4T/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCm5SEp1qggTdLuFNPnGmJUVvx6SC_3SgaXZyK9ycb4YijO0hY_NUrWZ5iMmmszt5qRMfr4R9sOZr8TOXWPULTCJcNt31_8VnPLhYAj6UMTxwJ6bZzcaO0b-xrgJnb3k7Dck-wP_5EU4T/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not your typical bridge!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SUCCESS!!! Time to head back home!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrazzMsg0ZuTAf7GKBqlXsh9PZNc_GlPAFLo7TbSuSDlI2gzAvgCneg33E2HH2WQ0q4qPnvKo-WGGpvDhp1UzCR6bpQ_pLJw7J3cPfO0AmUnFQwEqs5l2RMx-Eqve6LbqA_HycRvUZK9q/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrazzMsg0ZuTAf7GKBqlXsh9PZNc_GlPAFLo7TbSuSDlI2gzAvgCneg33E2HH2WQ0q4qPnvKo-WGGpvDhp1UzCR6bpQ_pLJw7J3cPfO0AmUnFQwEqs5l2RMx-Eqve6LbqA_HycRvUZK9q/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+010.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTo9B0HaybXrAjFFSiE12kn0QtJ3PGg_6WlyO5vEmIMaoYFBDE1l99lHtnOunuVnyU_kFS_c6Xb19H3Hc-ANDtVESiLTm4EHjzDoaNA7ER4L-1bamJVv1NrvYuZ5bbnsNa3iz_O6Nf4MF/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTo9B0HaybXrAjFFSiE12kn0QtJ3PGg_6WlyO5vEmIMaoYFBDE1l99lHtnOunuVnyU_kFS_c6Xb19H3Hc-ANDtVESiLTm4EHjzDoaNA7ER4L-1bamJVv1NrvYuZ5bbnsNa3iz_O6Nf4MF/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+350+-+10.05.10+011.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only lodging in town----Motel DESPARATION!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 32 - We had a very lazy morning enjoying a large motel breakfast and catching up on blogging, since we have been without an internet connection for a few days. It was very cold this morning, so we were happy not to be getting an early morning start in the chilly air. The TV weather mentioned that the morning temperature was 16 degrees below normal for this time of the year. We left the motel at the 11:00 AM checkout time and pedaled over 13 miles to return to where we had left off on the Natchez Trace. There were some large mansions southwest of Franklin that we passed as we returned to the Parkway. We stopped for lunch at Leipers Fork, TN. just before heading north again on the last 13 miles of the Natchez Trace. There were much fewer roadside attractions than there had been, but we did enjoy the unusual double arch bridge that passes 155 feet above Hwy 96. We lost 270 feet in elevation in the last 2 miles of the Parkway, so we had a fast descent to mile marker 442, the last one of the Natchez Trace Parkway. We immediately rewarded ourselves for pedaling the entire length of the Natchez Trace by stopping at the famous Loveless Cafe for desserts. We had to battle a cold, north wind all the way to the end of the Parkway, but at that point we started heading back west toward Missouri, so it wasn't as much of a handicap any more. It was nearly 4:30 PM, so we had to hurry to get in as much daylight travel as we possibly could on roads very busy with commuter traffic. We did have a narrow shoulder, however, so it made the travel tolerable, but we did not reach Dickson, TN. until after 7:00 PM and it was already dark. The shoulder of the road had grown to over 10 feet wide the last several mile, so we felt quite safe. We located a very cheap motel (the only one in town) quickly in Dickson after covering nearly 55 miles and averaging 10.5 mi/hr today. We were very happy not to be camping in temperatures that are supposed to get near freezing tonight.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-40406917149709479412010-10-03T19:23:00.000-07:002010-10-05T16:57:25.076-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhP2_eeoeyH1jnIUs1ONkLpjPNWHaxAZEh_QpXyEnkJdx8RRueIql43frUT3M6oJKBz8Lcpc9ViL1ybGUkXwQlulAuv8gFuyMrMY7x2uzYLkJrIg2d5cwQ7NCdgq9ZZQM9R03hYgNg8ps/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhP2_eeoeyH1jnIUs1ONkLpjPNWHaxAZEh_QpXyEnkJdx8RRueIql43frUT3M6oJKBz8Lcpc9ViL1ybGUkXwQlulAuv8gFuyMrMY7x2uzYLkJrIg2d5cwQ7NCdgq9ZZQM9R03hYgNg8ps/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+081.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri at Fall Hollow Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY39XYgNBU6WPxIC808G8GFdbm-HD3CNiK_pGwULxdTmnUrfcyCemmTsW8K6x-Cd78JBFoCKsNzbR0DHOI5NFONLRa-59IROFD8vBTXzxuYC0qJmoPSZumoMd3ntvouN2ikvdMInOoh8Hr/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY39XYgNBU6WPxIC808G8GFdbm-HD3CNiK_pGwULxdTmnUrfcyCemmTsW8K6x-Cd78JBFoCKsNzbR0DHOI5NFONLRa-59IROFD8vBTXzxuYC0qJmoPSZumoMd3ntvouN2ikvdMInOoh8Hr/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+089.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper Fall Hollow Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifn6k-dAjl5kzizsXdb_fkQ0yuLHT5FhNXMFHSWg6nnKFwORHb4OJGd-pKKQ7oKStnAz1eb0GqCG7x6tLSa-GoMwYyJ7GEYa52jxX9Nr0nwatwCN6JIuwySdaO4K1VSQ8yelqYBQ4iLhRp/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifn6k-dAjl5kzizsXdb_fkQ0yuLHT5FhNXMFHSWg6nnKFwORHb4OJGd-pKKQ7oKStnAz1eb0GqCG7x6tLSa-GoMwYyJ7GEYa52jxX9Nr0nwatwCN6JIuwySdaO4K1VSQ8yelqYBQ4iLhRp/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+090.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nature's fall color show</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyXuhC7_VWv7Gc8s8Y4CLf4Iav_ZB1Pfv3KhQEjbwpjGyoiW6tMBgCJajAOgo6t3_EP4BlsOAB5AeZ6gN-L5Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3VByqhTdn0ekcjOUcbECeVVeuG0JvWocjgIQCzit9XYLMWP4GOLNof-_gVrT-r9yr2xVl9VSZPQvKPf-M6lqYpKlioP25m6OAywvO9WGOuXagjVVOK18rJe_RFSk6rHq0sSWTK4W1fMS/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3VByqhTdn0ekcjOUcbECeVVeuG0JvWocjgIQCzit9XYLMWP4GOLNof-_gVrT-r9yr2xVl9VSZPQvKPf-M6lqYpKlioP25m6OAywvO9WGOuXagjVVOK18rJe_RFSk6rHq0sSWTK4W1fMS/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+092.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">400 miles down----42 to go!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnode9ARKj53ipgl97ZvvSBuoE-D-wrwyPFs9ZjQQqGpyvlwbmP0lUW95DNLWBY6zND5eRakWIyCUeGvgGLXf7eC6wUXP31f1aBk7OccxdvusMfwLrQWfai_bHpOkRuPOqA3fXESIPG3t/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnode9ARKj53ipgl97ZvvSBuoE-D-wrwyPFs9ZjQQqGpyvlwbmP0lUW95DNLWBY6zND5eRakWIyCUeGvgGLXf7eC6wUXP31f1aBk7OccxdvusMfwLrQWfai_bHpOkRuPOqA3fXESIPG3t/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+096.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOY3P7OaERd9BBhXkrocW5JRgKUxsKPCVXgLBWYft_0I81ri7jJZvwm2hBJw4ValmcygoVmvEp-Wprr9Wjcquao-FuBsIVANSMb9GOsGbkViC80Yswb3zoih_wVFiFASqnfekW8oK5V14/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOY3P7OaERd9BBhXkrocW5JRgKUxsKPCVXgLBWYft_0I81ri7jJZvwm2hBJw4ValmcygoVmvEp-Wprr9Wjcquao-FuBsIVANSMb9GOsGbkViC80Yswb3zoih_wVFiFASqnfekW8oK5V14/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+097.