we came across a couple of bridges that were out in MS one we had to backtrack and find a new route, the other we went across after a little modifications and adding some lumber.

over due post

we couldn't leave TN without seeing the Davie Crockett monument in lawrenceburg. we stayed the night at the Davie Crockett SP. we stopped by a real general store and post ofice it was pretty cool and the prices were really good. only real mechanical issue so far was a flat tire on daniels bike. so we changed his tire and tube, under a shade tree.

we are in Oklahoma

We are now about 292 +or- miles in to the state of Oklahoma. It is 108*f, we went through an old cow town in south Kansas on the way. OK is not as ugly as I thought it would be will post pics soon

sorry for the lack of updates but we haven't had any wifi service

We rode our bikes from north Florida to Jellico Tennessee in a day; it was a hard ride and all Interstate 75. We took breaks about every 100 miles or so and at gas stations, we would fuel up the bikes and get something to eat and some more water. We made it almost to Jellico without rain, but 14 miles from our destination the bottom dropped out of the sky. We rode in it until it became too hard to see and were too dangerous to proceed. We took refuge under the overpass / viaduct along with another couple on a bike, just after we took our helmets off in ride a couple on a Harley-Davidson and the rider yells “ What’s the matter you sissies!” then parks his bike and laughing.

We stayed the night in Jellico at the Jellico motel, it was a nice relaxed place, they let us change tires and sprockets right there on the sidewalk in front of our room. We changed out or 16 tooth front sprockets to a 14 tooth for better off-road riding torque. After a good night sleep we rode over to the post office to pick up a package Daniel had forwarded. While he was inside I put my roll chart in its holder and walked down to the drugstore for a coca cola. Daniels roll chart holder did not arrive so I took the lead on our first leg of the Trans-America Trail. There was a bit of a learning curve with the roll charts but we only got lost once and missed out turn twice. I dropped my bike three times on the first day. The first time we had just filled up with fuel recently so I had about 30-36 pounds of fuel way above the bikes center of gravity. I led us up the wrong rode, so I went to turn around on a slope very slowly because we were in someone’s yard. I lost footing and dropped it and I went rolling head over feet down their lawn. Daniel was laughing and I saw fuel leaking out of the tank so I yelled that I was going to need help getting it up and he said hold on I’m trying to get my camera out. It was very hard to pick up since the top of the bike was on the down hillside, but we managed and were back on the road in no time. The second time that I dropped my bike we had just completed a long section of nonpaved road mostly gravel some mud and several washes. Daniel was waiting at the end for me to join him for a quick break. I pulled up along side and there it went. A couple of men were driving up in a county pickup truck; they stopped and asked if everybody was ok. I said yea, that it was a pretty tough trail and my bike was tired so she laid down for a rest. The third time dropping the bike came when I was trying to turn around on an embankment near a barbed wire fence. I thought my bike was in first gear but it was in second, we were still getting used to the new sprockets and gear ratios we changed, well that bogged the engine down and killed the engine I was on a slope so down I went. Only the first drop did I need assistance in picking the bike up, and I am getting better at finding a turn around point and I quit worrying about trying to stay off the grass and just concentrate on riding. We stayed the night at Rock Island state park

I was working on my bike in my pool room, in the a/c and away from the skeeters

Daniel's bike "old roy" naked, he was making a few last minute mods

roll chart for Oklahoma taped together was about 20 feet long

We have been doing a lot of prep work. Cutting and taping roll charts, more on those later, highlighting map copies and trying to figure out what gear to take and what to leave.

The red dots are roughly the route of non-paved roads that we will be riding across the United States. From Florida to Tennessee we will ride up I75, because we are in a bit of a hurry to get the adventure started.

for more information about the trail see Sam's site: transamtrail.com

and advrider.com use their search tab and enter trans-america trail

Dirt Roads

By Lee Pitts, as read by Paul Harvey

What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many dirt roads have been paved.

There's not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that

wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more dirt roads, because dirt roads give character.

People that live at the end of dirt roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride. That it can

jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home...a loving

spouse, happy children and a dog. We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational

system if our children got their exercise walking a dirt road with other children from

whom they learn how to get along.

There was less crime in our streets before they were paved. Criminals didn't walk two

dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by five barking dogs and a

double barrel shotgun. And there were no drive-by shootings.

Our values were better when our roads were worse! People did not worship their

cars more than their children, and motorists were more courteous, they didn't tailgate by

riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust and bust your windshield

with rocks.

Dirt roads taught patience. Dirt roads were environmentally friendly, you didn't hop

in you car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk. For your mail, you

walked to the mailbox. What if it rained and the dirt road got washed out? That was the

best part, and then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and

popped popcorn and pony road on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier

quilts than anybody.

At the end of dirt roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap. Most paved

roads lead to trouble, dirt roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.

At the end of a dirt road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because

if we didn't some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini. At the end of a dirt road,

there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you'd

have to hitch up a team and pull them out. Usually you got a dollar...always you got a new

friend...at the end of a dirt road.