Misadventures of a Hoosierbilly Motorcycle Tramp

I don't hear of singers because I never listen to the radio...
I rely on recommendations from friends.
Thanks friend!

This isn't a RR or even close. I don't post anywhere else on the interweb nor do I FaceBook so I thought I would share this here knowing many of the inmates are ex-military and would appreciate it. We lost a true American hero on Monday. Nat Henry died after a long battle with pneumonia. I met Nat through motorcycling. We held a memorial ride in Franklin, NC for my Dad the first ten years after he died. Nat was friends with many of the local riders in Franklin and attended many of our gatherings. We in return attended his July 4th celebrations. Nat was a true patriot answering the call to support his country during the Vietnam War. He was captured during the early stages of the war and was a POW for over 6 years. He suffered as many of our POWs did during his time in captivity. I only knew him as fun loving and true friend. One evening at his July 4th gathering he brought out a box from his time as a POW. It contained the North Vietnam
fatigues he wore as a prisoner and other items he had in his possession at the time of his release. The stories he told ripped at our heart-strings in ways you couldn't imagine possible. They wrote a book about him that was only published in small quantities but is still available on Amazon called "To Hell And Beyond". The flags are flying at half-staff in Franklin. The Macon Funeral Home will be busy with family, friends and other POW's attending his services. The ride out Burningtown Road will never be the same. Godspeed Nat, Godspeed. You will be missed.

Godspeed Nat. Glad I was able to meet you. Your name comes up every time someone mentions a hero. He was a very cool part of the Franklin family. I need to get back down that way soon.

Okay, I've been guilty of letting this thread die but with the help of @Bhuff and @radianrider I've got some fresh material.

I managed to get a trip in this May that got postponed last fall. You can find it HERE.

To get this installment started try out this song from Travis Tritt. You've probably all heard it before but not one riding song I know of describes the day better than we three had yesterday, Wandering in Indiana.



We agreed to meet at exit 66 just off I70. I met Bhuff at the truckstop at I70 and IN3 about 6:30 in the morning. I had rolled out just after 5:30. There was a brisk chill in the air that confirmed this was going to be an exceptionally nice and cool day for July in Indiana. Buff topped off his gas and west we headed to meet Joel at the Cracker Barrel. Wanting to avoid the interstate as much as possible we turned south on IN3 and connected with US40 which runs parallel to I70 with significantly less traffic. We only used I70 to get across the city.

We beat Joel here by about 5 minutes. He had been following my SPOT and had calculated when to leave by our progress westward. At 8:20-ish when we met here for breakfast I had already turned 106 miles on the KLR. Good timing Joel!

Joel checking out my dirty girl.



After breakfast Joel led us out of the metropolitan area northward to IN236 where we turned west towards Parke County and covered bridge territory. Our first stop of the day was in Marshall. There's not much here other than this arch and a really nice hometown restaurant called "Under The Arch". That's Joel and Brian getting to know each other. I've rode with both of them but they've not met until today. Connecting the dots in my circle of riding friends.



Under the Arch didn't open until 11:00am but the door was unlocked at 10:30 and the waitress put on a pot of coffee for us. Since we had all three consumed fairly large breakfasts nobody was really in the mood for food. But, I would eat here if I were hungry and it's already apparent at this point in the day we'll be coming back this way again.



The inside was pin-neat and decorated much as you would expect a small hometown restaurant to look. Here's just one of the displays.



From Marshall we traveled south to Rockville on none other than Rockville Road. Just outside of town are three covered bridges almost within walking distance of each other. The Billie Creek Village contains one of those bridges but they charge admission. We were only interested in the bridge so were quite happy to view it from a distance without taking photos. However the Billie Creek Bridge is on a public road so we got a few pictures of it.



The inside of Billie Creek Bridge built in 1895.



Brian and Joel waiting for me to stop taking pictures and go riding. Okay, let's follow that road behind you guys, the one that snakes through the woods.