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_LzuPAFfwEh_9aNHyrJyANGla1ZDcalK2ibRPxYehd2nAmPig8mfTTTSoZjXKixuBbDEWY1vcvf8T1o2NzzZOZUZDzxWmxpxn0PSVJhqc2P5gBQ67YxJnMSsuC2vsEx3Um-reglaqm2g/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_LzuPAFfwEh_9aNHyrJyANGla1ZDcalK2ibRPxYehd2nAmPig8mfTTTSoZjXKixuBbDEWY1vcvf8T1o2NzzZOZUZDzxWmxpxn0PSVJhqc2P5gBQ67YxJnMSsuC2vsEx3Um-reglaqm2g/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+104.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibb7-_8T0oOyJLswI1BnaEEZbVymVzJB-Y5uevfhP0kuGkGZARX1BfKIyivxVc12Bnn1cNnRS8YTXCKjNmNlVtMPqKfUEom3Vqwtv9WzS_37nSgdFT_XFiOxPVJ5KMhxiHyjaNKMA8X-5F/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibb7-_8T0oOyJLswI1BnaEEZbVymVzJB-Y5uevfhP0kuGkGZARX1BfKIyivxVc12Bnn1cNnRS8YTXCKjNmNlVtMPqKfUEom3Vqwtv9WzS_37nSgdFT_XFiOxPVJ5KMhxiHyjaNKMA8X-5F/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+099.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6lrTIvDeZ_M3ZfoiXQv2YobwuOM3Ri1qVaN_8HqAHc35Sn5OwDS5OvpAMMxn8GzpzxT3f7AcLXvSQeF28aUUqBbDcOoLjv0DkYJRXx13PALbo8VjRCvdga4P8_Re1p-TZmW7jUELDxXa/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6lrTIvDeZ_M3ZfoiXQv2YobwuOM3Ri1qVaN_8HqAHc35Sn5OwDS5OvpAMMxn8GzpzxT3f7AcLXvSQeF28aUUqBbDcOoLjv0DkYJRXx13PALbo8VjRCvdga4P8_Re1p-TZmW7jUELDxXa/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+105.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLazwqfra_DFWmlLLDprPRUrHHHdJgcVcOtzZJ3F_xCri2Ib7i92i33vT3-gScciDQOJLptidWuoofdkftzGhlodXxQWdl9sJMcT2v5oTSlpmasuU5WUDlU6DGuBoFDCkPAIs0EtJC_1f/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLazwqfra_DFWmlLLDprPRUrHHHdJgcVcOtzZJ3F_xCri2Ib7i92i33vT3-gScciDQOJLptidWuoofdkftzGhlodXxQWdl9sJMcT2v5oTSlpmasuU5WUDlU6DGuBoFDCkPAIs0EtJC_1f/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+109.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIum6nxFzItXMcVm4UpSkekSaKhn-8-r54CDscOI98Zd9Smk6YIu3xEiSpzjFhjq0Mn4svPd2MXnpFd3cByTSoyPfz9mIzcldGjLcGlMf8YGsf-kjv7CNjDIliJi95Doe9IHJFr4w6L-Dg/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIum6nxFzItXMcVm4UpSkekSaKhn-8-r54CDscOI98Zd9Smk6YIu3xEiSpzjFhjq0Mn4svPd2MXnpFd3cByTSoyPfz9mIzcldGjLcGlMf8YGsf-kjv7CNjDIliJi95Doe9IHJFr4w6L-Dg/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+300+-+10.02.10+112.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stewart Family dinner (Betty, Martin, Geri and Dennis)</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 31 - It was a cold night and the morning left us with a heavy dew. We still managed to get packed up pretty quickly, but we enjoyed a slow breakfast before heading out into a strong, cold, north wind. We battled the wind all day. It was the strongest wind we have had on the entire trip so far. The only time the wind did not bother us was when we were climbing the many long grades we ascended today, but once we crested a hill the cold wind was fighting us again. We grew jealous of the several bicyclists we met heading south with this wind to their backs. We met one fine fellow from Australia, who was pedaling from Chicago to New Orleans. He was very interested in U.S. Civil War history and his route zig-zagged back and forth across the Natchez Trace as he visited famous Civil War battlefields. The biggest roadside attraction for us today were waterfalls. We saw several at Fall Hollow and one area that we need to visit again someday because Jackson Falls was nearly dry, but based on the large cirque that the falls drops through, it must be an impressive sight when the water is flowing. The color show from fall leaves gets better everyday and it is a shame that we will be finishing the Natchez Trace tomorrow before the colors are at their peak, but hopefully we will be able to catch an encore of nature's pre-winter entertainment when we return to the Katy Trail in about a week. We reached the 400 mile marker on the Parkway, which is the last century landmark we will encounter before reaching the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace and finally start heading back west toward Missouri. We enjoyed several fine overlook vistas today and a small demo tobacco farm along the Parkway. Despite tobacco's bad reputation, it does have a very attractive pink flower. We left the Parkway at Leipers, Fork, TN. and traveled northeast to Franklin, TN. to get lodging for the night. This turned out to be a much longer detour than planned because all the motels are located on the far east side of Franklin and we had to pedal over 10 miles off of the Parkway. This increased our mileage to over 50 miles for the day, but even with the wind and hills we got close to averaging 11 mi/hr. There was another reason for traveling so far off of our regular path. We needed an easily identifiable landmark so my brother, Martin, and his wife, Betty could meet us. My brother is an organic chemistry professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and it was only a 30 minute drive for them to visit us. It would have been a 3 to 4 hour pedal for us to travel to Murfreesboro! Martin and Betty took us out to eat at a fine restaurant. It was a fun way to finish our next to the last day on the Natchez Trace. Thanks Martin and Betty!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-46616450676267872812010-10-02T12:35:00.000-07:002010-10-03T23:05:35.630-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri along Glenrock Branch Creek</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis at the entrance to an old phosphate mine</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Fall Hollow Campground</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 30 - We woke up to some frost this morning, so we were happy to be in the Ligon's warm home instead of camping in a city park with no bathrooms! Since we arrived in the dark, we were unable to see the Ligon's beautiful property. They own 150 acres and a spring fed stream flows through the entire length of their land. Just behind their home are limestone bluffs, forests and several waterfalls. Karen cooked my favorite breakfast, French Toast, and Mike hauled all our gear, bike and us back to where we left off on our ride yesterday. I am afraid we really messed up the Ligon's morning schedule, but they did not seem to mind. We said our goodbyes to this special family and we were pedaling north again. We made a lot of stops again today and enjoyed several nature trails beside crystal clear streams. One