Up next? Mississippi.

We'll be leavin' Louisiana behind in the mornin', headin' East from Vidalia over the mighty Mississippi River to Natchez, MS.
Then we'll be biking along ~400 miles of the Natchez Trace; pert near the entire length. And it'll take us plumb across the state, over to the NW corner of Alabama, and into TN. We've heard that it is beautiful; that commercial trucks are not allowed on it. I think the speed limit for motorized vehicles might even be a mere 45 mph? That will seem down right pedestrian, esp compared to the 70 mph on the "small" highways that we've been bikin' on (80 mph on the Interstate). Anyway, I was staring at the National Park Service map of it today, and I'm pretty excited.

I do believe we'll be crossing "The Trail of Tears"; maybe even more than once (there are several routes that we drove the indigenous peoples across, like so many branded cattle, "to clear the land for settlers" - as if there weren't any humans settled on the land when we got here). And one of the things that I have been most impressed with, other than the good-naturedness of nearly everyone we've met, is the absolute destruction of the tribes that were here before the Spanish, then the Spanish-Mexicans, and finally, before the Americans (remember, AZ and NM have been states for a mere 100 years. The nastiness of the Spanish, in particular, has been kinda shocking. The ruthless murdering, stealing, and destruction is the furthest thing from "civilized" that I can imagine. I can only imagine how distraught, guilty and repentant the King of Spain must feel; the angst of the Spanish Catholics and the Pope over the suffering and deaths because of their actions. It's shocking, really.) So sad. I'll try to resist stopping at too many of the "Historical Markers." I know y'all don't wanna here about it...

The people, the landscape, the wildlife, and the food continue to impress. The motorists have been mostly observant and courteous. But I'll tell ya, the absolute lack of infrastructure for walking and biking has also made a huge (and I don't mean obese; but that could be said about it too) impression. We have truly become a land of oil addicts and motor vehicle aficionados - to the exclusion of all other simpler, healthier, quieter, cheaper forms of transportation. And we are paying for it in more ways than we realize.

Ride yer bike.
Walk yer feet.
It'll make ya feel better.
Today, and tomorrow.