2026 Natchez Trace ride - Day 14 - Highlands for lunch

Standing behind Bridal Veil Falls

I woke up at 6:00 and felt really good. I lay there for a few minutes before I realized that it was well before sunrise and if I would just get my lazy butt out of bed I could maybe catch some nice pictures of the Sunrise.

So I showered and got dressed, then grabbed all three cameras and headed out onto the back porch. It was just that first light . I was going to have to wait 10 or 15 minutes.

When it finally got light enough to see I was somewhat disappointed to find low-lying clouds all across the tops of the mountains and fog down near the lake. I kept waiting for the orange sunrise to highlight the clouds, but I wasn't seeing it.

I used my 360 camera to get a picture of me on the deck.  I also took a few pictures of the mountains but they didn't really turn out. Then I walked out to the front of the house to see what picture I could frame out there. I walked about halfway up the driveway and when I turned around there was a really picturesque View of the house the lake behind the house the mountains off in the distance but unfortunately still no orange sunrise.

Back deck of our rental house

Our rental house from half way up the driveway with the lake and mountains behind

I went back inside and listen to my book for a while. Actually I'm not sure if I've even mentioned what book I'm listening to right now. I'm listening to the personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant. I've been going to civil War battle sites, and I recently listened to the Civil War by Shelby Foote. I thought Grant's memoirs would be an interesting follow on.

Everyone started to wake up around 7:30. Ron started making french toast and Karen once again helped by making bacon. By 8:30 most of us have been up and eaten but Angela had a pretty good headache and needed to lay back down so we delayed our departure for a while. Nan also laid back down to get more rest.

John coming down the steep driveway after a test ride

I think we finally got on the road just before 10:00. We were going to do a loop kind of to the southeast and then come around and back in a clockwise manner. It'll be about 150 MI. We stopped for gas and to put ice in cups then headed east on Highway 74

After about 20 miles we turned South. We got a couple of odd instructions from GPS that had us flipping u-turns two or three times.  Somehow I wound up in the lead.  I almost never lead, not because I don't know where I'm going or how to lead, but because no one wants to ride as slow as I want to ride . So I usually wind up at the back following as best I can, but when I'm uncomfortable with the speed that the group is going I will just fall off the back end and catch up later.

So here I was leading while everybody's talking on the intercom.  We're joking and laughing and I missed a left turn followed immediately by a right turn.  This left us need to do another u-turns. That put us in even more laughter because I was complaining that I couldn't hear the GPS instructions with all the chatting going on. But nobody got run over and eventually we were on the right road headed in the right direction.

U-turns in the middle of the road - not really

We had been on the road a little over an hour when our first call for a potty break came. It came right after we passed the gas station and we did not flip a U-turn to go back. I started looking ahead to see if I can see a gas station and eventually found one.

This gas station had a magic key that you must have in your possession to go to the bathroom. So we had a little ritual of passing on the power of the magic key. 

When all were done, we got snacks or drinks or whatever was needed. Ron bought some boiled peanuts and several of us gave them a try . They are very salty and I can see how people could like them but none of us did.

We were sitting around talking for a while when John said that he and Angela were heading back to the hous.  I guess Angela had a headache since we left and was hoping it would go away, but it was getting worse and finally reached the point that she couldn't take it anymore.   They put on their gear and waved goodby.

The rest of us started looking at the map.  We thought we'd go another hour down the road and get lunch before heading back. We picked a town called Highlands that seemed to have many food options and I put that in as the next destination.  We loaded up and started riding.  These were some beautiful roads

We see kudzu everywhere, here they have been spraying to kill it

Riding past a beautiful lake

More of the beautiful lake

We took a back road to cut from highway 107 to 64

We have been dealing with road construction this whole trip, and this ride was no different. We Came upon a one lane road and wound up sitting there for almost 20 minutes. No cars were coming the other direction either so I think they were doing something that closed the whole Road for a bit. Finally we saw cars coming the other way and then we were allowed to go. They were repaving a large section and we had to pass by at a snail's pace.

