Machine Falls Tulahoma

"We are never walking in the woods again. In fact we are never getting out of the car again!" A bit of an over reaction :o)

On the recommendation of our waitress last night we went to look for Machine Falls and found her directions pretty good. We headed into the woods on the one and a half mile trek down hill. It was a beautiful little fall that could only be accessed by a difficult clamber along a ledge. Things went a bit Pete Tong when there was a sound in the bushes on the track back. There, 15 feet away were stood two very large dogs, stopped, their ears up and hesitating what to do. When one of them barked Rachael was off. And there was no stopping her until we were back to the car.

By the time we pulled out of the car park, Rachael was convinced that the waitress was a murderer and the dogs were hers. "We'll get shot any moment now!"

Tullahoma via Alabama and Jack Daniels

Left the city on the Natchez Trace Parkway and stopped at the Jack Daniels distillery to purchase a bottle of Gentleman Jack which we had engraved. "I'm not sure we have a dragon sir, but I can check". Everyone else had chosen from a standard selection of clipart and took a minute or two to etch. The Waen Design took about 15 minutes and I'm not sure the manager was impressed as the queue mounted behind it.....

Entered the home straight. Davey Crockett house tomorrow then on with the Great Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 Tombo's on the State Line on the Natchez Trace Parkway

Clarksville and Tupelo

Visited the Museum of the Delta Blues before we set off for Tupelo. Here we discovered amongst the Delta Blues greats including Robert Johnson and BB King, we find our two performers from last night. Rachael and I had a (brief) conversation with the great Josh 'Razorblade' Stewart. One of his shirts is hung proudly beside BB Kings jacket. We even found pictures of Daddy Rich.

On a wall I found a memento presented by Robert Plant in 2006 recognizing the influence of the Delta Blues on Led Zeppelin. That will have been when he visited the city when he recorded Walking into Clarksdale with Jimmy Page. I have a copy of the album 'in white' that Robert gave me before the album had a sleeve.

From there we drove to Tupelo to visit the house where Elvis Presley was born. A bit of a let down really as it was a heavily sanitised and sentimental experience.

Clarksdale Ground Zero Blues Bar

It was with a little trepidation we set off for Downtown Clarksdale. Jayne jumped in the car and asked if we had seen the news. 20 minutes ago a drive by shooting was reported.... All quiet on the western front when we arrived. If this had happened in the UK the town would have been sealed off and the place would have been overrun with the Bill. Here, no police to be seen and everything was business as usual.

What a great night. Cat fish for dinner and loads of beer. The house band was fronted by Daddy Rich and very good too. The good (and bad) news was that it was a jam night with all comers welcome.

Hysterically funny when a chap playing slide guitar went on stage. A proper poser, he pulled off his t-shirt to show his tattoos and gym toned arms. I knew it was going to be a disaster when he tried to play along with the song that was half way through. Things went from bad to disastrous as soon as he started his choice of song. Some other poor chap volunteered to play the drums and looked perplexed as he tried to work out what the guy was playing, and in what time, and using what rhythm. The lady playing base didn't know where to look or how to stifle a laugh. It was like one of the car crashes you see on X factor when someone who thinks they are brilliant are exposed as completely delusional.. see below!

Next on was an old guy called 'Razor Blade'. In his 70's and creaking as he walked on, you knew even before he opened his mouth that he was going to be good. And good he was. So good that we purchased his CD when he approached us outside. "Hi! Where you guys from? Glad you enjoyed the show. I have a CD here you can buy. It's only 10 dollars. Sorry it doesn't have a case...." "You've been robbed" Rachael said, but in this rate case she was wrong. Really enjoyed it since. Ah ha....

Finally, we had a performance of a Harmonica Train. All of the students (and tutors) joined the house band to play the same few bars of solo. These were the guys taking lessons at the Shack Up B&B (Bed & Beer). They were all of different standards and all were brilliant. Even the worst got a massive cheer. There must have been 30 of them and it was a great laugh.

Over to Rachael....