We zig-zagged through the country side down to a little town called Mecca. I had picked up a door for an early 90's Cutlass here a year before. I knew there was a bridge near here but wasn't sure where until we started checking out the maps. Here's the Mecca Bridge built in 1873. This bridge has been de-comissioned and has a modern concrete bridge next to it.



From under Mecca Bridge.



There's a building and this marker at the other end of the bridge.



I'm guessing the building is where the square dancing takes place?



One last view from the other end that almost blocks out the replacement bridge. Mecca Bridge is getting in a state of disrepair due to the fact it's no longer used.



From Mecca we turned south and east for Bridgeton. Once again we zig-zagged our way across the countryside heading in the general direction of our intended destination. Brian and I have been using the "follow your front wheel" method of exploring counting more on our instincts than maps. Come to find out Joel is pretty good at this too. Near Rosedale we stumbled onto this awesome backroad restaurant called the Rock Run Cafe' & Bakery.



Their claim to fame is "fall-off-the-bone-ribs" and they ain't kiddin'. Just ask Joel... oh yeah, he got a hamburger. Well just ask Brian or me. I'm hungry just looking at the pictures.



I came around the corner and spied the restaurant and completely missed this bridge within 50 yards of the Rock Run Cafe' & Bakery. But hey, there was smoke bellowing from the smokers and the smell of blackened meat in the air. How could you blame me? The Roseville Bridge built in 1910 looking east through the structure.



Another shot to try to capture the length of this bridge. Many of the bridges down here are longer than the ones we have in our backyard. This bridge is in use and consequently is in better condition.



Across the parking lot from the restaurant they're putting in a small park/display area featuring old farm equipment pulled out of of local barns. This old Ford caught my eye. Rust speaks to me...



... but hey check out those glass reflectors. When was the last time you seen those?



Then there were several tractors on display but the rustiest one called my name. A Fordson anyone? Still good tread on the rims!



From Rosedale we meandered south and east towards Bridgeton. Once again not following a map but just the front wheel and where the road called.

Outside of Bridgeton by a half-mile we seen parking advertised for $30.00. Obviously that would be during the bridge festival but it speaks to the fact that this place really fills up if they're parking that far away and walking. This old Chevy was begging to have her picture taken.



The Bridgeton Bridge built in 2006. I believe there's part of the old structure within the new structure but it also has been de-comissioned and has a modern concrete bridge next to it.



It was tough to get a shot that didn't include the new bridge but I finally found this location between the two bridges but you can almost imagine it's the only one there.



This is looking at the Bridgeton Mill from inside of the bridge. I didn't go in the mill on this trip but Brian did and confirmed the mill was operating and that they were grinding flour while we were there.



And here's the mill from the parking lot and a completely out of place Jaguar. ARRRHG! The Bridgeton Mill was established in 1823 and rebuilt in 1870.



One last shot of the Bridgeton Bridge from the mill side. It looks like swimming and wading are popular below the mill dam in the summer time. There were quite a few people enjoying the cool water. Look at that sky! It has been beautiful all of this day with no chem-trails polluting the sky, low temps and a light breeze. It's a great day to be alive, eh?



This was our last photo stop. We headed north back to Rockville and made a stop for gas before turning the bikes home. From Rockville we traveled north on US41 and then turned east on IN236. At US39 we split with Joel, he pointed his SV south for home and Brian and I headed north to skirt the Indy metro area and the weekend traffic jams. At IN28 we turned east for the last stretch of road we'd be traveling together. At IN3 Brian went south and me north. I only had 12 miles to him at this point and Brian had about 60. I would guess that out mileage was pretty close to the same. I put 373.3 miles on the KLR today. We explored am area of the state that neither of us three had explored before. We seen 6 of the 31 bridges in Parke County. We spent over half the day traveling to and from our homes to get here but it was worth every mile. We've all agreed that we need to give the area more attention and that we need to put everyday worries behind us more often and spend a little more time in the wind.

