May 10, 2012. Vicksburg to Yazoo City, MS. 54 miles.

Vicksburg is a lovely town... there are several Confederate Cemeteries and a large park, a historic downtown, and I missed it all.... by the time I got in yesterday I was very much done so did not tour. Some people sagged in, to have the time to go to the museum.  Not me. I am quite unsaggable, a word invented at breakfast yesterday. I saw a large Confedrate Cemetery and monument on the way out of town but the gate was shut up tight. Not much is open at 7:30 AM.

This morning we had detours for the first several miles, and dogs came out to run around and bark at us. Fortunately noone was bitten... We were told that the first 15 miles would consist of rolling hills and then it would flatten out. Not quite true... the steepest hill was at mile 48 as we were coming into Yazoo City. Marni said it was the first time on the tour that she used her granny gear; I guess I have to agree--I was looking for more gears too.

We rode 30 miles on Highway 3 North today. It was smoothly paved, but there was not much shoulder. There were a lot of log trucks and farm trucks but they were very considerate of us. Above you can see Dianne and Marni at the first sag while a log truck rolls by... this one is going south toward the paper plant, but they were traveling in both directions, both loaded and unloaded. At one point there was a "wide load" escort and a caravan of half-houses on flat bed trailers. We got all the way off the road for that one... Marni noticed that there were 5 halves. Hmmmm, must be a Mississippi thing. I rode with Dianne and Marni all day, at a moderate pace. 

As we came into town we saw a lot of fast food places, and I asked a man in a truck where we could find a real restaurant. He sent us to Clancy's BBQ and we were not disappointed! We were able to get into our rooms right away, and after showering went down to the breakfast room to play Scrabble. The hotel staff provided us with milk and cookies and popcorn.  For dinner Lynne prepared Salade Nicoise (with salmon) and chocolate cake--a great combination!  I feel much recovered from yesterday's ride. The next 2 days are also relatively short: 55 and 63 miles, before we haul 92 miles into Memphis on Sunday.