Cranksgiving in Baton Rouge

Just a quick note tonight, the laptop isn't working with the Internet here, so were writing this on a phone...
We just want to say how much we miss everyone whom we haven't seen in a long while, old friends, hometowns, and our folks. Be that as it may, we have found so Many kind people in our travels, that it isn't so bad. So for our néw friends, Brian, John, Lauren, Morgan, Kory, Dina, and our hosts here in Batin Rouge, thanks, alot.
Love, peace, and chain grease,
Michael, Alex, and Matt

We made it!

Today after a quick but climactic ten miles we completed the Natchez Trace. We ended up first heading to the visitor center to see if we could finagle some free camping around town, but without any leads and having a sense of accomplishment we decided to bunker down at the days in. Tonight we plan on taking to the streets in downtown Natchez to celebrate, hoping to find good times and others to share them with. There aren't a lot of new pictures to post but here are some that we may have skipped over.
















The Trace truly was an amazing experience and would recommend it to anyone. Now onto New Orleans!

Day 42 - Old Friends/New Friends

Hey suckers. We've been having a blast between updates and finally have a chance to post another. Prepare for a PHOTO BOMB!

Since we last checked in, we've traveled another 200+ miles down the trace. We are currently near Port Gibson, MS, at mile marker 55 on the trace. One more day of riding and we will be in Natchez, MS, where the trail terminates, forced back into the fierce world of highways and subdivisions.



What you've missed:
Last week we spent a few days panhandling in Tupelo, earning enough money for food and buffets, before heading down the road. Thanks to the cool kids at 212 Cafe for the sandwich and phone numbers. Best cafe in town.



A few days ago, just outside of Houston, Matt Moll met a preacher at Wal-Mart. Tom Skelton was kind enough to offer not only food, but church service and a warm bed to these weary travelers. Matt felt like adventuring, Alex and Mike wanted company, so we went separate ways for a day, and each had a blast.


On Sunday morning Mike and Alex attended service with Tom, then retreated to his house for lunch. Tom is an ex-marine/security professional/karate instructor, and he had more than enough stories to keep us entertained for the evening. Meanwhile, Matt had made it to the next campsite down the road and conveniently ran into our old friend Brian, whom we met days earlier at a previous campsite. Matt and Brian shared a meal while Mike and Alex shared a bed (not really). The next morning, Tom was traveling to Jackson, MS, so we loaded up our bikes, met with Matt further down the road, and cruised into Jackson early in the afternoon. Thanks a million for everything, Tom.


We ran into Brian again, at a Wendy's in Jackson, while we were hatching our plan for the evening. We chatted a bit, then the three cyclists rented a cheap hotel room for the night (since camping was less than available). We donned our speedos, took a dip in the freezing outdoor pool, then consumed pizza and beer that evening.

Continental breakfast then back to the trace. 45 miles down the road, we made it to Rocky Springs. We had been there for less than an hour before we were sharing drinks with our new friend, John from Canada. John is a retired english teacher, traveling to Texas/Mexico for the winter in his RV.


We shared food, stories, and wine that evening, eventually meeting up (again) with Brian and his friendly pitbull Gypsy. Paul, another Canadian traveler, has joined our crew as well, bringing with him a friendly black lab named Muddy. We've spent a few days in Rocky Springs, hanging out and hiking with our little commune, and today we ventured into town to do some blogging and research. Tomorrow we will be heading to Natchez, the last stop on the trace, before trekking to New Orleans.




It's been quite a trip so far, and we're looking forward to meeting new friends and re-uniting with old friends. Thank you everyone.

Day #? - Where ARE we?

Hey y'all. It's been a while since we've been able to update, so we thought we'd get you caught up real quick. Don't have a clue what day we're on, all we know is it's been more than a month and nearly 900 miles since we left Chicago. We're currently in Tishomingo, Mississippi and loving the Natchez Trace. We've traveled about 140 miles so far down the Trace, with another 300 to go.



The first three days on the Trace were hard. Everyone had partied hard in Nashville and now we all had head colds. To make matters worse, it rained for 2 days straight, and we stayed holed up at a rest area for a few days to nurse our health and wait out the weather. When we finally got moving again, we met the coldest nights we've had yet, with temperatures dropping down to 28 degrees at night. We had to sleep in a bathroom one night, just to keep warm. We met a cool guy named Brian, who drove us to a Chinese buffet. He is traveling as well, in a van with his dog, going West just like us.





Eventually we got to do some legit camping and hung out at Colbert Ferry for a few days because we enjoyed the scenery and our cozy little camp. Lots of scenic views, the Tennessee River, and some Indian Mounds are a few things we've encountered. There was a very special wall we saw. One man built it by hand as a memorial to his Indian Grandmother, who was forced to walk the trail of tears and came back. He placed a new stone for every step she took. Very moving.



We've been riding slowly, meeting people and taking in all the sights the Trace has to offer. Now we've stopped in Tishomingo to pick up supplies, panhandle for donuts, and blog. We crossed two state lines to get here, and have averaged a new state every week since we left. The weather is warming up and stays around 65-70 during the days. The south is going to be awesome.





Enjoy the pics, and keep in touch.

hitting the trace

hi everyone, were starting the Natchez Trace today, so we'll be away from the internet for a long while. we might be able to get a chance here and that to hop on, but thats highley unlikley. So if all y'all dont here from us in a while thats it, but hopefully well have some awesome stories when we get to New Orleans! Wish us luck!

old post. Halloween eve in Nashville.