Given the pillow situation I was not holding out much hope but I stood corrected. . One of the best nights of music ever! What fun! I am so booking mouse in for his next big birthday for the harmonica train. It was ace!!! Some of the most unexpected people were in that train. Tattooed to death, false legs, trendy Canadian types, old zz top bearded  men, one of everything . . . Oooh but not a . Woman in sight! :-)

Chatting with 'Razorblade' outside Ground Zero

Daddy Rich

Shack Up

I'm 1998 someone had the bright idea of renting out what used to be 'worker' shacks on an ex cotton plantation. The number of shacks grew slowly until in recent years they have run out of space to put more.

In addition to the shacks they have converted the cotton gin into accommodation. I believe that one of the website strap lines is  "The Ritz, we're not", and that's certainly true but it's one of the most interesting places I have ever stayed.

"To truly understand a man, walk a mile in his shoes; better yet, spend a night in his bed".

When we arrived there was a master class for harmonica going on in the bar. More of that later.

Over to Rachael....

Mike was very excited to stay in this place I was less so but in fairness it was cute that is until you see the bedding which was from 1976 it was clean but certainly not pressed and the pillows inside those cases well.... no!! It was glamping without the glam!! (so more Ping, then - Mike)  An experience though. :-)

Mountain Home to Clarksdale

Over the Mississippi to the home of the Delta Blues.

Mountain home

"Myrtle! MYRTLE! Do you want something sweet? I said do you want something sweet?", the gentle old man shouted from the corner of the gas station. "Sorry", to us. "I SAID DO YOU WANT SOMETHING SWEET? SOMETHING SWEET?" "DO YOU WANT SOMETHING TO EAT, SOMETHING SWEET?" "No? Well that makes a darned change" he mutters and wanders back inside. She clearly got something because the dentures were were clamped around something before she got back in the car....

Later; "I'm in love", says Jayne..... She was referring to a truck that Mark had seen on a sales lot in Nevada (pronounced Na vay da, apparently). I too was in love, and I was really disappointed when it wasn't purchased. It's in beautiful looking vehicle. Even 100k miles is nothing on a 7 litre diesel. I'd have liked to drive that to Washington...

Ozarks to Mountain Home

Beautiful drive through the mountains into Mountain Home.

Toronto and on to Nevada (the Missouri one)

Imagine.... cruising the plains with country music from Coyote and The Wolf with my best girl by my side.....

Stopped for lunch near a virtual ghost town called Toronto (the other one, in Kansas). The only thing that was still active was the lumber business. Still a sense of pride in the 'city', with the City Hall and Library freshly painted.

Later set the world to rights in Nevada with beer, whisky and wine....

Hutchinson

Dinner. More meat and margaritas and meat and margaritas.....

And the largest fried onion.

Hutchinson

"A salt mine??? An underground salt mine museum??? I don't like normal museums! Why do you think I'd like one underground?!". I'll take that as a no then Rachael....

I wasn't much more hopeful of a yes when I suggested a visit to the Cosmosphere museum near the hotel. My hopes weren't dashed therefore, so I went on my own. It was actually very good indeed.

http://www.cosmo.org/museum.cfm. In the foyer they have a complete Blackbird spy plane and the Challenger shuttle. Some great exhibits including the Apollo XIII command module.

Downtown was quite a tough old place. In addition to the usual prohibited items at the local drugs project, users are warned to leave their firearms outside....

Dodge

Back to route 50 at Dodge and did the first tourist thing on the trip. Visited a recreation of Dodge when it was the wildest town in the West. It was once the furthest point the railway reached and to here all the Texas cowboys drove their cattle for transport to market. The ingredients for trouble were in place when they arrived. Men who had been in the saddle for weeks, 3 months of pay in their hands, whisky and beer, women, gambling and guns. It's no wonder so many found them selves buried in a shallow grave on Boot Hill (it was called that because many were buried in their boots).

The museum reminded me of things learned in school but forgotten. For some reasons the native Americans weren't happy about a bunch of strangers moving into their country and using their trails so, quite reasonably, they tried to fight off the intruders. The white man's response? Murder all the animals on whom the tribes relied for food. Millions of buffalo were killed bringing the animals to near extinction, and the Indians to heel.

