 |
| Ready for wheels up at 8:300 |
Last night John sent out a text saying he wanted to be "Wheels up at 8:30" meaning he wanted to be on the bikes and moving at that time. We are usually close to the desired time, but even if we hit it, we still need to gas up and load cups with ice and drinks, so it's not like 8:30 hits and we're flying down the highway at 75mph 30 seconds later. My point is that I needed to wake up early enough to get everything done and be ready by 8:30.
Which is why my body woke me up at 4:30 and said "That's enough sleep for you".
I lay there for a bit reading news, facebook, and re-reading my blog to see how bad my grammar was this time. It was pretty bad, plus I'd actually missed a few things so I fixed them.
At 5:00 I got up to shower, but before I did, I remembered all my wet gear from yesterday's rain. Last night I had lain all my gear out to dry as much as possible but when I checked, it was still wet. I took my shoes into the bathroom and used the hair dryer set to low to dry them over the next hour. Then I dried out my helmet liner the same way.
Breakfast was a small waffle, a cheese omelet, a sausage patty, and a muffin. Pretty meager.
By 8:30 we were all gathered and loaded except for Karen. We heard Ron answer his phone and say something like "What do you mean you can't carry everything down by yourself?" He laughed then said he'd be right up. We were a few minutes later.
Both John and Ron had "fuel low" flashing on their bikes. I had gassed up my bike while the bandaged Ron's hand yesterday so still had half a tank. Ron also wanted to run by Walmart to get something. Oh, I wasn't supposed to tell Nannette that we went to Walmart. It's an old joke between Nan and John.
We got to the Walmart. Ron and Karen went in and I rode over to a Harbor Freight that I saw nearby. I wanted to buy a cheap multi meter to help diagnose why my high beam headlights weren't working. But they were sold out.
John and I found a spot in the shade to park and wait for Ron. We waited about 30 minutes. He came out with a new pair of gloves that would fit over his bandaged hand, but he couldn't find a good phone mount for his handlebars.
We were finally able to head for the Natchez Trace Parkway by 9:30. While we waited at Walmart, the bike temp said it was 90 degrees, but once we got out of town and into the greenery of the parkway, the temperature dropped to the low 80s. It was such a joy to back onto the Parkway. The low speed, the greenery, no cross traffic, and the empty roads. The parkway is just relaxing to ride.
 |
| Back on the parkway |
We had only gone a few miles when we pulled off into a parking lot by a large reservoir. We stopped on a nice elevated parking lot that gave a nice view out over the water. We only stopped long enough to get a couple of photos, then headed off again. We rode past the shores of the lake for about 6 miles and I got a few more pictures. Then we were once again walled off from everything around us by the thick trees lining the parkway.
 |
| Stopped by the lake with a long name |
 |
| All of us by the lake |
Every so often a car or two would come up behind us. And because we were driving below the speed limit, they'd often pass or we'd pull over to let them pass.
 |
| Riding along the shore of the lake with a long name |
We were still chatting and joking on the intercom much of the time. Sometimes a couple would drop off for a bit to have a private conversation. Last night I watched a video about our headsets to refresh myself on some of the features. One feature in particular seemed like a very fun option. So when I knew everyone was on the chat, but the conversation had died down, I called Nannette on my cell phone. We talked for a few minutes, then I told her to hold on while I tried something. I pushed and held my intercom button for 2 seconds and heard a beep. Then I told Nan to say Hi. She did and everyone in the intercom group could hear her. Not only that, she could hear them too. So we spent a few minutes as Nan asked questions about yesterday's accident and how kids were doing etc. But Nan was just about to leave to take a grand daughter to get nails painted so we didn't talk long. But it's a neat feature to bring a phone call into the chat.
We knew that part of the parkway was closed for construction and we finally hit the detour around 10:30. It forced us off the parkway, but we got right onto a large 4 lane highway and the detour miles just burned away.
