Oh Bouy, What a Day! Where is the Lighthouse?

We had a minimalist breakfast at the Belmont Hotel. I actually was disappointed with my decision for this stop but we did experience small town Mississippi.

Some people were hesitant to engage in much conversation while others couldn't seem to stop talking. The kids that were running the Subway where we hung out last night were of the latter variety. At the gas station this morning, we met another such couple. They were locals and were also on a motorcycle. They told us the ride to Tupelo on Natchez Trace was the prettiest part of the Trace. I'm sure they were somewhat biased but it was indeed very pretty.

When we stopped at a Indian Burial Mound site, I asked a park ranger about the condition of the road and she assured me it was good all the way to the Natchez Trace Headquarters and Visitors Center in Tupelo. So back on the Trace and the road was good; newly paved and smooth right up to the Visitors Center. There we watched a short video on the history of the Trace and viewed the exhibits. There were two park rangers; both college kids. We spent maybe a half an hour talking with them. When David said something about accents, the girl said (in a full southern drawl), "I don't have an accent but my mama does." We asked the rangers about the repaving of the Trace and the girl said she was from Houston MS and drove the Trace to work every day and "it isn't very bad." I told her we were on bikes and it had to be not bad at all. She insisted it wasn't. I also mentioned that Houston was a scheduled gas stop for us and then David asked if there were any good places to eat. She drew us a map. Unfortunately, not to scale and her estimate of mileage was way off. When we got to Houston (over very GOOD pavement), we couldn't find the recommended restaurant and ended up way past the city limits looking for it. We turned around and went back into town where we finally found it - closed. McDonald's was our lunch choice today. We then gassed up the bikes and got back on the Trace.

This was the first time for me to lead as David had been leading to keep our speed under control. Not too long after we returned to the Trace, the skies opened up - BIG time. (Later that night on the news we heard "thunderstorms and blinding rain with some areas getting three inches or more in two hours; other areas getting five inches.") The last thing I heard David say was "Don't stop too fast, I don't want to run into you." I put on my four-way flashers and slowed down to find a turn off. There were no turn offs to be had. Before the deluge, there where "Historical Markers" every few miles. Now we couldn't find one! After several miles, I realize I haven't heard from David in a while. I started calling for him on the radio; no response. I finally find a place to pull over and continue to call. In the meantime, David is trying to contact me. He has even told a couple on a motorcycle to be on the lookout for me. I start to panic. David starts to panic. We both are driving up and down the Trace calling over the radio to each other, neither one of us can hear the other, and (YIKES) even looking in ditches. I finally find another turn off and pull over. In just a matter of minutes, I see David coming towards me and he takes the same turn off but (picture it like exit ramps) the other part of the exit triangle. I start calling for him and honking my horn. I assume he hears me and is turning around to join me. In the meantime, I hear him calling me. I answer but it is obvious he can't hear me. So I wait for him to get turned around, still assuming he saw me and that is why he took the exit. When David got off his bike at the end of the ramp, for some reason, he turned on his speakers rather than his headset and that is the first time he was able to hear me. We got together at the bottom of that ramp and hugged and kissed, sopping wet, rain still beating down on us. We had been separated for at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and we were just so so very happy to see each other again. We waited out the rain for a little longer and then started back out. The rain was still coming down but not so hard we couldn't see. About 20 miles later, we pulled off and dried off a little and then continued on to our hotel.

We were still really wet when we got here to Kosciusko MS. The hotel here is not fancy but they are the nicest people. We have real internet and a decent, although outside, pool where we took a swim - that after swimming down the Trace just a few hours earlier. The desk clerk is very thoughtful; she even suggested we pull our bikes up onto the sidewalk and under the overhangs just in case it starts to rain during the night.

Tomorrow we are hoping for less adventure as we finish the Trace in Natchez MS.

First Day on the Natchez Trace Parkway

After a relaxing breakfast the hotel, we loaded up the bikes and headed for the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway. If you haven't been on the Natchez Trace before, let me say it is a beautiful as everyone says. In the beginning it is gentle inclines and descents with wide sweeping curves; not a challenge to ride at all so all you have to do is just enjoy the scenery and history. The only really hard parts of the ride is deciding which sites to stop at and keeping your speed under control. I kept us pretty much on track by deciding which sites to see; David kept our speed at the posted limit.

We stopped at the entrance sign for the Trace and fellow bikers took our picture and we took theirs. We stopped at a couple of overlooks. And we stopped at the Meriwether Lewis site where he met his untimely death (suicide or murder - it is still debatable). We exited the Trace for gas and a bite of lunch at Collinwood Tennessee where the gas station is also the only restaurant in town. We had a very nice lunch and asked some locals about the upcoming detours on the Trace.

There were two detours for bridge replacement. Neither detour was very long and we were back on the Trace in a matter of minutes. One of our last stops of the day was immediately after crossing the Tennessee River in Alabama. We stopped at the site of Colbert's Ferry and were able to take pictures back at the bridge we just crossed. (I did snap a few as we were crossing.)

