NAFO - EOM 5000 "Green to Gold" Ride Report

[Top_Speed1]

DAY 5

Sun 9/21/14 (420 miles)

We are now down to 2 riders, myself and Steamer. The rest of my group could not scrounge up the days to do the full Monte. It was a pure delight to have along such great riding friends; Mike (Wine Guy), Charlie (Huey Lewis), Owen (Owen?). Then, we added-in Brotha Dave and Mark on a couple of day rides as well

....Great guys, thanks for hanging with me and da'Steamer.

So my main objective leaving LaCrosse was to ride the Mississippi scenic valley ride. It's documented within many publications and with some fellow suggestions, we're going to include it in our route today. Oh, one more thing, no slab for the rest of the trip (minus the 1 day ride home from NC of course). So I'm kinda excited, slab is.... well, you know, slab

.

Traveling down to [D] on the map (The Field of Dreams Movie Set)....

"Put me in coach, I'm ready to play, center field... look at me..." Traveling this area just brings up old R&R songs from the likes of John Cougar etc. So let's play ball! I watched the Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams" before I left on this trip. I saw it maybe 10 years ago but thought it would make a nice refresher.

"If you build it... they will come". Famous line from the movie.....

I remembered the screen door slapping shut with Kevin Costner gleamed out at the legends (in the movie u ding-dongs!)... So cool to see the exact door on the house, the porch etc. The fence was added to keep tourists out but everything else was exactly how I remembered it from the movie (re-viewed just10 days ago by myself). Kewl, Kewl, Kewl! almost surreal. Stan wasn't getting it like I was, he should of watched the flick with me.

We could walk the field, even hit the ball with a bat, I actually ran the base's as well as I wandered everywhere, just like a little kid in a candy store.

Out of the little sales/souvenir shop comes this little lady (red pants helping a tourist) asking me where we are from etc...

She then proceeds to ask about my bike and states that it looks like a rocketship!. I was chuckling. She then says "I noticed when you came in it wasn't all loud and rumbling". I then proceed to tell her that's it's not a Harley but rather a BMW. She's floored and doesn't believe me, she says "They make cars sonny, even I know that, and, expensive ones at that!". Shaking her head, she asks If I would like to bring my (made up and not real) bike on the field for pics. I saw a few other tourist there (taking some pics) so I figured I wouldn't hog the show and make my bike (get) into their pics. I did bring my Beem up to the almost dugout area for a shot....

It was about an hour stop. Kinda lengthy when you want to travel some miles, but it was so well worth it! Many thanks to Tony for this suggestion! Time to bolt tho, more Iowa country-side views to take in...

Lunch stop [Food Porn!] was at a Culvers just south of Davenport Iowa. This is a fast food chain based out of Wisconsin (I believe?) that is considered by locals as "Hi-End Fast Food". Man, this was my kind of FF! I had a mushroom-swiss Butter Burger! Yes, almost all their burgers are some form of a Butter Burger, But soooo Delicious! ....I want one right now! It's in my head.... Butter Burger, Butter Burger, Butter Burger, Butter Burger!

Coming back in and following the river (again) on our left with glimpses of it now and then, the road does joust out into farm land. Getting lower into Missouri, we start to find lots of the Soybean fields that I've heard so much about from other riders (Kansas and other flatland States) well frankly, most if not all will say it's the boring stuff! (and it is!).

Huge Bio SB Plant!... So I decide to investigate this!? ...Hey, I like to take some things away with me like the culture, history or tradition from my travels, not only to learn from but for remembrance as well. OK, I'm really a NERD!

I was totally sober, remembered everything verbatim... so I'll pass my learned lesson on to you fine folks

. Now open your minds especially you one's living up in the arctic (AKA Kanada)...

So why all these Soybean crops and miles upon miles of fields ya say? Well this grain is a multiple end-source commodity come to find out. Worth big bucks! The plant is called an Expellar slash Extruder processing plant. This is the animal feed (and oil) side (since the food grade building requires hair nets etc. and us being filthy bikers, I guess we looked like we are in for the dirty end.

.

So what they are doing here is expelling the natural oil (Soybean Oil) out of the round little soybeans (about the size of peas, just tan/bownish colored). This oil is very valuable as a food source and in cooking (on the FG side). On the animal grade side, this oil is used by feed mills and farmers to add to their feed, not for any nutritional values, but rather to keep the feed from separating. Say what? OK, when fines are added like minerals and salts to the (lets use cows for example) ground corn or crimped base feed, these fines (salts/minerals) would sift down and not get a proper ration to the cow. Adding in Soybean oil (and Molasses is also another binder) the farmer gets a more consistent feed for the animal.

