Clinton to Natchez

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Are we there yet?

Leaving Clinton
I left the motel through Clinton the way I had come in to get back to the Natchez Trace, through a residential neighborhood, which looked much like this.

Clinton: "A Most Livable Mississippi City"

Should "A Most Livable City" not really be called "A More Livable City?" In any case, it seemed livable enough. A cold front and thunderstorms were promised by the weather service for tonight, and the day sure started out hazy. It was so misty that I could not even wear my glasses because they would fog up immediately.

Clinton, 7 a.m.

Back on the Trace
One species that populates low-traffic, gently-graded roads around metropolitan areas, which I encountered frequently yesterday, but have not mentioned yet, is one that we all know and love: tri geeks. Even this early morning on god's day they were out and about.

Caution, tri geeks!

Well, back to the daily routine, only 86 miles left. I know I have been pretty down on the Trace, but I do not want to be too negative. There are several advantages to being on it, which I should not forget to mention: the little traffic that there is is strictly limited to 50 miles per hour and consists of mostly leisurely travelers, so it is a very safe road to travel; the road surface is mostly excellent, except for a stretch south of Tupelo, which was chip-sealed (Rollsplit) and wavy; south of Memphis there really are not many good roads to ride any closer to the Mississippi; and the scenery may be representative of Mississippi, I really don't know. I feel like I have ridden clear across the state of Mississippi without having seen much of it at all. Perhaps I am wrong, I hope so.

A squadron of egrets

2,000 miles from Lake Itasca

It is not all grass on the left, grass on the right, then trees, to be fair. Well, actually it is, but the trees change. As the Trace winds its way towards south Mississippi, the trees change to mostly pine trees, reminiscent of those found in Yosemite Valley and the Sierra Nevada in general. Huge, old pine trees. But here they are often covered with vines, from top to bottom, there is green everywhere. These are truly the subtropics, everything feels alive.

About time

Been there, done that

So at the end of the ride, I should be forgiving. Maybe this really was better than any alternatives. And hey, what's wrong with a little time trial practice?

Natchez
So after all the hype, I am finally here in Natchez. A town of less than 20,000 residents, its glory days are long over, but it has a rich history. When the Spanish turned this place over to America in 1797, Natchez was named capital of the new Mississippi Territory. As I already mentioned, Natchez was a final destination for boatmen from the North and starting point for the journey back. This caused considerable prosperity, and the arrival of steamboats turned Natchez into the cotton capital of the South. Half of all of America's millionaires lived here at one point.

The Mississippi flows past Natchez

The Great War of Northern Aggression brought all that to a rapid end, but the antebellum houses survived. In the 1930's, local women got together and began to arrange "pilgrimages" to the mansions, which were to bring in money for the restoration of the same. This was a great success and has been popular ever since. I went into town this afternoon to take a look around but did not last too long because it was insanely hot, and I did not take many pictures. You can see the houses on the official website, in case you are interested. They are quite impressive, but I am not entirely sure how I am to feel about pompous expressions of wealth created on the backs of slave labor.

The Natchez Inn in downtown Natchez

The biggest Baptist church yet

That's it from Natchez. Another 250 miles or so to New Orleans. I have to say that the ACA maps down here have been hopelessly out of date, and since they suggest I bounce right back east away from the Mississippi River, I will ignore them from here on out and follow my own route through Louisiana starting tomorrow. Across the Natchez-Vidalia bridge, then back along the Mississippi towards the Big Easy.

The Natchez-Vidalia Bridge

Road Kill Tally
Surprise, another quiet day. I saw a doe with her fawn up the road, and as I got close to them, they dispersed, mommy to the left, baby to the right. Not a great strategy, I thought, especially because the fawn was in a great meadow. But it lay down immediately and was barely visible anymore. Good job, Bambi.

Does not want to become a statistic

1. Raccoon: 86
2. Opossum: 52
3. Frog: 31
4. Snake: 29
5. Skunk: 26
6. Squirrel: 20
7. Deer: 18
8. Cat: 17
9. Turtle: 15
10. Groundhog: 13
11. Armadillo: 11
12. Bunnywabbit: 10
13. Mouse: 7
14. Fox: 3
15. Lizard: 3
16. Dog: 3
17. Mole: 2
18. Porcupine: 1
19. Chipmunk: 1

• Bird: 120