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.

27 September 2012......More catch-up

After leaving the Hoaster Family in Boulder CO I headed for Payson AZ to visit my brother Ernie Griffanti and his wife Vicki in Payson.  The plan was to arrive in Payson via Alamosa CO, Farmington NM, Holbrook AZ and Payson.  Traveling to Alamosa and Farmington there was some outstanding scenery of the Rocky Mountains and the Rocky Mountain Plains.  When I got to Farmington I called Ernie and we talked about by-passing the evening stop in Holbrook and spending an extra night in Payson.  So the nextmorning I got up early Partly because I wanted an early start and partly because I put the wrong local time in the clock and it woke me up at 4 AM instead of 5 AM.  Those Manhattan cocktails I'm making every night in the motel seem to affect the brain in a strange way.  I don't believe I've ever felt those Manhattan sensations before (har har).  Anyway, I ended up arriving at the Payson home of Ernie Griffanti and wife Vicki around 2 PM.  We had a beer and sat on the deck overlooking the 4th green of the Payson Country Club enjoying the peace and tranquility.  Of note for the day, my navigator for the day screwed up again.  She had been doing so well ever since I chastized her back in Kentucky.  We arrived in Payson and she was directing me to Ernie's home at the Payson Country Club.  She told me to turn right off AZ-260 W and go three miles and turn on some other street.  I turned right and was on a narrow hardtop street.  As I proceeded the street turned to dirt and I passed horse stalls and pens hoping that very soon the dirt track would return to hardtop.  Instead, I ended up in the front yard of a home with nobody home so I did a 180 and got back to 260W but not before having an angry conversation with my navigator.  Note, it is very unusual for me to get angry.  I took control and naturally, all Marines are good navigators and I ended up directing my navigator to the target.

When Ernie and I decided it was 5 O'clock somewhere, he made some Manhattans that made the hairs stand up on my arms, pretty weak but he was planning on getting better and really did.

Vicki, outstanding cook that she is, made a chicken dish with broiled potatoes, asparagus, salad and wine.  I never saw a paper plate.  I believed the governor of AZ was going to join us based on the table setting.  When Miss Vicki does something, she does it right and the table was beautiful.

This is the sunrise taken from the 2nd floor deck of Ernies house.  It was 0615 and the Elk rutting season was just starting and the male Elk were all bugling.  It was awesome hearing nature up that close.

I'm standing on the second floor deck of Ernie's and Vicki's home looking across the #4 green of the Payson Country Club.  The beauty of the entire area is awesome.  After taking these pictures, Ernie and I cleaned up and suited up and I took him on the motorcycle up to the local airport where they have a greasy spoon that makes the best chicken fried steak and gravy, fried eggs, hash browns and muffins.  After breakfast we waddled out to the bike and returned home.  The plan was we were going to take a couple hours and clean up the bike because it was in really bad condition with dirt and dead bugs.  We were about half way through cleaning the bike when Vicki got a call from the gal that watches her cat at their home in Scottsdale (Desert Mountain) AZ.  Seems the ice machine water systen was leaking and there was water on the kitchen floor.  So we jumped in Ernie's Corvette and headed down the mountain to Desert Mountain( 1 1/2 hour driving time).  Ernie found the shutoff valve and shut off the water,  We mopped up the water, went to Subway for lunch and headed back up the mountain.  We got the bike cleaned just before Annie and Jim Brister arrived to spend the night.  Annie and Jim have a place in Desert Mountain and a second home in Flagstaff AZ.  I have known Annie for a number of years from my visits out to see Ernie.  She and Jim were married a couple of years ago.  Vicki cooked another fabulous dinner and we spent the remainder of the evening catching up.     

Ernie's taking Vicki for a ride.  Notice how smooth he was.  The beer bottle never fell off the cooler.  He said that was similar to his flying abilities in the F-4 Phantom.  I let that one go with nary a comment. 

Next morning Vicki made a fantastic breakfast and then Ernie, Jim and I headed for the Payson Country club and a 0915 tee time.  It's a beautiful course with first class treatment from the staff, and yours truly played a very good round using borrowed clubs.  Shot 41 on the front nine and 47 on the back.  The back really got to me.  It was very hilly and we're almost at 6000 ft and I was puffing from the thin air.  Regardless, we had a good time.This is a picture of the Griffanti's and the Bristers.  After golf, the Bristers headed back to their Flagstaff home and Ernie and Vicki napped and what else could I do, so I napped too.  When we all woke up Ernie made Manhattans and we sat out on the terrace and watched the sunset



Next morning it was departure time and it was really hard to leave.  Ernie and I have become like brothers and each time I visit it is harder to leave.  But it was a great visit and I thank both brother Ernie and Vicki for their hospitality.  Now it is time for them to come East and allow me a chance to reciprocate.

My next visit is with Houn'dog Bassett and his wife in Austin Texas. Tonight is the first of three stop-overs before arriving at Austin.  I am staying in Socorro NM.  Of note today, I rode through Pie-Town NM.  There are two cafe's and that's it, not even a gas station.  But the owners of each cafe make daily fresh pies of all types.  I stopped and had a piece of warm apple pie with coffee. It was really great.  The owner came out and we talked.  He is originally from Baltimore.  I asked what kind of pies he had made for that day and he mentioned Strawberry Rhubarb.  I said I hadn't had that since I was a kid in Connecticut so he cut a piece, said it was on the house and thanked me for my service.  He had spent some time in the Coast Guard.  That about catches me up.  Goodnight folks.  I'm having a great time out here.  I'm knocking on wood, but so far I've been out 23 days and have had only one day of rain.

