August 21st, 2007
I left southwestern Louisiana on a northern path up towards New Hampshire (eventually). I was pretty disappointed with the roads in Louisiana. Granted, all the interesting stuff seems to be around the Baton Rouge/ New Orleans area, but usually when I program my GPS to get me from A to B without highways, I find some interesting roads. Not this time. Over 200 miles of junky roads and very uninteresting scenery. Louisiana seems to have been hit hard by the corporate mega-stores – there didn’t appear to be any originality remaining. Crossing over the Mississippi River into Natchez, MS showed some immediate improvements.
Today’s ride was a stark contrast to yesterday’s. I followed the Natchez Trace Parkway which is a 444 mile ancient (as in thousands of years old – “The” Road) road that goes from the Mississippi River in Natchez, MS all the way up to Nashville, TN. It’s a great cruising road – curvy, but not twisty, with very little traffic (at least on this Tuesday afternoon) and a decent speed limit set at 50 (ish) mph. Today was a 265 mile ride in the park.
Here are some pictures and videos:
Along the Mississippi (on the MS side – I said TN side…but I was a little frazzled)
I decided to camp last night…take a break from all the cheap motels that I have been staying. Not the best decision… as you can see from the “Blair Witch” moment. The place was truely creepy ) at least in the dark.
Here are a couple of shot I took of the bike by and old barn on my way out of the campground this morning
A 265 mile ride in the park — almost every mile like this… just cruising
I ended the day in Tupelo, MS…. Birthplace of the King
The outside of his house…
Inside the two room house
Great photos and vid! The silhouette of the river boat is a postcard, for crying out loud. And the Blair Witch vid and “Keith was here” photo… Hilarious! (Unless, of course, you really were freaked out at the camp ground. Even so, it’ funny to me!)
One thing though… That road video. Good idea and great stable camera work, but I got board after 12s. Where’s the knee-puck scraping? Come on. Impress me.
Do you feel like you’re on a schedule now? Or are you still having fun? Hope the weather holds of the the rest of the trip. Less than a week to go. Don’t know whether that’s good news or bad…
By: woodenloon on August 22, 2007
at 11:26 am
woodenloon, It was obvious from the road video sound track that he was driving on a flat tire. Pretty gutsy if you ask me!
Keith, You are already mentioning being homeward bound. I’ll wager you will come back early. My longest day and most miles covered on my extended sailing voyage was the last day. I couldn’t get home fast enough to see my wife and surprise her. It will actually feel a bit strange walking into your own house after a long trip like that. You’ll be very self aware on the last few days of your trip even more so than what you’ve experienced so for. Enjoy it!
By: John LeJeune on August 22, 2007
at 12:37 pm
Your “Blair Witch” video is perfect. Nice work.
By: jjonas on August 22, 2007
at 11:19 pm
Great photos and videos. Have thought about riding the NT road. Glad you liked it.
The “Blair Witch” vid is super! Did not know whether to laugh or shiver! I laughed.
The Blair Witch “town” is 15 miles from my home. Never seen the lady.
By: mdnefan on August 22, 2007
at 11:40 pm