After running amok in downtown Nashville, we spent this day lounging around the house, laughing, telling stories, reminiscing of the prior evenings events, and planning the debauchery that was to ensue.

Morgan made us some delicious turkey tacos for dinner and after the table was cleared we began to get ready. Lauren was busy with her Peg Bundy costume, Morgan was a Cupcake doll, Alex was Hipster wolf (he'll tell you otherwise, but thats whats up) Michael was a jumberjack/Youkon Cornelius/The Travelosity Gnome, and Matt was the chicken from devo, a cock goblin if you will.

Matts costume was the most simple to throw together, so he hung around and nursed a cocktail while the others prepared themselves. A lot of crafting and makeup was done before everything came together, but when it did, it was good.

Pause for portraits and hen it was off to the first party, which was just around the block. There we had good company and a spread that would put any restaurant to shame. I'm talking home smoked and BBQ'd ribs, sausage, chicken wings, gormet cupcakes, peanut butter rice krispies, and countless other tasty treats. We done got ourselves FED!

On to the next one... After a quick ride down to the local spot called 5 points, we found ourselves getting turned away from one of the bars due to Matt's and Alex's expired I.D.'s, which put an immediate damper on the party scene, but not to worry because we were able to find a bar that would let us in, expired and fake i.d.'s alike. Rock on Nashville.

The bars were pretty standard, but a good time none the less. On our way home, Alex decided to cut up the middle no-handed... going really fast, he somehow lost his balance and went head over heels into a mailbox. the laughter was immediate. Dont worry folks, Alex is fine, not five minutes latter we were back home and raving in the living room.

Morgan whipped us up some tasty nachos, we decompressed, and the sleep was soon to follow.

The next day was Halloween proper and silly michael forgot his camera..... :(
We definataly had a good time though, we hit up the bars again, but only briefly because our good frien Kory, from Clarksville, came down! After we met up with him, Kory, Michael, and Matt went to the far west side of Nashville and found ourselves in a bamboo forrest. At a party. In a Mansion. Bamboo forrest.

That party was one of the crazyiest things i have ever witnessed. And thats all i have to say about that.

21, 22, 23, 24 coming atcha!

Wow, sorry about the delay in updating, we have just been doing so much, we seemed to have lost track of our blog. After our big day in Nashville, we hung around the house a bit more. Cali made us feel really comfy, and with a big leather couch, climate control, and cable, we were hard pressed to get moving. Michael made his way to REI to check out some new panniers because his were blowing out and would have made the trip really frustrating to continue with. Long story short, he found some, got them ordered, and then did some grocery shopping.

Gymnasties in the back yard.


So much seems to happen everyday, that all of the times get blended together, so i apologize for the lack of detail... i just cant remember anything else from that day...

Michael's panniers arrived the next day so we all piled in Calis car again and set out to go get them. Cali had a long day of school so we took her car back in to Nashville and jammed out to tunes, got ice cream, and cruised around and oogled girls. On our way back home we remembered the tantalizing smells that we had noticed coming from a small BBQ joint on the way back to the burbs, so we stopped there and had some awesome BBQ. Spicy chicken, pork plate, and rib tips for Matt. all of which had been hickory smoked for a million hours.... amazing.

Driving....weird.


On day 23 we said our good by's to Cali and Justin, and leisurely made our way back to Nashville VIA bikes. We made it to our new host's place, but not before getting lost-ish on the way, going to the airport, getting angry with each other, and some minor bike issues. FUCK COMMUTING ON BIKES IN NASHVILE!!!!! Seriously, this city needs to get its act together, motorists, pay the fuck attention. Tennessee law gives bikes all of the rights that cars have while on the road, so black lady near the airport, fuck off and dont call us assholes, learn how to drive in the 21st century.

Wow, ok, sorry. Here we are now at Morgan's and L-l-l-l-aurens place, and its awesome. Both are amazing artists and kind, warm people. Morgan made us some amazing pasta while Lauren entertained us. We got fed, drank wine, and laughed at silly pets. then the sleep came.

Rasta Pasta


Turtle, the dog.



Good morning day 24. We made an early start of it, leaving with our hosts as they went off to their Jay-Oh-Bees. We rode our bikes around Nashville seeing, the Parthenon, dragon park, and heavy traffic. silly Michael forgot his camera so there are no photos from this day of adventure, but know that we saw some cool stuff.

back to the house to get ready for the night out!

We all had a great time sitting around the table playing card games and trying on wigs and fake mustaches. after more wine, laughter, and antics, we took to the streets by force, rolling five deep on bikes. I'm sure that we were quite the sight... We made it down to Roberts Western World and honky tonk'd like it was our 'ma fukin day job. it was truly ridiculous to texas swing looking like a lumberjack, animae girl, skelitor, the mad hatter, and captain mullet.

Trashy or classy.... you decide.




Roberts wacky western world!


Antics ensue...


Da club..


after the honky tonk, we went across the street to the Cadillac ranch where all the college kids who arent into country go. Alex grinded up on some ladies, Matt shook his groovethang like only he knows how, and Michael ran around telling people that he was from some scene website and snapped a million and a half pictures that we cant really show you, due to the questionable legality of how they were obtained...

Disco? Disco... DISCO!!!!



so around 2 we were wrecked enoough to leave and made our way back to the place. sleep quickly followed with thoughts of sleeping in and fried meats dancing in our heads...

Good person. One of our host's...