So why is this commodity so special? Well... they not only get the oil^ but the by-product left is still the bean! With a very hi level of protein (35%), this left over bean is then roasted (with steam) then sent between 2 huge corrugated steel rollers. If the extrude the bean, they can get 44 to 48% Soybean Meal. Another very popular Hi-Protein supplement for animals.

So this crimping process "squeezes" the bean. Not smashing it which creating more fines, but rather a "Squish" factor keeping the fines to a minimum. The steam process aids in keeping the now crimped bean together. This also make the bean more palatable to the animal, meaning the 35% protein level is used in the animals digestive system rather than being "pooped out" in the manure without being used in digestion.

So this 2 step process is a Win-Win, you get the oil and a very high protein soybean that animals need. Here is the crimped roasted beans coming out....

And lets not forget the oil (Animal side). This tote is going to a farmer somewhere northeast of Hannibal. When i told him our next stop was going to be Hannibal... well, he wasn't amused and I basally got a snarl look. Must be a local- yocal thingy.

OK, enough lessons on all these Soybean fields and Mills, the good news is that we made it to Mark Twain's hometown of Hannibal MO. (and I kinda remember from grade school that Mark Twain was just a pen name, and it was derived from the depth or mark of the Mississippi (had to be) for ships to pass safely?. I might have that twisted a tad, hey, that was 30 years ago! Steamer is still with us! Amazing.

So we landed in Hannibal around 5. Showered and the desk clerk at the EconoLodge recommended a place down the street for an awesome BBQ. Hmmm, funny. That's just what this trip was about [food porn wise]. Not being down South (yet), we decided to sample the Midwestern's take on BBQ.

I had the Q-Brisket (as our waiter kindly recommended). He said, all the Yanks come here to try it and they all go away in awe. Dang, it was pretty awesome!!! Not fatty at all (which brisket is famous for and where a lot of the flavor comes from)... they must have a good fat trimmer for a sue-chef. A local semi-dark brew (that was also just as good) washed it all down. OK, maybe more than one of those.

This ranked #2 on the "Food Porn BBQ Tour" by the bye. I wasn't ready for such a high ranking from Missouri!? So No.1 is still to come!

Navigation:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Day 1 Central NY to Gaylord MI

Day 2 Gaylord MI to LaCrosse WI

Day 3 & 4 NAFO Rally

Day 5 LaCrosse WI to Hannibal MO

Day 6 Hannibal MO to Fayetteville AR

Day 7 Fayetteville AR to Memphis TN

Day 8 Memphis TN to Nashville TN

Day 9 Nashville TN to Maggie Valley NC

Day 10 EOM Rally

Day 11 EOM Rally

Day 12 Maggie Valley NC to Central NY

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

[Redfish Hunter]

You are doing great, I am completely enjoying this.

I appreciate that your entire group was willing to stay with their leader for the duration of the repair and replacement. Good for them.

That stupid BMW does look like a rocket ship. I like it.

 

[hppants]

Well done. More please

 

[Top_Speed1]

You are doing great, I am completely enjoying this.
I appreciate that your entire group was willing to stay with their leader for the duration of the repair and replacement. Good for them.

That stupid BMW does look like a rocket ship. I like it.

Thank you Andrew! ...and thanks for the primer with your superb RR hitting on the Nachez'. I'll color that one up pretty soon!

Well done. More please

It was great meeting you 'pants!. Sorry that I kinda rushed up on you. Once I was told who you were, I wanted to introduce myself and I saw you were getting ready to leave/ride. Hope you had a great time and an enjoyable ride-back to Louisiana.

...working on day 6, my Birthday!...

 

[Top_Speed1]

DAY 6 (PART 1)

Mon 9/22/14 (451 miles)

Objectives were to get from Hannibal MO to Fayetteville AR, take in MO-79 out of Hannibal but bail way before any St. Louis backlash. Oh, and take in my Birthday lunch at Shady Gators (on my bucket list)... Lake of the Ozarks; Missouri. [E] on the map^.

Making my .GPX map(s) through Basecamp, I also put in some very interesting roads [F,G] ...but you know how that can go sometimes? .....u know, picking out roads by overhead digital mapping.

here's our 7am wake-up call...

Missouri went from fun, interesting and kewl (by the river) to flat and boring... well, for awhile anyways... Here we start to meet up with the tunnel of trees (no not the one in Michigan silly, rather my made-up one in MO.!)

We approach my Birthday lunch destination

...did I ever tell ya "I'm either an on the water or near it kinda person!"

Riding around here is confusing!. The waterway(s) are not uniform to anything. You go in and out of water scenes all the time, then you hit condo communities and right back to some neat and interesting riding.

We cross another bridge (we were doing loops through the Lake's of the Ozarks taking in some mighty fine roads. Now, being that this was out-of-season, we could do this quite easily. In Season? Forget about it! NO really! Only do this way before Memorial Day or way after Labor Day (more on this to come...)