Saturday Sept. 22, 2012

I'm playing catch-up here.  The rides from Rapid City SD to Hot Springs and then to Cheyenne WY wer mostly uneventful.  The scenery was excellent riding through wide open spaces sometimes not seeing a car for ten or fifteen minutes but the winds were unbelievable blowing the bike all over the road.  It was especially bad in Wyoming.  For the first time ever I saw signs on the highway saying that when these lights are flashing, the road is closed.  A local explained that was because of tje tremendous snow drifts they get with the blowing winds.  Also in the fields right along the road you see these really big steel snow fences which help to keep the snow from drifting on the roads.

I left Cheyenne on the 20th heading for Boulder CO.  I had called Jill Griffanti Smith daughter of my good buddy and brother Marine Ernie Griffanti who I will be visiting in Payson AZ.  Ernie lived in Bozeman MT for many years and I went out there a number of years in the winter and stayed with him and the whole family would go down to Big Sky to ski.  Jill and her brother Ben were young kids then but great skiers.

Jill lives in Fort Collins Co which is right on my way to Boulder and we decided to meet for lunch in Loveland, just a few miles south of Fort Collins.  Had a real nice time catching up on her family but all too soon it was time to hit the road and head for Boulder and two days staying with Sam Hoaster and family.  Sam's dad is my ex brother in law and a good friend.  We used to visit the Hoasters in Atlanta when Sam, Mike and Kathy were little kids.  The kids used to like me to get on all fours and they would ride me like a horsey.  We also did some wrestling and I would throw them around the room, no injuries.  Sams brother Mike also lives in Boulder.  I got to Sam's place around 1330 and off loaded the bike and settled in.  Then Julie, Sams wife and the kids Reba(6) and Lila (3) came home and we had a nice time getting to know each other.  Reba is a little unsure of me but Lila has become my sweetheart.  She likes to play nosey so we rub noses numerous times.

The next day Mike called.  He lives on the outskirts of Boulder in a beautiful home at the 7,500 foot level.  He came down to Sams place.  Sam was busy doing business so Mike and I went to lunch at a really nice place in the walking mall in Boulder.  It was a shock after six days crossing Iowa, SD, and WY and seeing relatively few people to sit at an outside table and see all this humanity.  And what a sight it was, there were a few regulars but most that I saw were tatooed from head to foot or had rings through most any place on your body that you could imagine.  Boulder is a college town home of the Colorada Univ.  I'm wondering if Colorado Univ. actually recruits all these whacko's or they just show up on their own.  We had a nice lunch though and then I followed Mike up to his home in the mountains.  He has a beautiful home with an unbelievable view of boulder down below.  His wife Robin was home.  I hadn't seen her since Gina's wedding and that was so long ago, men hadn't started shaving yet.  Daughter Carley, a senior in high school wasn't home so I didn't get to see her but we had a nice visit and then I headed down the mountain because I was taking Sam and family to dinner.  Before dinner we did some picture taking and I had to assume the position of horsey and let Reba and Lila ride.



Julie, Lila and Reba





Mike and Me



Sat. Sam and Mike were going bike riding so they led me out of Boulder and south to Rt. 285 which takes you through the Rocky Mountains.  Again, you can't capture the beauty of the Rockies with a camera.  You have to see it in person.  I did take a couple of pictures which I will include.  I got as high as 11,500 feet and the temperature at the start was 44 degrees so it was time for some warm clothing.  I got to Alamosa CO around 1330 and checked into the motel and crashed for about a three hour nap.  It felt great and I am now having my Manhattan and trying to complete this portion of my blog.



Playing horsey with Lila and Reba



Mike and Robin



Sam, Julie, Reba and Lila



The haze is from recent fire but those are the Rockies in the distance


















Looking at the Plains of the Rockies from 11,500 feet

Tuesday Sept. 18, 2012  Rapid City SD to Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument  and Hot Springs SD

What a great day.  Launched out of Rapid City around 0745 and headed North to Sturgis, another check on my bucket list.  Certainly not as wild as the annual motorcycle ride In but that's what I wanted.  I just wanted to say I had been there.  It is a beautiful area in the Black Hills of SD.  I rode around the town and it was a neat little town.  Then I headed for the back roads and down Vanocker Canyon heading to Mt. Rushmore.  What a change after riding three days across the plains of SD now I was back to riding mountains like TN and KY.  I stopped and took some pictures at Pactola Lake, just beautiful. 

Then I pressed on to Mount Rushmore.  As you approach the park there is an opportunity to stop and take a picture of the profiles of the president which I did.  Once you get to the gates you realize you are in a national park.  There is no charge to enter the park but you have to pay an annual parking fee.  How lucky I am, now when I get back to NC I can come back out to visit Mount Rushmore as many time as I want for a year without additional charges.  Hurrah!!!!  As soon as I get back I will start planning my next trip because I want to take full advantage of the $10 dollar fee for one year availability.  Mount Rushmore is really awesome.  If you look at the Presidents with binoculars you can see the Presidents eyes looking directly at you.  I didn't want to leave so I went to a restaurant on site and this is the second time today I noticed this was a government facility.  I ordered a Buffalo hot dog and what I got was a $6.75 hot dog.  But it was great just being there.

Next I rode about 17 miles south and visited the Crazy Horse monument.  It was good to see but is a very long way from being finished.  From there it was a short ride, 38 miles to my motel in Hot Springs SD.  Tonight I went next door to a nice little restaurant and had a Buffalo steak.  It was tasty although a little tough and will not cause me to give up beef.  All in all it was a really good day and now I must plan my day for tomorrow.