Budget Buster Day

To all you blog followers who are praying for our safety and well-being, keep up the good work!  When we needed lodging Susan Hayes appeared.  When we needed major bike repairs we were conviently located by probably the best bike shop along our route.  When the heavens opened up and dumped 1 and 3/4 inches of rain we had not reached the Natchez Trace that has no shelter.  We were able to head to a quick stop for shelter, where we stayed for about and hour and a half.  Because of all this rain we have returned to the same motel we were in last night.  I'm not complaining but you could have arranged for a better place to change a flat than in a very long two lane bridge with heavy traffic and no shoulder.

We have gotten bogged down in MS.  Because of an off the route trip to the Vicksburg Battleground, bike repairs and rain.  The area around Vicksburg was very hilly!  As we struggled with the terrain, we kept commenting that no wonder Grant had such a hard time.  We do feel the effort to get to Vicksburg was worth the challenge.

Yesterday we met our first cycling tourists.  They were a couple of young men from Francewho are traveling the US by bike for three months.  They said that they have met several cycling tourists.  All if them foreigners.  We had decided that other people thought that it was too hot at this time of year.

Observations:
The tobacco industry is alive and well in MS.  Looking around it looks like something out of a fifties movie.
With the building slow-down the logging industry seems to be doing well, judging from the number of logging trucks on the road.
Quick stops do an amazing business!  We have been at many and the coming and going is unbelievable.

It has rained all but three days so far.  There is an 80% chance if rain tomorrow and 70% the next day.  What can you expect, I'm traveling with Doug.  He brings rain everywhere except home.  I was telling this to a local and he wants Doug to stay around as they have been in a drought situation here.

We'll do a weather check in the a.m. and decide what to do.

Oh the raccoons.  We are experienced campers and we do know to put away food.  However, we had both forgot about trail mix and a granola bar in our bike bags.  They gnawed holes in both bags and in doing so left there muddy paw prints all over our laundry.  We were not personally attacked.  They did disturb our sleep.