These next 4 shots; a Front, Left, Back and Right. Hey, a real 360!

Hey! Steamer's still with me! ...and that's good cuz he said he was buying my B-Day lunch. He was amazed btw by the Lakes of the Ozarks. He never knew this was here. And, I only did by watching the Travel Channel one nite; "Most partying Boating destinations".

Okay I know, enough of the 360 crap... hey, I tried to be clever

SO, We need to eat! ...I call up Shady Gators (GPS wise) and off we go on these kool roads. (it's about 10mi away, I know, I lost focus!)

As we get to my B-Day Burger and a Bump joint.... It's CLOSED! WFT! ...Only weekends it states after Labor Day

I'm kinda bummed.

No Belgian Wheat for me, at least here.

So it appears the joint is open, well not 'open-open' but I told da'Steamer, we're investigating this party hole while we are here!

Dock-space for the Gator guests only. No transients allowed.

Wouldn't want all the commotion of these weekends, but I figured on a Monday it would be much calmer. And it was

Gazing out, I see a place (to the left in pic) where lunch could come from, and importantly still uphold a view!....

SO my actual B-Day lunch hole. Much nicer (and more expensive)... sorry Steamer! So our food porn place is called Horny Toads, Lake of the Ozarks

That's my crazy ass in the middle winging my arm out, this was after one beer, in-which we never do while riding. This day was different, and we were going to have plenty of time to absorb out the beer before we would ride again.

Looking out from our new lunch home, we see the 'Gator. What a party hole that place must be. Dang, wish I went there when I was about 25!

So enough of the lake scenery, food porn is what ya want?

I had the Monkfish sandwhich w Sweet Potato fries. it was very good and at $10, it wasn't going to break the Steamer to badly.

It took another Shock-Top-Wheat however to get 'er washed down....

After many phone calls, texts etc to catch up (and to burn out our 2 beers consumed), we mosey on down and into the Mark Twain forest (hey, everything down here seems like it's Mark Twain something!?)

- image per post limitations, part 2 of Day 6 coming up....

 

[Top_Speed1]

DAY 6 (PART 2)

Mon 9/22/14 (451 miles)

-Con't- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On 39 South (where 248 intersects) just at the tops side of the Mark Twain Forest. This road becomes about a 5mile roller coaster. We got our speeds up to where we saw lots of air on the rebound end. I've rode some shorter more steep ones, but this one was pretty sweet as it's length was a real extended rush.

Stan needed a break after that one, guess he wasn't a fan of the coasters like I was. I told him, next up was some 'KJ-ad-libbing' and I did it solely on the computer and it could be pot luck. Hey, I was hoping it would be good, paved and smooth, I already knew it was twisty from the mapping

Oh it got sweet! So much so that I only got pics from the early more boring parts only (sorry, I had to hang on w both hands and no pillion to take pics either like so many 2-ups that do this here).

This route (39/187 to 86 to 62) was probably one of the best stretches of the entire trip. With all due respect, easily beats any MI. WI. MN. IO. or MO roads that we have traveled so far! .....but how about the mass quantities of these kinda roads in the Smokies?, would that eventually rule?. Well, that's father down the way (RR) wise peeps! ....patience

Now what could get better? Holy rollers, what do I see upon us?

Oh this road is AMAZING!

When you find roads and places like this (on a whim), it's twice as nice. It doesn't happen very often but when it does.... bliss!

A local (Harmonica playing gentleman on a golf cart) told us some stories and cultured us up somewhat. We told him how much we admired this place and he says "yeahupp! thatsa why we'all a livin here!". This Beaver Springs "house" was in it's last form a Jailhouse for a railroad that came through along the riverbed. I wondered... what do they do, stick a guy in here that misbehaved (on the train) so the locals could have their way with him? hmmmm.

After making our crossing, chatting with our harmonica local we find a VERY peaceful and tranquil place BUT there is a "noise" however in the distance?. In comes a bunch of 4 wheelers (Cobra club) w guys n gals all now sharing the same peaceful experience we are. Chatting with them, they are in awe. One states "I wanna be buried here!". Yes, it was that good and nobody wanted to leave, nobody.

Interesting houses and buildings, looked like something from a movie set!

Hanging out for a pic by the Steamer....

We get our 1st motorcycle visitor on a BMW dual sport. He waived and just rode on, I danced

You can see his bike behind me above my left arm, wish he had stopped to talk. Maybe it was my ghetto rag on my head

that scared him!

My money shot....

We eventually bolt on, I really want this place as a re-visit location. Not many down in my books as this as there is so much to see elseware, but this one deserves a re-visit for sure. Time to move on tho

The riverbed stays close, and there (maybe) is the Railroad that the harmonica guy was talking about!

More great roads thru the Mark Twain Forest...