We got to Highlands and I pulled us into a gas station so we could try to find a restaurant. The intercoms really help for things like this because no one had to get off of bikes and huddle over someone's phone to try to pick something out. Ron suggested a barbecue place and I looked it up, it looked good so we headed off in that direction, after I pick the wrong direction and had to do a u-turn. U-turns seem to be the theme of today's ride.

We parked in the shade then climbed up some long steps to reach their patio. Ron and Karen ordered chicken tacos, I got shrimp tacos, and Nan got brisket burnt ends appetizer as her meal. We also got a banana pudding that the lady told us was the last one they had.

Lunch at the Highlands Smokehouse

The food was awesome, especially Nan's burnt hands were fantastic. There were some left at the end so we got a box and brought them back.

When we were done eating I went to get our banana pudding. It wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic . Then we all took turns going to the one bathroom, but on our way to the bathroom there was a whole refrigerator filled with banana puddings .

We put all our gear back on except Nan and I decided not to wear coats so we slathered on the sunscreen and hopped on the bike. We got about 15 or 20 miles when I saw a waterfall off to our right and stopped. It was a pretty interesting waterfall with almost a little cave back behind it . We spent a while getting pictures then headed on down the road.

The "cave" behind bridal veil falls

Standing behind bridal veil falls

A bit farther back

All of bridal veil falls

They even put up a sign just for Nan

We've seen so many beautiful things that the rest of the ride was yet more beautiful things and unfortunately that becomes a little redundant . I'll post some of the pictures .

Achingly beautiful roads

More beautiful vistas

I've been on the road for 2 weeks now, and my bike is filthy. I've ridden lots of hot roads, a few very wet roads, some chip sealed roads, little bit of gravel , and it's all stuck to my bike . So I wanted to go give my bike a good wash but Ron didn't want to do that . So part way back to Bryson City they peeled off to the left .

We followed the GPS and eventually wound up at wishy-washy car wash. I pulled into an empty Bay then went to go swipe my credit card, but this one only takes cash. Luckily Nanette had $5. I wanted to get a picture so I gave Nana the phone grab the wand stuck the money in and immediately started washing the bike so now that can get a picture. Then I grabbed the phone from her and she wandered off to go look at a thrift store.

Pre-wash and loosening the dirt

All lathered up

I got the bike wet it down and then sprayed with some light soap, and switched on the foaming brush. This had a really good foaming brush and soon I had the bike completely covered in thick soap foam. I scrubbed all of the worst areas on the bike . I was kind of hurrying because I had no idea how long $5 would last. Once I got it all scrubbed I put the brush away grab the wand and switched it to rinse.

I saw that the countdown was at $4 and I'm thinking it was counting up, so I started rinsing the bike as fast as I could. I got it fully rinsed and then went back over thinking it was just about to run out but when I looked at the counter and it was now at $3.50. I still have more than half of my wash time left.

I gave the bike another really good rinse then switch to wax . Might as well. I put a light spray of wax all over the plastic parts , then switch back to rinse. I made sure to get all of the soap and all of the wax off of everything I can see. That's when the timer started beep meaning that I was down for my last dollar. I walked around for one last rinse and then put the wand away with about 5 cents left to go.

I got out one of my micro fiber cloths and started wiping first the bike seats , then the window , then the rest of the bike . It was pretty warm and I was done in just a few minutes.

I rode the bike over to get Nan at and then the two of us rode over to the local grocery store. We needed gallon Ziploc bags, Kleenex , and a bag of ice . Nan sat on the bike while I ran in to get all of that, then we headed back to the house.

We kind of sat around for the afternoon chatting and telling jokes until about 5:30 when John started pulling out the hamburgers to grill them. After only about 10 minutes John came back in and said the grill ran out of gas. He wound up frying them on the stove. We boiled some corn to go with it, then we sat down to eat. It was a very good meal.

While we were sitting around chatting, we got on the subject of politics. I let my dislike of Trump be known. We talked about it for a little while then got back off the subject.  It's perfectly fine for friends to disagree and continue to be friends.

Along with washing my bike, I decided it was time to wash my riding jacket.  I've sweated over 3,000 miles in that thing and it's a bit whiffy.  So I took all the pads out and put it in the washer and set it to delicate.  Then I'll dry it on low heat.

