7 October, 2012...........2nd Day on the Natchez Trace

Started out and remained a pretty nasty day.  It was overcast with temperature of 47 degrees when I started off.  Thank God for rain suits over warm clothing.  When I checked with Bitchin Betty my navigator she said I had 159 miles to go on the Trace before getting off and heading for Muscle Shoals Alabama.  Well, the speed limit on the Trace is 50 MPH which just means you are going to spend more time in the cold.  The Trace was deserted.  I don't think I saw more than two cars the first hour of the ride and they were going in the opposite direction so I jacked the speed up t 65.  On a long stretch of highway with no one around, you tend to do some day dreaming which is exactly what I was doing when that Park Policeman snuck up on me.  I never saw him bet he did get my attention when all those blue lights started flashing.
He walked up and asked for license and proof of insurance.  Before doing anything I announced....Officer, I have a concealed carry permit and I do have a weapon on my person.  He asked where it was and I told him on my belt on the right side.  He said to please not make any moves on that side and I assured him that side was paralyzed.  He asked where my license was and I told him left pocket and got it out.  He asked for proof of insurance and I told him it was in the trunk.  He asked who my insurance was with and I told him USAA since 1963.  He didn't need to see it.  He told me he clocked me at 64 and the speed limit was 50 and would I please slow down.  I assured him I would.  He thanked me for my service and said to have a nice day.  I did 50 the remainder of the time on the Trace and thanked God for a nice cop.
After getting off the trace I only had 25 miles to my destination and got there as quickly as possible so I could get to my room and warm up a bit and have a cocktail and watch some football.

This pretty much ends my trip to new places.  Tomorrow I have a long trip to Gainsville Georgia and the next day I travel to Spartanburg SC and a few days with my youngest daughter Sam, her husband Geoff and three of my five grand kids, Hugh, Blythe and Elle.  It's been months since I've seen them and I am so looking forward to the visit.  While there I hope to get to Simpsonville SC and visit an old college buddy Bruce Haslun.

It's been a good trip and some very memorable times visiting old friends.  This is my second long trip over thirty days and I think my last.  I have proven at 71 you are not too old to get out there and do it and now I'll stick to short trips or longer ones in an RV.

6 October 2012...UP THE NATCHEZ TRACE

The Natchez Trace Parkway lead one 444 miles through three states and 10,000 years of North American history.  It commemorates the most significant highway of the Old Southwest.
The natural travel corridor that became the Natchez Trace dates back many centuries.  It bisected the traditional homelands of the Natchez, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations.  As the United States expanded westward in the late 1700's and early 1800's, growing numbers of travelers tramped the rough trail into a clearly marked path.  The "sunken" sections you can walk along today are clear signs of historic use.
In the early 1800's through the mid-1820's "Kaintucks" from the Ohio River Valley floated cash crops, livestock, and other materials down the Mississippi River on wooden flat-boats.  At Natchez or New Orleans, they sold their goods, sold their boats for lumber, and walked or rode horseback toward home via the Old Trace.  As the road was improved, stands(inns) provided lodging, food, and drink for Trace travelers.
Riding the Trace today was everything I had heard it would be.  The day was not too good it was cold, overcast and dreary but luckily no rain.  It was mile after mile of great scenery, some wild animals and a few turkeys.  In most places the trees hang over the highway and are covered with Spanish Moss.  There was no one on the parkway today.  I might have seen 15 cars the entire 160 miles I traveled today.  I stopped a number of times to see historic sights.  Of real import was the Emerald Mound and the Sunken Trace.  I took pictures of the Mound but it is so large it is impossible to get much of it in a picture.  I did take one with the motorcycle in it that tends to show the scale of the Mound.


The Emerald Mound





Scale of the Mound



8 Acre Emerald Mound



The Sunken Trace





You can almost see the footprints

 The Sunken Trace was a little different.  You had to get off the parkway and drive back into the woods and then walk down a path to the Trace.  Then all of a sudden you were standing in the Trace.  You were standing in the footprints of thousands of Indians and Settlers who helped to open up this land and forge our nation.  Close  your eyes and imagine living off the land for forty some days sometimes encountering hostile Indians or robbers and thieves.  I can ride the Trace in 8 to 10 hours, these folks were on there for 40 to 50 days.  It was an amazing trip and I look forward to completing the Trace tomorrow.

5 October 2012.........Barksdale AFB, Shreveport LA to Natchez MS.



Air museum at Barksdale AFB LA



WWII C-117 some of us have a few hours in this bird





P-51 Mustang  AF top fighter in WWII



The Blackbird



It was a really nice ride today through the countryside of Louisiana with rolling hills, horse and cattle farms, lots of trees and green fields which is unusual with the drought this year.  But, I get ahead of myself.  Barksdale AFB was a very nice stay.  I stayed at the visiting officer's quarters and they were really nice with living room, kitchenette, queen sized bed and bath.  I was located about 200 feet from the entrance to the Officer's club.  Unfortunately, they didn't serve dinner on Thursdays.  Friday morning as I was leaving I spent a few minutes at their base air museum and took a few pictures for my grandson Jack who loves airplanes.

4 October 2012  Catch up again.

28 Sept 2012...I spoke to soon.  In my previous writing I had mentioned how I had gone so long without rain.  This morning I left Socorro NM for Brownfield TX.  As I passed through Roswell NM the rain started and for the next 134 miles I rode in a downpour.  It was miserable but I got through it.  The next day going to San Angelo TX it drizzled the entire day.  I was starting to think I had jinxed myself.



The Chef's workplace



Slow cooking brisket and ribs





Houn'dog's Pizzaria and Bakery





Houn'dog and the Dancin Bear



30 Sept 2012...Today I rode from San Angelo to Austin TX to visit Houn'dog Bassett and his Scottish wife Marie.  Houn'dog is an old Marine Corps buddy and it had been a number of years since I had seen him.  He has a great place in Austin and has taken up cooking in a big way.  These are pictures of his outdoor kitchen.



Houndog & Marie

We had a great two days catching up and drinking his Italian Peroni Beer which is really great.  But all to soon time was up and I was heading out to Frisco Texas, just North of Dallas to visit Margareth Rayburn and Chris and Nancy Debergh.  I knew Margarethe and her family from being stationed at Cherry Point at the same time as they were and Chris and I worked together in Baltimore for a couple of years.  Margarethe graciously offered to have a cookout at her house and invite the Deberghs and their three boys.  She also invited her daughter Lizzy and husband Mike and their two girls Bella and Serena.  We had a very nice evening catching up on years gone by.  That day I also took Margarethe for a ride on the motorcycle.  She said she enjoyed it but I don't think she wants to become a regular rider.


The Debergh Family



Margarethe goes for a ride

This morning I said my goodbye's to Margarethe and headed east for Shreveport LA and Barksdale AFB swhere I am spending the night at the visiting Officers Quarters on the base.  Today, Texas scenery was somewhat redeemed.  As I got east of Greenville Texas there were rolling hills, lots of trees and real green grass in the fields.
I'll be heading east tomorrow and staying the night in Natchez Mississippi and then the following day I'll start riding the Natchez Trace.  I'm really looking forward to that and hope the weather will stay nice.