Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The weather is great and the riding is easy

2 days of updates.

You will recall we left off in Greenville, Miss. and where headed towards Vicksburg, Miss.  We knew it was going to be a long ride and had a couple of options for our layover before we headed into Vicksburg, Miss.

Greensville, Miss. - Lake Chotard Lake Resort, Miss.

First, let's all find Lake Chotard on our maps..............Anyway we had a nice ride out of Greenville, supported by a fine dinner at Shoneys the night before.  Rex said it was his favorite place to date.........Ha.  The ride was very quiet.  No traffic and just the Mississippi River Delta farming lands.  No real towns, and about the only activity was the county prison we passed, which was a tough looking place, with prisoners in uniforms our of a different time period.  Don't want to get in trouble in this part of the county.  A couple of pictures will follow to give you a flavor of the the ride.  The night before took off we had made contact with Lake Chotard Resort and made an acquaintance with a Ms. Vicky, who handled the reservations, and other stuff at the resort. We did not know what to expect other than it was going to be ok as we most likely would not make Vicksburg in one day.  We rode into Lake Chotard Resort after toooooooooooo many miles on a levee road that was only partially paved.  It turned out to be a "Shangri-la".  We had a "condo" at a fishing and hunting camp, and were treated to dinner by the owner, "Mr. Jerry" of the "resort" who was a retired developer from Jackson, Miss.  The resort had been completely underwater this past June from the high waters and they were still in the process of cleaning up.  To date, may have been the best dinner (we had stew and corn bread) to date, and were subject to some real "southern hospitality".  The scene was out of the book so to speak.

Lake Chotard, Miss. - Vicksburg, Miss.

May have had our most beautiful ride of the trip today.  We were in the Mississippi River Delta at its best.  Lots of backwater channels, with abundant wildlife.  Check out Eagle Lake as a cool place. We made it into Vicksburg, Miss by noon and were able to secure a room at the Hampton Inn across the street from entrance to the Vicksburg National Park.  We rented a car as we decided we could cover more ground with this method vs. our normal 12 MPH.  We went through the Vicksburg National Park which does a great job of depicting the siege of Vicksburg during the civil war.  We learned a lot from David, and our tour today.

All in all all a great couple of days exploring Mississippi.  Headed towards Natches, Miss. in the AM.

And now for the facts................here is David......

Just the facts maam:
Nr of total days:  24.  Nr of days on bike:  21 including minimal riding days.
Miles today:  38
Avg. Speed:  11 mph.
Total miles to date:  1,341.
Daily avg:  63.8 miles. 
Today as Bill says started as one of the prettiest days.  Up early, no breakfast, though I had squirreled away a blueberry muffin from last night and  a latte cafe powdered drink I have carried for 1300 miles.  It was good.  The other guys did without till we got to a road side store a few miles away.  We were on the levee before sunrise and watched the light change in the forest and over the bayou.  It was very cool, 53 degrees to start.  We were into Vicksburg before noon.  We crossed a formidable bridge on Hwy. 61 over the Yazoo River where Grant ran into trouble and was forced to go around the City to take it.  Bet he would have given his left foot for a bridge.  The battlefield tour was all I could expect.  I enjoyed all the Civil War History.  Bill is good at getting things done and got us into the rental car that made the day so worthwhile.  Off to Natchez in a.m.  About 80 miles.  Most on the Natchez Trace which is a great ride. 
To tired to walk to a restaurant.  Thin crust Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza for dinner.  Plus beer for Rex, a little wine for Bill, and coke of course for David.

More to follow from Natchez.....

 

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