It's not even 8:00 and I think I'm done with the blog for now. I still need to process all the photos and add them to the blog. Then I'm going to call it a night. 

2026 Natchez Trace ride - Day 13 - Tail of the Dragon

Tail of the Dragon

I woke up this morning at 5:30 but the whole house was silent and I decided not to wake anybody else up by clunking around.  Plus I needed to take a shower and due to some confusion last night, Nannette mixed all my dirty clothes with my clean clothes so she just decided to rewash everything. I needed to get up, get dressed in my dirty clothes, and go out and get my clean clothes so I can take a shower so I can put on clean clothes. Too much to think about. I'll just lay here and doom scroll for an hour. 

Eventually I did go get the clothes, showered, and went out to start breakfast. Last night we bought enough stuff for me to make omelets.

I made omelets for the early risers then continued as everyone else woke up.  Breakfast was done by 9:00 and all seemed to like it.  The only complaint was not having any ketchup.

We talked and fiddled around for another hour and then finally started getting serious about getting out the door. I had asked that we go ride the Tail of the Dragon today. This was Nannette's first ride of this trip. She just arrived and was feeling good and there's no telling how she'll feel. So I wanted the most significant ride we could do. 

The living room of our rental house - chatting

John trying to text the route to everyone - I guess the helmet helps with reception

With this being Nannette's first ride, I kept thinking of things that needed to get done and having to rush back into the house to get something or change something. The others finally got tired and started their bikes and left. Finally I think I had it all ready and got on the bike, just to realize I'd left our waters sitting on the counter. One more rushed back in, grabbed them, and brought them out. 

This was also going to be Nannette's first ride with everybody on the intercom. Once we had ridden the 3 miles out of the neighborhood, we could hear the others. We met up and turned right on the highway towards the Tail of the Dragon. 

The temperatures were in the mid-70s and it felt absolutely wonderful. The sky was completely clouded over, keeping the heat down. We immediately fell into laughing and joking as we rode. We told stories about old rides, brought up some of the stories from our current ride, and in general just loved the experience. I could especially hear it in Nannette's voice. She lives for this kind of thing, not the riding, but the socializing. I've always said her ideal vacation is to travel somewhere, walk into a house, and sit for the next week talking. 

Riding toward the dragon

Very well maintained roads and beautiful forest

Many lakes and rivers

More water as we ride

We rode out some beautiful highways and often there would be a lake or a river on one side or the other of the road. This is such a beautiful part of the country. We did hit a couple of construction zones and had to wait through a long one-lane road delay but we eventually reached "Deals Gap".  That is the unofficial beginning of what they call "The Dragon".  It's a 11 mile section of road with 319 curves, often very tight hairpin curves.  It's very famous as a motorcycle destination.  People love to come ride the dragon as fast as they can leaning very low as they round the corners.

We googled, and found that there is typically 100 accidents a year on the dragon.  And its not just motorcycles, we saw some crazy cars racing through as well.

We started by getting gas, then we rode to the massive motorcycle parking area and took up 2 spaces each.  I was mind boggled when everyone took their jackets off and had headed gear on underneath.  I was sweating for part of the ride and certainly didn't think it was even a little cold.  But John reminded me that I start to sweat and overheat in the mid 80s.  Fair enough.  I can't handle the heat and they can't handle the cold.  Live your own life and ride your own ride.

We walked over to browse the gift shop.  Nan and I didn't find anything we wanted, but Ron found a pair of fingerless gloves made from really soft leather.  He bought them.  I tried them on but thought they'd be too hot without mesh to let the air breathe.

We went back outside and took all the normal pictures at signs and statues, then got on the bikes to actually ride the dragon.  I told everyone not to wait for me since I would almost guaranteed be riding slower than the rest.

Nan by a dragon statue

Me by the dragon statue

All of us by the Deals Gap sign

The first few hundred yards of the dragon are in North Carolina, then it crosses over into Tennessee.

The curves start up immediately.  Turn after turn come within sight of each other and they really don't let up.  For the first 3 miles I kept up but was slowly falling back until the intercom chat started to break up.  I eventually switched Nan and I to private chat so we could talk without the static of the others.  She was really handling the dragon well.  I was concerned she'd tap out before we finished and want to turn around but she didn't.

