PHOTOSHOP

 

OK here is some stuff I should have posted earlier. Mine Host Steve Linden & me on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, North Carolina, with more of same below. Craggy Bikers, more like it.

Last shot of Blue Ridge, above.























The Natchez Trace Parkway. It pretty much looks like this all the way through Alabama & Mississippi, with an occasional break out into more open countryside, and a big detour around Jackson MS. Very pleasant riding, cool & shady, no trucks, and not too much other traffic either.





















The bridges across the Mississippi between Natchez MS and Louisiana on the other side, as seen out my hotel window.

 Ditto.

 Natchez has a commanding view of the river from these clifftops, where there was a fortress built by the French. Now there are some big hotels hogging the view.

 Tamales, anyone? The sign on the door says "Y'all come on in "

 Magnolia tree, just starting to flower. In  full bloom these must be magnificent. Missed it by that much!

A large hotel hogging the view.

Various Ante Bellum Period (ie before the Civil War) Houses, with one Post Bellum car, breed unknown (to me, anyway)

 So called Spanish Moss hanging from the trees is common down here. It got the name because it looked to the Indians like the beards of the Spanish conquistadores, apparently. No doubt in the Ante Bic Disposable Razors period. What the Indians called it before the Spanish got here appears to have been lost to history. And yet more mansions below. At least one of these has been converted to a boutique hotel, probably a very expensive one, one is owned by the US government Park Service, and several are for sale. The uber rich must be feeling the pinch of the GFC, but who could afford to buy one? The lawn mowing and watering costs alone would be horrendous.

Bye for now, I'm going to let my feet cool off. Back in the saddle shortly.