The sun was starting it's dip. Dang-it, one of the very best days I've ever had on a motorcycle. And yes, it was my B-Day

The fun roads were starting to straighten out as we neared Fayetteville AR. Wow, we had such an adrenaline rush and then the surreal feelings on this route, we both did not want it to end. But it was inevitable....

After showering at our lovely Fayetteville Econolodge (cuz we're cheap bastards!)

We walk out and get a couple of 6-packs for happy hour, again the cheap way. I strum up on my iPad some food joints within our proximity. We find that we are basically right on the edge of College Town! That's the University of Arkansas (Razorbacks). So we stroll the campus somewhat after consuming our 6 packs, using GPS on our smartphones with walking mode (first for me)...

Hugo's it is! (Yelp reviews selected), nothing too fancy or much ...cuz it was kinda late-ish. Our motel happy-hour was about 6 to 9:15! So, just needed a 'lil sumtin" to soak up the prior cheap beers...

Razor-Club, good for the arteries!

Navigation:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Day 1 Central NY to Gaylord MI

Day 2 Gaylord MI to LaCrosse WI

Day 3 & 4 NAFO Rally

Day 5 LaCrosse WI to Hannibal MO

Day 6 Hannibal MO to Fayetteville AR

Day 7 Fayetteville AR to Memphis TN

Day 8 Memphis TN to Nashville TN

Day 9 Nashville TN to Maggie Valley NC

Day 10 EOM Rally

Day 11 EOM Rally

Day 12 Maggie Valley NC to Central NY

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

[Tanker]

Fantastic RR KJ!!!

Can't wait for the next installment. Thanks!!

 

[Wine Guy]

KJ, an AWESOME ride report as always. I'm older than you and my memory isn't as sharp but here a few pictures during our travels:

At Cheap Charlies. Not a lot of spots to put our helments however I was able to find one by our table.....

When we got into LaCrosse, we went to the "Adult Beverage" store and were told we couldn't buy any wine because it was after 9pm however we could still buy beer. I don't know what this was considered but they let us buy them - 24 ounces at 12%. They definately were "loko". 1 of these and I was a bit loopy. Learned my lesson and stuck to drinking the things I knew weren't going to kill me for the rest of the trip.

Owen sporting the new look for the Canadian Fall. Might be some kind of trippy camouflage......

For those of you who don't have kids and would like some, you can get them at the local variety store in LaCrosse....

One "Big Ass" burger at Big Ernies on the way home from LaCrosse....(sunglasses used as a point of reference for size)

The 3 Amigos - ready to head out on our final stretch home to Ontario Canada..... Charlie (Huey Lewis), Mike (Wine Guy), and Owen (Owen)

Charlie is like a Gremlin - you know, don't give him water at night - EXCEPT with Charlie, don't give him ice cream...

 

[Top_Speed1]

Thanks Mike for chiming in with those pics! Funny and you brought me back some memories! Like, I remember that these made you more than "a bit loopy".

You were fugg'n gone bro! Like another planet, and I probably wasn't far behind you as I was tipping the same loco (crazy) shit as yourself. The best part was when you came up to me and said "KJ, I can't weely wide anymower". I said "Good, cuz we are at the Days Inn and we don't have to!" You were too funny. I will cherish all the times together but that will just always stick in my mind.

Total blast with you hosers!. Only wish you guys could of done the whole loop with us. It was epic (and I know that word is over-used), but it was. Feel free to post up any pics or thoughts, my RR is yours as well

-KJ

 

[Top_Speed1]

DAY 7 (PART 1)

Tues 9/23/14 (338 miles)

Riding the entire width of the State of Arkansas <Rte 16>... I originally had only a partial 16 in my plans, special thanks to Mark (Wheaton) for changing my mind to the whole 16 right into Searcy. Our only objective for the day was that we had reservations at a downtown high-rise hotel in Memphis, so riding some fun roads in-between and getting to Beale Street for our big night on the town was about it, well besides our Memphis Rib dinner (yes!)....

Leaving Fayetteville at 7:20am was probably not the smartest move, we took in the included Cont. breakfast (Econlodge) that certainly did not live up to us leaving this late. Traffic thru the College campus was very lengthy and we were shacked up right in the middle of it, we navigated eventually thru it and onto AR16 where it was slim to none traffic. Did I mention a cold front came through over-nite? Cold! In the mid-40's this AM. Burrrrr!

Blessed with another great day

And we are soaking up the morning sun (felt soooo good) while burning off the fog from the Ozark Mtns. AR16 is still pretty mellow twisty wise (yet)...

Handlebar warmers on 3 bars, it's friggin brisk out this AM! ...+ Keeping an eye on the tire pressure as well, look'n good baby! 40/45

Our 1st rest stop, we are getting down on fuel as we didn't start out full this time (one of the bad things about staying on a college campus/area). We did find our pee-spot as an (ex?) Tree-Fort (or maybe it was a house? IDK about these Ark-Kansas'ers)

Pretty isolated on AR16, we finally found a gas station and with only 0.79/gal! Yes!... well, you can probably tell how that went...