I didn't take many photos while riding the dragon due to the technical riding required.  It would have been unsafe to take my eyes and concentration off the curves.  I did take a time lapse video and if/when I have time to process it, I'll add it in here.

Around mile 6 we saw our first photographer.  There are companies that sit by the tight corners and take pictures of every rider that comes by.  Then you can go to their website and look for your picture to buy them.  I think we passed 4 or 5 of these.  I haven't looked yet to see if we want to buy any.

2 times I pulled off to let cars or motorcycles pass us.  I really thought we'd have to pull a lot more than that.  I also thought we'd see people flying toward us coming the other way, laying down almost flat on the pavement, scraping bike parts, and shooting sparks everywhere.  There was none of that.  Every bike was practically upright and in full control.  Only a couple of cars came past with engines roaring and chirping wheels through the turns.

When we eventually reached the end, we found the others parked "IN THE SHADE" waiting for us.  We looked at a few routes to take home but we also wanted lunch.  The closes food was back at Deals Gap.  We all agreed to ride right back down the Dragon and get lunch there.

Much like the ride up, I kept up for a while but fell back steadily till I gave up trying.  But this time, not a single car or bike came up behind me.  I rode the full length of the dragon at my own pace without a single annoyance.  It was pretty fun.

We pulled back into the parking lot.  There were a lot more bikes this time but still plenty of room for us.  Once we parked we went into the cafe.  Its mostly burgers with some sandwiches and sides.  Nan got a hawaiian burger with fries and I got a hot chicken sandwich with onion rings.  My onion rings were great but they mis-ordered and gave me a normal chicken sandwich that was nothing special.

A lot of bikes in the parking lot.  Ron chatting with fellow enthusiast modder

We didn't stick around long after lunch, but started to get back on the bike.  As Nan was putting on her helmet, she was fussing trying to get her hair to stay back.  I commented that I'd seen some helmet liners in the gift shop that you put on first to tuck your hair in, then put your helmet over it.  SHE WANTED ONE, so I told John and Ron I'd be right back.  We ran in and got her a ue one.

So far she loves it one out of one times.  She said its the first ride she's been on where her hair wasn't falling out of the helmet and blowing in her face.

We rode back down the highway on the exact same route we came up and through the one lane road construction again.  There was a group of 10 motorcycles ahead of us that were going the speed limit, how rude.

We arrived back at the house around 2:00 and were quite happy to be done for the day.  We all agreed that the ride into this private neighborhood is every bit as curvy as the dragon, maybe even more so since the road is narrower.

I started working on pictures for the blog, and while they were uploading, I started making our shopping list.  We had made a "meals" list early and we needed to translate that into actual items to buy.

Our general meals were:

1. salad with shredded rotisserie chicken

2. street tacos (chicken)

3. hamburgers

4. pot roast

Our grocery list is too long to put here, but you can imagine.

I said I'd leave shortly to go buy everything and Karen volen-told Ron that they would be coming too.

Right about that time, an Amazon delivery arrived for Ron.  He ordered a phone mount for his bike. It was like watching a puppy be whipped, to see him have to set his shiny new toy down and come with us shopping.

The walmart was 26 miles and 45 minutes away.  A lot of the travel time was leaving the neighborhood.  Then we sped up highway 74.  I was driving the Toyota Sienna minivan that Nan rented.  It was a 2026 and drove really nice.

When we arrived, we got 2 carts and split up the grocery list.  We were all running around getting things as fast as we could, but shopping in a store you don't know adds time.  We took over an hour to get everything.  The cost was $225 for 4 meals and 3 breakfasts.  That's about $5 per meal.  Pretty good.

We were back at the house by 6:30.  Tonight's meal was salad with shredded chicken.  The ladies prepped while I worked on the blog and John and Ron played with the new phone mount.  I was working when I realized they would be using the junk tools that came with the mount.  I have a really nice bit set and ratchet driver on my bike, so I got it and went down to join in the fun.  It didn't take long to get it mounted and Ron's very happy with it.

