Natchez to Livonia

Click the map for route details

As promised, I followed my own route today, and the first order of business was to ride through Natchez and into Louisiana, which made for the first river crossing in a long time.

Not part of the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage

Leaving Mississippi via the Natchez-Vidalia bridge

Here, the Great River forms the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana, so after crossing the bridge, which is a highway and has no shoulder, I was in Louisiana, the final state on this journey.

Entering Louisiana

Louisiana, the south South. Land of exotic crops, fossil fuels, and intense heat and humidity. South of Vidalia, the route followed county roads 15 and 1, along levees, large plantations, and through small, poor towns. The main crops here seemed to be cotton, sorghum (Hirse), and, yes, corn. The first oil pumps showed up, too.

I never picked cotton. . .

Oil and Sorghum

Between all these southern crops and the heat, the surroundings looked familiar at times. The roads wind along the bottom of the Mississippi levee for much of the way, and levees (or dikes) seem to look the same pretty much anywhere. It makes sense that they would.

Mississippi or Wümme?

View from the cockpit

Eventually, I rode through the Old River Control Structure, without knowing what it was at the time. It is an intricate system of locks built by the Army Corps of Engineers to regulate the flow of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. Like much of what the Army Corps of Engineers builds, it is an impressive project.

The Atchafalaya River

One of the locks of the Old River Control Structure

The levees here are fairly far away from the Mississippi itself, but every now and then one can catch a glimpse of the Great River, which is bustling with activity here.

Pushing barges down the Mississippi

Parking lot for barges

Final destination for today was Livonia, which appears to be a bedroom community for Baton Rouge, just down the highway and across the river from here. The main attraction is the False River, which used to be a meander of the main Mississippi into the 1700's, but then was cut off and is now a lake. Luckily, Livonia has a small motel with an adjacent diner because I could not have gone any farther today. About 140% humidity, fairly intense heat, and persistent headwinds kind of got me down today, and after a hundred miles I felt pretty tired. Where is Dr. Fuentes when you need him?

Mississippi River Crossings
Finally another Mississippi River crossing. The last one was from Missouri into Illinois. Since then I have strayed far from the Great River, which may or may not have been a good idea, but now I am back by the river and here is the crossing from Mississippi into Louisiana.

Mississippi River Crossing 28

Road Kill Tally
A surprising new contender today: a wild boar. I did not expect that.

Skewing the statistics

1. Raccoon: 88
2. Opossum: 56
3. Snake: 32
4. Frog: 31
5. Skunk: 26
6. Squirrel: 21
7. Deer: 18
8. Cat: 17
9. Armadillo: 16
10. Turtle: 15
11. Groundhog: 13
12. Bunnywabbit: 10
13. Mouse: 7
14. Fox: 3
15. Lizard: 3
16. Dog: 3
17. Mole: 2
18. Porcupine: 1
19. Chipmunk: 1
20. Boar: 1

• Bird: 122