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| Getting away to east Louisiana seems to take the better part of a day. Then, it is a must that you beat the five o'clock traffic in Baton Rouge. Things had gone well in that rushed preparation, I thought. Then somewhere between the Henderson Levee and the Butte LaRose exit, the location of the Atchafalaya Basin Welcome Center, I realized that I'd forgotten the freshly prepared GPS. There was a sinking in the force. The GPS is my key to the hidden places. I've grown to consider it a necessity. Never one to turn around, I continued. I calmed myself down and gathered my wits. I was determined that I could overcome this tragedy. I had my Maps of Mississippi book with me and I'd make do with that. As it turned out, things went all right, if not slower and more confused. I was able to get two rides of about 300 miles each out of the visit. Since I didn't have the GPS, they were planned rides with a prechosen theme. I would try to find all the "Old" named highways in an area. Mississippi has memorialized their replaced roads by just adding "Old" in front of the replaced road's original number or name, as in, "Old Highway 24". I think it has to do with a Southern respect for history or its a great tourist draw for people like me who are out there looking for old stuff. Afterall, where would you look for an old house? An old road would be a start, I figured. Actually, it's lazy. If they didn't use the old name, then a new one would have to be invented. Now, that's Southern. At the end of the second ride I was giddy at how well things had gone. I'd ridden a long ways down all kinds of roads and found stuff where I'd thought there was nothing. I'd told one of my friends that it had been one of the best outings ever. I still think so. I started putting this report together this afternoon and there was a let down. The breath of the ride seemed overpowering. One thing led to another. A hint of information Marion had given me was handed over to Ray Fagan. He started adding this and that and I got a little more enthusiastic about writing it. The problem was, the climax ofthe rides is six hundred miles from this paragraph. Ray had this comment to make about where I'd eventually end up, and I agree. "I love that part of the country. So many great roads that travel through a time machine. Everywhere you look there are the remnants of the Glory Days". I hope you brought what you need, cuz Bubba, we have a ways to go. |
| Old Roads / The First Half |
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| The Half Ride |