Dinner was good.  We only used 1 bag of salad and not even half of the chicken so this will probably be another meal later in the week.  The watermelon I got wasn't great but no one wanted to throw it out so we'll have that too.

I came into our room to work on the blog while they are playing cards.  That's the price I have to pay if I want these blogs in the future, I have to write them now or they become logarithmically harder as the days go by.

2026 Natchez Trace ride - Day 12 - Nashville to Bryson City

The best pic of us entering North Carolina, but I'm acting as tripod

This morning it's last of our whirlwind of hotels. When we're done with today's ride we will be in a rental house for a week.  It will be so nice not to have to unpack every night and then pack up every morning.

It will also be nice to have a kitchen and be able to cook real appetizing food rather than Hotel breakfast.

All that being said, I woke up took a shower and started packing my gear. I took a batch of stuff to the bike and packed it away, then went to look for hotel breakfast. I just couldn't take another pre-made egg omelette. I got a piece of sausage and a couple of boiled eggs. I made one small waffle and the yogurt.

Then I headed back to my room, loaded my hydration bag with ice and water. Packed up the rest of the stuff and put it on the bike. Then I rode around to the front of the hotel and waited for everyone else to get done.

Getting the bikes ready

We pulled away at 8:00 but only went about a hundred yards to the nearest gas station. The ice chest I have been carrying at self-destructed yesterday, so I didn't need to buy ice.

We left the gas station and within minutes we were on the freeway heading towards Chattanooga. We're not staying there we're just going to pass through and hit another freeway. It's not much to say about freeway riding. I don't like it and avoided as much as I can but there really wasn't any other way to get us where we needed to be.

I hate freeway riding.  I feel like a bug looking for a windshield to SPLAT

We had written for about an hour and a half when John pulled off the freeway. I suspected he was looking for a gas station on the bathroom and I was right. Just before we pulled off I had noticed that we'd entered Georgia. I made a comment about it and everybody looked at me like I was crazy. I said I swear that's the sign that I saw. Then I pulled up the map and sure enough the freeway dips about a mile into Georgia and then comes right back out and John just so happened to have exited right at that point.

Our brief trip into Georgia

Anyway, we got some snacks , gassed up, and got right back on the freeway.

After another 45 minutes we finally exited onto Highway 74. You listen divided four-lane highway and even though there are the occasional stop lights, everyone was traveling about 70 miles an hour despite the speed limit being 55.

Lake Ocoee along highway 74

We had gone about 40 miles when Angela started feeling ill. We stopped to the small gas station and she picked up something to help her feel a little better. I asked if we should look for lunch and everyone said yes. I searched around on Google and found somewhere about 4 miles away. It was called The Copper Cafe.

When I zoomed in on the map I noticed that the state line went really close to the cafe and thought it was possible some of the cafe was actually in the state of Georgia. This was so fresh on my other Georgia claim that nobody believed me.  But we left to go get some lunch with me and the lead.

We drove South to the little town of McKaysville.  The town was packed with people and cars everywhere. We managed to find three parking spots close to each other. Then walked the short two blocks over to the cafe. There was seating outside and it felt pretty good, but there was a blessed air conditioning inside so that's where we sat.

The Copper Grill

We studied the menu for a little while then went up to the counter to order. I got a Reuben sandwich and I should really stop that. It tasted pretty good but they're just so greasy and probably not great for me.

While we were waiting for our food to come out John noticed a sign on the back wall and it said "Georgia Tennessee Line".  John asked the waitress if the sign was for real and she said yes that really was the state line running down the middle of their restaurant.

Standing in both states at once

Karen asked where they paid their taxes, and the waitress said they paid taxes in Tennessee because that's where the front door was. I felt Vindicated.

We parked by an Ice Cream store but were too full

Pathetic tripod picture of us at the North Carolina state sign

After lunch we continued following highway 74. We had another 40 miles or so. We started to see a lot of white water rafting companies and great big old school buses with rafts and canoes strapped all over them. Through the trees beside the road we could make out a river, and occasionally a big enough Gap would let us see that, sure enough, there were people rafting down the river.

