Searching for Komet in Michigan.

Perusing some local Ride Reports, I came across Komet's report of his ride to Michigan City, MS in 2003. Searching for Wolverines in Dixie. Michigan City isn't too far from me, maybe an hour, so I thought I'd see what he saw.

Joe stopped in Slayden, MS for this photo.



I found the place easily. It's changed some and it was clear that even though Joe and I made our trips on almost the exact day of the year, his pics were taken in softer light. Probably a combination of overcast and later in the day.



Joe went on down US 72 and turned up highway 7 to find this.



I found the same place, though swamps rarely look the same year-to-year, let alone seven years later.



Joe looked for cottonmouths across the highway.



I didn't see any either.



Joe raced up highway 7 to Michigan City.



The sign is the same, but a few other things have changed.



Wolverines were on Joe's mind when he saw this place.



The building was nearly invisible. Only by comparing the windows and then peering through the bushes did I realize I found the same spot. Again, the lighting and Joe's wide-angle lens made it hard to reproduce the image.



Up the street Joe found this old shop.



Today, the awning is gone. The same blue chair is sitting there, but in my concern to find the right angle, I obscured it behind my bike. You can just barely see the top of it poking out from over my topbox.



Next is Joe's Juke Joint.



It's still there, though the exhaust tube and awning are gone.



Joe found an old house in the residential area to show off his bike.



The bike and house are a little worse for wear today.



Joe wondered what this house had to say.



Me too.



Komet's swing.



It's still there! The fence is gone. I wonder how many kids have swung in the years since Komet's visit.



Joe stopped for a smoke to see salvation ahead.



Today the sign is new (apparently the curve isn't as sharp) but everything else remains. Again, Komet's camera has a wide-angle which I couldn't duplicate.



Joe's quick stop before leaving.



They've since made it ADA compliant.



Joe returned to Tennessee after that. I stayed in Mississippi. Thanks for the ride, Joe.

Jamie

Cool idea and a nice tribute. I love the comparisons.

Nice!

thanks Jamie.

I think Joe would be sad to see the continued decay though .

Nice ride Jamie

Very cool idea. Thanks for spending the time to find the places and set up the pictures just right. I wonder how many old threads are begging for the same treatment.

Very cool Jamie.

Very sweet.

very nice! and very well done! It's amazing how much the vegetation changes in just a few years. :eek1

Cool idea

Great way to remember a friend

Me too. I like this kind of thing, but I think for the most part it would be very hard to duplicate most ride reports.

Joe's report happened to be a special case, not least of which because he described where he went, so it was simple for me to get on the same roads.

Also, all but a couple of his pictures are from the same small town. It was a simple matter of riding around a few streets and looking for the same buildings. Most ride reports wouldn't be so straight-forward.

In any case, I liked the challenge of finding the same places and trying to get the bike lined up just right. Plus, it was only an hour or so from where I live. Why not?

Jamie

Thanks for this, it make the kids and I feel great that Joe (Komet) is not forgotten. I want to thank all of y'all our ADV family for remembering Joe. The Kids are still homebound school because they are not mentally ready to go back to school yet. But showing them these pictures brought a smile to all of us. Again thank you.
Komets girls

You done good, Jamie.

Jamie, great tribute. A few tears here.

Godspeed to you too.

Nice job Jamie. Really cool.