trail took us to an old abandoned phosphate mining area. The most exciting roadside attraction for me was the death and burial site of Meriwether Lewis, the leader of the famous Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark Expedition). Geri and I retraced the return route of the Corps of Discovery in 2004-2005 by backpacking and canoeing their entire route. We feel a special connection with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark because we read their journals as we hiked and paddled in the same places they did. We had a head wind again today which did slow us down a bit at times and the hills are getting longer and steeper. We had to pedal up several hills today that were over one mile long. The coast down these hills is great fun, but the ride only lasts a few minutes compared to the much longer effort required to pedal to the top of these many grades. Our elevation varied between 800 and 1100 feet all day. We reached Fall River Campground around 5:00 PM and immediately got dinner at an adjacent restaurant before selecting a campsite. We were very hungry. There are very few businesses located next to the Parkway on this part of the Natchez Trace, unlike the southern portion of this highway. We need a grocery store to resupply our traveling snacking food. We only traveled about 40 miles today, but despite the wind and hills we averaged over 11 mi/hr. Thanks to the Ligon Family for helping to make everything so much more enjoyable for us today and especially last night.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-72940862448842871352010-10-01T05:15:00.000-07:002010-10-03T22:13:39.968-07:00 <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri at the entrance to Cave Spring</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis in front of Bear Creek Indian mound</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old lovers at Freedom Hills Overlook</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bad place to stand if you have a wooden leg!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very special family - Marilyn, Karen, Mike & JR Ligon</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 29 - We were up before the sun again and able to pack up with very little dew slowing us down, however, we discovered a small scorpion under the tent when we were packing it up and that led to a very thorough inspection of our sleeping quarters. We were leaving the State Park before 8:30 AM. Like yesterday there was much to see along the Parkway today. We visited a small cave called Cave Spring, saw another large Indian mound and pedaled into Alabama all before 11:00 AM. We took a long lunch break before crossing the Tennessee River and hiked several short trails. One trail, called Freedom Hills Overlook, brought us to the best view of the surrounding area we have seen. Another trail took us to Rock Spring which was surrounded by a lot of evidence of beaver activity. One unexpected roadside attraction was an incredible rock wall maze complex. We have been amazed at the many Indian mounds we have seen and we have pondered the vast amount of time and manpower it must have taken to build them. The rock wall complex we visited was huge and it is hard to believe, but it was constructed by just one individual. It almost puts the Indian mounds to shame, since those required many workers. We were only in Alabama a short while today then we entered Tennessee. This makes 3 states in one day on our bike. We have pedaled in 3 states in one day only once before, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. That was during our Route 66 adventure. Route 66 leaves Oklahoma, catches the SE corner of Kansas and then enters Missouri. Our last attraction along the Parkway today was another spot showing the original Natchez Trace. We reached Collinwood, TN. before 6:00 PM and our guidebook indicated that we had the option of camping or staying at a motel. We were more interested in eating first. We found an all-you-can eat seafood buffet that we took advantage of. We were very hungry and worn out from our ride today. We covered nearly 60 miles and the north wind was even stronger today than yesterday. So we had a bit of a struggle against the wind as the protective forests have diminished and our climbs have gotten longer and steeper. We broke 1000 feet in elevation several times today. Our average speed was under 10 mi/hr as evidence of the difficult travel we experienced. After we were stuffed from the buffet, we decided to reward ourselves with a motel stay, but we found that the local motel only had 2 rooms and both were occupied. That forced us into camping, but every spot where the city allowed camping had rest rooms that were locked and there were no commercial campgrounds nearby. We really needed to cleanup badly before going to bed. Just as we were ready to set up our tent in Collinwood's city park, Karen Ligon drove by and saw our tandem bike and she knew we were travelers. Karen and her husband, Mike, are tandem riders also. Karen discovered we had no facilities and before we knew what happened she had called a friend, Jim, who drove his pickup to Collinwood to haul our bike, all our gear and us to the Ligon's home for the night. As usual, we are humbled by the kindness of some people and they seem to appear like magic when we need them the most. We enjoyed the Ligon's 2 children, JR and Marilyn, in their comfortable rural home. Geri and I will both be searching for bicyclists to rescue when we return home!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-16786495109081568532010-09-30T05:28:00.000-07:002010-10-03T20:47:48.623-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri and Dennis at Black Belt Overlook</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxIhmBiFdWhAnpdXIzmsXxQaI5thcpfRfscQGGJnCiNGIBtDVyYaf9zqfHkhoSE8yuF3HgSkTOAG1EUjupi1Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div> <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twenty-mile Bottom Overlook</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Tishomingo State Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 28 - It seems to be a lot easier to get up early when you're camping, so before sunrise we were already out of bed, but as usual we didn't get on the road until nearly 9:00 AM. We made a quick stop at Black Belt Overlook before pedaling into Tupelo, MS. for a McDonald's Big Breakfast. I imagine that Becky Brandt, who works at the USDA office where I work part time, will