Friday, February 8, 2008

Back to Denim Springs

Day 20-21
We headed back to Denim Springs, riding through the last remaining remnants of the previous day’s thunderstorms. It rained on us pretty hard, but we avoided the high winds and hail. When we got into Baton Rouge the main highway was flooded, and we had to take back roads to get to our friend’s house. We ended the evening with a crawfish boil, and the best crawfish I’ve ever eaten.





The next day we went out on the boat again. The rains and flooding made the river high, muddy, and full of floating sticks and a few logs. We still made it to a lake where we anchored 150 yards from shore on a sandbar. Ten or fifteen other boats were spread out along the bar and everyone was walking around in the waist deep water eating, drinking beer, and having fun. The only downside to the day was the nasty sunburn I brought home after being careless with the sun/water combination.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Denim Springs Louisiana to Natchez, Mississippi

Day 16-19
We rode from Denim Springs, LA to Natchez, MS the following day. It was a short ride, and we didn’t take many photos, but it was a beautiful day. The smell of freshly cut grass and flowers followed us all morning.

Natchez is Bobby’s hometown. We should have taken more pictures of the town, but the family reunion thing got in the way. We drove around the area some, looking at old houses, and Bobby showed me around where he grew up. A lot has changed though, and many of the neighborhoods were rather run down. His old skating rink is gone, replaced by the dreaded condo…

Our trip out to Lake St. John was fabulous. We rode the bikes out early, and spent the day on the water, fishing, swimming, and eating a lot of really great food. On the way back to Bobby’s mom’s house, we took the “scenic” route and played on the bikes for a while on some great Mississippi back roads.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Exciting Changes

I'll get back to the ride report tomorrow, but today I have some exciting news that's a little more current. My husband and I have purchased the female riders forum TwoWheelFemales.com. It is very exciting for us, and I hope you will come by and visit the site. There will be some changes going on over the next couple of weeks, but it is still a great site to visit, especially for women riders.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Lake Charles to Denim Springs, Louisiana

The following day we had a short easy ride in to Denim Springs, LA to a friend’s house. They had obligations in the morning, so we slept in late at the motel. My husband walked outside while I made Belgian waffles in the breakfast room. When he came back in, he said there was a pair of BMW motorcycles out front like ours, but red and with Mexico plates on them. As my husband finished eating I started hauling gear out to get our bikes ready to go. A woman came over and said she was riding the other BMW 650. We got to talking and were eventually joined by our husbands. They were a very nice couple who live and work near Mexico City and who own a B&B in Baja. They invited us to come down and stay with them and they would give us an insider’s tour of Mexico. We returned the invitation if they make it to Alaska. We all went our own ways and got our bikes loaded and headed out for the day. Later in the morning we saw them on the interstate. They were headed to New Orleans. We rode together for a while before our destinations took us in different directions. That was really fun. I hope we can visit in the future.



As we left the Lake Charles area we stopped at the Achafalaya visitor center. It has a nice discussion about the rivers, swamps, and life cycles in the area. We have been through here before, but it made a nice stop. I also get to smell my first magnolia blossom in many years. I had forgotten how much I love that smell.



We got to our friend’s house about 1:00 and they asked if we’d like to go out on the river. OF COURSE!!! We went out all afternoon and got some great pictures. One of my favorite places was a stop we made at a little Cajun chapel on the Blind River. They leave it unlocked, so we went inside and looked around.





When we left the river we stopped at a buffet place for a late dinner. I am not used to seeing catfish, alligator, frog legs, and crawfish on a buffet line! It was a great treat, and welcome back to the South.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Flagstaff to Lake Charles, Louisiana

Unfortunately timing became such that we had to pick up the speed and get to Louisiana as quickly as possible. We rode interstate through New Mexico and Texas and didn't take the time to do any looking around at all. It bothers me that we missed out on both these states. I definitely want to go back and do some exploring in the area.