We rode back to the Natchez Trace Parkway from the State Park. That was the steepest hills of the whole day, just getting back to the Trace!
We rode a short distance on the Parkway until we came to Mount Locust. This was an Inn on the Trace. Then it became a home. The last person born in the house is still living (he is 76). The house was vacated in 1944. The National Park Service has restored it to its earlier days. The grounds are also home to a slave cemetery.
After our tour of Mount Locust, we resumed our riding. The terrain was still somewhat rolling, and there was very little traffic. We had either crosswinds or tailwinds which made the going pretty easy. I got ahead of Christian on the hills.
I was noticing how much red blooming clover there was. At one point there was a beautiful meadow filled with the clover. The photo below doesn't do it justice.
At the turn-off for Port Gibson, I waited for Christian to catch up. He wanted to go into the town for lunch. We left the Trace and rode the highway into Port Gibson. There were mostly churches along the road into town. We came to where we would need to turn to get back on the Parkway. When we stopped to decide about lunch, I looked ahead and could just make out a sign for Subway. That seemed to be the only restaurant (if you don't count the gas station that had a sign saying, "We be servin' breakfast!"). Well, I did need to check a Mississippi Subway off my list...
It was the most "hole-in-the-wall" looking Subway. But, inside it was the same as all the others. They even had coffee, so Christian was happy.
After lunch we returned to the Trace. I was quite happy to get back on the Parkway. The traffic on the road to get there was heavy and there was no shoulder except a rumble strip.
Our next stop was to have a look at "Sunken Trace". It was part of the original Natchez Trace that has "sunken" about 15 feet. This is due to the type of soil that covered the area after the Ice Age. It's very sandy, so erodes easily. We met a family as we were leaving that recognized us from the State Park. They were from New York and were travelling by car with their three young kids. They had been to Texas too.
From there we only had about 12 miles to go. The Parkway became more open and we passed a cornfield or two. I saw two different kinds of dead snakes on the road. One was a big black thing, and the other was a pale color with stripes. Best of all, they were DEAD!
We arrived at Rocky Springs Campground, our destination for the night. Another couple on bikes were here too, but they were concerned about the storm that was supposed to come through tonight. I'm guessing they went on in to Vicksburg to a motel.
We've been hearing for a few days now about this storm. Everyone has said, "We're supposed to get some weather on Thursday. Whata ya'll do when it rains?" Well, we sit in our tents writing blog posts! We managed to get everything set up, take a walk up to the old Rocky Springs town site, fix dinner, and clean up before it started to rain. The hatches are battened down and we just hope this passes by morning.
Tomorrow we want to spend some time in Vicksburg before going on to Chotard Landing (30 miles north of Vicksburg). Christian is interested in the Military Park and I want to go to the Coca-Cola Museum (where the first Coke was bottled).
Now I think I will read my book and listen to the rain tap-tapping on my tent. Hey, I just thought of something! There is no thunder and lightening! What a novelty!
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