Mountains with rain in the distance

We passed this oversized chopper somewhere and I grabbed a pic

When we were about 40 mi from our destination the road became wet. A rainstorm must have just come through before us. The last time that happened we got dumped on and I kept looking up to see if the rain was going to come in on us. It never did, but the rain had cool deer even further. We are now in the high 70s and it felt wonderful.

Wet roads warned of rain, but it must have turned off our route

The road dried out again

Even though there was a lot of traffic on the road the river was very pretty beside us. At one point we had to stop. There is a police car ahead of us with stocked all traffic. Several people with life vests and swimming suits were kind of walking around the area and when John called one he came over. One of his customers had been smacked in the face with a paddle and had lost some teeth. The police were blocking traffic long enough for them to get the person into a car and drive them for medical care. Sure enough just a couple minutes later the police waved us all past.

White water rafters

Launching rafts and kayaks

We eventually reached the turnoff to our rental home. We were here two years ago and liked it so much for staying here again. Google Maps told us to go past flip a U-turn and come back but there's no need for that. We just turned left onto our road. It's behind the gate so John entered the code and we all rushed through. Then we had three miles of incredibly Winding Road to get to the house. It's not terrible but it does wear on you after a while and I remembered every turn from our last visit.

At the house we unloaded our stuff and I checked on Nannette.  I've been texting with her all day as she took the shuttle to the airport boarded the plane and recently had landed. She had her rental car and was on the road. She was going to be about an hour and we decided that we would meet her in town to have dinner. We settled on the Iron Wok Chinese restaurant.

Dinner was pretty good. Nanette and I split sesame chicken and really enjoyed it.

After dinner we went to the local grocery store and picked up eggs and fixings for omelettes.

John Angela Ron and Karen have been playing a card game all night while I worked on the blog.

We are now in the Eastern Time Zone so I shouldn't be very tired at 9:00 , but I am. I'll get this blog finished and then I am going to sleep. 

Daily Miles: 294

Total Miles: 2994

Total drive time: 64h13m

2026 Natchez Trace ride - Day 11 - Natchez #3

Selfie on the Natchez Trace

By now it's a pretty typical morning. Wake up, shower, dress, start packing, carry a load of stuff to the bike, go eat some breakfast, back up to the room and finish packing, carry the rest of the stuff to the bike, move the bike over to where the other bikes are, go sit in the lobby and wait for everyone else.

We left just after 8:00. First stop was a gas station. I had gassed up last night so I just bought a bag of ice for the ice chest.

I saw this tiny frog on the ice machine.  He moved all over

Karen's intercom has been having trouble. Her microphone keeps dying so she can't join the conversations. Ron worked on it for a little while but couldn't get it to keep working longer than a few minutes. Finally he gave up and we got back on the road.

Right now it's also become a little typical that we start our mornings by driving through neighborhood streets for some reason. This time there's actually a really good reason , we followed the GPS to Elvis childhood home. It's now some sort of a museum and tourist attraction. It's Sunday so it doesn't open till 1:00. 

World famous downtown Tupelo Mississippi

John has been giving me grief for a few days because everywhere we stop I immediately look for shade to go park in. Whatever the opposite of a lizard is that's what he says I am. But when we pulled into the Elvis parking lot he drove around in a circle and went right to the biggest spot of shade he could find . It didn't happen to be a parking spot but it wasn't open so who cares. 

Elvis Birth Place

Karen and Angela went and walked around the grounds. Angela's the big Elvis fan

In the meantime, Ron went back to working on Karen's helmet. Yesterday I ran a test to see if it was the intercom or the helmet mount.  I swapped Ron's intercom with Karen's intercom, and the problem stayed with the helmet. That's good news , it means the intercom isn't broken and that's the expensive part.

Ron couldn't get the microphone working by the time we needed to leave so Karen was stuck just listening to the conversation rather than participating.  And if you know Karen, that's a real hardship for her.

The GPS led us quickly to the freeway.  Just a minute after we got on, we rode past our hotel!!  What the heck was with all the meandering through back streets if we were 1 minute away from Elvis home via freeway??

Just shortly after that we exited and turned onto the Natchez Trace Parkway.  John announced over the intercom that the next scheduled stop was a visitor center.  He asked if anyone wanted to stop there.  I replied "It depends on how much of this Diet Code I drink by the time we get there" and he said "Good Point".

