Midwest Ride, Monday April 15, 2006, Day 8

My Great Trek to the Midwest
Day 8, Monday, May 15, 2006
Athens AL to Monroe LA

Day's Route Overview: Today, I woke in Athens, Alabama and continued on my revised ride home. Looking to follow the planned route, I picked Monroe, Louisiana as my hoped for destination for the day A planned total of 455 miles.
Starting out: Trip / Odometer / Time: 29.4 / 33,124 / 9:20 CDT
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham is another city that believes you should already know where you are. The only engraving on the front of the building is: "City Hall" Across the street from city hall is Linn Park. A nice fountain, some beautiful flowers, some of which spell out "MAGIC CITY" I already have a "B" city, so just some happy snaps and I'm on my way down the road.
The road side rest stops are really something in the southern states. Here's one in Alabama. Of course, one cannot visit the South and not take the obligatory photos of a magnolia or two.
Each of the southern states has a welcoming location at the first rest stop in the state along each major highway. Mississippi's was the most sophisticated. There is a greeting hostess serving complimentary coffee or sodas. An armed security guard so that the truckers can sleep without worry. They even have some ornate sitting areas that people may actually use perhaps to spend some time in conversation. There were two cane-weave rocking chairs out front on which I did a JFK back relaxation impersonation. As I mounted to leave, a 60+ something man in a car asked where I was from. I told him. He then recounted his time in the service stationed in Mountain View at Moffet Field. He recalls them storing three blimps in Hanger 1. There was a hoist system with cars that ran on rails suspended from the ceiling. They used to ride the cars for fun. Sometimes they'd hang a guy on the cable from the hoist car and zoom along until he bumped into a blimp and bounced back. Kind of a vertical trampoline, I'm guessing.
The Harley Dealer in Meridian, Mississippi is named "Chunky River" I did not ask anyone why. While there, I met a couple who were just coming back from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on their bike. They are heading back to LA. Neither they nor I volunteered to ride together. For my part, their smoking was not desirable.
Buzzing up the road, I saw a sign for a little town named Chunky and decided to explore. I budgeted about 2-3 miles up the side road to see if I could find out what it was about. Sure enough, I found the place and it even has a post office. I asked the man in the doorway to take a picture of me, Lola and the building. Unfortunately, his photo does not get the town's name; some clown is standing in front of it.
One of the ABC points can be scored for a national forest. I keep seeing them, but there is no building on which to capture a name. I followed a sign promising an information place, but it is on a side road and they never tell you how far. One mile would be okay, twenty miles there and back would not be. Fortunately, I found a sign and that will suffice quite nicely.
Jackson, Mississippi Harley dealer. There was a fellow sitting out front on a Honda Goldwing. Seeking to start conversation, I asked him if he was in the wrong place (a Harley dealer). He laughed and in the normal Harley/Honda rivalry style pointed to his friend's Harley and explained that they were there to replace some parts that the Harley had shaken off.
When I went inside, who was there but the same couple I had talked with in Meridian. Fun. The dealership is in a state that has no non-smoking laws. The place is full of people stenching away. I wanted a shirt from there because I had been in Jackson once many years ago. But, I did not want to spend any more time in there, so I bought a dealer pin and left.
Louisiana Welcoming Site. This is also very nice. Much the same style as those in Mississippi and in Alabama. For lunch earlier I had stopped at a Taco Bell in Newton, Mississippi. I got one of the numbered meals with three taco grandes but only are one. Here in Louisiana some hours later, I thoroughly enjoyed the other two. Cold, soggy but good. A man came over to me and we started talking. He lives in Florida and is driving to Louisiana for his granddaughter's graduation. He was wearing a jacket with a big HD eagle on the back. He has a 2005 1200 Custom that he rides for short trips around home. As far as I can tell from what I've seen, Louisiana is FLAT. It looks to be entirely in the flood plane of the Mississippi River and built on solid silt. Two large creeks that I noticed meandered beneath the highway. Each has built up large mounds of silt where they bend.
Motel for the night. The lady at the desk suggested that I might park Lola in front of the room. After I had gone out for supper and returned, there was a loud knock at the door. It was the desk lady. She said she had been talking on the phone to the people in the next room and there was a loud background noise. She asked if Lola was running. Since she was standing right by Lola, I explained that if Lola was running, it would be unmistakable.
Done for the day: 38.4 / 33,579 / 7:33 CDT
ABC Letters: States: Mississippi, Louisiana National Forest: Bienville Total: 455 miles, 10 hours 13 minutes Trip Total: 3,360 miles, 76 hours 40 minutes

Updated: Monday, May 12, 2014 08:58:49 PM