Wonderful First Ride!!

Wow!  55 miles from Jackson to Vixksburg - the longest distance I've ever biked!!  It was an amazing day!!

The temperatures were cool, there was a gentle breeze blowing and the wildflowers were in bloom.  I couldn't have picked a better day for biking.

I am the youngest person on the tour.  Most of the women are between 55 and 70 years old.  The two oldest women are 73 and 82!!  The 73 year old, a fellow Texan, is one of the strongest bikers on the tour.  The 82 year old is a force of nature.  Her name is Emily.  She drove to Mississippi from Virginia to join the tour, tent camping the whole way!

Emily is tough, outspoken, eccentric and my new hero!  I hope to be a little like her when I'm in my 80s!!

Last night we stayed in The Cedar Grove Mansion.   It is a lovely antebellum home with verandas, creaky wood floors and amazing architecture.   The mansion still bears scars from the Civil War.   There is a cannon ball embedded in the parlor wall and a hole in the floor of the same room where another cannon ball hit.  General Grant and Jefferson Davis are both rumored to have stayed here.

It's raining this morning but I am still planning to ride the loop through the Vicksburg National Park.   This has been such an amazing experience.   I don't want to miss a thing!

I'm having trouble with my app today, so here are the descriptions of the photos I've added to this post:  a pic of Emily, my hero and role model and a pic of my room at the Cedar Grove Mansion.