This bustling intersection was of no more, looks more like a ghost town to me and everywhere I look, it all looks the same!?

So we go on our way (but we really wanted to stay

), and, still looking for some petro...

Down about 40 miles or so, we come to some kind of population (and I say this very lightly). 1 gas station (barely) town and 87 Octane only, in which I've used many of times, no probs, we just need fuel! ...No pay at the pump here, Inside we find huge peanut bins. Like who buys all these peanuts? Where are they?

We pay, get a snack and get on our way back to the 16...

Stan is exercising or stretching his legs, the continuous-days rides may be catching up to him...

Approaching our downtown hotel, it looks like we are in the right place...

Place looked like the French Quarter (Bourbon St) in New Orleans to me?...

Time to check-in, get showers and seek that BBQ before we indulge in liquids, BUT!, Stan wants one quick duck-in prior...

<image post limit>

Con't..................................

 

[Top_Speed1]

DAY 7 (PART 2)

Con't ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It's now.... I'm hungry, your hungry, we're all hungry, so... LET'S EAT!.

Food Porn Time! So it came down to 2 establishments for the Ribs; Rendezvous "Do hogs fly?" -and- The Cozy Corner BBQ. Both visited by Triple D (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives). In talking to locals at the hotel, all say the Rendezvous is for dry rub Ribs, and Cozy Corner for for wet Ribs. We wanted Wet! (sorry Rendezvous!).

This is not my image but rather one from many of moons ago...

I thought it was appropriate^

....because the joint still looks like it does today! As Guy Fieri said on his airing of the Cozy Corner "Don't judge a book by the cover, and this certainly applies here!". As we approached this establishment by foot (and it was 1.3miles from our downtown hotel)... Steamer says "That can't be our Rib place?" ...I laughed and knowing/seeing it on TV, I said "YUUP!" I got a deep frown and snarl from him.

The man who started it all...

We both ordered the modest 6 Rib dinner. As we took our first bite and looked up at one another... My held-in impression was "WOW!". Stan was speechless as well (and he's a picky bastard) so I was wondering?.... but then out came some verbiage laced with profanity... "These are the best MotherF'n Ribs in the whole WORLD!, Holy ship!" (his voice went up an octave every couple of words) I was pretty relieved! ...and was in awe as well.

No.1 BBQ, at least on this venture and any so far that I've had. I will continue my "Best BBQ quest" however, but, for now... NO.1 Baby!

Perfect smokiness (not overpowering, just enough) and an awesome sweet-tangy rich sauce, very tender delicious meat and with no fat!. The meat came right off but not sloppy-off like some places/ribs that I've had. Dang, we have now met our No.1 BBQ Ribs, and at one of the pig-holiest places we've ever been to! Cozy Corner is a busy place. Almost all out take-outs or pick-ups. We dined in (if you can call it that). The folks are very friendly there and once they find out where you're from?... the fun-game is on!.

Those are 5' trophies btw in the bg...

Checked in our hotel, we are up on the 11th floor. Our Bikes are on the 7th floor (garage). Alarms are set

We walk out to this....

And we had street entertainment...

Beale Street is a BLAST!

One of the many things I liked was that you could purchase a drink on the street, walk with it, go into another bar with it... dang, this was easy street!

No Cover Charge at any of the bars or establishments. Most had bands playing and you could carry your drink right in! Of course they are hoping you like it there and purchase a drink then from them as well. And we did!. 'Nuff Said!

Being a Tuesday nite, we thought it would be kind of dead?... Nope! A Car show to boot helped bring in the peeps (I'm thinking). Most however were more interested in the bars and blues bands playing throughout. Elvis?...

I found a reciprocating engine amongst all the Blues and Brews...

I guess you get your start on the streets before a bar/venue picks you up...

Time to drink and mosey out into the streets...

Stan-lee is starting to slur his words. And, those are 32oz Beers we are drinking. At $5 for domestics, $6 for the microbrewery ones, how could you go wrong?...

Xcross the street I find the home of the Memphis Grizzlies (NBA team) just through this open air pub/cafe...

Interesting decorations they have in Memphis...

Bars and Geet-tars!

Stan says "We need one more for a night capper!" Yeah, sure we do

So in we go to his new found bestest place evah!

Stan buys this guy's CD (white hat, sitting down at the present), and woah!, he is REALLY dang good! (and entertaining). Come to find out, he's a legend here... It's Earl 'The Pearl' (no, not Monroe). The dude and his band are simply awesome! ...and, I'm not really a Blues kinda guy. Awesome tho Mr. Pearl!

