The Old State Capitol and some future Senators After a hot day of exploring the city, I planned to use the facilities where I was staying to cool off. But given the on-going heat, the water provided no relief at all. Before I headed for home I needed a repair job done on my right indicator. I had the job done at BMW of Baton Rouge. http://www.bmwmotorcyclesofbatonrouge.net/. I had showed up on a Monday and it was closed but the owner happened to be picking up some papers and told me to come back early tomorrow and he would fit me in. They replaced my indicator and give it a quick check-over: brakes, oil levels, tire pressure etc and the whole thing cost be $22.00. I also had the opportunity to spend some time talking with the owner who had done a lot of work in Northern Canada. He had fond memories and was impressed with how we Canadians can dirnk! Yes, we're some polite alcoholics, here in the North! The staff was great as was the service.
Sadly, it was time to head home. Baton Rouge and New Orleans were both wonderful. I had gone out to some nightclubs in B.R also and not surprisingly, the music was great and everyone I spoke to was wonderfully friendly. Yup, I was sad to leave. My first day's goal was to camp somewhere in northern Arkansas. I went on the Tejas & the Gulf States Forum and a number of inmates were kind enough to respond to my question about where to camp. Mulberry Mountain was recommended and I set my GPS, ready for some new sights. The morning broke clear and hot.I was really lucky for the weeks I was on the road. Yes it was really hot but it was still pretty much perfect riding conditions.
The roads were quiet and the riding was leisurely. In Louisiana I saw prisioners, in striped jump suits, from Angola State Prison, picking up trash along the highway. I also some prisoners in Mississippi (Wilkinson County Jail?). It seemed like I had slipped back in time as I didn't realize that they still did that nowadays. Naively, or ignorantly, I thought that was TV reality, not life reality. I didn;t stop and take any pictures. More sights in Mississippi: Vidalia Miles and miles of cotton fields. Based on the signs, it seems like the fields are owned by family units, along with a a corporation. I wonder how soon the family names will be gone and one big conglomerate will own them all. Lake Providence, Louisiana
Traveling on, I passed towns with populations of less of 1000 people, even one place with a total pop. of 298. I tried to imagine what that would be like. Would there be an overwhelming sense of community, wherein you find support wherever and whenever you need it, and each death or birth, is like it's happening to a member of your own family? Or, given the tightness of the community, would that lead to jealousies, gossip and a battle for scarce resources? I'd like to think it's the former. Welcome to Arkansas: Arkansas Welcome Centre, Lake Village Arkansas Just to add to my rag-tag look, I strapped on the inner layer of my jacket as a concession to the heat.
Little Rock, Arkansas. Focused on making miles, I almost didn't take the little detour that a visit to this city required, but I'm thrilled I did. It gave me an opportunity to visit Little Rock Central High School and the birthplace of Bill Clinton. I don't have the words to express what an incredibly moving experience it was for me to walk the grounds of Little Rock Central High School. The school and its grounds were so well maintained that I thought the building had been preserved as a museum. Soon enough, however, tens of school buses rolled up, ready to take the kids back home. End of school day is so busy that there was a policeman working there to control the traffic. A Canadian connection: Minijean Brown Trickey moved to Canada after graduating from a high school in New York. She has worked throughout her life to promote peace and nonviolence.
Hi Outdoorguy. The humidity in Louisiana was unlike anything I had experienced thus far. I spent too much time trying to figure out how the people In B.R. wore business suits, shirts with ties, pants and weren't soaking in sweat. I gotta say though, my skin was glowing!!
The Chain Gang concept never really disappeared from the deep South. In the North liberal minded reformers started in about "cruel and unusual punishment" and you get felons with a lot of time on their hands well able to conjure up some mischief. More and more Federal Penitentiaries are re-instituting "Hard Labor". Not only is it an added deterrent to committing a crime in the first place, exhausted inmates want sleep, not deviltry. I am thinking we could use some of that up here, cuts down on recidivism if you know going back means a shovel or brush clearing along the highway. I wouldn't care for it as an enforced lifesttyle.
Hi Oldone. I know that I was looking for Lake Itasca cause the internet told me that this was the unofficial starting point of Highway 61. I didn't find it, and to be honest, not sure if I found Hwy. 71. I love your state though. I take a lot of short trips to Minny, just for fun, or to watch your sports teams...
I wish I had seen this thread sooner. We have a group of riders that go eat every Wednesday night here in Jackson and you would have been more than welcome to join us. Enjoying the report. Hope the rest of your trip goes well.
You do yourself a disservice... you photos are fine and your story fascinating. I love when I can almost feel like I'm there with you. It looks like a set of panniers would make your life on the road about a billion times easier. I'm looking forward to your next trip!