It felt really nice to get back on the parkway.  The temperature dropped by 6 degrees, and with the shade from the trees it felt cooler than that.  The trees and the neatly trimmed grass all combine to feel serene.

Back on the Natchez Trace Parkway

It's just so nice

While we were riding I got to thinking about Karen's intercom problem.  I actually have a spare helmet mount with me.  It's not the same one.  It's meant for a half helmet.  I got it so I could use it almost like a walkie talkie in the car if Nan doesn't feel like riding some days.  My mount has a hardwired microphone rather than a remotely mounted one.  But it's plenty long to to mount on Karen's helmet and get the mic down near her mouth.  I decided to make that offer.

Right as I decided that, John asked if we wanted to stop and I said yes.  When we stopped I took my spare mount over to Ron and told him what I proposed.  We then stood around for 10 minutes trying to figure out how to add my mount to her helmet.  We finally decided that her mount had to come off first.  We did that then stuck mine on.  It seemed to work but within minutes it had come loose.  The mounting pads just weren't sticking to the helmet.  Eventually Ron got some duct tape out and managed to stick the mount on pretty good.

When it was time to go, Karen got on the intercom to thank me, SHE WAS BACK BABY!!

We headed down the parkway.  I feel it gets redundant for me to say "it was beautiful" and "the road is so well maintained" or even "it's so peaceful and serene".  But all those things are true.

We stopped after 20 minutes to see another indian mound site.  This time we actually went to the big info board and read about it.  These mounds data back to about 200 BC.  The natives didn't live here but they routinely came back to bury their dead in these mounds.  So they are very important and sacred to the native.

Mounds out near the tree line

Zoomed in on a mound

When we got back on the bikes, Karen's intercom wasn't working again.  Ron tried to turn it off and on but gave up pretty quick.  We were stopping again soon anyway, so we went down the parkway.  Peaceful, beautiful, relaxing. blah blah blah.

Our next stop was a park on the Tennessee river.  John and I pulled over to a nice shaded are to park and walk around, but Ron stopped early and had Karen take her helmet off.  He sat there working on it while we took pictures.

Ron working on Karen's intercom

Selfie at the Tennessee river

A panorama of the river

The Tennessee river and the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge

The lighting was bad so my pictures didn't turn out well, but the river was huge.  In the west we call something 30 feet wide a river.  But out here in the east it takes a quarter mile or more to be a river.  Just behind us was a big bridge spanning the river.  I tried getting pictures but the glare and reflections made them all look terrible.  And to top it off, I forgot my hat so my selfie has my scraggly gray hair sticking up and at the same time plastered down with sweat.

Eventually Ron rode over.  He'd had to completely reset her intercom.  He had no idea what Karen had done to get it so messed up, but it was working now.  That was the last of his problems with her headset for the day.  Karen was able to talk with us through the rest of the ride.

Back on the road and the first thing we had to do was cross that bridge we'd seen.  I guess it was built specifically for the Natchez Trace Parkway to cross.  The views on the bridge were impressive but none of my shots captured that.

Tennesse river from the bridge, and my finger.  I need remedial photo taking 101

Crossing the bridge.  It was more impressive in my head

It was 11:00 when we crossed the Tennessee River and we were getting hungry so we pulled over and tried to find somewhere to eat.  No one but me had cell service, and mine was pretty sketchy.  I managed to find a BBQ place about 20 miles ahead of us and not far out of the way.  John couldn't add it to his GPS so I told him I'd let him know when it was time to turn.

We got back on the road.  We hadn't gone far when I heard Angela say "Cardo mute my microphone".  That's the voice instruction to her intercom to mute her mic so it doesn't pass on wind noise to everyone.  Then I hard Karen say the same thing, then Ron said it.  I thought I'd make a joke so I said "Cardo will you talk to me since no one else wants to?"  and to my surprise the intercom system responded to me.  I didn't hear the response but it surprised me.

I didn't hear anyone talking, but with all the muted mics I didn't expect to.  So we're riding along and we get down to 10 miles so I announce it on the intercom.  No response.  We go farther and get to 2 miles and I announce it.  No response.  1 mile, no response.  As we come to the intersection I say "THIS IS OUR TURN" but I don't see John put on his turn signal so I honk my horn.  Nothing.  I start blaring my horn and get nothing.

