What a great ride today. Totally refreshed. Laid back. Country roads. No traffic. Taking my time.
I finally got out of Paducah around 10a. I had to stop at the local Walmart for a couple of things. I picked up a bottle of their water at the checkout. 40 cents. Geez. $2 at the gas stations. I plugged in a route with the Garmin to Memphis. Avoid highways, tolls etc. It did not disappoint. It took me through the hollows and back-ways of Tennessee and Kentucky. An hour or so south of Paducah I found the backdoor of Tennessee. 
Neat little towns, communities and farms. Some prosperous, some not so. Absolutely perfect roads for bikes. Lots of curves, lots of straights. Forested and farms. Towns every 20 or 30 miles.
I stopped for fuel in a little town called Brownsville, TN. Nice little town. After gassing up, I pulled into a local bank’s parking lot and parked under a tree for some relief from the sun. Taking a few minutes to stretch my legs, I took in the neighborhood. Next door was this eclectic collection of all things iron and steel. Everything from fire observation towers, a water tower and dozens of home sculpted artifacts. I don’t even know what to call them. Absolutely fascinating. He had little signs perched way up around the property. Some of this stuff was very cool. I could have spent the day…
The ride continued through Tennessee. Beautiful backroads. Passing churches on a Sunday morning full of the faithful. There were a lot of them. Went by one intersection there must have been a dozen signs pointing to various churches in the vicinity.
What could have been a couple and a half hour ride on the interstate was taking me over four. It was worth it. About 50 miles or so out of Memphis I could see the darker horizon out west. I stopped and checked the the ole WX app and sure enough..
I kept riding for a bit and when I got closer, I stopped along side the road and put on the weather stuff and covered the panniers, tail and tank bag and duffel with their covers. I was providing entertainment for a family watching me across the street a ways..
The rain came and again cooled things off considerably. Once in Memphis the big stuff was moving through with lightning. I am not a fan of lightning. Rain is ok. I found one of those do it yourself car washes and tucked in there for a bit. There were some young locals washing off their ATV’s so we shared.
After the storm seemed to have spent its bluster and settled into a light rain, I headed downtown. I was going to find Beale street, have some BBQ before moving on. Well negotiating downtown Memphis in the rain, on a motorcycle, while trying to find parking somewhat in the vicinity was getting the best of me. Beale Street was / is quite a tourist destination. Construction was all around. I found an establishment, with parking a couple of blocks away. I secured my bike and went in with most of my rain gear on. I noticed white table cloths.. Uh Oh.
Nice, Nice people. Unfortunately they close at 3p on Sundays, right after brunch. It was 305p. They felt sorry for me and served me a local beer. The owner and master chef Michael Patrick came over and we had a great conversation for about 30 minutes. My new BFF.. 🙂 He used to live in Michigan! At any rate He almost had me convinced to go to Tupelo and see Elvis’s birthplace. Perhaps another trip.
I saddled back on my scooter with rain gear intact since it was still doing its thing. I was way behind. I plugged in a route sans interstate to Little Rock. 3 1/2 hours. Being 4p, doable.. I headed south along the mighty Mississippi. Beautiful roads. Zero traffic being late Sunday afternoon I crossed into Mississippi in short order
I enjoyed the ride south in Mississippi. Nice 4 lane divided road. In 30 or 40 miles the sun started to work its way out. It heated quick. Within the hour I found a bridge across the river to Arkansas. The levies were at least a mile if not two back from the river. I was going to stop and get some pics but there really was no opportunity. There is no development, except industrial along this section of the river. The bridge take you over matter of factually and that is it..
Helena, AR. It was 530p and I decided to call it a day. I just wasn’t up for Little Rock. I fueled up and started dialing for lodging for the night. I found a wonderful place for $55. 1st floor, wifi, a/c and an ice machine. Unloaded, showered, got ice and settled into one of my favorite routines. Sat out in front, next to the bike, scotch, cigar, and relaxed…
Woke up to another beautiful sunrise with some fog. I had rinsed out a t-shirt last night and hung it out on the bike to dry. I think it was wetter this morning. Oh well. Coffee in the lobby. Finished up the blog. Will head to some where in Oklahoma I think today. 
I need to figure that out, huh?
Life is good..