pay special attention to our travels today since Elvis was born in this town! I did not realize that all McDonald's now have WiFi, so we were able to download photos to our blog from yesterday. There were a lot of things to see today along the Natchez Trace. We visited the Chickasaw village site and took a short cut on an unpaved bike trail to get back on the Parkway. We saw several sites where the old Natchez Trace was clearly visible and one place had 13 unknown Confederate soldiers' graves along the original Trace. There was a nice overlook called Twenty-mile Bottom which provided a view that showed we are having to climb some hills now. Our elevation seems to fluctuate between 300 and 500 feet, but we feel like we do more climbing than coasting. One of the most interesting roadside attractions was Pharr Mounds with 8 Indian mounds spread out over a wide area, two of which are 18 feet high. We saw another copperhead today, but he had met with an untimely death and had become a part of the road. We had to battle a north wind today which seems to get stronger each day, but at least, the temperature remains pleasant for bicycle travel and there is not even a hint of any rain. Toward the end of the day we passed the 300 mile marker and we traveled off the Parkway a few miles later to get to a campsite in Tishomingo State Park. We arrived at the entrance to the Park at sunset, but there was a convenience store at that intersection and we could not resist getting a pizza for dinner so we would not have to cook in the dark. As a result, however, after eating we did have to pedal in the moonless, dark night to the campground about 2 miles away. It was a little eerie riding through the dense forest on a narrow road in the darkness with just our bicycle lights, but there was no traffic. That was a big change from most of our day traveling on the Parkway. It has been moderately heavy with traffic ever since we left Tupelo, MS. It seems in this part of Mississippi that the Natchez Trace is used more for transportation than for recreation. The traffic volume here is very different than in the southern portion of the Parkway. We found a campsite right next to the showerhouse, which wasn't difficult because we were the only campers we saw in the entire Park. It was a busy high mileage day. We nearly broke 60 miles today, but we enjoyed the many roadside exhibits and attractions. We averaged an even 11 mi/hr today, which isn't too bad with the return of the hills and the wind.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-53257549260327323862010-09-29T06:33:00.000-07:002010-09-30T08:54:25.913-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">221 miles down-------221 miles to go!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri and Dennis on top on Bynum Indian Mound</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Natchez Trace RV Park south of Tupelo, MS.</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Day 27 - We had another relaxing morning catching up on journaling and blogging, but we left the motel soon after 9:00 AM. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast and did some grocery shopping, so we really didn't get traveling north until an hour later. Fall is in the air and the mornings are very cool. Since we are headed north, the autumn season is accelerated for us and we are seeing leaves changing color rapidly and trees loosing their leaves. There wasn't much to see the first part of the day so we just pedaled north, but we did pass the 221st mile marker, which is the halfway point between Natchez and Nashville. The relief of the terrain has changed and we do have some long gradual hills to climb now, instead of the very flat country we traveled through in the southern part of the Natchez Trace, but this does allow us to get in a few pedaling breaks as we enjoy some long downhill coasts. We took a long, late lunch at a picnic area after visiting two more Indian mounds and jumped from one historical site to another the rest of the afternoon. The NE wind was stronger today and it slowed our progress more than any other day since we have been heading north on the Trace. The temperature was warmer today too, but with the low humidity the 85 degree weather was not bad. We pedaled 51 miles today and averaged 10 mi/hr. We found a commercial campground within a half mile of the Parkway before 6:00 PM. We cooked burritos for dinner and got to bed before 10:00 PM. We will be camping for the next 3 nights, so I will not be able to download any photos for several days. I will add them when we reach a motel on Sunday near Nashville.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-10458296825784090082010-09-28T08:52:00.000-07:002010-09-28T20:57:29.959-07:00<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Tupelo-Baldcypress swamp at Cole Creek</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">200 miles down----242 to go!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 26 - We had a leisurely morning as I got caught up on blogging, since we had a low mileage day planned. We did not leave our motel room until checkout time at 11:00 AM. We made a stop at a museum before we even left town and met another couple who were very interested in our tandem bike. They were tandem bicyclists themselves, although they were touring the Natchez Trace by car. They mentioned that when they are on their loaded bike it weighs 500 pounds. This was reassuring to Geri and I because our bike, trailer, all our gear and body weight approaches a quarter of a ton also. We thought we pedaled the most weight of any loaded tandem! Our day was similar to yesterday, except we only had to travel about 48 miles. The weather remained pleasant for us with temperatures never getting any higher than in the low 80's and lower humidity. We stopped at every exhibit and historical site again, including another Tupelo-Baldcypress swamp and several views of the original Natchez Trace. It is amazing to us that any evidence of the old Natchez Trace still remains, since it was abandoned over 150 years ago, but in some places it looks easily passable. I am not a superstitious person, but I felt like I should not have bragged yesterday about how long it had been since we had any tire trouble, because we had a rear flat conveniently at one of the roadside exhibits. The tire had a noticeable hole in it, so I had to patch the tube and the tire. I must have run over something pretty big, but I am thankful I didn't hit it with the front tire too. Just south of Mathison, MS., where we got a motel room for the night, we passed the 200 mile marker on the Natchez Trace. We are close to the halfway mark. Just before sunset, like yesterday, we reached a motel. We picked up a Subway dinner to go so we could eat in our room and not have to go out again. The weather forecast for the next week is a carbon copy of the weather we have had for 2 days now. It's payback time for all the nasty hot weather we had to endure for so long earlier!