I read a really sad thread in Jo Momma about Larry Weaver and his demise. You should take the time to read it and then you can grasp how important days like these are. Godspeed Larry, ride in peace.

This song by Cody Jinks really touches on the need to leave our worries with the birds and the wind. Enjoy.



Thanks Bhuff and radianrider for a most excellent day adventure!

Great shots in this report, JB2. One for the memory banks for sure.

Thanks for suggesting the locale.

Joel - Thanks, I thought your shots were pretty good too. You'd think we were following each other around by the similarity of our photos.

236 ended up being a good road in my book and a good way to get west to Rockville while avoiding all the cruiser traffic. I think the next time I head there it will be an overnighter. Leave early on Saturday and head straight there and lodge in the Rockville area. Spend the afternoon and the next morning getting a little more intimate with the area. Once a person has covered all the asphalt roads it looks as though there is an equal number of gravel roads to explore. From the map the girl gave you at the restaurant it looks as if about half the bridges are on gravel roads.

Seeds for another trip.

Sounds like a good idea. Roads even less travelled south of 36, but no real straight shots out like 236 does it. Can do 40 to 240 into Greencastle and then 22 over to the Bridgeton area. Looks like a fun road past Greencastle.

I agree on the roads between Greencastle and Bridgeton. To be honest I hadn't looked for another option. I liked 236 so well that I've kind of adopted it as my go-to route to get to Parke County but Greencastle Road(aka CR720 South) looks like a real riders road. Either way it's a road for the next trip for sure. My October plans are all broken trying to work around things already planned and others' schedules that I think I'm going to use my remaining vacation time to re-visit the area for an extended stay. I know you'll be back teaching again but the weekend of the 15th and 16th I will be there and it's such a short ride from Avon...

I'll for sure try to make that happen. Two more years of cross country meets to consider, but he doesn't run every weekend.

I am in for October.

Bhuff - Way cool! Been studying the maps and we left a lot on the table. Which is normal but the area is close enough that we can do something about it. Ribs again?

Ribs and one of them there steaks!!!

Oh sure. Line up to pee on the Buell. Haters everywhere I tell ya!

Hey Bhuff - I may have snagged Reepicheep for our October ride to Bridge Country. Now if we could get radianrider on board we could all get something different at the Rock Run Cafe. Me? Ribeye steak for sure! Joel? Ribs for sure. You and Reep? Who knows?

Reep - One thing for sure we need to take your new Buell back to Milo's to get it properly Christened.

I've got a few unexpected vacation days to take to watch weston this summer for a fee work commitments for Heather but might have 3 or 4 days to get in the wind with you guys. Keep me in the loop on your plans.

Prior - For sure brother. Plenty of trouble to get into and some groovy looking gravel roads we didn't go down. The next county over even has a few Forest Service roads with the potential for water crossings. Hard to tell from the map but there's only one way to find out. The dates are set for an October Bridge Run(10/13 - 10/16) and the dates for Lou & Carol are set(10/07 & 10/08). All you got to do is let me know if you're coming and I'll let you know where we are staying.

Bhuff - Are you really up for this?

hehehehe!!! This could get fun real quick.
I am READY!

Oh come on! Try the burgers!

If only I could line up a dual sport by October...hmmmm...

radian - Honesly gravel roads will be probably the worst surface we ride on and I'm not a fan of flying on gravel. I think we maybe hit 25mhp the other day when we hit that short stretch so I'm sure your SV will be perfect for the ride. I've looked the maps over pretty well and while Bhuff, Prior and I would love to find some water crossings it looks pretty doubtful we will. Got my fingers crossed you can make it at for least one of the days. You've met Bhuff and I have no doubt you'll strike a friendship with Reep and Prior too. I've long-distance traveled with both of them and you couldn't ask for better friends. So far as your choice of food goes... well, you're on your own.

It actually did just fine on that gravel road, so probably not an issue. Still your argument is messing with the whole "I need a dual sport" argument in my head.