June 4 was a great day to get out and ride. I managed to put in over 300 miles of back roads while trying to get my long distance mojo back. The purpose of the ride on June 4 was to meet with some people from the Mid-South Long Distance Riders group at the monthly supper (held on the first Wednesday of the month at Collierville Commissary at 6pm).
My first stop was to get replacement picture which met all the requirements for the Starbucks and Friends portion of the Coddiwomple challenge. I stopped at the Starbuck near the house and got the picture. That evening, I learned that ALL the photos on the camera taken that day were washed out. I have spent a couple days working to save a few, but not all could be saved. This one at Starbucks was lost.
The reason I had to revisit the location is that for the Starbucks and Friends portion of the challenge, the coffee shop must be in a separate building (not in a food court or mall kiosk setting) and must have the NAME (not just the logo) of the place. My photo for the previous submission had the Starbucks logo, but the name was not on that side of the building.
My planned second stop was in Waterloo. I had stopped at the Harley shop for a bit, then headed up the Trace to the exit for Waterloo. Nice secluded roads in that area. As I was about a mile from Waterloo, the road was blocked and the detour was going to send me on a dirt/gravel road. A quick look at the map warned me that this particular road would take me a LONG way out of the way. I decided to visit Waterloo another time. I backtracked to CR8 and rode up to Savannah Highway and was back on track.
Second stop was at Hickory Pit in Savannah. It will take a longer visit to earn the BBQ challenge for this place. BUT, they not have a chicken statue outside! I pulled up to get the picture and a girl came out and started posing while I was getting ready to take the picture. I started taking her picture. She laughed then started to walk off. I told her that I needed her to hold my rally number so I could get a good picture of the chicken, bike, and the rally number. The picture was a little washed out, but I will see if the organizers will accept it. If not, I can go back in a few weeks since it is less than an hour away and I need to visit a few other sites in that area.
I headed over to Adamsville to visit a great little BBQ place. The picture there was too washed out to use, so I will have to revisit there. I will make sure that my visit there will be on an empty stomach.
I headed to Shiloh National Military Park. I have visited here so many times, Mom used to have a picture of my when I was three or four climbing on a cannon ball memorial. I had submitted the initial photo for the cemetery here at Shiloh. I need to plan a day to ride/walk the park. Maybe take a lunch and find a place to relax. I think it was my great-great-grandfather who had fought here with three of his brothers. All four lived through the battle.
As I pulled into the park, I found a display with a couple of cannons. This meets the requirement for the Coddiwomple’s cannon challenge. The photo was a little washed out, but not as bad as the others for the day.
I took backroads on to Collierville. TN-57 is one that I love. Other than the spot where the police were set up with the school zone lights flashing and was passing out tickets, the trip was great. Why was that spot not so great. First, the parking lot at the school was empty. Second, the sign on the front of the school stated that school was out for summer vacation. What a sneaky way to increase the town coffers.
I eventually made my way to Moscow, TN. A nice little town with a low speed limit. I keep it slow, the trees over the road and the old mansions are beautiful to view. My headset shut off as I entered town, so I was keeping a watch for a place to pull off and plug my headset into my battery pack. I found the Town Hall and pulled over. I noticed a couple of cannons! I got a picture of the cannons and of the markers explaining the Battle of Moscow. They were all washed out, but I think the one of the cannons can be used. I will submit it and hope they accept it.
I headed on into Collierville. I was about an hour early for the group supper. I filled up the bike and got a couple of drinks. While waiting at the restaurant, I drank the Gatorade to get some fluids into me.
The meeting was great. There were 12 people who came. Some I have met before, other I met for the first time. None were strangers when we parted. One guy had gotten up that morning and decided to join us. He rode from Minnesota, leaving at 5:30am to get there. He made it through snow flurries in Minnesota, smoke from wildfires in Iowa, extreme thunderstorms in St. Louis, and 90 degree temps as he crossed into Tennessee. He planned to spend the night and ride home doing an Iron Butt ride.
The ride back from Collierville was a chance to test out the lights. I found a stretch of road where I could test the distance. I turned on the high-beams and the spotlight. I identified a spot and checked my odometer. When I got to that particular spot, the odometer indicated that it was almost a half mile! I still need to fine-tune the focus/aim since I think they are a little to the left and a little low. Both are hard to gauge when on a hilly and twisty road.
June 5
I decided to take the bike to the Tuscumbia Lodge this evening. I decided to take a quick stop at the Starbucks to get the picture that was washed out yesterday. The picture this evening is much better.
I made it to lodge and was able to do another test on the lights. The aiming is getting better. I think it is pretty close to the center where I want them, not I need to raise them a bit.