Escaped Inmates, Guns, Nails and Southern Hospitality

after some R&R we rode directly to the TAT and joined it heading eastbound, passing a Yak along the way and Egle was amazed to see one but all I could think about was Ron White.(some of you might get the joke)

Cuchara Pass is where we hit the dirt for the TAT and instantly it didn’t look good

Two miles from the top the snow was everywhere but not on the track

One mile from the summit and I had a go at riding further but a solid sheet of ice under the snow made me turn around after just 50 yards because of zero traction and we ended up doing a 75 detour to get to La Veta

on the east side of the Rockies, you get to see the land flatten out and know it’s going to be your companion for quite a long time

but get out of snow and you know there is going to be something else waiting for you down that dirt road, in a 3 hours stretch we had mud…

and a flat tire a piece and both times it shredded the inner tube!!!

but we kept on rolling for a few days as the road got flatter and straighter

in Kansas I reminded Egle that last year as we were riding around Europe and I kept saying why we were taking photos of everything but these sights and buildings to her weren’t anything special – “well there might be a guy in Kansas who has never gone anywhere and never even seen a hill never mind a building over 100 years old”. On this road, she turned to me and said: “OK, now I get it!”

The TAT just touches KS for a very short time then heads into Oklahoma where straight roads, cows, wild horses, escaping inmates and weird guys who jump out of bushes are the norm

we spent the evening in Tulsa at the weekly ADV gathering with @Throttlemeister @SmilinJoe @tomski74 and a lot more inmates and then got to stay in this famous location

after a few days in OK, it’s nice easy riding thru Arkansas, a little water along the way and a burger and some pie of course

we’re not the first here of course…

now where most of you would continue along the trail and we would have too but, as we never heard a thing from Guinness who knows if this record attempt is even a thing we decided to detour to see some friends in Louisiana and we’ll rejoin the TAT in Mississippi in a few days but first we need some southern hospitality, some good Cajun cooking, and a little gun play, and maybe a beer or three…yep that’s how we roll – a different kind of R&R this time

and if you have never held live ammo before you might look a little surprised about what’s going to happen

but then you go with the flow and act like a total boss and hit every single thing they suggest you aim at

gumbo was devoured too quick so no photos but how about a steak and a twice baked anyone???

See you in Mississippi if you are headed west we’ll be riding straight at you…