NATCHEZ &045; Some have dreams &045; others live them.

That is what Fritz Kratzeinsen, a 65-year-old teacher from Achern, Germany, has been doing for the last four years by traveling the world on his bicycle.

&uot;In the late 1980s, I had the dream to get on my bicycle and take a trip over the globe,&uot; Kratzeinsen explains with his thick German brogue.

&uot;So on November 11, 2000, I left to finally make the dream come true.&uot;

He said that he spent more than three years riding his bike over Europe until he finally crossed the Atlantic Ocean by airplane this summer, for the islands of the Caribbean.

After touring the Caribbean and Cuba, he made his way west to Mexico and from there to California.

His two-wheeled odyssey has taken him up the west coast of the United States, and several western states to Alaska.

He then crossed Canada and made his way down into upstate New York, &uot;during a beautiful Indian summer&uot; by &uot;muscle not motor,&uot; according to Kratzeinsen.

He has been working his way south across the United States ever since.

Kratzeinsen said that for most of his trip, he has slept outside under the waterproof tent that he carries, with extra clothes and other personal items, in the small trailer that he pulls behind his bicycle.

&uot;It has been wonderful. The United States is very beautiful,&uot; he said.

In recent months, his journey has brought him to the South, a place that he said has been among the most interesting that he has traveled, from encountering wild black bears in Kentucky to wild mountain men in West Virginia.

&uot;An old man came out screaming at me in West Virginia. He said I was trespassing and he had a rifle and he shot at me,&uot; Kratzeinsen said.

He said that he met more friendly natives as he pedaled his way down through Tennessee, where he was able to see the home of one of the few authentic kings the United States has ever produced. the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley.

&uot;In 1958 I shook his hand in Frankfort, Germany, when he was in the U.S. Army. I had always wanted to see Graceland, it was beautiful,&uot; Kratzeinsen said.

He crossed into Mississippi at Tupelo. His route eventually joined the Natchez Trace Parkway, where he worked his way to Natchez, a place that he already knew from pictures in a book purchased in Germany.

&uot;There was this book all about Natchez that I bought back in Germany. I saw all the lovely homes and thought how I would love to see them. Now I am here.&uot;

Kratzeinsen said he arrived in Natchez on Friday and has enjoyed taking pictures of the city, some of which he plans to include in a book that he will write about his travels when he returns to Germany.

&uot;I have taken about 2,500 pictures of my travels. I have taken over 200 of them here in Natchez. Natchez is a town with beautiful homes and people,&uot; he said.

He left Natchez Monday, planning to travel down U.S. 61 South into Baton Rouge, where he will make his way to New Orleans.

From there, Kratzeinsen plans to travel west to Texas and to eventually work his way to Central America. He hopes to be in Guatemala by Christmas.

He said that he would cross back over the Atlantic to South Africa when he finished his tour of South America.

From there, he plans to cycle across New Zealand, Australia, and much of Asia.

He hopes to be back in Germany by 2007 to work on his book. By that time, Kratzeinsen estimates he would have pedaled more then 70,000 miles.

&uot;It is a very long trip, but it is good to live a dream,&uot; he said.