Day 18 - Leesville to Ridgeland, MS

This morning we woke and were on the bike at about 8:15am. The morning temperature was 66F and very muggy. The skies were very overcast today and rain was in the forecast.

We passed quite a few logging trucks today as well as lumber yards. The smell of creosote was heavy in the air when we rode past them.

We took a break from the interstates and stuck to the highways. The speeds on the highways in Louisiana are a much more sedate 55mph vs 75mph in Texas. In combination with the slower speeds, light traffic, and the slightly lower winds (still blowing out of the south), the riding today was very calm and quiet.

About 100 miles into the morning ride, the wind picked up and rain started to fall. We were just approaching Clayton, LA so we decided to duck into an Exxon gas station and put on our rain gear. The weather radar on the Wing looked like the rain system we had been skirting had finally over taken us.

Just after we pulled into the gas station, the skies opened up. We had timed our stop perfectly! We fueled up the bike and slipped on our rain gear. The rain had stopped but the roads were wet and it looked like it could start raining again at any point. The radar showed rain all around us.

Another 30 minutes down the road and we entered Vidalia, LA were we planned to stop at a Subway to pick up lunch. Today we planned to have a picnic on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Given our planned direction of travel from this point (northeast) it looked like we might luck out with the rain. It hadn't rained since our stop in Clayton so we took off our rain gear at the Subway. Vidalia is very close to the Mississippi river and the LA/MS state line. Soon after picking up our lunch we were crossing the Mississippi river and entered the state of Mississippi.

Shortly after entering Mississippi, we turn onto the Natchez Trace Parkway.

The parkway roughly follows the "Old Natchez Trace" a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, "Kaintucks," European settlers, slave traders, soldiers, and future presidents. The parkway is 444 miles and our plan is to follow it from the southern most point to the northern most point. Today we would ride the first 100 miles of it.

After approximately 18 miles, we stopped at the Coles Creek rest area for our picnic lunch. We were treated the drumming of a little woodpecker while we ate our lunch.

We ate our lunch and were back on the bike within 30 minutes. The weather looked like it was closing in on us so we wanted to keep moving to try and stay ahead of it.

The parkway had little to no traffic, has a speed limit of 50mph, and is quite beautiful. We really enjoyed this serene roadway compared to the hectic pace of the highways around Houston.

We lucked out an avoided heavy rain. Rob said we were in a "rain donut" as he called it. On the Wing's weather radar we could see we were in a dry circle surrounded by rain. We arrived at our destination for the day in Ridgeland, MS at about 2:45pm. The road was slightly wet towards the end of our ride but we avoided any significant rainfall. Total mileage for the day was about 240 miles. 

We relaxed for a few hours and then walked a short way over to Newks Eatery for a Mediterranean pizza and side salad. Our hotel is in a corporate area of what appears to be a dozen banks. There's a nice pond in the middle and a big crane flew away as we approached. Tomorrow we will pick up the Natchez Trace Parkway were we left off today as we continue our ride northward.