We woke up excited for our first B&B that actually included both B's. We were all very disappointed to discover that breakfast consisted of cold cereal. What a ripoff. I cannot recommend the Bernheimer house, considering their pricing methods and lack of breakfast. Super 8 had far nicer breakfasts.

Jumping on the Natchez Trace Parkway, we covered our first 20 miles quickly. The Trace is sure a nice smooth ride. The hills are long but not very steep so the mile markers flew past. The temps were in the 70s, which is amazing for this time of year. Awesome!

At our first break, we all quickly took to our normal duties. Roger stood around smiling while the rest of us veg'ed.

After such a long day yesterday, we slept in until 7:00, had breakfast at the Quality Inn in Vicksburg, and headed out. We called ahead and made a reservation at a Bed and Breakfast in Port Gibson. It was going to be a little expensive, but we would only need one room, and there was not a lot of choices in the area. The other hotel we called did not designate smoking versus non-smoking rooms, so we had to skip them.

Here is a picture Chris took. He wanted to know what it looked like to have sunblock put on.

Pictures to be posted later..........

We slept in until 7 and had a decent breakfast at the hotel. We landed up getting the last 2 rooms that the hotel had, and we were short on beds so Chuck and Taters took the floor. Before leaving we booked a room at a B&B in Port Gibson. I explained to them that we were sight seeing on bicycle, and would not arrive until later. We were told the price and reserved the room.

The MRT route through Vicksburg is confusing and possibly marked wrong. We ended up doing a huge circle....very frustrating.

Fisher Ferry road out of Vicksburg is hilly, no shoulder, and insane traffic. This road should NOT be part of a bike route, it is VERY dangerous. Eventually it does become a nice road however; we enjoyed it after the traffic disappeared.

We woke up at 5:00 to get an early start on our upcoming long day. The hotel staff at the Hampton Inn in Greenville even had breakfast ready a half hour earlier for us. They also let us take their "Breakfast to go bags" so we would have a snack for later in the morning.

Our first stop of the day was at Roy's Store located on Roy's Store Road. We had drinks and breakfast sandwiches, and were back on the road.

We slept in and got a quick breakfast from Super 8. I called the bike shop and he was open so we headed over to hopefully get my trike fixed. Kwik Keys and Bikes said that they had 20" rims in stock.

Apparently I shouldn't let the girls sleep in.....Taters had enough energy to sit in the room pedaling her bike backwards.

A lot of people like to photograph us with their phones. Outside of Kwick Keys and Bikes I photographed a guy photographing Roger.

We woke up early at the Isle of Capri Casino hotel in Lula MS. We searched for breakfast but nothing was open at 6:00, so we resorted to "women's restroom stew" (oatmeal in it's packet for those of you not up on the lingo :) ) Then we hit the road hard because we had a big day ahead of us!

We left Best Western after sleeping in and headed for Subway. The cardboard statue of Jarad suggested we eat a sub with 6 grams of fat or less..........so we did. Today is a rest day for us, we are tired and have a very long gap between towns tomorrow. After a rest day today, we should be ready for a big HOT day tomorrow. Temps are expected to be near 100, not including the heat index. Also, we need a chance to let our stuff dry out.

Hi All,
Our gang is in Greenville, MS tonight and absolutely exhausted. They did 95 miles today. The temperature was a balmy 95 degrees with the heat indices at about 110. Adding to that, the humidity was really up there. The road temps were 100 to 104. Ya, they're cooked.

Chris limped into town with his back rim barely holding his tire. This is not the bent rim either, that is shot. Thankfully, there is a bike shop there and is supposed to have the correct rim for him. He's still missing a brake too, but Roger wasn't sure if he was going to get that fixed or not. I guess the shop person has to really know his stuff to fix the brake.

This is for yesterday, July 14th....................
Our group only did 20 to 25 miles and went from West Helena, AK across the Mississippi River to Helena, MS. This was because of more storms.

They stayed at the Isle of Capri Cassino & Hotel. This gave Katie some special treatment by SECURITY!!! To cross the casino floor to get to the buffet, she was required to be escorted by Security. They sure don't trust minors!!!
Also, anyone with her was not allowed to so much as touch a machine. I suggested to Roger that he keep Chuck away from Miss Katie. He does enjoy playing Black Jack, and they just didn't need any problems. I wonder if Chuck even considered a few hands???

What you guys are doing is fantastic, I've heard people complain more driving from here to there. Keep up the great fun its awesome!! John Baum Pittsville WI.