Well, after my failed ride with Meathead, I had to schedule something. So I came up with a few routes that would lead me from the Return to Shiloh rally over to the Mississippi River, down to New Orleans, and back up to the No Clever Name rally. My buddy TorqueWrench (aka Keith) thought this sounded like a pretty good idea. So we adjusted the routes and set off.
Up and packed early
Stopping for breakfast (where we saw a couple of other riders)
About to cross the Tennessee River (Lake Guntersville)
Made it to Pickwick Dam Campground
Sunset on the river
The next morning on the river
Cannon demos at Shiloh
Monuments
And another sunset on the Tennessee River
My bed the next morning
Packed again and ready for the road
Twentymile Bottom
Cruising along the Natchez Trace Pkwy
Pee break
Further along the Trace
We set up at a campground in Jackson, MS
Where a local buddy came to join us
He was nice enough to bring beer with him.
The requisite Cracker Barrel stop
A beauty shot at another small river.
The old and new bridges
A stop at a historic Coca Cola location
And though I'm not a huge fan of Coke floats . . . it seemed appropriate
Then we would enter the Vicksburg battleground . . . .
The Cairo
Had to get this shot
Makes the hammocks sound pretty heroic, eh?
It took us HOURS to get through the battleground. I can definitely say I was over it.
Then on to another campground along the Trace
Where it was time to do some laundry
Ultimately, it would end up raining on my newly washed clothes before they were able to dry.
Then we took some roads off of the Trace to find the Windsor Ruins
Then some more back-roads to the nearly-deserted town of Rodney
After that, we headed into Natchez, intending to explore the historic city. But a pouring rain started and drenched us for the afternoon. By the time we checked into a hotel (I wanted to watch the presidential debate that night), we were both done for the day. So that evening ended up just being a time for laundry and relaxation.
The next morning, we had a little transportation problem
While we were taking a break there and re-figuring our route, a sheriff drove up.
He took one look at the sign and said, "Well, $hi7."
Then he broke out the maps to figure a way around.
We found the spot to cross about 30 miles away
Keith and I hopped on a route that hug the levee on the west side of the Mississippi River. We zipped along that for quite some time. I sped up to the top of the levee to check things out, but there were signs marking it all as Private Property.
Eventually, we got on the interstate and hauled *** over to Datadaddy's house. When we got there, I was tuckered out from holding the KTM on course around all of the speeding vehicles on the interstate.
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