Our hotel is a Bed & Breakfast in Belmont Mississippi. The hotel dates from 1924 and is furnished with period furniture. I asked when booking about air-conditioning and private baths - so we are okay. Unfortunately, it doesn't even come close to having internet so we are at the local Subway for a WiFi connection.

Tomorrow we visit Tupelo. We will probably take the back way as Tupelo is only 40 miles away. As we near Tupelo, we will need to exit the Trace as it is being resurfaced. The road report calls for 36 miles of milled surface roads and neither one of us is a big fan on driving on milled surfaced roads.

Sometimes Lazy is Good

We celebrated the Fourth our own way - we were lazy. Originally we had planned to do some site seeing in Nashville. That was before we found the forecast to be almost a guarantee of rain. We hung out at the hotel but didn't attempt the pool again. Around noon we did go cruising for lunch. We walked past a Greek restaurant yesterday and had plans to go there today. They were closed for the Fourth. So we went to a grocery store that had a Red Box rental to get movies. While at the grocery, we picked up a few snacks and drinks then noticed they had a good deli so we ate at the grocery store. Do we know how to live or what? After an afternoon of watching movies, we ordered Papa John's Pizza for delivery and covered our bikes for the evening. Nashville has fireworks for the Fourth and our hotel sits on a large hill that overlooks the city. We are hoping to be able to see some of the fireworks if we can stay up late enough. ☺

One bit of good news is I finally heard from the Bed & Breakfast we have scheduled for tomorrow night. I'm glad; I hate changing perfectly good plans.

ADDENDUM: We just came in from watching fireworks from the front lawn of our hotel. Just as I expected, the height of this hill and position south of the city gave us a good vantage point for the fireworks. We were treated to a panorama of explosions not only from the north but the east and northeast as well. It seems everyone around had a display and we could see them all. We spent about an hour outside and got a few bug bites but David and I agree, it was probably the most fireworks we have ever seen in one place.

Roads and Vittles

As we left the house today, I put my camera around my neck. I hadn't taken any pictures while rolling before because I was afraid of dropping the camera. After figuring out how to secure it, the rest was easy. All I had to do was turn it on and just click. By taking plenty of pictures, I figured sooner or later I would get a keeper. This is the picture I took of David on I-65:

Today was good as far as the weather and the roads. We took our time leaving home as we only had about 200 miles today and most of it interstate. Even with taking our time, we were the Nashville suburb of Brentwood by noon Central time. We knew it was a little early to check into our hotel so we went cruising for a lunch place. David found a place called "Vittles." We were impressed. Prices were reasonable and the food delicious.

David called the hotel from the restaurant and arranged for us to check in early. So after wandering around the retail shops some, we took the short drive to our hotel. We are in a Hyatt Place. The rooms are nice and roomy with a separate sitting room, a small kitchenette with desk area, and a king size bed. We were looking forward to a dip in the pool. The pool is outside but with temperatures in the 90's, we didn't think that would be a problem. It was; the water was cold. I only got in as far as my ankles. David tried to tough it out but lasted less than a half an hour. We are trying to decide where to go to eat tonight. There are two restaurants within walking distance and those are possibilities as we have very good parking spots we don't want to lose.

"My bags are packed, I'm ready to go . . . the bikes are waiting outside the door"

Well, we leave tomorrow. We have had only a few little glitches since the early planning. One reservation has been changed based on negative reviews and I booked a "share cropper's shack" in its place. I will let you know how that goes. ☺ Also, a Bed & Breakfast that I had booked early in the trip has not gotten back to me this week with a confirmation. I have confirmed all of the other lodgings and am starting to panic regarding this one. I really wanted to stay at this particular place but have found two substitutes - just in case.

This morning I spent about two hours of my preparation time cleaning the garage. I could not find the GPS mounting system David uses on his bike. I knew I had put it "somewhere safe" when we came back from our last trip but for the life of me, I couldn't remember where. I am usually really good at visualizing my movements but this time it didn't work. I kept going back out to the garage every little bit, thinking the thing would just jump out at me. Finally it did. We used the GPS last in the car and when I cleaned the car, I put the suction cup on a peg right beside the car. Oh well, now we have clean and organized shelves.

The next post should come from Nashville tomorrow afternoon or evening. No big events planned other than the ride down but I will post and let you know how our first day went.

And don't forget, our pictures will be posted at

http://picasaweb.google.com/patty.in.ky

The planning has started

Okay - I'm a little compulsive. We aren't leaving for our motorcycle trip on The Natchez Trace until July and I already have the route mapped and all the rooms booked. Next will be to plan our stops. Since we both enjoy seeing as much as possible, most days are at 200 miles or less. There is so much history that it would be a shame to miss something because we didn't have time to stop. I will post more as I make more plans. If anyone has suggestions on what to see, please comment and let me know.