Tupelo, MS to Athens, TN

I am on eastern time now.  It was a great morning to ride with cloudy skies and cool temperatures. The roads on the Trace are excellent and well maintained.  The trees are cut back and the sides are mowed well. Your Federal tax dollars at work.

Most of the time I cruised at 55 to 60 mph even though the posted limit is 50.  I didn't pass too many and not many passed me.  Most of the time traffic was light until you were around Jackson, Tupelo or Nashville.  Some used the Trace to avoid city traffic.  In Mississippi there was mostly tall pine trees and a few hardwoods and many of the trees are shallow rooted as the ground is very wet and sometimes a marsh.  Of all the times I stopped I did not encounter mosquitoes though.  Very unlike Alaska and Canada.  There are a few places where they are farming up to the Trace but mostly trees or meadow.  Now once I enter Tennessee the area became more hilly with some rocks.  There are many places to stop for the Old Trace, rest rooms, Historic sites, and Indian mounds.  These mounds caught my attention.

I came across this waterway and stopped on the bridge just in time for the only boat around.

I came to the Tennessee river and it is huge.  I crossed it later in the day many miles up and it was a third this size.

This was still in Alabama.  I then came to the Alabama and Tennessee line.

I wanted in the picture too.

I came across a place where you can actually drive on the old Trace with cars and motorcycles.  No motor homes or trailers.  Commercial vehicles are not allowed on the Trace.  It was about three miles where I rode the narrow, winding road.  Rather eerie knowing it has been there 200 years.

There are a number of places where they keep the old Trace up and keep the trees cut back.  There was a waterfalls but I didn't walk all the way down for the best picture as it was very steep.

I arrived at the end of the Trace around noon and it started raining an hour before.  I exited off and at the bottom they had the road closed due to an accident so they sent us up side roads.  I followed the traffic but couldn't figure out where to go to get back to the main road.  I stopped at a station for fuel and talked with the attendant who was very helpful and also a local resident who was even more so.  After them telling me about 5 times how to get back where I wanted I took off.  They gave me good directions and it took about 20 minutes and several turns to find the highway I wanted.  By the way Lola gave up the ghost!  She no longer works.  I may never make it home.

It started warming up and the humidity was very high so I stopped and took off the rain gear.  I was going through the mountains and it started to rain again so I stopped a put the rain gear back on.  It had cooled to the low 70's by then.  If this had been Alaska it would have snowed.  It really poured for about an hour and I drove slow.  I was in the tight curves of the mountains where I would have liked to go faster.  But when the roads get slick and the visibility drops it is time to take it easy.  I got a little wet but when the temperatures are warm it doesn't make much difference.

It is a very different trip than last year expense wise.  Canada and Alaska are three times higher than in this area.  My room tonight is $43 with tax and they have some type of breakfast in the morning.  Maybe I will have enough left when I get home to replace Lola! Yes Lola you can be replaced!