Trace




	WRITE 2 THE HEART Stories that are aimed "Write 2 the Heart" August 3, 2004 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator @ write2theheart.com. Welcome to your latest issue of "Write 2 the Heart." All new subscribers will receive a free downloadable copy of the e- cookbook, "Write 2 the Heart of the Chocolate Lover." To join, send an e-mail with subscribe written in the subject line to: subscribe-me @ write2theheart.com. *Advertisement* Tired of high cable bills? You may want to consider Dish Network. Right now you get free installation and free equipment when you sign up for one year of programming. You can get more programming than what is offered by most cable companies for less. Compare what you now have with the Dish Network programming packages at: http://cognigen.net/dish/?cbspeir Today’s first time writer is near and dear to my heart. My favorite Husband! Traversing the Trace By Dave Speir Ok....Alright--- WOW. It wasn't mountainous or adrenalin-gushing thrills, but it was one of the nicest rides I ever made. Including the night from hell. The weather was perfect the entire trip. Not one drop of rain, yet plenty of condensation to keep the dust down. The Natchez Trace is by far the best span of asphalt to traverse in any direction. We got to the base of the Natchez Trace about 3:45 Wednesday morning. Right before the Trace starts was a state park with campsites that has electricity, showers, facilities, picnic tables, and grills. We pulled out sleeping bags and crashed until the dew lifted. We were back on the trace by 7:00am, off loading the bikes and getting assignments. Tim the oldest of the two (my little soldier boy) rode the Honda 500 first. After a system check we proceeded north. After a few stops Jeremy was itching to drive a motorcycle, he had never before driven one to my knowledge. At one of the stops, Tim gave him the 500 and showed him a few things. Then I instructed him on a few things and he was off. What a natural! Have you ever seen anybody just do it like they have always been doing it? After a little time getting used to the clutch, he was successfully cruising around the bay and up and down the road. >From there he did well until the end of the second day, more of that later... Every monument, mound or gleaming attraction sign saying Historic Site next 1/2 mile, got their attention and we all pulled in and stopped. Then we would travel another four or five miles to the next one down the road, this went on until we realized there was lots more road to cover before we would reach a decent water system to camp by. So we started passing up some of the not so "Historic site" sites. The range on the bikes is around a hundred miles. The Honda 700 must need a tune up, it was only getting about 97 miles to a tank. It used to get 120 easy. The kids found out what the 5-gallon gas tank in the back of the truck was for. I ran the 700 out of gas in the middle of the 220 north interstate, between where the Trace stops and begins again on the north side. We just filled both bikes up with the spare gas can and drove on up the road. We made it to the Ross Barnet Reservoir for about 5:00, plenty of time to set up camp, wet a hook, cook and clean up before dark. Everything was ok until shortly after dark. We fished, caught bream and cats, not many. About dark, the alligators started creeping in on the campsite. You should have seen it. Shine a q-beam out over the water in about a 60-foot radius and bright red/yellowish reflections were staring you right back in that beam. At one time we counted four with lots of activity, a couple of them actually acted like one of them should be the prime recipient of us or our fishing activity and they tussled for a second or two. I really don't know if they were after us or if they smelled the fish we caught and were after them. They continued right up to just about fishing rod length away from us. I think Tim finally shined them into submission, he kept the lights on them until they left, never saw them again. I think I figured out Why. They either saw or summoned the mosquito swarm which followed. From about 7:00pm until the sun came up we battled mosquitoes by the thousands upon thousands. We went through three spray cans of Deep Woods Off and other wipe on type of repellants, but as soon as we put it on, the sweat from nearly 100 degree temperature and 80% humidity would wash it off and the mosquitoes would be there waiting for the vulnerable points to hit. Tim said he looked up and against the night sky could see a black cloud over where he was. UNBELIEVABLE! We built several smoke fires and I honestly believe the mosquitoes actually adapted to the smoky environment. At first a couple of fires would keep them away, but eventually, even with four little smoke fires going, they were still coming like it attracted more of them. We realized we best head for cover. Tim got mad at me because there was an air conditioned bar only 20 miles from there. He had passed it when he went to use a pay phone. I told him that the best way to get in trouble is to leave your campsite in a strange part of the