Marc and Carolyn's Cycle Touring Adventures : Day 15 - Southern Terminus

We did it.

We made it to Natchez, the full length of the Natchez Trace Parkway.

The cold night turned into a cold morning, but it brightened when we met our camping neighbors. They arrived after we had gone to bed last night (meaning they arrived after 5:30 pm 😅), so we didn't meet them until this morning.

Mike wandered over to say hello and read us the warning label on his Walmart chips 😳. Funny kind of introduction, but all in good humour. It does seem a strange thing to have on the label of potatoes chips: "contains ingredients that may cause..." He was very nice. From "up north" Illinois / Wisconsin border. Tracy joined him and we had a nice long chat over the Jetboil bubbling for instant coffee and oatmeal.

She brought us other drinks to enjoy in the cold.

Very nice people. And they told us how impressed they were with Emerald Mound, so we went there before we started our last 10 miles of the Trace. It was quite impressive. Ancient and huge, tucked away down an old road. I am glad we were encouraged to go. It was interesting.

And then we got started on the task at hand. Finishing the Trace. 10 miles to go.

We had our cycling legs now. At about 6 degrees and sunny, the wind was finally at our backs and we just cruised along the home stretch.

We stopped at mile marker 1 as we were not sure if the final mile would be marked (remember, the northern terminus did not have a mile marker 444).

And then we did indeed find the southern terminus. A sign and a map. We did it! We made it! Thank you Daughters of the American Revolution.

And into Natchez we rode, to find a very good coffee shop, indulge in warmth and calories, and head to our hotel for a shower. We are staying on the shore of the Mississippi River and look forward to a day of exploring tomorrow.