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-85826289208234982832010-09-27T04:53:00.001-07:002010-09-28T18:27:09.115-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzeGU5nh8GxGfrxwvZlZpeJj-qPWrAzgC68q4XAc-Ks1BU94mo09GVeVch67ryBLCwGm8cRNyhx37XJ4nb6bg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div> <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis on top on an Indian Mound at Boyd's Site</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpi8ICvecS1r8ZWy-anYzNwqczdSX1qjf_n5ZfKHwZPh36rPUJvCfwkZoCHfJjEWcDto7Ux5xjbbmbM1NX2xAI-byPeWhIdp0-G2POVhvLd42JzGfnXYF511f_GGhxAZvbvhxQiWP0Vktv/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+190+-+9.26.10+007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpi8ICvecS1r8ZWy-anYzNwqczdSX1qjf_n5ZfKHwZPh36rPUJvCfwkZoCHfJjEWcDto7Ux5xjbbmbM1NX2xAI-byPeWhIdp0-G2POVhvLd42JzGfnXYF511f_GGhxAZvbvhxQiWP0Vktv/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+190+-+9.26.10+007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HYrAogbCNQJi0yuvsVvPuYN7_dSUHWh8OYjQC3hvp10Bc8e3F9EwlAFdtXOT04PvKDIMPt3-Cuzbwu-WaJaBUBH42jwBmIEOeJh3kq9hEHmXiu9uGwUexvGlLqmuSeEyvk9KbyWbjXh-/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+190+-+9.26.10+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HYrAogbCNQJi0yuvsVvPuYN7_dSUHWh8OYjQC3hvp10Bc8e3F9EwlAFdtXOT04PvKDIMPt3-Cuzbwu-WaJaBUBH42jwBmIEOeJh3kq9hEHmXiu9uGwUexvGlLqmuSeEyvk9KbyWbjXh-/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+190+-+9.26.10+013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri on the banks of the Pearl River</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzXwuZhuhrIihDAnYwM_269OwBKub5XUgpu3A1pLMgZmD1jdKg5G4tvpLIya9OJhEm8lPd9YmOPmMgPvc-uSg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Day 25 - It was quite a shock going outside this morning and feeling the huge change in temperature. It definitely felt like a fall morning with cool, crisp air and clear blue skies. The temperature was in the 50's and the humidity was low. We were excited to finally be able to travel in seasonable weather instead of the 90+ degree summer like temperatures we had for nearly two weeks. We found a bike shop before leaving town and I was finally able to purchase several tire tubes. I had been traveling with only one spare ever since the triple flats we had on Sept. 17th. "Knock on wood," we have not had any tire problems for several days now, but our gear slippage had returned. Although the gear slipping was minor, I wanted to have it looked at. It appears that the new drive chain I had put on in Natchez was not matching up exactly as it should to my worn rear gear cassette, so I had that replaced. The bike shop mechanic found another problem, but I can wait until we get home and I have have my regular mechanic, Mark Pace, work on it. Mark is a tandem bike specialists and he has been my only bike mechanic for over 10 years, except when we are on a trip. We did not get traveling today until 11:00 AM, which was a concern for us because we had a high mileage day planned. We left Ridgeland, MS. on the same bike trail we entered the city on. It was a great way to get through a town that had such heavy traffic on the Natchez Trace. The bike trail ended at the south end of Barnett Reservoir, a beautiful 50 square mile lake that we pedaled beside for many miles watching startled shore birds leap into the air as we zoomed past. The wonderful cool weather was accompanied with a NE wind that we had to pedal against, but the thick tree cover along the Trace protected us most of the time. Despite our need to make up time from our late start this morning, we still stopped at all historical sites and roadside exhibits. Our favorite today was a nature trail through a Tupelo-Baldcypress swamp. Geri searched for floating logs with eyes and nostrils, but she never found any. By tomorrow we will probably be too far north to be looking for alligators anymore. We passed several sections of road construction on the Parkway, but it did not slow us down and the road's surface is the smoothest road I have ever pedaled a bike on. I want the bring these road crews back to Missouri so they can teach MODOT how to lay a road. They are unbelievably smooth, of course, no semis are allowed on the Trace Parkway and that probably makes a huge difference. Late in the day we enjoyed watching our shadow dance on the trees to the east from the low sun angle as we raced to Kosciusko, MS. for the night. We were checking into a motel next to a Mexican restaurant before sunset, which made Geri extremely happy. It was a lot more pleasant cleaning up for dinner this evening without having to remove dripping wet sweaty clothes like we have at the end of the day for nearly two weeks. Geri went to bed with a very happy belly. She said the restaurant we ate at had the best Mexican food she had ever eaten and Geri has had a lot of Mexican food in her life! Even with our late start today, we still managed to cover 64 miles and averaged over 12 mi/hr.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-23792122156826190662010-09-26T13:37:00.000-07:002010-09-27T06:08:09.769-07:00 <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cowles Mead Cemetery</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis with the bike on the bike path through Ridgeland, MS.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAa0zI7IjFvs54xbrJGTnIFwqdnJEIW33BCT6Rm2JOSSOvMQTWS36HE553oD60fSuVY_5YZaSapcNREIAU3ZlmTCrXKLOE2ChF-CHnp7_L15KC3phBrz8NHP4JhLSQ-kgVKnEqJ69IW0Q/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAa0zI7IjFvs54xbrJGTnIFwqdnJEIW33BCT6Rm2JOSSOvMQTWS36HE553oD60fSuVY_5YZaSapcNREIAU3ZlmTCrXKLOE2ChF-CHnp7_L15KC3phBrz8NHP4JhLSQ-kgVKnEqJ69IW0Q/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I just wanted to prove that I can look as cute as Geri too!