Waking up late in New Orleans after a very late night and Dave gone! I realize I better get on the road asap! I haul ass north towards Mississippi on the 55 towards Jackson. I had a feeling of panic, but also a free feeling, as this was the first time I was riding alone on this trip. I pushed the CB550 harder than ever on this day and the girl was holding up fine. It had no problem running the bike at 100 mph for hours. I passed a wreck on the other side of the highway with multiple emergency vehicles and it gave me a reminder to settle down and get there in one piece. I pulled off alongside of the road to check the oil and chain slack and Dave came pulling up behind me smiling. He had heard me scream by at a rest stop.
We continued on, looking for gas and supplies were hard to come by in this part of the state. Our friends in New Orleans recommended the Natchez Trace Parkway all the way to Nashville because it was a byway with no trucks , just unlimited trees and scenery. Jackson was quick and then we hit the Natchez Trace. It was everything we heard it was. There was a nice lake along side of it as well. What we didn't really realize was that it was getting late and sun was setting. So we turned around and went to a campground at Goshen Springs, next to Tommy's Trading Post where we met some really nice people.
We did the normal drive around looking for a camp spot. Dave's electrical on his throttle assembly had failed a few days back so he had to jump start his bike each time. He was pushing his bike, jumped on and got tangled up with his pack and fell over. When that GL1000 goes over it's not pretty! I helped him up but no real damage just few scrapes. Mosquitos were out so we had to quickly adjust to camp life and get our shit set up get lathered in mosquito repellent and cook up our canned raviolis! We saw a giant spider crawling towards our camp gear! Uh oh! The neighbors were real friendly and this lady was on her phone telling her daughter in her thick backwoods accent, to come on down to the camp, "cause there were some real nice men here!"
The next morning we get an amazing basic breakfast at Tommy's Trading Post where these ladies serving food pretty much should've had cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. The road felt good on this day. The weather was perfect and we were excited to ge tot Nashville.
Here I am looking for my GoPro that fell out of my pocket somewhere? I thought I could get lucky and spot it along this stretch. Dave recorded the best conversation between two local boys at a gas stop. We couldn't understand one word of the accent but it sounded interesting. Unfortunately all the iPhone pics and video were lost by hurricane matthew.. but that is still to come.
We found this nice round about at a rest stop and did some laps to get some shots. It was pretty fun ripping around this loop.
From here we continued north along the Natchez Trace which is an ancient trail used by the native americans, settlers and later african americans fleeing the south. Miles and miles of trees with no intersections or trucks. As it started to turn into dusk we noticed deer popping out everywhere. The were alarmed by the sound of our bikes and would run off. As it got darker there were so many that it felt dangerous to be on the road anymore. Just then a detour popped up and forced us onto the regular highway. It was dark now so we decided to go as fast as possible to Nashville which was still another hour or so away. Digging deep we made into town and called up our buddy Jimmy from Moto Moda and he took care of us with food and lodging!
Nashville is a city full of music and a fresh outlook on life. We spent some days here to take in the city and meet new friends. Jimmy from Moto Moda took care of us with drinks and accommodations.
Barista Parlor has the some of the best coffee I have ever had. The first night we definitely had too many drinks and the next morning ordered a "the best coffee" they had, and it did not disappoint! Later I found out it was a $12 cup of coffee, it was worth it. Good vibes and strong cup of Joe.
Our bikes needed a little TLC as well so we hooked up with a collective community garage and they helped us out tremendously.
We even were privileged enough to take a night ride with the BlackBird Moto Group which turned pout to be amazing and wild.
Thank Nashville for making us feel at home.
Next Installment...
Tail of the Dragon