July 31, 2017
to Kosciusko: It's all about meeting good people
After our disappointing experience with “warmshowers” yesterday, todays takes a very nice unexpected turn.
There is a bullfrog in the trees behind our tent, Rachel has a restless night because of it; Patrick does not notice a thing. We have our oatmeal and coffee in the morning and head back onto the causeway across Ross Barnet Reservoir to rejoin the Natchez Trace. Only a few kilometers on we stop at one of the main attractions along the Trace: the Cypress Swamp. The Pearl River has changed courses many times, and one of the abandoned riverbeds is now filled with a swamp full of Cypress trees. We get there early enough, the sun is just rising and the sunrays break horizontally through the trees. The light and reflections in the water are magical. Not so great are the hordes of mosquitoes that ambush us when we are far enough from our bikes that a quick retreat to get repellent is no longer an option. We lose some blood, but get a very nice experience and some good photos in return.
After making our escape from the swamp we ride just a kilometer to a picnic site along the Pearl River where a breeze keeps the mozzies at bay. We have carried a box with four large cinnamon rolls. They are great and almost provide us with our recommended daily intake of saturated fats. We ride on; see a turtle on a log, an armadillo rooting around in the grassy shoulder and the yellow eyes of an alligator lurking just below the surface of a small ditch. The blue sky slowly fills with white puffy clouds, large hay bales are scattered alongside the road. The scenery is beautiful.
Our goal for today is the bicyclist-only primitive campsite near Kosciusko. The map indicates it is at the maintenance station just south of the town’s visitor center. We read in other journals that it is little hard to find, but since we know it must be there we locate a small tent sign in the bushes. A narrow dirt road leads us to a fairly pretty site with a couple of tent pads, a fire ring and a water spigot that is not working. No toilet and the place looks a little run-down. We have carried water from the last restrooms only five miles south of here so we are in pretty good shape.
Patrick unloads his bike gear to ride into town, stop at the visitor center and run to the Walmart Supercenter to pick up some beer and try to acquire a battery powered fan for our tent. Two nice ladies at the visitor center do not know whether the campground we plan to stay at tomorrow night has water. After our bad experience at Rocky Springs we want to make sure. The volunteer calls her supervisor who then wants to talk to Patrick. Turns out she is the “warmshowers” host in town that we sent a message to a couple of days ago. Donna offers to host us tonight and will meet us at the visitor center a little later. So Patrick rides back to the primitive campsite to get Rachel who has started to put up the tent, and retrieve his gear, then we ride back to the visitors center. Donna arrives soon and explains the bicycle camping is now done right at the visitor center. There are restrooms and water here, and if she gets her way maybe a shower in the future.
Donna is an angel. As we were leaving the visitors center, this becomes immediately apparent. A little boy who just walked into the visitor center with his little brother and mom was very sad because they had left home for a couple of days and he forgot his toy. After she gives us directions to her house, Donna makes a run to Walmart to pick-up a stuffed toy, buys two to give the boy a choice, and asks him to adopt this poor Mississippi stuffed animal until he gets back home to his own toys.
We ride to Donna’s beautiful home near the parkway and are shown a nice room. Before we settle in though we drive back to the town center where Donna has some work to do while we take a short walk around the city square with its courthouse, confederate memorial and a couple of beautiful churches and homes. Kosciusko is very near the geographic center of Mississippi and once was a campsite for those journeying from Natchez to Nashville. Originally called Red Bud Springs, the town was renamed Kosciusko (without the z) after Thadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish officer and hero that served in General Washington’s Army during the American Revolution. With the slow, southern Mississippi accent the town is pronounced Kosy-es’-ko.
On the way back to the house, we do our shopping for the next couple of days. The shopping was a success, for Patrick found his treasure: the fan. The afternoon is spent in Donna’s kitchen, doing a little on-line work and talking. Donna lost one of her sons in a car accident when he was 17, and her husband just five years ago by a distracted driver while he was cycling on the Natchez Trace. She has turned these tragedies into an inspiring drive to promote bicycle safety along the Trace and in all National Parks.
We go downtown to have a burger at the Outfielders sports bar when a family of four also comes into the bar to eat. Donna goes over to talk with them, because she knew “they were not from around here”. She is a great representative for tourism for the town. They are a Dutch couple and their two teenage sons travelling the Southern US. So in this small town eatery, there are 5 Dutch people, of course Patrick starts talking Dutch with them. Donna gives them her card and invites them over to her house for a drink. This is something you will not quickly experience in Holland and if you did most people would decline. But these travelers do not hesitate to have a uniquely American experience. We spent a pleasant evening talking Dutch and English with the Gijs family: Bart Sr., his wife Claudia and sons Bart and Bert. Bart Jr. is quite the Elvis fan and makes a good impersonation. You can google him on YouTube. They just visited Memphis and Tupelo and are excited. At around ten o’clock they leave to check into a local hotel, fortunately they had made reservations.
This is pretty late for us since our routine is usually early to bed and early to rise. Tomorrow though is a shorter distance and to a Park campground not near any town, and there will be no need to hurry.
Today's ride: 83 km (52 miles)
Total: 36,347 km (22,571 miles)
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