A new state and the natchez trace:

I'm in Mississippi now and It's absolutely delightful. I rode an extra 40 miles so I could camp for free in tupelo and it was worth it. As the first city with over 20,000 people living in it in over 600 miles it felt nice to be able to pick a restaurant to eat in. I ended up camping for free in a nearly abandoned camping site that the trace has to offer. A little creepy but it was nice to camp alone after having to camp with people around the last few sites.
The next day I finally met some more touring cyclists which was nice. The first guy had been travelling for a couple of years and was headed to D.C. to meet up with a friend. I wish I could remember the nick-name he had been given but it escaped me instantly. He told me of a 32 year old girl who I was sure to enjoy the company of just a few miles behind him. And so, as promised, a few miles later I met Alicia, a girl from san Diego who was headed to Nashville to see the classic country culture. We hung out for a little over an hour just talking and eating power bars and it was delightful. Despite my lack of water and my thirst, I stayed and listened to her rambling about everything on her mind. It was nice to meet someone close to my age and close to my life situation to talk about anything and everything with. She left and I went on my way. I finished out the day at Gary and donna's house and enjoyed an awesome shower and some laundry. The unfortunate thing is that, due to an emergency in a friends family, they had to drive up to Nashville the day of my arrival. Kevin, a close friend of theirs was there to save the day for me and I was able to stay. He's awesome and I was so happy to sleep in a bed instead of camping out. You'd be surprised about how much better you feel when you get a nice shower and get to sleep in a bed.
The next day I had a nice, short day (60 miles) and another ws host in Jackson, ms. The potts are absolutely delightful and after going to my first coffee shop and hanging out for an hour, I went back to their house where we headed to a friend of theirs house. We drank wine and talked about everything from politics to art and it was great. It was nice to feel normal again and not just hang out in poly-lycra skin tight clothes. It was nice to not feel dirty and sweaty all of the time. I'm happy for the break in new orleans coming up in a few days but tbh, I'm happy to keep riding and meeting more people. I did, however, make a decision that'll change the rest of my trip. I'm going to stop in Austin, tx and head home after that. As much as I'd love to finish out the trip to Mexico, I honestly don't see any point of going that far. In west Texas, I would be bypassing everything I want to see and would only be doing to prove something to myself when I've already proved so much. It's not about the end but about the trip and I don't want to rush through the remainder of my trip and miss out on what's right in front of my face.
So, as far as I'm concerned, cbus to Austin it is and I'm done. If you feel bad about it, sorry. I just gotta do what I gotta do. Until then folks and i'll catch ya on the road.