Natchez Trace Boat Ride

Trace Boat Ride passengers; back L-R, Shelly, Pam, Karen; front L-R, Eddie, David, Wendell

Resting from the Fall Hollow trail hike!

Right before the trees went horizontal!

Fall Hollow is nothing more than a place to pull off with a trail that leads down to a couple of waterfalls. There are no buildings or places where you can escape the elements. On the way up the day before you could see the waterfall from the road and we passed it by to save it for today. The trail leading from the pull off quickly becomes a challenge but not too difficult that one would opt out. We spent a while at the two main falls snapping pictures and taking our time enjoying the view. On the way back up the trail we made a stop near the entrance at the bench provided, to catch our breath. We felt a drop or two when we first got there and it wasn’t but just a few minutes before the first rumble of

had the pleasure of spending an hour within a confined space with tired, ill, toddlers, you know words cannot describe! There was no reason for them to stay. They had a perfectly good vehicle waiting for them and those toddlers would have been in La La land within seconds once on the road. It was all we could do to keep from grabbing them by the belt and knap of the neck and stuffing them in the car ourselves.

 

All hope of finishing this ride quickly vanished as our thoughts turned to just getting dry. The decision was made and on a three count we raced toward the bikes. As we’re running toward the bikes I yell over my shoulder to the group, “Where are we heading?” I think it summed up the tension from the Grinders Inn when I glanced back in time to see Shelly’s head do a 360 as she grunted “ANYWHERE BUT HERE!!!”

 

We made a brief stop at  Jacks Branch to hit the bathrooms and proceeded to Lawrenceburg. The rain never let up the whole way back. To say that we were soaked is like saying the Titanic was a boat. By the time we pulled into Lawrenceburg my waterproof boats were miniature bathtubs and my feet were soaking. Not sure why we decided to, but we stopped at Hardees and it turned out to be a blessing.

 

We sloshed our way to the door cringing at the thought of air conditioned environment and our dread was not exaggerated. We tried to find a spot away from everyone while we drained ourselves on the floor. David and I even got the mops from the staff so we could keep the puddles in check. David bought a round of coffee for everyone as we stood there pondering what to do next. Our first thought was to get a room somewhere near by with the intention of getting dry, changing clothes and waiting out the rain. It was painfully obvious that we could not continue in the manner in which we had been. The girls were turning a very pretty shade of blue. While Pam was on the phone with her dad getting a weather update, an elderly gentleman from the table off to our left walked up and offered to take us to his house so we could dry our clothes. We found out later that he, along with the others in his group, were all retired and met on a regular basis at Hardees to drink coffee, sometimes eat, but mostly shoot the breeze.  Before we could answer him Pam was off the phone with the news that the storm was coming to a break where we were, but a huge line of solid rain was on its heals. We thanked the man for the offer but opted to find a Wal-Mart so we could gets some rain suits and try to make it home through the window that was opening up. Still trying to do anything they could to help, another one of the elderly gentlemen spoke up and offered to take David and I to the Wal-Mart while the girls changed in the bathroom. That offer was accepted and we were back in no time with sweet, vinyl, outer garments. The girls were changed and dry as best they could be and David and I joined them in a matter of minutes. After a quick bite to eat we thanked our good Samaritans for all their help and compassion and hit the road.

 

The drive back was much better with the rain suits. The rain was steady but no where near as heavy as before. Eddie and Shelly broke off at Ardmore hitting I65 while we took 53. Not sure what time it was but we made it home and a couple of quick phone calls later confirmed that the rest of the group had done the same.

 

In spite of  the rain it was a fun time filled with laughter, stories to tell and a lesson well learned. You can bet that if you opened up the saddle bags on either side of that Kingpin, you’ll find two perfectly rolled up rain suits sitting at the ready! Thanks guys for all the good fun. With people like you, even with the rain, we’d do it again in a heartbeat.

 

(Continued on next page)

Click on any of the pictures to see more pictures from that day.

Reading Room / Previous / Epilogue

thunder echoed through the woods around us.  Those first few drops became more of a drizzle in a matter of a few moments time. The canopy of trees kept us from seeing what the skies were looking like so we quickly made our way out to the bikes. Looking to our west we could see the sky was pretty dark but given the days forecast still thought it no more that a passing shower that would quickly move through. We made sure everything that needed to be stowed, was and made our way back into the semi-cover of the trees to wait it out. Not having any rain gear made the decision for us. All Karen and I had were a couple of wind breakers and the others had nothing. A check of the radar on Eddie’s

phone still indicated that it was going to be short lived and we would be back on the road in no time. For the next few minutes we were able to keep somewhat dry under the tree line. Then suddenly the bottom dropped out and it was a full scale downpour. Just a few seconds later the wind hit. Instantly the trees went from vertical to horizontal. The thunder and lightning cracked all around us. No longer did the canopy of the trees above shield us; we were getting soaked. The downpour lasted about 5 minutes and settled into a steady moderate rain.

 

A family in a van pulled up and according to them they had been in it for several miles coming from the direction we were heading. The girls were starting to get cold. Pam and Shelly were in tank tops and shivering. Knowing the Meriwether Lewis stop was only about three to five miles down the road and had shelter, was reason enough to make a run for it. All I can say is, that had to be the longest five miles I have ever ridden.

 

We get to the Grinders Inn cabin and finally was able to escape  the elements. When we arrived, there were  two young couples with a couple of toddlers waiting out the storm as well. The plan was to change into our clothes from the day before, wait it out and continue the ride. Let’s just say that if you’ve ever

Nothing like wet tobacco to knock off the chill!