I think most 'Americans' have forgotten that they are all immigrants and it's only the original occupants who have the real right to talk of their ownership of the land. Reading the Indian philosophy is a stark contrast to the repressive religion and way of life imposed by the Europeans.

Bad day on the great plains

'Major damage' as huge tornado rips through neighborhoods south of Oklahoma City - U.S. News

Thought we might need to stay put for a day to see if the system keeps moving east. At the moment we plan to move East to Nevada Missouri but we won't be sure until tomorrow morning. Either way we will have to move somewhere as this hotel is fully booked for a conference from tomorrow.

Deadly tornado outbreak

Woke this morning to warnings about terrible tornado danger. We are heading north and east but not getting too close to the front as to be dangerous.

Denver Colorado to Liberal Kansas via Oklahoma

Started the day by battling through 20 miles of 6 lane highway to drop off bike at Eaglerider. The shop is located downtown near a homeless shelter. Being a Sunday all the inhabitants had been thrown out for the day and they were outside queuing in the sun for a food handout. "We rent our building from the fire service and we are very friendly with the local police, so security isn't an issue", said the very bored chap looking after the store. What he does all day is a mystery because in the hour we were there not a single other person came in. It's a bit sad though to see so many people with nothing, standing outside a business containing a million dollars worth of motorcycles. The No Loitering sign is designed to keep these undesirables away from the well heeled clients who can afford a one day rental of 198 dollars.

The first bit of good news for the day is that Eaglerider gave us credit for the unused days of the hire. So we can go back next year and take a week or so at one of their other hire centres. So maybe Boston for a circular tour...

We were picked up by a bright and shiny Emily who drove us to her desk at the Hyatt in the largest SUV I  have ever been in. In the hotel the tables were turned. Rachael and I became the undesirables. The beautifully dressed guests were turning up their noses at the grubby undesirable bikers making their foyer look untidy. 

The second piece of good news though was that we got a really good deal on a one way car hire to Washington. Only $359! The third piece of good news was that we didn't have to drive a Smart car because we got a free upgrade to a Dodge Avenger (not actually as cool as it sounds but what the hell).

460 miles later we arrived in Liberal having passed through some stormy looking skies. And this is where the final piece of good news comes in. We managed to skip through thunder, lightning and hail the size of tennis balls. There was a car at the hotel covered in dents that will cost a fortune to remove.

The rest of the gang arrived earlier in the day having skipped the same storms and passing a train wreck. It sounds like they had a great couple of days riding but things are going to get tougher for bikes from now on. We are leaving early tomorrow to run up the back of the storm system to keep out of trouble. Fingers crossed.

Faulty Towers

Well that's the last time I try that gag. Rachael went down to reception to get some batteries for the TV remote (the previous occupant had stolen them). 5 minutes later she returned and knocked on the door. Thinking that a Basil Fawlty line might be amusing I called out "Go away you daft tart, my wife will be back at any moment". When I opened the door it wasn't Rachael but the Maintenance man looking very confused. Holding out his hand he said "Batteries for your remote control....". Good grief.....

Progress

M, J and J had a long ride today to try to get around the storm system. They managed 320 miles all the way to Raton in New Mexico before they stopped.

We are now 217 miles apart but almost the same distance east. We have a call tomorrow to see what the weather is locking like. Mark thinks we may be able to dash through a gap in the system between Wichita and Oklahoma city. Decision tomorrow.....

Gunnison to Denver

30ish miles to the top of Monarch Pass, we had to stop half way to put on our winter gear. These didn't come off until we were almost in Denver. Its amazing the difference between 7000 feet and 10000. The Continental Divide at Monarch is at over 11000 and it was cold above the snow line. "We had a foot of snow only a week ago" the lady serving coffee at the summit said. This was the lady who had visited MacDonalds too often. "Would you like some fudge with your coffee? Would you like space left for cream? Would you like a t'shirt with that?"

Dropped down from the summit and picked up the road North for Denver. Stopped for lunch at Fair Play which we were told acts as a dormitory town for Breckenridge. We were only 25 miles away from my favourite ski resort and no time to visit. Never mind, another time.

Brilliant run down to Denver. Mile after mile of twisting curves taking us right to the edge of the suburbs.