We were within 16 miles of Memphis after having bicycled to the KOA stay last night. I could barely believe that the wind was still blowing us south again this morning with yet another clear blue sky. We made it into West Memphis quickly then went in search of the bike paths that would get us over the Mississippi and into Memphis TN.
The MRT signs have been too few and far in between for us to follow without our own navigation maps. This was one of the last we'd see on this adventure. It was on the Big River Trail approach to the Mississippi River crossing bridge.
There is a pedestrian/bicycling bridge that is separate from the auto and train bridges the cross the river.
Here is a view of the bridge we crossed the river on from the Memphis side of the river.
Here is a view up river from a elevated pathway along the posh looking bluff neighborhood overlooking the river.
There was alot of construction along the waterfront park and some adjacent crossroads that had that trail closed but the higher bluff path was open.
We were in search of Beale Street. It was also under construction but we managed to access the park at the base of the street where the following photos were taken.
This bench looked a bit fishy.
We were getting hungry for some lunch by this time and found a favorite eatery in the immediate neighborhood- Gus's.
As the sign says, it's all about fried food and especially fried chicken.
After lunch, Wendy and I retraced our route to reach our hotel in West Memphis for tonight. The Great River Epic Adventure Tour had come to an unofficial close. I learned something about the changing peoples and communities along our way down a great river which is also changing as it travels southward. I learned that racoons are in dire need of getting lessons on how to cross the street. I learned that my sister is a reliably awsome organized bicycle camping companion. I'm grateful to our spouses that gave us the opportunity to roam freely around the Mississippi River valley for the last month. I hope that maybe you saw something that caught your eye that may make you want to visit this interesting and important part of our country. Good bye, y'all and thanks for checking in on us from time to time.
Wendy and I were fortunate to avoid any flat tires. I had noticed the infamous "goat head" thorn the last couple of days. These pesty things reaked havoc on inner tubes the last trip I was on.
We traveled a total of 1644 miles over 26 days. We didn't take any days off but did have some shorter days that probably helped us recover for the subsequent days to follow. Most of our days had us waking up at 6:30am and being ready to ride by 8am.
