Omaha to Shreveport and Back Day 6 - 12
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CMA members waiting to leave for Jefferson Texas.
It was hard to get all of the in one shot. |
Sometime in the middle of the night we were ripped out of our sleeping to a very loud crash sound just outside our bed. I fumbled around for my 10 minute rechargable light and opened up the back door to look around. I call it my 10 minute light because it takes me 10 minutes to find it and once I turn it on it only lasts about 10 minutes. It doesn't matter how long I charge it either.
Anyway eventually I put my light straight back into the trees and I light up a set of eyeballs about 50 feet back into the woods. The thing about Arkansas trees is they grow straight up into the air (no lower branches). It sure makes it tough to hide if you're trying to.
Now you may be wondering...what was it? The answer to that question is quite simply I have no freaking idea what it was. It was long and slender like a fox but it had a big bushy tail like a coon. We have coons all over (even in our own yard back home) and I've never seen one this long before.
I do know it was big and strong enough to lift the 25 pound off our trash can and eventually help itself to our T-Bone steak bones in the trash can. It was sort of funny because I would shine the light on it and it would run off into the forest. A few minutes later you could hear it rumbling through the leaves toward the can again. This repeated several times until eventually the light had no effect.
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The best way to get around town if you're six and you have a good dog. |
The next morning we did the dishes and packed up camp and hit the road. Looking back at the camp we decided that this was for sure the very best campsite we've ever had so far. Again I had set my trusty GPS for Shreveport and requestd that it take me there.
This started out okay however it took me down some pretty skinny residential looking roads. They look like nice bike riding roads but they weren't really anything for high speed interstate type travel. Eventually it tried to turn me on to a gravel road which I promptly declined. That was the final straw. I think it's time to update my software on this thing.
Eventually we did make it to Shreveport and for the next 7 days we would be spending time with family. The camper was parked on the front yard where it sat the entire time. When I loaded the bike up at the last campsite in Arkansas the tailgate broke and I had to back the bike off and figure out another way of loading it. Eventually I did get it loaded by taking a good run at the ramp. In Shreveport I made a few trips up to a Home Depot and bought some bolts (I say a few trips because I had to return twice for longer bolts), some paint and some ply-wood.
I placed the wood on top of the ramp and bolted it through the cheap metal grating that came with the camper. I also painted the board black and added some sort of plastic stuff into the paint for traction. The ramp worked very well and for the rest of the trip it was actually easier to load the bike than it was before I made the change. I also added an extra board to place under the end of the tailgate because the wing would on occasion bottom out on the way up or down.
I also made a trip to the local RV shop and tried to buy a new caster wheel for the trailer. That turned out to be an adventure in itself. They wanted like $25 and had to order it in. They kept telling me it would be back the next day and it never came (after 3 trips to pick it up). Eventually I found a place just down the street (suggested by a neighbor) called Tiger Axles and although they didn't have one in stock they did have a used wheel. They took my old caster, put the used wheel on it and charged me $8. Nifty.
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The band at Tilley's. They were very good and entertained us for an hour or so. |
Saturday Uncle Tommie and Dianne took for a ride to Jefferson Texas with the local CMA group in Shreveport. We met at this burger joint for breakfast and headed out bright and early in the morning. It was fairly cool (especially for Louisana and Texas) so I was able to wear my leathers. The local CMA chapter or director gave me their card but I can't find it right now. I did find a card from GWTA Region C Chapter GB directors from Green Bay though. I think I was supposed to contact them after the Region C rally. Whoops! I'll be sure to do that right away tonight.
Anyway I must say the roads in Texas are pretty awesome. They are in tip top shape and they must be proud of them. We took an indirect route to Jefferson. To me it resembled that large coin funnel you find at Wal-Mart where you drop your penny in and it goes round and round for 60 seconds. Am I complaining? Heck no. There must of been at least 30 bikes for the trip too. When we got to Jefferson there were even more bikes. Bikes were everywhere. It was like a mini-sturgis or something.
We parked our bikes in a grassy field and headed for the local burger joint. I found myself waiting in line (which means out in the street) at this place called the Old Fashioned Hamburger Store. If you ever get a chance to go in there you can't help but notice that all over any flat surface are one dollar bills that are autographed in some way. I spent quite a bit of time checking that out. The meal, as I can recall, was very good too.
They were having some sort of civil war production that night in town and everybody was going every direction. We hung out in town, tried some home made root beer and eventually headed back to Louisana. On the way back we stopped at this lake which I believe was called "Lake O the Pines" to look around. It was here that I learned that I couldn't get a photo because I had actually filled up my memory card on the camera. I had yet to unload the camera to the laptop the entire duration of our trip. Oh well no big deal.
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I would call this bike a board walk racer but I'm not sure what it's official name is. |
The very next day we were invited yet again to a motorcycle and car show. This time Laura rode along. She didn't want to make the ride to Jefferson on Saturday (we have both been to Jefferson before too). This even was, believe it or not, at a mobile home sales lot called Tilly's (if my memory serves me right). They had all sorts of old classic cars and motorcycles lined up everywhere at the show. Even better is all motorcycles got to park right on sight (others were parking a few blocks away and walking in).
We stayed here for several hours eating catfish, listening to the band (which was very good by the way) and walking around to see all the cars and bikes. When I'm in Shreveport visiting I tend to eat catfish as much as possible. There is a restaurant there I like to eat at called Jans. Try it out if you ever get down that way. The CMA group won a prize for the club with the highest number of bikes present. I think it was like $500 for the club. Neat!
The next day we visited the largest garden dedicated to roses in Shreveport and it was there I got to push grandma around in a wheel chair. It was great exercise. As I found out the park is on a slight hill and of course you enter from the top. It was here I took a photo of a dedication stone with Michael Crafts name on it. I'm pretty sure we're talking about two different people but it shows that I did think of everyone back home every now and then.
Soon we would dig out our camper and head North again. Laura and I were both ready to head out on the highway and venture towards home. This was two full weeks away.
TO BE CONTINUED...