</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 24 - We wanted to get an early start this morning, but we had a miserable night in a hot tent and we were too tired to get up at dawn. When we eventually tried to get the day started, a light rain kept us in the tent. As a result, we were not pedaling until 10:00 AM. On the bright side, it was cooler this morning and traveling was much more pleasant, at least, until it started to rain hard. We took shelter under an inviting grand oak tree beside the road and, even with rain pouring down all around us, we barely got a drizzle on us and the bike. The rain did not last long and we were soon traveling again on cooler, but wet roads. Motorists remain extremely considerate, however, and they move in the far left lane when passing, so we don't get hit with road water spray. We leap frogged historical sites one after another today and saw several old family cemeteries. One tombstone was inscribed with the individual's birth year of 1776! We stopped for the largest convenience store lunch I have ever eaten in my life at Raymond, MS. and we toured their visitor's center where we had the additional bonus of hearing the community string band practicing old time tunes. We were not in top form today after the difficult time we had traveling yesterday, so when we reached Ridgeland, MS. outside of Jackson, we elected to stay at a motel rather than pedal an extra 4 miles off route to a campground. The traffic had gotten much heavier the closer we got to Ridgeland and we appreciated a paved bike path that paralleled the Natchez Trace through town. We saw nearly 20 other cyclists on this popular trail in the short time we were on it. We only covered 54 miles today, but it felt like more due to our lingering fatigue from yesterday, but we still managed to average 10.5 mi/hr and we reached the 100 mile marker on the Natchez Trace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-87857609821296507742010-09-25T04:24:00.001-07:002010-09-26T21:04:16.941-07:00<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgouMzX2XU8r_ydeYV-HESa78lPOIP-YAgeYkvfA3kn2Q_BSS17Rn3xVrMDj9oAPGF6GDrWrbAS2cSxsjCxGMTxoLzXF-pQnLGfcyrjPAczOrS90zM3Tktth6g3itgLLfg_3xhFR1KVsW/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgouMzX2XU8r_ydeYV-HESa78lPOIP-YAgeYkvfA3kn2Q_BSS17Rn3xVrMDj9oAPGF6GDrWrbAS2cSxsjCxGMTxoLzXF-pQnLGfcyrjPAczOrS90zM3Tktth6g3itgLLfg_3xhFR1KVsW/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+023.jpg" width="320" /></a><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzY2tPfaVqi6XVbmrKA3MambPy5HFKiD7Yr-aOn1i_5i9mY80NAead7qJNBAtBKjhRqNBVi5fRtAGehF7Iuqg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xW_YNyRHLfYv0Bcxb6a-Cxw6lzizoeRMyIuhgCanVkIcCizbdKlMa03bZQcbTioTQeSIUdQEVx_GDa3ZGsPPp3XTzXADO_MB65yJBUNawfd0LwsZTpVRvlhrsN4u_CcGqtAg1VHYXyg4/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xW_YNyRHLfYv0Bcxb6a-Cxw6lzizoeRMyIuhgCanVkIcCizbdKlMa03bZQcbTioTQeSIUdQEVx_GDa3ZGsPPp3XTzXADO_MB65yJBUNawfd0LwsZTpVRvlhrsN4u_CcGqtAg1VHYXyg4/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+004.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDIBgEgcp9_NiGr0nghAX2OqVAPOAJigyFEpz7BBeKZT_VVCqyrhoAdBWsvee31qK5Int4nMb3yZg_m3w1aWgaoX7Bzg3PRCxC8AEB3QQQA7hUd2y3sbVhkc-TCLuKm_RF0hyphenhyphengxJAQB2i/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaDIBgEgcp9_NiGr0nghAX2OqVAPOAJigyFEpz7BBeKZT_VVCqyrhoAdBWsvee31qK5Int4nMb3yZg_m3w1aWgaoX7Bzg3PRCxC8AEB3QQQA7hUd2y3sbVhkc-TCLuKm_RF0hyphenhyphengxJAQB2i/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8Xw3KWyzv6XpYv9KED6Ob7VST-oAhF5bOznB1MJ1B5cTKnx0S6QJ0omc8PNLT1n0wwPtAEhiKgwloHYz3ceqxojSSx5nARs4uEP_5cqutAXQPFCH63WppzYaNl1FQcz0La7DCJHmMv2d/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8Xw3KWyzv6XpYv9KED6Ob7VST-oAhF5bOznB1MJ1B5cTKnx0S6QJ0omc8PNLT1n0wwPtAEhiKgwloHYz3ceqxojSSx5nARs4uEP_5cqutAXQPFCH63WppzYaNl1FQcz0La7DCJHmMv2d/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nHKF2mlNi6cUT_4HSb1NR6g8z2IQofW0uziISzyGsILn3AT781F3RTdE_DZNmkqmm-rcxMaWKNb1CRXVIPmlv3okcILNjKufIc5Kmt0kd_OMBTjELsXB4SBFLTwNgFbwQNt3i-qofwKr/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nHKF2mlNi6cUT_4HSb1NR6g8z2IQofW0uziISzyGsILn3AT781F3RTdE_DZNmkqmm-rcxMaWKNb1CRXVIPmlv3okcILNjKufIc5Kmt0kd_OMBTjELsXB4SBFLTwNgFbwQNt3i-qofwKr/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+170+-+9.25.10+011.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri in the middle of Emerald Mound</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis in front of Mount Locust Inn</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Rocky Springs</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Day 23 - We set the alarm for 6:00 AM, but we woke up at 5:45 AM. We were anxious to get on the road, but we took advantage of the motel breakfast and made a quick Walmart stop before heading north on the Natchez Trace. The Natchez Trace Parkway stretches 450 miles from the farmlands of Natchez, MS. to the hills of Nashville, TN. It was originally an Indian path which became a road that opened the forested wilderness of the Deep South to settlers, soldiers, boatman and even outlaws. Today the recreational road is a limited access, low speed, noncommercial vehicle pathway rich in history and scenery. It is ideal for bicyclists like ourselves. Even with our early start, it was quite warm and the cold front that we have been promised by the weatherman had not arrived yet. We knew we were going to have another hot traveling day. We made several stops to learn more about the history of the Trace. The first stop was an exhibit near a small cemetery with elaborate marble tombstones and a large carved marble crypt. While we were there, the same bicyclist that joined us on our final 6 miles to Natchez two evenings ago, stopped to say hi again. His name was John and he was out on another training ride with his friend, Will. We stopped at Emerald Mound, which is the second largest Indian ceremonial mound in the U.S. It is enormous at 35 feet high and covering 8 acres. We also visited Mount Locust Inn, which is the oldest structure still standing in the area and served as accommodations for travelers along the Trace in the 1800's. There are many places where the original path of the Natchez Trace is still visible and it was exciting to stand on it and think about the thousands of pioneers who followed this same route. For lunch we decided to go off route 2 miles to The Old Country Store in Lorman, MS. Do not judge a restaurant by its exterior. The owner, Arthur Davis, says, "If Colonel Sanders had my chicken recipe, he would have become a 5-Star General!" Mr. "D" is right. We had a great chicken lunch there, but when we left to start traveling again the heat was