Born in the Bayou

I woke up and got the bike packed and jumped on the Natchez Trace parkway just west of Jackson, MS.  The Natchez Trace is like the Blue Ridge Parkway, but with no curves, traffic, or pull-outs.  It was really kind of boring.  But the weather was perfect!  It was one of those times when the temperature was neutral, neither too cold or too hot.  That doesn't happen much in motorcycling.

In Natchez I crossed the Mississippi River to Vidalia, LA.  I listen to music in my head when I ride (spending a lot of time in a helmet will do that to you).  The music going through my head at this time was the  Mississippi Delta blues.  Appropriate, eh?

I was now in Louisiana.  In the delta it floods a lot.  This creates a unique problem for those resting in peace.  Many of you are familiar with the New Orleans cemeteries where the guests are buried above ground.  Well, in this region you just put a concrete slab on top of the beloved to keep them where they belong during the floods.

Then it was on to Jena, LA where my father grew up.  Jena is in farm country.  They grow a lot of cotton and soybeans.  It is also bayou country.  For some reason an old Creedence Clearwater Revival song kept running through my head here.

From here I proceeded to get lost.  I never got lost before I got a GPS.  I rode through the Louisiana back roads and wound up in Shreveport, LA somehow.  That is only on hour away from Longview, but I was beat.  Tomorrow it will be a short ride and then to spend a week with my family.  Next Sunday I will head for the Big Bend area!