Natchez — The Harrison family left their Kentucky home on a five-seater bicycle two years ago on a quest to see America

Bill and Amarins and their children Cheyenne,8, Jasmine, 6, and Robin, 5, stopped in Natchez two years ago on their 7,000 mile journey across the country. The “Pedouins” were back in Natchez Friday on their way back to Kentucky.

Their journey has taken them from the woods of the Kentucky to the wilds of Alaska, but Bill said Natchez was one of the family’s favorite stops on their trip.

“I really love the history and the hospitality,” he said.

The Harrisons featured Natchez in their book “A Pedouin Life, Stop and Smell the Artichokes” that chronicles their cross-country journey. The family sold 23 books during their three-day stop in Natchez and donated some of the proceeds to the Sunshine Children’s Center.

Matilda Stephens, director of the center, said she had heard the Harrisons were in town but had no idea they were stopping by the shelter.

“I was so touched,” she said. “I had no idea they were going to donate any money to us.”

Stephens said she is inspired by the Harrisons because they are raising their children so they get to see America and the very best of it.

“It’s very inspirational to a person like me who spends their days dealing with children who have seen the worst in people,” she said.

Bill said the family has been talking to people on the road and reminding them of their dreams.

“They believe in the dream, and they see the passion and the realization it takes to happen,” he said.

The family has come to know the real America, Bill said.

“The America we have met is radically different than the America we see in the media,” Bill said. “There are wonderful, good, hardworking people, period.”

Amarins, originally from the Netherlands, said she wanted her children to see all the good that goes on around the country. She said her family has traveling spirits at heart, and her daughters’ educations were in her and her husband’s hands.

“This America, you can see it, feel it, touch it, smell it,” she said.

Bill said he wants his girls to become independent, strong women.

“We want them to be self-confident, strong young ladies that will do magnificent things for the world,” he said.

Cheyenne said she likes traveling on the road because she gets to be with her family.

“I like it,” Cheyenne said from her bunk bed in the family’s bus named “Old Blue.” “I like being together.”

“Old Blue,” a 1960s Chevrolet bus, is how the family travels when they are not on the bike.

The Harrisons left Kentucky with only $300 and have sustained themselves by living a simple life and working odd jobs along the way.

“And we have met some of the kindest, most generous people there are,” Bill said.

Bill said the most interesting thing the family saw on their trip was the aurora borealis in Alaska when they spent 11 months in a dry cabin in Fairbanks.

“That’s the benefit of having to go to an outhouse in the middle of the night in 32-degree weather,” Bill said. “We would have missed the entire aurora borealis had we been staying inside.”

Bill said the family has plans to be in Africa in five years doing random acts of kindness.

“Everything we do from now on will be working toward Africa,” he said.

Bill said the family will be back in Natchez next fall to visit the children at the children’s center.

“We’re going to get the chance to speak to the children about their dreams and their lives and let them know that it is all possible,” he said.