30 October 2013
A motorcycle trip to cross the Mississippi by ferry is something that I have wanted to do for quite some time. Why you might say; ride 150 miles to sail on a boat then turn around and come home. Again to me, it's all about the experience baby! Cross that border to see what’s there, like in the Doors song; so I can “wake up on the other side”. I'm just not staying the night this time.
Well, I start the morning with friends at breakfast at Shoney's on Riverside Drive in Clarksville trying to convince some others to ride with me. After a couple trips to the heart attack bar, I have no luck. They have these things called jobs. What’s up with that anyway? Oh, that reminds me I have to start looking for one of those, maybe tomorrow.
It is a good thing that I stopped first because I had forgotten the key that locks my ignition but more importantly opens the cover to my gas cap. Once the ignition is unlocked I can stop and start the bike all day long without using the key. I have gotten into the bad habit of riding the bike locally without the key. But ride around long enough you are in the position to not to be able to put gas into the motorcycle, which has been a bad thing.
I almost didn't go because of this, but I rode home 7 miles in the opposite direction to retrieve the key. Deciding not to change my mind, I’m off. There are so many reasons a person can come up with to not to travel, but like the commercial says; “Just Do It”. Plus there are not going to be many more partly sunny 70 plus degree days again at the end of October, at least not until next April.
So, I take Highway 79 from Clarksville, crossing the Cumberland river going into Dover; I have driven this road hundreds of times, but today is one of those days where the fall colors and the crispness in the air make it special, where would anyone want to be but on this road on a motorcycle. I stop in Dover, TN to take some Pictures of the Barn Quilts there; throughout the little berg of Dover, they have put Barn Quilts on a lot of the Public and Commercial Buildings; which I can say have really brightened up the town. 
After leaving Dover Crossing the Tennessee River I turn north onto highway 121, which is a small connector route that takes you into Kentucky and the University town of Murray. The geographical area between Dover and Murray make up the region known as Land between the Lakes or before the dams on the rivers. The land between the Cumberland and Tennessee River’s, these two rivers come together and dump into the Ohio River not more than 10 miles apart. At some points, they are less than 2 miles apart from one another.
Lake Kentucky is the 5th largest manmade lake in America. These rivers and lakes are fantastic geological features; imagine two Grand Canyon’s filled with water. They are two reasons why I live in Tennessee.
Once arriving in Murray it was time to stop for lunch, what better place than a seasonal Dairy Queen. This DQ served only ice cream and hot dogs; it was closing for the season on 31 October and wouldn't open until March. Murray Kentucky is one of those towns that haven’t lost that small town feel. Murray State University actually is the rival of my school Austin Peay University; this is the one college basketball game I like to attend. Murray State has a beautiful college campus, especially in the fall. Sitting there eating my chili dog drinking my coke a cola I could see the fall colors in all their splendor. 
Turning onto Highway 94 runs right through the middle of campus and heads straight west towards Hickman KY that sits on a Bluff on the bank of the Mississippi. Highway 94 is a nice country road with light traffic. In future trips, west must remember to use this road it makes for a very relaxing ride. More barn quilts and no traffic.
Like a lot of river towns Hickman has seen its better days, but there is some evidence that it is starting to make a comeback. The ferry terminal is south of town below the bluff it is well marked, just follow the; To Ferry and Highway 94 signs. 
Once arriving at the terminal you have to park on the side of the road and watch out for gravel trucks because there is a limestone quarry right next to the Ferry and they share the road. Once aboard the Ferry, the Captain ask me to hold my bike until he got the Tug turned around. Most River Ferry’s that I have ridden are nothing more than small barges with small tugboats attached to the middle. They pivot to change directions.
After riding the long slope down to the river and the ferry, I get my bike parked at the front of the boat. It is just I and another car making this trip to the west; the deck hand asked, “How much money does everyone have?” My response was, “Hey I rode all the way from Clarksville, TN because I heard that you get paid to ride the Ferry”. The deck hand laughed; “It will be $5 for you when we make it to Missoura you can talk to dem about it” Pointing across the river, “but they’d gonna get der $5 one way or anodder. Dem Missouri Boys are crazy. I stay on this side of the river, try not to go over there too much; dem boys are crazy”. We both had a good laugh, and then I handed over an Abraham Lincoln. I know that the ferry was run by the Missouri County across the river; as he spoke I had visions Deliverance and banjo’s playing in my head.
I have crossed the Mississippi may times, it never ceases to amaze me, the magnitude of it. The Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River Systems are the blood and veins of the nation. The water was low the river has been brought down to its winter water level. You would think with all the summer rain in the west it would be higher, but it wasn’t. There were a lot of barges pushing coal. It is also fun to Jet Ski in the wake of these barges, sometimes creating 10-15 foot swells on the river. They can be jumped like a motorcycle ramp, except on the water.
Once on the other side of the nation, in the tail/boot heel of Missouri, it is already 2 PM in the afternoon, and my thoughts have turned to getting back to Clarksville. From the Ferry landing, it is a short drive to State Road 77. Highway 77 is an elevated roadway above floodplain farmland; this side of the river as an eerie quietness to it. A lot of people who used to live in the Mississippi River floodplain have left over the year just so they don't have to deal with the constant state of flooding. And with the consolidation of farmland because of agro-business, decaying homesteads litter the ride to Cairo. There is an odd beauty to an overgrown farmhouse.
It is 31 miles up to the bridge back over the Mississippi into the lower tip of Illinois at Cairo and then over the Ohio into Kentucky. Once in Illinois, the two bridge entrances are less than 100 miles apart. It is a remarkable feature viewing the three states at once.
Once back in the Southeast it is a short 2-hour ride back to Clarksville on some roads that have been constructed or widened from 2 to 4 lanes. The ride back through Land between the Lakes National Recreation Area on Highway 68, then I24 for the last 30 miles goes quickly. It is good to get home, my ass is sore, but it won’t last long and it won’t be long before I have the itch to ride again.
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