We also find his "Walk of Fame" on the sidewalk on Beale Street....

Walking out with a huge smile (and buzz). We get approached by this lovely bunch (of all sizes as u can see). As they walked away (i'll keep our conversation private

I whipped out my camera... Stan was like No, No, don't take their pic KJ, their pimp will kick our asses~! Well, that was enough for me... out comes the camera

At this time, we knew our nite was done. 6 Ribs later, then 7 32oz beers to wash it all down?... done! Oh yeah, a few shots here and there as well. Let's exit stage left! ...."Say, Steamer, which way is our hotel?" hehe... "there! down yonder it is!"... (oh boy, the South is rubbing off on us!)

Walking back to our hotel at midnight. Feeling no pain and definitely not walking the straight line. What a night. One that we both will remember for the rest of our lives.

Goodnight nurse!

Navigation:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Day 1 Central NY to Gaylord MI

Day 2 Gaylord MI to LaCrosse WI

Day 3 & 4 NAFO Rally

Day 5 LaCrosse WI to Hannibal MO

Day 6 Hannibal MO to Fayetteville AR

Day 7 Fayetteville AR to Memphis TN

Day 8 Memphis TN to Nashville TN

Day 9 Nashville TN to Maggie Valley NC

Day 10 EOM Rally

Day 11 EOM Rally

Day 12 Maggie Valley NC to Central NY

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Okay, I admit it. I am jealous. Why should Steamer get to have all that fun with you as a tour guide?

I am thoroughly enjoying this RR. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Great ride report KJ! Looking forward to the rest of the adventure...

--G

 

[Bugnatr]

Damn KJ, hell of a report. Keep it coming! No wonder Steamer is having a good time, next time I need to ride with you guys a day.

Wheatie sent me home via 16 and I agree that is some good riding.

 

[Top_Speed1]

First off, thank you, I really appreciate it guys! Second; don't be jealous, you guys do this also and with even better scenery at hand! (So I'm the jealous one!)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAY 8 (Part 1)

Weds 9/24/14 (281 miles)

We were kind of slow today (ya think? lol). I opted for some slab out of Memphis as I didn't want to deal with a hundred stop lights etc. Also we passed on our hotel breakfast for something on the road once we tabbed off the slab.

So today's ride and post-ride events were planned pretty much like yesterdays. Question was; Could we take another day and night of this? ...As we dip off of I40 slab we are in need of Coffee and some kind of substance! We ask a wondering local on the street as to where to get a good breakfast. Well dang if I could understand the marble mouth, but we just swooped around the town till we found something...

OK, lots of cars in the lot, but everybody in this town sits at tables!... and so do we... (and here I thought I was a leader and not a follower! huh!)

I ordered their "Hungary Mans". your normal diner breakfast, certainly did not come close to the Blue-Line Diner in Niagara Falls Can. (Day 1) way back when we started this venture.

Another gorgeous day... Thank you weather Gods!!

Our 1st rest stop was planned (thanks to Gerald aka Clocklaw) at Mike's Ural Cycles in Waynesboro, TN.

This place was almost like being in a time machine of sorts...

I'm not much up on Russian bikes, but we did get in some interesting views of his "pre-owned" inventory...

"Hey!, I need some attention!",.. and after petting him (or her) I was followed around by my new found friend...

No lunch needed but Stan-Lee is saying he needs some Red-Bull. I guess his energy level is low and I wasn't thinking we would find much on these roads so I pulled over and whipped out some reserve stock I had stowed away. He gets cranky when he doesn't have his fix and since I drink coffee and he doesn't, I figured he deserved it.

Roads were just too sweet for me to worry about anything, I was in happy-happy mode. NO effects whatsoever of the prior nights libation eitha! Ride baby ride! Back underway... Pretty smooth and nice roads here in TN. I gotta say "I'm a fan!"

We now dipped (South) to start our pick-up of the 'Trace Hwy. It was looking like what I had thought. The sun out just makes everything look so dang alive!

And we "ramp on" to the 'Trace...

It's tagged at 45mph throughout most of the highway, 35 in some congested spots. We did about 5-10 over and sometimes a tad more as I was keeping an eye on the RD. We met a biker back at a gas station prior, once he found out we were doing the 'Trace, he recommended strongly that we watch our speeds. He goes on to say that some of his friends have gotten tickets for just 7 to 8mph over and that the TN. Troopers are real sticklers. Me and Steamer just said WTF! This road needs some speed! Here we ramp off for a rest stop, more-so to get rid of the coffee.

That's the Nachez Trace high above...

And here is a L/R from atop that bridge...

On that last shot (since we were just down there), here is some of the rich country-folks homez (hehe, well cuz we are on the Natchez!)