stifling. It was the hottest I remembered on the entire trip. We were forced back into the safety of the air conditioned restaurant for over an hour until the temperature was tolerable enough to travel. Even with the delay, it was still pretty miserable pedaling in the heat and we did not reach our goal of Rocky Springs Campground until after 7:30 PM. It was our latest arrival time so far on the trip and we had to set up camp in the dark. As I walked through the copper-colored leaves with my dim flashlight, I thought a lot about the 3 copperheads we have seen on this trip! Although this campground had running water and flush toilets, there were no showers. It was not very pleasant removing dripping wet clothes soaked with sweat and only have access to a sponge bath to clean up before bed. Just as we got in the tent, it started to drizzle, so we had to put the rainfly on, even though it was still warm and the rainfly would trap extra heat in our tiny bedroom. We covered over 66 miles today with temperatures in the 90's most of the day, but we still managed to average 11.5 mi/hr and we passed the 1000th mile mark on this trip!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-17837527993310241412010-09-24T07:23:00.000-07:002010-09-24T22:30:00.692-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZx8xgezP6pc_muZpI9ar7Cy5T3-XGUfb6Pq27XxZCyE80BbsAfTNaWUgEhHjeswPvF75KYCOlhdGsE91PDXqsKWyLt5efBGwfUnhdxwO_738exULVA9fExcW-dtZMCKyEcn2B7_K29NX/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZx8xgezP6pc_muZpI9ar7Cy5T3-XGUfb6Pq27XxZCyE80BbsAfTNaWUgEhHjeswPvF75KYCOlhdGsE91PDXqsKWyLt5efBGwfUnhdxwO_738exULVA9fExcW-dtZMCKyEcn2B7_K29NX/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trippe's Bike Shop</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-RPiPeRu3rv29Uael0Mu9aXjtEkn2SOiLI-y1fuHXxDCTlROJFVbODhA41fQrpZLQ_EG7_AkZE66dXW_XdIH_gd3B5T0i6-caSmp1UnxMLsEayzE0KqMPD0E8Tu3rURxx5Vyqje-7bZBt/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-RPiPeRu3rv29Uael0Mu9aXjtEkn2SOiLI-y1fuHXxDCTlROJFVbODhA41fQrpZLQ_EG7_AkZE66dXW_XdIH_gd3B5T0i6-caSmp1UnxMLsEayzE0KqMPD0E8Tu3rURxx5Vyqje-7bZBt/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+002.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Mississippi River bridge to Louisiana over acres of Kudzu</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8fnVJjEIfKVk8Npghlcz4YvjEr5mQZT3Jd9SpffH9KJRHvTN3lxP2PMgwNIm4nf3Empwf8KYeiuH8aAt5SgPv-vr3Z_LeEYISN_DapXTqxoYVWRchHnkyikuw9Ju_1FsQ43gr_riCjMr/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8fnVJjEIfKVk8Npghlcz4YvjEr5mQZT3Jd9SpffH9KJRHvTN3lxP2PMgwNIm4nf3Empwf8KYeiuH8aAt5SgPv-vr3Z_LeEYISN_DapXTqxoYVWRchHnkyikuw9Ju_1FsQ43gr_riCjMr/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+021.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barges on the Mississippi River north of Natchez, MS.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN94LSnE7ku57ELN7aajhb6WSeOA0kSDOpqZagN9clN596B0pgiUGB0cQjtW_viGDBXxqm-NMFn9uhWk42TnFAHuLZS8nQlM7aggLOTInsm9kJmIohL86vVtYHlU16-XbqzAdSU1upS2sr/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN94LSnE7ku57ELN7aajhb6WSeOA0kSDOpqZagN9clN596B0pgiUGB0cQjtW_viGDBXxqm-NMFn9uhWk42TnFAHuLZS8nQlM7aggLOTInsm9kJmIohL86vVtYHlU16-XbqzAdSU1upS2sr/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+005.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri on the front steps of Rosalie Home</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYrPenBCuo4GQoiIluMEJS52CMyNpbZ17VqovAfmTl1oazLrA1gh1M0PWRv0zVFv3RLUtbmsCGEp4qniHBKmcJEdTkyLLRySkm1ePtKYBNwOLdPOyrECLeC_UKop8zLM9olo-A4bXKKp8/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYrPenBCuo4GQoiIluMEJS52CMyNpbZ17VqovAfmTl1oazLrA1gh1M0PWRv0zVFv3RLUtbmsCGEp4qniHBKmcJEdTkyLLRySkm1ePtKYBNwOLdPOyrECLeC_UKop8zLM9olo-A4bXKKp8/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+007.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside Rosalie Home</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbI0L_LZP3J3RxFYvXmT-cKqjBgDNGBnd90pah1HiI-KRBSJOwol554tUiDTEFMTjklRyvcfC6rqjP8fNKteqw5cos1vNLrLf33FsTul-SP9aFjpZGLsmkNLlb5tNwsZLBcfP48kjqfEN/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbI0L_LZP3J3RxFYvXmT-cKqjBgDNGBnd90pah1HiI-KRBSJOwol554tUiDTEFMTjklRyvcfC6rqjP8fNKteqw5cos1vNLrLf33FsTul-SP9aFjpZGLsmkNLlb5tNwsZLBcfP48kjqfEN/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+025.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stanton Hall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuep658Ssg2sJnsxVYHINCrAv8yNmOU1pk4tC0Qfs3xSpvjW-m2gLPaL4u2HlhlF_5XnCZ3iUOlD5CPemVSicQEY4MWTdcTbYoYOk8cQxA5YjFcLUWEH2I4orQwEZixVg34uJjEb54cdRq/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuep658Ssg2sJnsxVYHINCrAv8yNmOU1pk4tC0Qfs3xSpvjW-m2gLPaL4u2HlhlF_5XnCZ3iUOlD5CPemVSicQEY4MWTdcTbYoYOk8cQxA5YjFcLUWEH2I4orQwEZixVg34uJjEb54cdRq/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+017.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banana blossom</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-M80nO2d-melXstaUjFRvUtUDYbfUnqftDqYakA2UMXy1dO4v4Rz1WILcnYnayMiVdv3-WP9cmpeeop-IB1ODQoknx0zniohyphenhyphenYO9DgRpTk2MYOte2eVjRq2b6mT4o4C0MUefEAyMzE0E/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-M80nO2d-melXstaUjFRvUtUDYbfUnqftDqYakA2UMXy1dO4v4Rz1WILcnYnayMiVdv3-WP9cmpeeop-IB1ODQoknx0zniohyphenhyphenYO9DgRpTk2MYOte2eVjRq2b6mT4o4C0MUefEAyMzE0E/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+150+-+9.24.10+026.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antebellum home for sale in Natchez, MS.</td></tr>
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</div>Day 22 - It was great to sleep in for the first morning in over a week. We enjoyed the motel breakfast before heading out for the day. Our first priority was to get to a bike shop. We found Trippe's Bike Shop, which was located in a Western Auto store in Natchez. I knew immediately that the bike mechanic there must be good, because of the steady parade of customers coming to see him. We got the drive chain replaced in just 10 mins. and we purchased other biking essentials, including replenishing my low tire patch supply. Unfortunately, the tire tube size I needed was sold out, so we will get them later on the trip, but the drive chain replacement eliminated the shifting problems I had been having. We had the rest of the day to tour Natchez and we made good use of our time by stopping at the Natchez Visitors Center with excellent views of the Mississippi River and then touring several beautiful antebellum homes. It was obvious that we have traveled a long way