Moondog

Well well well well well. Over the past week we've biked through: a downpour, oil refineries, 20mph headwinds, cool couchsurfing hosts in Baton Rouge, a total of 7 popped tubes, a brand new tire with kevlar bead destroyed, weird combinations of different processed foods, skinny shoulders that barely avoid 18-wheelers, and a lot of frustration. That got us up to Natchez, MS, where the start of the Natchez Trace Parkway is. This road runs 440 miles up to Nashville, but we were only planning on taking it about 100 up to Jackson  or further up to Tupelo MS where we'd switch and go east through Alabama.

Day one on the trace we met a guy named Eric who was out for an afternoon ride, and he chatted with us as we leisurely biked along. As we were headed downhill we all heard Sam's tire go POP! so we pulled over to fix it. Eric stayed with us and lent a hand as well as concerns for our wellbeing, so he left his phone number if we needed anything. That night we got to the Natchez State Park about 15 miles up the Trace and stayed in our tent from 7PM until 7AM while the rain and lightning came down on us without pause. Sam kept his panniers in the nearby bathhouse where fortunately there was a washer/dryer, so in the morning we spent about an hour and a half drying our tent, sleeping bags, and ourselves. Both our bikes, however, were now experiencing problems: Cayla's chain would skip and fall off every time she went even slightly uphill, and Sam's tire/tube fiasco continued to cause worry. After a brief visit to the Emerald Mounds, which were indigenous ceremonial grounds as impressive as Stonehenge in the amount of labor put in, we embarked along with a six-mile descent calming our bike calamities for the meantime. It was only a matter of time, however, until Sam's tube went flat, again, and we were out of tubes to replace them (every flat was beyond patching, with either large tears or holes around the stem). That's when we called Eric.

With his long gray hair flowing and bellbottoms to boot, Eric picked us up and brought us back to Natchez to fix our bikes at his local favorite mechanic. Cayla ended up with a new chain and a new gear ring in the back, and Sam got a new tire. Then we rode back on the Trace for a quick 10-mile ride with Eric and his riding crew just to keep our legs stretched. We took Eric out to dinner and he let us stay in an empty rental home he owned, where after a looooooong day, we fell asleep around 8.

Eric insisted on making the 2-hour drive up the Trace yesterday to drop us off in Jackson where we had a Warm Showers host set up. We couldn't thank him enough for the help he gave us, and we'll miss him, but it felt good to keep moving. As we drove up the Trace it felt a little weird knowing we really wanted to be biking it, but sometimes things don't work out the way they were supposed to. We're staying in the Fondren neighborhood of Jackson with Don and Becky, some awesome people who own a home with a huge garden, two greenhouses, cool art everywhere, 4 cats, a snuggly pug named Moondog, and a miniature horse named Willow. In the 70s, Don and Becky moved out into the woods, built their own cabin, and lived there off the grid for 8 years. In order to raise their three kids they moved back to town, but they still carry their ruggedness with them. They've been vegan/vegetarian since and pointed us to the co-op in town which felt comfortingly like City Market. We hung out there for a little while eating lunch and making phone calls to start shopping around for trucks, and even went to see one in town. Then we went out for pizza with Don and Becky, and fell asleep, again exhausted.

Today is raiiiiiiining and cold, so we'll be taking it easy, looking for more trucks, and planning our next moves. We may be headed back to Vermont sooner than expected to get a jumpstart on farm things as that anxiety has been weighing on us. Traveling is fun but feels unproductive in a lot of ways. Stay tuned for what comes next!

PS: photos can be found at: http://instagrid.me/slboutin/ and include: Sam searching for a gecko in the bathhouse in Natchez; the Emerald Mounds; playing with Willow; and air-mattress surfing.