Finishing up the Natchez Trace, want an overview?. well.....It was Okay. Just OK tho, I just can't put this one on any memory shelf. On the North side (closest to Nashville) it gets very curvy, I would say sweepers at best tho. Very, very good sweepers at that, and lots of them, but with the speed limit at hand and knowing the TN Troopers are keeping a tight lid on the Speeds on this road?... kinda lame!, especially in comparing it to all the other roads we visited. So.... I've seen it, done it, and... it will not be on my "re-visit" list. Sorry N-T fans, just keeping it real. I will simply categorize it as "Nice". 'nuff said.

....Con't next post....

 

[Top_Speed1]

DAY 8 (Part 2)

Con't from ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Moving on...

Hey! I think that's our next destination/libation spot-ola!...

I really wanted to land a downtown hotel (argh!) ...well, so we could walk to Broadway St. But, those hotels were all $250+/night. So out to the burbs we went. We find a Roadway-Inn that looks secure enough. It's about 2.5 North/West of the city and within view of the skyscrapers. Yes, I did finally use a pool on our trip. I had lots of emails and texts to catch up on so I figured why not stand in the pool when tasking these up?

So our first objective (after showering) was to find that special Nashville BBQ joint. Yes, at this time, we still want to De-throne the Cozy Corner BBQ that we had the prior night in Memphis. I find Rib references all over the place (so we must be in the right place, eh!?). And yeah, I'm from the North, just not the Great White North

So... I'm checking to see how the ribs are here?.... (and no Busta', his bawlz aren't up to the front!)

We now get directed right to Broadway (the strip similar to Beale St in Memphis). Man, this town is pretty big!

Parking is horrendous here. Anybody with a metered slot on the strip just never leaves, period. We found this out only after about 5 drive-by's, looking at about 1000 slots and with zero success. So off the strip we go; to a parking lot. Hey, we both got alarms and they trigger to our smartphones as well. Hmmm,,,, well that was a good plan. It seems da'Steamer left his phone back at the room.

Walking from our parking lot, we find the "off-beat" street to be fine. I felt like I was in a pretty good area (we were warned by a cop at our motel to watch where we wander off to, as it gets sketchy outside of the strip in some places". This looked really good however...

First stop prior to BBQ? You guessed it... Some Amber's!

One of the worst Elvis' evah! and I probably match!

Cruising for our Food Porn hole?... Ahh-haa!, there it is... Jacks...

So, it's Jack's Juke Joint and Ribs. It seemed like everybody in this town had their own fav's. I just tried to find a few duplicate opinions and that was a task for sure. So Jack's was quite busy (but most establishments were in all honesty).

I got a big helping including (my selected sides of) Collards, Beans and Corn Bread. Well.... well.... well, we were sadly disappointed!.

They had multiple sauces from Vinegar based to Mustard, Honey, Molasses etc. ...which was kind of cool... BUT! It still could not touch the Cozy Corners Ribs (Memphis' BBQ the night prior). They simply did not stack up; in any fashion of flavor, correct smokiness, sauce(s), meatiness and texture. Dang! We are now officially spoiled! So these were just "very good" Ribs. I'll mark them officially as our No.3 BBQ Food Porn on the trip.

Just like Memphis, N'Ville is big on buggy rides. If I only had Debbie with me instead of the Steamer

JK, Stan was fun and a lot better drinking partner as Debbie gets tipsy too quickly. hmmm?... maybe that would be a good thing right about now, lol.

Venturing down to the end of the strip (by the river).... and yes, we did more walking here than in Memphis. One; we were by bike and couldn't consume all the beverages that we could when staying right in downtown Memphis. Two; we were kinda still in recovery mode

...Not 25 anymore! And getting close to doubling that! Holy ship! I'm getting old like most of you old farts here!

Doing a 180 at this spot^ gets us pointed to the river. This is the Tennessee Titans Stadium shining big and bold.

And my Money Shot of the river goes like this....

And the opposite end of Broadway looks like this...

We decide to have a couple of beers at some well known juice joints...

This one had too many neon's in every window, if they have to try that hard? so, we passed...

Passed for one that had a good sounding (and loud) band playing upstairs. At least from down below it sounded really good!...

And up above, sipping on a cold one (no great deals like Beale St. however) It was pretty dang good. Playing Rock n Roll tunes, subwoofers has the kick-drum pumping... I likey! (say, this is Nashville right?) lol.

So many places to stop into with so little consumption allowed. That sucks!

Getting close to midnight, I tell Stan we have been absorbing dry air long enough!. We now can have another brewski (and this walking stuff was actually kinda neat as an absorber anyways).

I like the interior decorator as well, and anything Moonshine is cool with me..

Calling it a night, feeling very good only because of what we've seen and done. We come across one last set of banshee's...