country, criminals and agents of authority were on the prowl and looking for anybody to mess up. He just doesn't understand, I learned that the hard way. The boys got into separate parts of the truck and left me outside. I did the cover up thing and did all right. I found refuge in a light summer military issue sleeping bag and a large pair of swimsuit trunks. I stuck my head, hat and all, into the left leg hole. I then used the net inner lining draped over the bill of my baseball cap. All that was sticking out of the sleeping bag was this pair of bright orange, extra large bathing shorts. I wish I had somebody get a picture. Well, IT WORKED! I ended up with a few bites around my ankles the next day, I never figured that out. Finally daybreak came. I have never been gladder to see a future time than when I was seeing the sunrise Thursday morning over the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Jackson Mississippi. We realized we needed to makeup some miles. We should have made it to French Camp the afternoon before. That had been our original destination. We ended up driving in and out of the entrance of French Camp just to say we had been there. We continued on making a few more stops but much less frequent. Every 50 miles or so some one would want to see something of interest. We got to see a lot, but I am sure there was much more to see, like several of the big state parks along the way. We just went to some of the road bays and took breaks, drank a few cold drinks and stretched our legs somewhat. The second day of riding was the longest. I woke up and fished to give the boys some time to get going. It was noon before we broke camp and got the bikes back on the road. I had a heat rash from all the sweating in the sleeping bag the night before and was unable to drive the motorcycle. Jeremy was glad, he got to drive all day. We finally got to where they could ride half a tank of gas before stopping. We made it to the Tennessee River, which is west of Cherokee Alabama, just after dark. I got information from a local bait shop owner who explained to me the best place around to set up a camp. We made it to the entrance and I told the boys to scout around this area for the best site because the road split and it was easier for them to check it out on motorcycles than me with the trailer on the truck that I couldn't maneuver well. Jeremy went west with Tim and on the way back the rear tire slid into a washed out part of the road. He narrowly missed tumbling down a steep ravine. The left peg and shifter broke off. There were two bolts holding with only three threads. I went back in the morning and found the bolts. I cleaned the threads and put it all back together to be ready to go when they woke up and were ready to ride again. I fished the morning away while they slept. Around 10:00 they woke up we hopped the trace back down to Jackson. 82 miles back toward Jackson the shifter and foot pegs vibrated loose and one of the screws was lost. We loaded the bikes back on the trailer and were back home for 11:00 pm. What a TRIP. I think I want to do it next time with more time to visit the sites more thorough and get a park pass where you pay one price to see all the parks for a week. I want to fish in all the parks along the way. We brought the 8 hp Evenrude boat motor, but I am getting tired of toting it and never finding a boat to rent. So we decided to get the 10 foot john boat fixed and registered so we can strap it to the top of the pickup and camper. We could fish all night to boot. A class A trip. I would love to do it again one day. I think I want to go from Nashville up next time before it gets too cold to bike..........whenever that is. Dave Speir speirdb @ ametro.net David loves to fish, motorcycle and build Web Pages in his spare time. He has been married to the editor of Write 2 the Heart for over 30 years. You are encouraged to write to the authors to let them know what you think of their story. Have a comment on today's story? Send it to: moderator @ write2theheart.com. Letters From Our Readers The song “This Little Light of Mine” is always a favorite with more than just children. No matter how old you are you find yourself humming or singing it every time you hear it. Joe is right, the message of the song is deep and timeless. Missie Military Prayer Reminder As you read over this list of names, please take a moment to pray for these young people and their families: Chris Speir Tim Speir Alan Todd Holland Graham William Julie Sagel Jessie Marshal Thompson Jason Eric Hernandez Kristin Danielson Ken Prieur Ryan Larry Miele Daniel Amy John Joanne Gary Boardwine Josh Hadassah Chanz Wackerly Please continue to pray for our country, our leaders, and our troops at this time. If you have loved ones in the military, or who are being called to go overseas, send their names (first and last or first only) to be included in our prayer reminder. *Advertisement* Imagine my surprise and dismay to open my e-mail program only to find over 1500 e-mails. (That is not a typo!) All of them were spam and each had a virus attached. 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