I had no idea Arkansas was so beautiful! These pictures don't do it justice, but I was into my 11th hour on the road. As per usual, when it comes to me and camping there's a story that ends in frustration. As I said earlier, I had gone on ADVrider and asked where would be a good place to camp. The most suggested spot was Mulberry Mtn. I didn't know it at the time, because as per usual, I had done nothing to prepare for this portion of the trip but it turns out that Mulberry Mtn is up a windy 20 or so mile road. Turns out the ride was fantastic - I was taking it slow and careful due to my tiredness. It had been a long day already and the last thing I needed was to lose my concentration on the bends. I had failed to reserve a campsite or check what time the office closed. I think I got there around 6:30 and the office had closed at 5, or something like that. I didn't see a soul and had to now deal with getting down off Mulberry Mtn and finding somewhere else to stay. It was starting to get slightly dusky and I was really beginning to feel the effects of the many hours of riding. Here's a shot of the ledge I almost drove off. I had a brain freeze after taking a curve and my mind thought " I should stop here and take a picture" and because of my weariness, my reaction was to drive straight into the gravel without slowing down or downshifting or even considering that I was driving straight onto a gravel shoulder. The angle doesn't show how steep it drops off but it would not have been pretty had I not been able to stay up and/or stop. After this scare, I tried to focus and started working my way downhill. I had checked my GPS, and set course for Fayetteville, where I could find a hotel. It was about 30 miles away. On the way down, I stopped in here for a drink and a picture. I am happy that I am able to say I rode part of the Tail of the Pig, but I could've done without all the drama. It was dark by the time I got to Fayetteville.
My palace in Fayetteville. I was bone tired but had to set out to 1) Find beer. 2) get food. The pizza was better than it looked. I don't eat meat, so it was covered in big hunks of veggies. And Fat Tire is one of my favourite beers when I'm in the U.S. I set off bright and early the next morning, happily riding into another glorious morning. Well, Hello There, Missouri. (I'm still not sure why I feel to post these signs, but here you go)
I wasn't sure what route I was taking home - Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho...? It got progressively windier and the air was blisteringly hot. I met this family in Iowa (?). The mother, father and son were traveling to Sturgis and the Black Hills. Their son had been hit by a car that had run a red light and T-boned him on his motorcycle. While he's recovered, the injuries and the lasting effects were such that he was forced to retire from his job as a firefighter. He bought a new bike a month and the accident and this trip was his idea. Mom and Dad spoke about loving to ride and had been doing it on and off since 1957. I took this shot from the distance because most times I'm too shy to ask people to pose for a picture. I envy their packing style: I ended up having to take a massive detour due to the remains of the flooding that still caused highways to remain closed. The detours were hell. Tons of traffic making their way slowly down single-lane highways through small towns. At times the traffic was slow, you had to stop and just bake in the heat. No pics, even though I really wanted to take some shots of the wind turbines and other sites, but I was drained.
It's not any cooler this year either, Soujouner. We are trying to plan a trip where we won't have to roast ourselves to get somewhere. Since I have been in Canada, it seems that I cannot tolerate the heat much. I love the pictures of water that you took.... Very nice. Interesting name for a grocery store to that you stopped at too....haha. And I am really glad that you didn't bite the big one off of the cliff! :eek1 I know for sure that would have been much worse than my 45 degree angle parking lot experience! And then what happens next??......
So, this trip and therefore, this RR is almost done. My next trip starts in about 19 days and I'll be trying to live blog from the road. After a VERY long, hard day of riding, I ended up in Sioux City, Iowa. You'll notice that my two attempts at camping had ended disastrously, so I wasn't even faking it anymore. It was cheap hotels all the way. This is what I woke up to. I've gotten some good practice at riding in the rain and I feel that I'm better equipped to deal with rain showers on the road. The day cleared up nicely as I made good time heading into South Dakota. The great weather held all the way home. This was the border in North Dakota in the early afternoon: Back to my prairie home:
I rolled into Winnipeg, late afternoon, tired but happy having made it back safely. It was a wonderful trip, full of great experiences and a lot of nice people. I learned a lot and hopefully that knowledge will help make this summer's trip a great one. Thanks for reading. I covered 6,249 km in all. Clearly, it was time to get some new rubber. I fit the bike with Michelin PR3s at the start of this year's riding season. This is the original front tire at the end of the trip - 25K+ kms later... Here's the back tire - obviously I got it home just in time... Bye Bye.
Thanks for the trip. My grandad lived across from Baton Rouge in Port Allen. To bad you didn't make it down there when the ferry was running.