West Point to Fulton

April 20, 2010

Murals are a good way for a community to quickly introduce the features and history of the area to visitors.

We stopped in Aberdeen to visit their library to see their exhibit/artifacts on slavery, but were disappointed once again. The display was now in storage. The librarian offered to show us some old photographs that had been digitized, but we didn't take the time to view them.

We stopped to walk over to Lake Monroe. There was only one goose in residence and lots of poison ivy.

As we cycled along swamp areas we startled several cranes which took flight. Once, when cycling past a farm we were chased by two English sheepdogs, a goat and a flying goose while a horse ran in the other direction. Fortunately a fence contained all of the animals. We weren't so lucky on another occasion as we were attacked by a pack of dogs. They had us surrounded and tail gunner Rhona used her "Halt" in a "target rich environment". The owner, an elderly man, happened to drive up to the driveway while we were in the middle of the attack. He shrugged and upraised his hand as if to say, "Well, what can I do!" I noticed his car window was up or I would have grabbed the "Halt" spray from Rhona and showed him how his dogs felt as a result of his failing to provide any supervision of his animals or any concern for the safety of others. Am I the only cyclist that hates to spray dogs but would consider spraying negligent owners?

We stopped in a small diner (Nibbler's Nook) where lunch included fried okra. Rhona thinks all food here is fried, even corn. We ordered a "plate lunch" and didn't realize until later that we were limited in the number of entrees. When we attempted to pay the owner extra, she wouldn't hear of it. We continue to enjoy friendly attention from almost everyone we meet. However, one gentleman chatted with us at length and warned us about homosexuals on the Natchez Trace and stated that while he was against slavery, he was for "States Rights". Something about his manner bothered me and I suspected "States Rights" was a code word for very conservative views where civil rights were not a high priority for persons of color.

Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 368 miles (592 km)

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