Exploring Backwoods, MS in pictures with BackwoodsKLR

You are "kinda" correct about this being the White Rock over look..if you were to look to the right and over the top of the hill, you could probably see White Rock Mtn

This is the Shores Lake over look and that is shores lake below it





Now, as far as the old school house,



here ya go for info..click on the Mountain Crest link in the artical

on your SLAP report

oh, here is the group shot at the banner

Thanks, Doc! Corrected my overlook names and cool link on the history of Mountain Crest building. That's some good stuff!

You going up to the Lake Hill TAT ride?
http://www.lakehillmotors.com/fckimages/trans am trail slide.jpg

I've done the MS HCT but have not done any of the TAT yet and have not been to any of the Lake Hill events with Sam. Someday I hope to start on sections of the TAT, just don't know when...

Thanks for the report, BW. Sorry I didn't take any photos.

So a few days ago, DavidQ calls and asks what I was doing this weekend. Seems his wife had a conference / business meeting type thing in the Big Easy and he was invited for part of it, but what can he do with the rest of his weekend? Well, invite me and Knightwork and go riding and explore.

So this was a bit of an impromptu trip, so I show up at DQ's house Friday morning, loaded for a few days of exploring Louisiana! We all just wanted some helmet time...

So here is my Tiger at DQ's ready to go...


After a few last minutes details, DQ and I head south on backroads to meet Knightwork.

(DQ has always been a little tilted!!!)

Soon we get to the meeting place and Knightwork is sipping his morning coffee and chatting with a fellow on a Can-Am with trailer who left Florida and is headed to CO... And after topping off with fuel, we are on our way again...

(Yep, Knightwork is back there)

And DQ is out front




We just keep zip zagging and heading south... I often have no clue where we are until i see signs or zoom out on the GPS screen to look around. I kind of like just following for a change!!! Soon we are far enough south to start seeing palm trees appearing.


I decide to take pics of signs to help me keep up with where we are and where my pics were taken!






For the most part, we avoided the interstates and stuck to 2-lanes and secondary roads, but from time to time, we had to jump on the Super Slab...




I purchased a new camera for the SLAP trip, so this is only my second trip to use this one, so some are blurry, not aimed real well, etc...






Getting on down in some marsh land!

We are rolling on, not stopping for anything but fuel, and soon DQ signals, does a u-turn and head in here for lunch:

(Landing Bar & Grill, Slidell, LA)

After getting some AC and some food we roll on!






And Knightwork is still back there

And he's still back there








It's getting warmer, but the open air breeze helps...

And on we roll...










Finally see the skyline...

So I had no clue what DQ's goal was for the day. i didn't know, and didn't care. I was following...






And DQ continues south...












And he's still back there...

DQ had mentioned riding down to Venice / end-of-the-road so we can say we had been there... Looks like we are headed that way!!!






I guess he was tired of being in the back or his many, many cups of coffee kicked in cause all of a sudden he decides to pass me...


And all of a sudden I notice the gray / dark clouds rolling up from the west...






I see DQ give the international hand sign for "did i just feel a drop of rain?"


Knight shrugs and on we ride... for a bit...

All of a sudden i see the wall of rain and I feel a few drops, and I remember that I have my wallet in a non-waterproof pocket. So I brake hard, hit the shoulder and dig my wallet out, open the tank bag, shove the wallet and phone in there, and get out the rain cover (All of this with gloves still on) and a couple of cars pass as I finish securing everything. I look up as a 18 wheeler we had just passed goes by that we had just passed and all I see is gray spray as the rain sets in. So I get rolling again trying to catch the other two... I run 70MPH in a hard rain and can't pass the truck. The spray he is throwing up is blowing east... straight 90 degrees side wind. So I tuck in behind him at a safe distance, looking under ever gas station awning for my friends...

i soon see water rolling across my 2 lanes and a pooling in the median turn outs. The rain start to get bigger and harder. i close my vents on my new helmet, and soon feel water pooling in sleeves at my elbows where there is a solid panel and no mesh. After a few miles, and what seemed like an eternity... I pop out into this:


I continue heading south and never see my cohorts! :huh

I tilt my arms down and see water pout out of my sleeves, but the sun soon warms me back up and dries me out. And I speed up trying to catch up!!! Surely they aren't THAT far ahead of me?













