Open Road, Back in Asheville

For this leg of the trip, we wanted a more rural path; we also wanted a more direct path so as to reach Asheville with enough time to plan the details of our own wedding before the big date, July 26.

So we put walking directions into Google maps, New Orleans to Asheville, and saved our route to the tablet.  The second day, it had us on 8 miles of state-park dirt roads! This was super challenging for the bicycle-trailer-rig and Harvey so we decided to remap the route using small but not tiny roads.  We also made a new rule that any and all trailer rides were a good thing and that we would even ask for them if the opportunity presented itself.

From Kiln, through McHenry, Wiggins and two long, rainy days over to Lucedale... we came to the Mississippi-Alabama line in just 5 days (20 miles per day).  We caught a trailer ride for 25 miles from a guy who was taking horses to Louisiana, some to the same track where Jazz Fest was held (small world).

From there it was, Citronelle, Wagerville, Jackson, Grove Hill and again one nasty, long, rainy day into Thomasville, AL.

We survived a rainy night thanks to a cool family in Lucedale.  We can't thank them enough.  We survived the others thanks to our own waterproof gear.  The most memorable of the storms came up on us out of blue and yellow sunset.  After a pretty frantic setup, the last item to be brought under the cover, the bike trailer, was wheeled beneath the rainfly literally 5 seconds before the deluge hit.  The next day every stream was bursting its banks.  Rain records were set or matched the week we went through south MS/AL.

Another nice couple/family took us in for our night in Citronelle.  They had a bunch of dogs and cats; they were easygoing... our sort of folks.

It was in Thomasville that our 20 mile days started to take their toll.  After an afternoon of arguing among ourselves over this that and the other thing (none of which mattered as it was just lack of sleep, rough road conditions and bad weather that had us down), we finally had a break; and it was a huge break.  A contact we had made outside Lucedale relayed our story to a horse hauler (someone who professionally hauls other people's horses from A to B for competitions, camps, or for buy/sell situations).

L and her partner D lived in north Alabama and were already going to Asheville the following week.  We intended to walk there and take the ride to Asheville but L apparently wanted company so she came 2 hours, picked us up and brought us back to her farm.  It was a pleasant, beautiful stay up in the Alabama hills.  We ate well (Harvey cooked every night, just for fun), Hannah rode L's barrel-racing horses and we met cool folks from the neighborhood too.

Then, just like that, the time was up and we trailed 5 hours over hill and through valley all the way back to our hometown.  It was an absolutely surreal experience, not only going that fast, but seeing all the familiar sights, smelling the familiar smells of our Blue Ridge home, Asheville, NC.

And if it seems like a letdown-of-an-ending to a long, epic trip... well, it's not because we all, especially Meadow, really needed a break and besides, this is only round 1, folks! Don't walk out after the first act.  If you read back, we had Texas and Colorado in mine, neither of which were even on the horizon.  So, this is the intermission or something...

We did meet plenty of cool folks in MS and AL.  We can't mention them all, but some people could pass as life-long friends of ours after just one evening...

Meadow's getting a fancy bath!
These Alabama folks had a large farm with many race horses...
they put us in contact with L, the horse hauler who took us back to Asheville

Hey! Someone stole our dog, cloned her and then left the clone in the dryer a little too long

Crazy-similar markings

Waiting for Hannah/Meadow; in the meantime, why not pose with regal, calendar perfection?

Da dada DAA da... (think Flight of the Valkyries) 

Meadow, slow and steady is all fine and dandy
but you DO have to keep walking at least a little in order to get there

Hot days mean afternoon puppy naps under bushes

Looks like someone else has been napping in the tiny-flowered bushes too

Walmart-parking-lot rig modification

Cut up free lid, make holes for screws, take off wheels, put in place and...

Viola! (sic) You have yourself a wheel cover that'll prevent the fast-spinning tire
from eating into your fabric or rain cover items

The valley of the shadow of death (for bugs at least)

Awesome design

Beautiful De Soto National Forest, just before leaving Mississippi; one of our nicer campsites

Crawfish Castle

Yikes (we didn't put that there)

Is this a fam damly portrait or what?!

The skies proclaim the works of His hands

One highlight of our relatively short return trip was staying with this family (next 15 or so pictures) outside Thomasville for a few days.  One of their friends found us in the Walmart parking lot (buying supplies for the 60 mile trek to Selma at the time).  She told us about her friends' farm 5 miles away, they had horses and plenty of space and she thought they were crazy enough to take in travelers.  Turns out they were.  Thanks for being crazy J&B and family.  Hannah gave a few riding lessons with their little kids, Harvey helped to build on the barn roof and cooked out.  We even went to a local horse show Saturday night.  All in all, one of the nicest stays we had the entire trip.  We miss you guys.

Pony riding lessons

Sugar leads the way

Olive, never one to miss an opportunity to be up on the seat of a motorized vehicle

Even the little one got to ride

Art time; stickers for Hannah

"Olive!" That's me... but I don't understand "cooler" and "in-the-shade" could be Chinese...
really, he lost me at "It's"...
...meh, I'm too hot to think anyhow

Everyone likes to ride Meadow

Shish kabobs; a rainbow specialty of Hannah's 

Nothing like lemonade on a hot day

That was a lot of screws to put in

Think Wyoming, right?! We wish

A job well done... and she was behind the camera this afternoon, but Hannah did half the work here, too

That's what we were watching from the shot above, Saturday night horse show

Long exposure of a beautiful nighttime view...
Olive did her best to stay still for 15 seconds, but that's over a minute in dog time!

Olive waits patiently for the human to end another, silly pointless activity surely meant only for squirrels

A sweet lookout, for sure

Relaxing in the Alabama heat; that's the only thing you can do

You couldn't paint it because you'd never imagine it better

Epic sunset, don't look too long though, those are huge rain clouds

What?! Panoramas are classy... okay, Harvey's addicted

"Let me kiss you, you rotten pony.."

Hannah's life is a movie...
...starring Meadow
...Robert Redford supporting

One of so many beautiful sunsets we saw these last 8 months

A fitting last portrait of our first big trip; Act 1 coming to a close

- FCF