Riding the Big Muddy
Riding the Big Muddy-----
---For some reason I was fascinated by the Mississippi River. We lived exactly 100 miles East of it, a mile East of the Illinois River. My plans were to take the ole Harley, camping gear, Dollie, and go straight West of Burlington, Iowa, to Hamilton, Illinois. Then we'd follow the East bank of the Mississippi River up to it's beginning in Minnesota. From there we'd return down the West side of the Mississippi River. A simple plan.
---One Spring in the late 70's (we were in late 30's) we were able to get Dollie's mom to babysit for two weeks. Our trip was on. This was a different ride. We actually dressed sorta like bikers. Wore full helmets, jeans, flannel shirts, and windbreaker jackets. Occasinally, at campsites, Dollie did get down to regular shorts and tank top. But for some reason this was gonna be a real bike ridin camping trip without the hanky panky. Coulda been the cool Spring weather. Also this trip we were kinda overloaded because of the warmer clothes and extra supplies for the boonies. Bike sorta looked like Beverly Hillbillies truck with things hangin and tied everywhere. Don't remember hardly ever gettin over 50MPH once we started up the River road. After all, it was a scenic ride.
---We found out ya can't exactly follow the River all the time. We'd never got there if we followed all the zigs and zags. When we did, we'd camp in small Corp of Engineer fishin camps, County Parks, and sometimes nearby State Parks. Few times behind small town restaurents with permission.Puttin up and takin down that tiny one man pup tent became a quick and easy job after awhile. Yep, just a tiny skinny boyscout type one-boy kinda tent. Dome tents and other small tents we not yet invented. The smallest regular canvas tent had multi zillion poles, ropes, and stakes. We coulda parked the bike in those! But I'd have to leave Dollie home if I brung one of those. Was more fun sleepin on her and snuggled against her in the tiny tent.
---Those el-cheapo air matresses were our only real problems. We found some that were slightly wider than the regular water floats. But they squished and flattened out in all the wrong places, especially when doin push ups on Dollie. Gettin dressed and undressed were major problems. Usually got somethin on then finished outside. Don't even want to talk about those few times it rained. Even screwin in a tiny tent gets boring after several hours of waiting for the rains to stop. No way could we survive one night sleepin in that thing now!
---Eventually we did find what was a State Park with some tiny creeks coming together. Supposed to be the beginning of the Mississippi River. Not all that impressive. Not sure what we expected. I was gonna add all the places we stopped and where we ended up. But you can check Maps for that stuff. Spent a week goin up there and planned another week coming down West side. Camping was fun. We met lots of nice and interesting people. Small town folks, fishermen, and a few other bikers. We loved the small Mom-Pop diners along the way and the friendly townsfolk. This was at a time when bikers were getting bad images and names. We had no problems with anyone. Perhaps we were helping make changes in our own simple way.
---Yes, we did get a few booby pictures of Dollie along scenic sections of the River. Had to do that. Again, nothing exciting. Just a really fun motorcycle journey up and down nearly half of a big Muddy River. Maybe someday I'll tell about our ride down the rest of the Mississippi River by bike. We b*tch and moan when sleeping in motel beds now. Our bodies and our minds change over time. We are so fortunate to have each other and a million memories of long ago.
---Get out there and follow your dreams. They don't have to be fancy ship cruises or trips to exotic places. The good ole USA is full of wonderful destinations, cheap. We probably spent less that two weeks than our kids spend for a night in a hotel. Who had the most fun? Saddle up and ride boys and girls. Sorry this wan't a kinky story.
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