Still no sign of them...


So I pass through this pop-up summer monsoon storm, loose the guys, and now I am out in this beautiful weather, salt air, sunshine, etc?!?!?!


Where was this vacant garage during that storm?!?!


I bet I could have even gotten shelter under here, but no... I rode it out...


No sign of ANYONE ahead of me??!?!?!?!




Every has an old boat they are building...


Every time I see a black shadow on the side of the road, I think it is one of them waiting for me, but it is always just a trash can...


Beautiful clouds


I even pass several PoPo and slow down to avoid getting a driving award while trying to catch them..










Soon I hit the end of the road...


I stop, dismount, check phone and see missed phone calls and texts from the guys... Seems they were only 1/4 mile ahead of me and saw an old shed with a partial roof and turned off and were DRY and a few miles behind me.

I start texting them back and seems they are now taking a break for ice cream...

I want ice cream!! So I backtrack to downtown Venice and stop at the Dollar General for a ice cream bar and a drink while they catch up with me.

I relate how I blew past them in the rain and did not see them turn since I was concentrating on my tank bag and did not see the turn (and the mist from passing traffic) and so I fall back in behind them and go back to the end of the road...

Nowhere to go but NORTH from here...


I think Knightwork decided it would be better to keep me between them so they don't lose me again!!!

So we ride over to Venice Marina












A nice deep sea cat


The parking for the off shore workers and the number of helicopters to ferry them back and forth was amazing! Here is one flying over DQ...

This church had built a model of the tomb... Had not seen something this detailed in such a barren, flat place...



We zig zagged some of the little communities on the way back north...




Might take a crane to get this crane out of the weeds...


We get back to the 'burbs and start looking for some food for supper. DQ spots a seafood place that looks packed. Usually a good sign... So we stop for supper at Salvo's Seafood.

We pull back out and head towards NOLA. DQ is pealing off to go meet the wife at her fancy-smanshy downtown hotel with $40 valet motorcycle parking and Knightwork and I are headed out of town far enough to feel safe leaving our bikes in the parking lot...












I'm digging the sunset by the way...


According to Google, if we had taken the interstate, this loop would have been 387+ miles, but we took back roads and wove around a good bit, so I'd say we had a bit more on the day!!!

DAY 2:

Up early with Knightwork, ready to go again...


KW and I head back into NOLA to meet up with DQ






We pull up at Cafe Du Monde and see DQ's KTM already there. So it's time for Saturday Morning Breakfast club!


DQ in front of the Cafe


After a few beignets, we load up and head out to follow DQ around again for the day...




And he's still back there!

Finally out of the traffic and congestion of downtown...












High train tracks...

We stopped at some point and DQ said we had been generally headed for Grand Isle, but he said it was a long way out and back on the same road and he just wasn't feeling it... So we punted and headed back towards an area he knew better. He picked a random road and whaddayaknow, it has CURVES on it.


And shade / tree cover!






Passed through some nice little cajun communities...




We didn't get to stop at Edwina's Restaurant


I've become an Old Truck Nut over the past year, and always try to get pics of the interesting vehicles I pass on the side of the road, in barns, yards, etc... But i was moving pretty good behind DQ and barely got a shot of this truck.






Seems this side road was a dead end, so we u-turn and head back to the main road...




So I get another fly-by at the truck...


I soon noticed that every house along this road had perfectly manicured yards, clean and neat houses (even the old ones)...










My plan to take pictures of signs to help me remember where we went doesn't work so well when the camera doesn't focus...