I think try to call John on my cell phone.  It takes a few seconds to do it safely but I didn't hear the phone ring and when he answers I can't hear him.  I am totally confused about what's going on.

So I turn my intercom off and back on.  That takes about 30 seconds.  When it comes up, I hear everyone talking wondering why I'm not telling them anything.  But by now we're a good 5 miles past the turnoff.

In hind sight, here's what happened.  My "joke" with cardo somehow got recognized as a valid command to shut off all audio functions of the intercom.  John says he responded to my joke by saying "I'll talk to you" but I didn't hear that.  So all my announcements went nowhere and we missed lunch because I made a bad joke.

I looked on GPS again and found a couple towns 5 miles ahead and a gas station just off the parkway.  We pulled off and went there.  Someone told us about a cafe 9 miles west, but after we all gassed up, we decided to skip lunch and keep going to get the riding done before it got too much hotter.  It was already 100 degrees and the sun was really beating down.

We stopped by the Merriweather Lewis' grave site.  John announced on the intercom "ChatGPT said we need to stop here but I have no idea who this guy is".  We all were a bit stunned by that.  Karen said "Do you know who Lewis & Clark are" and John said yes.  We waited and John said nothing.  Then someone said "This is Lewis".  John said "Oh.  I didn't know he had a longer name".  We all laughed.

If you don't know, Lewis was governor of Louisiana but he was deeply in debt.  He left to go to Washington DC and try to to publish his memoirs to earn money.  Along the way he left the boat he was on and was shot.  It's unclear whether he was killed or committed suicide.

Monument to Meriweather Lewis

We stopped in the shade to see the Lewis monument

More parkway but now the sun is beating down and it's over 100

We stopped again at a "waterfall".  It was nice to get off the bike and the short walk was nice.  We crossed a few bridges over some barely running streams.  Maybe the "barely running" part of that should have been a hint, but the waterfall didn't really exist.  The water oozed over the rock and just clung to it and flowed down the rocks.

The slow running stream

Ron and Karen at the "waterfall" it's in the bushes somewhere

Now we were on the home stretch.  Just 20 miles to go, but it was hot.  I really miss the shade from the early mornings.

Still pretty but hot

Tennessee is far more open than the rest.  You can actually see horizon some times

Reaching the end of the Natchez Trace Parkway was un-eventful.  We just took an offramp and we were done.  We couldn't actually ride to the end because the final section is closed for repairs.  We followed the GPS through a series of surface streets for about 15 miles until we reached our hotel.  Everyone was very happy to be done.

Ron and Karen gave me back my intercom mount and said thanks.  We got checked in and moved our gear into rooms.

Ron was going to ride into Nashville and go buy a new intercom mount for Karen's helmet so he headed back out.

When I was done removing gear I got on the bike to park it.  On my way I saw a McDonalds next door and decided I wanted a cold drink so I rode over.  Once I was ordering I realized I also wanted something more than jerky to tide me over till dinner so I ordered a 6 piece nugget meal.  I only ate a few of the nuggets, but I ate ALL of the fries.

Back at the room, I started working on the blog.  We were all worried about Ron and Karen kept us informed.  After an hour, John and Angela decided to walk over to a nearby BBQ place to eat and I joined them.

I ordered way too much food.  I got brisket and a sausage with baked beans and green beans as my sides.  I ate about 1/3 and was full.  I got a box to bring it home and have snacked on it all night.

John and Angela also got some good bbq, but their order taker asked if it was their first time eating here  When they said yes, he gave them complementary banana pudding.  My server didn't ask me and I didn't know to tell them, so no banana pudding for me.  Nan will be disappointed.

I've been thinking about getting a new tripod and my friend Mike suggested I go to best buy and see what they have, so I excused myself before Karen and Ron arrived.  But when I got to the room, it was so nice and cool that I couldn't face another hour of hot riding.  So here I sit working on the blog and watching youtube.

Daily Miles: 203

Total Miles: 2700

Total drive time: 58h30m