Al, La, MS riding in March?

[STCPO]

I posted this on another board, but maybe I can get some input from you kind folks who have experience riding in these areas

My brother, who lives in Daytona and rides a Road King, and I are thinking about hooking up sometime in March for three or four says of riding in these areas. Anyone have any ideas of some good places to ride, camp, tour? We are really looking for just some good roads to do maybe 200 - 350 miles a day on.

One thing I'd really like to check out is the Barber's Motorcycle Museum. I'd also be interested in hearing about other sights of interest in these areas.


He will be coming over from Florida, so maybe starting in southern Al, and working north might be the way to go.




Thanks in advance.

Pete

[Tourmeister]

Will it just be you and him?

[STCPO]

Scott there is a small chance Kim might go also. More than likely it will be just me and him though.

Since he will be on a Road King it will be more of a sedate touring trip.

Pete

[The Veg]

I grew up in Alabama but never rode there except just passing through once so I may be of limited help. The northern half of the state has plenty of great scenery and you can get from FL up to B'Ham (where barber is) in not too much time by way of US 231/I-65. Plenty of hills and valleys and REAL TREES that put our Texas shrubs to shame in northern AL. Not sure about the camping situation except to say that camping in Mound Park in Moundville (just south of Tuscaloosa, my home town) is pretty cool because you can camp within walking distance of a very cool old Mound Builder site (great on misty mornings). If you get into MS I've heard the Natchez Trace Parkway is a nice ride but I've not personally tried it. Most of LA either isn't very scenic or not very twisty. US 165 from Monroe to Alexandria is kinda charming though.

[10-95]

My wife and I did Louisiana last year. Not many twisties but there are some "curvy" roads. :lol:

I enjoyed riding along the Cane River south of Natchitoches. It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. Plenty of plantations to see and lots of SOUTHERN history.

You might try around St Francisville too. Some of the back roads around there are great and have very little traffic. You can catch the ferry there to go back and forth. Pretty cool. Ran every 15 minutes. Life is way slowed down around there.

And ride the road to Angola Prison. You would think it would be flat because of how close the Miss River is, but it's hilly and pretty. Make sure to tour the prison --- interesting and the folks are very friendly.

Overall La was more expensive than I budgeted for (hotels). If you get tired of the B&Bs or upscale hotels try a casino. We layed over in Marksville at the Paragon. $59 a night for a huge room with a King bed, entertainment center and a very big whirlpool tub.

Can't help with camping. My wife's idea of camping is our RV and it has to be hooked up to electricity, water and sewer.

If you like history visit their state parks too. It was like $2 and your pass was good for all the parks you could see in a day.

One piece of advise though ......... La is the only state with Napoleonic laws. They are different. Make sure you slow way down in towns and everywhere else and mind your p's and q's. I've extradited several folks from La jails and they are definitely nowhere you want to be!!!!

************************************************** ******

Remember to post anyting you see in Mississippi please!!!!! My wife and I are doing that trip in April.

[STCPO]

So my brother and I are thowing around all kinds of ideas for this trip and what comes to mind? MEXICO.

Not to jack my own thread, but anyone know if riding in Mexico is an interesting trip?

Pete

[Tourmeister]

Howdy,

:tab Ask John "Irondawg" Morin. Of course, he is going to be more dual sport oriented. You'll need more time to go down there probably but it will certainly be cheaper. John says that some of the roads down there are actually nicer and better quality than they are here! Don't forget, just because you are going South doesn't mean it will necessarily be warmer! If you get in any mountains it can still be quite cold in March! Of course, if you are thinking of Mexico, are you still talking about your brother riding all the way from Florida? Or are you now thinking of trailering or shipping the bikes? If you both have some dirt riding experience, you might want to check with Pancho Villia Tours out of El Paso. They do dual sport tours down into Mexico and are highly praised in most mags and on many websites.

Adios,

[STCPO]

Yep he will ride. I'm trying to talk him into just riding out to Texas and we ride the Hill Country. March is just hit or miss when it comes to bad weather.

[Tourmeister]

:tab Hmmm... that is a longgg ride just to do the Hill Country :-| And you are right, the weather is major iffy then. More often than not it will be cold and wet though. Any chance you can postpone until April?

Adios,

[STCPO]

Nope...he works in Education and is off for Spring Break then. We might just wind up meeting halfway and planning he trips day by day depending on the weather.

Pete

[Anonymous]

Any highways off the interstate in LA, MS and AL are good. Red Bluff Highway in MS is great. Don't miss it. http://www.gnofn.org/~nobc/redbluff.htm
http://www.geocities.com/t_2m/Welcome_to_Mississippi.html

The Barber Museum is also a "Must See" . 29 Dreams is nearby:
http://www.29dreams.com/

Have a Safe Ride.

TJ

[hcope1]

I live in Birmingham; and can assure you there are very few decent roads south of Montgomery. All the good riding really begins just south of B'ham. Definitely follow up on the 29 Dreams link. It has to be the best cycle campground in the southeast-underground utilities, a/c in canins, bands on Friday & Sat nites, great bathhouse, clubhouse; and best of all: a lot of cycle fools therre every weekend. It's on Hwy 25 which is one of the best roads in Alabama. It's also only about 10 miles from Barber's. DO NOT MISS BARBER"S! If you want a guide in the area call/e-mail me.
Buzz Copeland

[STCPO]

Well I'm off in the morning on this trip. I'll be taking 84/98 most of the way to Mobile.

Should be in Mobile by Sunday.

Monday travel from Mobile to Natchez, MS.

Tuesday Natzhez, MS to Tupelo, MS.

Weds off to Birmingham and Barbers. Will be saying Weds night at 29dreams.

Thursday head home to Texas.

Not as exciting as John's trip, but I'll update you all when I get back.

Cheers,
Pete

[Tourmeister]

Take pics! Have a great time. We look forward to the trip report :-P

Adios,

[Anonymous]

I read the post that LA has Napoleonic laws. That is not entirely correct. The Napoleonic Code is the basis for Civil not Criminal Law in Louisiana.

[Dirtrideroader]

I read the post that LA has Napoleonic laws. That is not entirely correct. The Napoleonic Code is the basis for Civil not Criminal Law in Louisiana.

I thought he meant the jails were modelled after Napoleon's dungeon.

[Anonymous]

could be, never been to jail and have no plans to start!

[Tourmeister]

:tab When I was in Law School, we spent a good deal of time talking about Uniform Codes. It seems that because so many states had such a wide variance of laws, it was getting to be a burden on interstate businesses. In an attempt to make things more efficient, a group of legal gurus from all over the country met and started working on these Uniform Codes, taking the best laws from all the states and distilling them into one new set of updated laws. A good idea really. However, there was nothing that required a particular state to adopt the new codes. What happened is that some stated adopted them in their entirety, others piecemeal as they saw fit. In almost every case for every code, it was either Texas or Louisiana that did things different from everyone else. The Professor would say, "In all 49 states it is done this way, Texas does it the other way..." I guess it just goes to show that those other states don't know what they're doing :-P

Adios,

[STCPO]

Well 2300 miles later I'm home. What a great trip. Got in last night at 11:00. Of course the only major rain I hit was when I was three hours from home, so I had to stop in Texarkana for a couple of hours and wait it out.



I can say now, we all need to plan a trip to Barber's. What a wonderful place.

29dreams camping is also amazing.

Full trip report and pics on the way in a day or two.

Pete

[VFRinAustin]

Welcom home Pete. Glad to hear you had a good time and cant wait to read your report and see the pics. WOuld love to do a trip out there for the MotoGP races (hopefully to start in 2005).