I asked if we should look for food since we were off the parkway and everyone thought it was a good idea. Google pulled up a list of restaurants along our route. I started reading off names and food types. When I hit on a mexican restaurant several people said yes. So I entered that as a new destination. It was only 1 mile off of our planned route. We reached it just before noon and went around to the back to find shade to park in.
Everyone got pretty good food except Angela whose rolled tacos were extra greasy and the chicken was very overcooked. Karen gave her a granola bar to tide her over. Back at the bikes, Ron, Karen, and I got out our evaporative neck wraps and vests. I had loaded the chest with ice this morning. Much has melted so we soaked the items in that freezing cold water then put it on. Mine felt great and cut down on the heat.
Just as we were ready to leave, John got a call and said he needed to take it. He walked a little way off and started talking. And the more he talked, the bigger his grin got. Then he told us he'd just sold a million dollar home. We all congratulated him. John has sold homes on many of our trips over the years. There have been many times we've sat in a restaurant or ice cream shop while John sits in a corner filling in an offer or counter offer. It's nice that he can ride and still keep his business going.
 |
| John giving us his news |
When we backtracked our extra mile we found ourselves at the end of the detour and getting back onto the parkway. By now it was 1:00 and the temperature was up near 100 degrees. We rode for about 30 minutes before we stopped to see a "swamp". Sure enough there was about an acre of land covered in slimy water with those trees that have massive root balls. It looked swampy but it didn't really feel swampy and I bet there wasn't a single gator in the whole thing. We re-soaked our evaporative gear and set off again.
 |
| Bridge across the "Swamp" |
 |
| The endless swamp, no wait, it ends right over there |
We stopped again at a place called French Camp. I guess it's a famous christian camp with a couple of stores and a cafe. The gift shops were interesting. We thought about getting some ice cream in the cafe but I think only I thought that was a great idea. When we were getting ready to go, we saw a man and his son getting onto a motorcycle. We chatted a bit about the trail. He's taking his son on a 3 day trip down and back. He was surprised by the low speed limit on the trail and said he wasn't going to be able to go as far as he liked. I told him about my 2 day ride with Penn and he thought Hannibal might be a fun ride in the future.
 |
| More scenes on the parkway |
 |
| Some of the most open area on the parkway |
 |
| Lots of different looks on the parkway |
We stopped another time to see some ancient indian mounds. There was no real history or trail, so we just took pictures and kept going.
 |
| John and Angela looking at an indian mount. Ron and I are parked in the shade. |
 |
| Another indian mound |
Finally we reached Tupelo and exited the parkway. I got cut off by another car and delayed at a stoplight so I rode the last 3 miles alone. But I had the address and it was no big deal.
We got checked in and I started working on the blog ..... again. We agreed to meet at 5:15 to get dinner. There was another Chili's across the street and that has something for everyone's dining limitations. But wen we got there, they showed us to their only large table. But the sun was shining straight in and we couldn't get the sun shade to pull down. Turns out its been broken a long time. They had some 4 person tables available but it would be an hour before another table that could sit 5 was free. I told them to go ahead and sit 4, and I was in a mood to go eat something "exotic" anyway. So I left them to it.
After some google searching I decided to go for a nice Thai Curry. It was about a mile away. I also got some pot stickers with my Penang shrimp curry.
Before my food came, I texted a message to John. "Boy this spicy bulgogi beef is fantastic. And the huge selection of kimchi is great!". John served his mission in Korea and he loves the food but seldom gets to eat it. So me leaving to get Korean would have been a BIG no-no. I wasted a little bit then texted "JUST KIDDING!!" I don't know if it really got him or not but I had a good laugh anyway.
My curry and pot stickers were very good. I'm glad I went for them. An this time I made very sure to get my credit card back from the waitress.
I gassed up on the way back and bought a couple water bottles.
No I'm doing what I do every night, finishing the blog. Today wasn't nearly as eventful as yesterday, thank heaven. I didn't take so many pictures.
Tomorrow its wheels up at 8:00
Daily Miles: 182
Total Miles: 2497
Total drive time: 53h19m
No comments:
Post a Comment