south when we observed banana trees with blossoms growing in front of a restaurant where we had lunch. We returned to the motel by 5:00 PM and walked to an all-you-can eat buffet to fuel ourselves for traveling again. Back in our motel room with stuffed stomachs, Geri washed our clothes while I got caught up on 2 days of blogging. We covered nearly 11 miles touring Natchez on the bike today and we look forward to beginning our trip to Nashville, TN. tomorrow on the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1897199812460308033.post-36086259419752038492010-09-23T03:43:00.003-07:002010-09-24T20:18:34.278-07:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDfF1V1-dVepD83BXpko4RM-eOjPNsZOUSlTtNp4AinTrsZmUEegV-zfN-sZ2ouB64pl6CBuCop6vWtTBjzMLuzW87jedNEcK7BQL3L32XR5xwLeqgL5A8PRbc4kx3jpIsXlxIZsBW7CL/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+130+-+9.23.10+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDfF1V1-dVepD83BXpko4RM-eOjPNsZOUSlTtNp4AinTrsZmUEegV-zfN-sZ2ouB64pl6CBuCop6vWtTBjzMLuzW87jedNEcK7BQL3L32XR5xwLeqgL5A8PRbc4kx3jpIsXlxIZsBW7CL/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+130+-+9.23.10+001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How I get Geri to pedal 75.9 miles in upper 90 degree heat!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxL8eqItq9ctmKSJs_Ns9exDgtYywqWUIFY68VkDowzttIklWsREyNm18vHhCwLRz06s71mZxsj3r9F1FAoEwxn0ngFcw9Z28JPqhR-WkbOySzurFZwprE8fbrGF2B1UeVEcfuzSWaoUVW/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+130+-+9.23.10+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxL8eqItq9ctmKSJs_Ns9exDgtYywqWUIFY68VkDowzttIklWsREyNm18vHhCwLRz06s71mZxsj3r9F1FAoEwxn0ngFcw9Z28JPqhR-WkbOySzurFZwprE8fbrGF2B1UeVEcfuzSWaoUVW/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+130+-+9.23.10+004.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not an ideal spot for changing a bicycle tire!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvdigEX4jhxUgar88NgIipc84btWg0jEDN8qbpWFG9nUHjL-uq4yoEgM1ob5mNFy2eKKBsLudcJI_V8jAIXKN-Z0UUfZW2zhfJh-ibPlMfatmL6lmgJkkjfFrhor6l5tRkJoxpS0SNBM_/s1600/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+130+-+9.23.10+003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvdigEX4jhxUgar88NgIipc84btWg0jEDN8qbpWFG9nUHjL-uq4yoEgM1ob5mNFy2eKKBsLudcJI_V8jAIXKN-Z0UUfZW2zhfJh-ibPlMfatmL6lmgJkkjfFrhor6l5tRkJoxpS0SNBM_/s320/SE+MO.+SP+Bike+Trip+130+-+9.23.10+003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geri on the Natchez Trace Parkway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Day 21 - We got up early again hoping for a predawn start, but the front tire was soft again and I decided that I better change it with the comfort of running water available from our motel room rather than on the side of the road later without that convenience. It didn't make any difference, however, because before we were out of the Vicksburg city limits, the front tire went flat. It was very frustrating to change a tire that I had just changed 30 mins. earlier. By now, I imagine that anyone reading this must think that I am incompetent at changing bicycle tires and repairing tubes, but I promise I have never had this much trouble before. Vicksburg is full of history and we hated to leave it without seeing some attractions, but we had to focus on our goals for this trip and move on. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of traveling by bicycle. We are not able to visit everything because of traveling time restraints. We decided to push ourselves hard today and try to reach Natchez, MS. in one day instead of two as we had planned. This would free up a day in our schedule and allow us to spend an extra day in Natchez for bike repairs and sightseeing. Early in the day, however, we got discouraged that this would not be possible. We fought a moderately strong wind directly in our faces for 35 miles. We were reduced to sub-10 mi/hr.travel speeds for many miles. When we reached Port Gibson, MS., we stopped for a long Subway lunch to recover from, not only the nonstop wind, but the excessive heat as well. We have battled afternoon temperatures in the high 90's for many days now and it is wearing us down. We left Port Gibson with the intention of getting as close as we could to Natchez and then camping, but the shortest route to Natchez at this point was to follow the Natchez Trace Parkway. The change in traveling conditions was unbelievable! The Parkway had very little traffic with glass smooth roads and extremely friendly hill grades with lots of shade from the thick trees on both sides of the road. Most important, however, was the lack of wind. The forest surrounding us now created a fantastic wind break and our average traveling speeds increased from below 10 mi/hr to nearly 15 mi/hr. We felt like we had been transported to a different state, because not only did we loose the wind, the temperature seemed over 10 degrees cooler. Our earlier fatigue did catch up with us, however, and we felt the need to pull over at a shaded picnic table and take a long rest. The power nap recharged our motivation and with the great traveling conditions I calculated that we could reach a motel in Natchez before dark. We continued to make great time with the only delay of another copperhead on the road. I have seen 6 copperheads in the wild in my life and half of them have been on this trip! This one, however, was a thick 4-foot monster that did not like to be photographed, so I stayed away from the end with two sharp points! We saw several other cyclist taking an evening ride on the Natchez Trace and one friendly rider even rode with us for the last 6 miles to Natchez. The sun set today at 7:01 PM and we reached the southern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway at exactly 7:01 PM. In less than 30 mins., we were checking into a nice motel to reward ourselves for covering 75.9 miles today in much less than ideal conditions and averaging 10.5 mi/hr. An end of day coincidence occurred in front of the motel. We had just arrived when a friendly couple drove up beside us and asked if we had been in Vicksburg earlier in the day. After we said, "Yes," they told us they saw us changing a tire on the side of the road and apologized for not stopping to help! We have found this part of the country to be the most friendly of all the places we have visited in our many adventures. There was no blogging or journaling tonight. It was lights out, get to bed and NO morning alarm! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0