| |
|
|
| |
HILL
COUNTRY 2025
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
This
year - 2025 - has been an extraordinarily difficult year for me. We buried
our only daughter, Nikki, at age 48 on March 24 and had to deal with all
the emotional, mental and financial distress from that. Then on June 1 as
I am riding across New York state on I86 coming from a motorcycle event
in Vermont, a deer takes me out while I am traveling at interstate speeds.
It completely destroys BlueBelle and I end up with fractures in both knees,
my right ankle and the seventh rib on my right side. Fortunately I was wearing
my Hit-Air vest which protected almost all of my upper body. I was unable
to ride after that for several months as it was very difficult to even walk.
Then there have been some very serious unexpected 'financial' burdens to
deal with in months after that. I am seeking some quiet time to just let
the wind blow through my head and process what I have just experienced.
SweetTreat is the one for this trip as she was the one I rode when I last
visited the Texas
Hill Country back in 2010. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
My desire
on this trip is stay off interstates and follow back roads all the way from
Nashville to Kerrville, Texas. I head for the Natchez Trace as it will take
me to Natchez, MS right on the border of Louisiana. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Some say the Trace
is boring, but I find the absence of trailer trucks, mobile phone booths
and traffic very relaxing. I've ridden the entire Trace from one end to
the other over a dozen times and I never find it boring, I find it very
peaceful. And peaceful after what I've experienced in the past year is something
I really need a good dose of. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
I have it all to
myself pretty much, so I can set the cruise control on and just enjoy the
fall colors as I motor along. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
It is as if the
trees are bending over the Parkway to welcome me and protect me as I travel
my way. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
I decide I'll stop
at one of my favorite places in Collinwood, just off the Trace. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
It's a little local
grocery that has a really good deli in it and lots of choices for drinks
and such. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
I've hit it just
at the right time and I procure some of their lovely biscuits with hen fruit
and pig meat wedged between the buttery halves. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
With breakfast now properly
taken care of, I'm back to the Trace and soon cross the Tennessee River.
I wonder how wide the river was before all of the dams were built. I know
Colbert ferry for the Trace was located nearby this crossing. History
tells us -
George Colbert,
a mixed-race Chickasaw man used his bilingual skills to build a network
of enterprises and ran the ferry. It was located on the Tennessee River
where the Natchez Trace crosses it. He also operated a stand (a roadside
inn) to provide food, lodging for travelers along the Natchez Trace. Colbert
charged notable figures, including Andrew Jackson's army, to cross the
river.
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
The beauty
of the Trace is that for the most part, they have kept the margins pretty
thick so you feel like you are just traveling through the woods on a quiet
2 lane road. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Next I cross the
The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway. It is a 234-mile artificial waterway
built to connect the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River near Demopolis,
Alabama. It created a commercial route from the midsection of the United
States to the Gulf of Mexico when it was completed in 1984. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Then I come up to
a sign that I sometimes see as they are repairing various parts of the Trace.
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
The official detour
does take me by this lovely Cross that reminds me of Who I belong to and
in Who's care I am. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
The other end is
at French Camp where I can once again get back on the Trace. The 'official'
detour is a bit strange so I determine that I will come up with a better
detour before I head back this way at the end of the ride. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
It's a lovely day
and I am really enjoying the solitude and lack of traffic on the Trace.
Here the trees almost form a lovely green tunnel I can ride through. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Near Jackson I pass
by the Ross Barnett Reservoir. Its history began in 1960 with construction
on the Pearl River Reservoir, which was renamed in honor of Governor Ross
Barnett. Completed in 1963, the 33,000-acre lake was designed to provide
a reliable drinking water source for Jackson and help with flood control
along the Pearl River. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Soon I am at the
official south end of the Natchez Trace on the outskirts of Natchez, MS. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
My first destination
of importance is the Pig Out Inn, a really good BBQ joint in the downtown
area. Those biscuits were quite a while ago so I'm really hungry at this
point for some more good grub. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Since this is not
my first rodeo here, I already know what I want. I order up a rib plate
with cold slaw and Brunswick stew. It fills all the empty places that I
need it to fill. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
And there are no
survivors in the aftermath, just the fragments that remain ... |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
When I am in Natchez,
I usually stay at the Red Carpet Inn. It is a mom and pop motel, nothing
fancy, but reasonably priced and in a good state of upkeep. I will be staying
here on my way back through in a few days. |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
It's been a nice,
peaceful day and I've had time to mull over many things in my head. Little
do I know what will transpire tomorrow before my head hits a pillow again. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