Open container? Nope! Since the driver doesn't drink (I hope anyways) it's considered to be like a limo. Peddle powered by it's (mostly) intoxicated guests, it sure has a fun-bunch on board. Yahoo-ie! They try to convince Stan and myself to join in as they have 2 empty spots. Boy, if I only had gotten a downtown (walking distance) hotel... I'm a ding-dong for sure!

So being a tight-wad and not bowing to the $250+/nite hi-rises in N'Ville?, I get to hear the crap from Stan-lee. I'm sure when it came down to it he would of been gun-shy (and bitching) about pumping out the nearly $150 (w taxes) for his share. He's a lot of talk sometimes, I'm sure some of you know this by now

Getting back to our bikes (and totally sober!), we find them in tact. The parking lot attendant tries to get $10 out of each one of us... I laugh at him and say "We may be drive'n rich-boy bikes, but we really are poor-ass white trash!" We all were laughing at this point. The attendant is a comical (as hell!) little black dude with a heavy southern drawl, he had lines a mile long (those are verbal lines btw!). He then comes back with "Hey!, I see y'all are from New Yawrk!" we say yeah.. and he bluntly shouts out "So how's dem-dare bitches uppa there?, I alwayyyz wanted to get me summadatt fine New Yawk ass!, mann!". We went on for a few more minutes (he was very entertaining after-all!)... Needless to say, we only payed $10 for the entire spot as the sign read.

Navigation:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Day 1 Central NY to Gaylord MI

Day 2 Gaylord MI to LaCrosse WI

Day 3 & 4 NAFO Rally

Day 5 LaCrosse WI to Hannibal MO

Day 6 Hannibal MO to Fayetteville AR

Day 7 Fayetteville AR to Memphis TN

Day 8 Memphis TN to Nashville TN

Day 9 Nashville TN to Maggie Valley NC

Day 10 EOM Rally

Day 11 EOM Rally

Day 12 Maggie Valley NC to Central NY

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

[hppants]

This is good stuff, man. Like you, I found the Tennessee roads fantastic. Our tour brought us mostly north of the Natchez Trace, but it looks like you found good twisty pavement between Memphis and Nashville on the south side of the trace too.

Also, AR16 is a great West/East road, but if you had time to zig zag just a little, there was far better to pick in the Ozarks. I stumbled upon that cable-stayed bridge on 187 a year or two ago. It was raining that day, but it surprised me and I really enjoyed it.

That Memphis BBQ is hard to beat. Personally, I like the dry rub stuff, but I won't turn any of it down.

Please continue....

 

[clocklaw]

Now you understand why my suggestions steered you clear of the Trace for the most part.

As for the BBQ, the next time you're in the neighborhood and are ready to unthrone the champion....let me know and I will take you to a little place in the middle of nowhere about 75 miles from downtown Nashville for the best. You know it's the best because I tell you it is....you've met me so you should know that I know my way around a dinner plate.

And for what it's worth, Nashville is known for it's "Nashville Hot Chicken", not it's BBQ, but Rippy's is a good place to land especially on game nights (Nashville Predators play at the Bridgestone).

Also, I think you missed a landmark with your travels through Nashville.....if you didn't get to the Loveless Cafe you now have a reason to come back.

Finishing up the Natchez Trace, want an overview?. well.....It was Okay. Just OK tho, I just can't put this one on any memory shelf. On the North side (closest to Nashville) it gets very curvy, I would say sweepers at best tho. Very, very good sweepers at that, and lots of them, but with the speed limit at hand and knowing the TN Troopers are keeping a tight lid on the Speeds on this road?... kinda lame!, especially in comparing it to all the other roads we visited. So.... I've seen it, done it, and... it will not be on my "re-visit" list. Sorry N-T fans, just keeping it real. I will simply categorize it as "Nice". 'nuff said.
....Con't next post....

I am enjoying your RR, I'm looking forward to the next segment. G

 

[wheatonFJR]

The reason I suggested AR16 was to assist him in getting through AR and still have some fun. It certainly isn't the twistiest road in AR...I could have suggested the very twistiest roads I could find and he and his buddy would have been draggin azz for the eastern half of AR.

Nice report KJ! Very detailed and a lot of work. Kudos man.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

KJ, I would never recommend the Natchez Trace to anyone who wanted to LEAN their bike. It is pretty much the ultimate Harley road. It is very pretty, very smooth, and very relaxing. It is not very exciting. I enjoy it for what it is but I have to get my mind set up for the slow pace.

If you are willing (as I was) to just blow the speed limit, the extreme North end is pretty fun. But only if you are well over the speed limit.

When we got off we tried to eat at The Loveless Café. The wait for a lunch table was over an hour and a half. I would not have waited that long if the waitress was topless and looked like Megan Fox... Wait, maybe I would have waited!

I was actually riding the extreme southern end of the Trace today before lunch. Why? Because a close friend just bought a new Harley and I thought he needed to see it. He loved it.