I've knocked out some miles in the last few days and am now in Alabama. I need to sit down and put forth a solid few entries here to document the great people (hi Kammie!) , food and places I've visited. Currently in Alabama on the way to the Barber Motorsports Museum after three days of camping without service. Life is good.
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The private gardens of E.A. McIlhenny offers a driving tour through the manicured and mature garden sanctuary of an incredibly wealthy family. Exotic trees, plants and flowers fill the unique swamp/woodland forest creating an enchanted space. It was a bit early for all the flowers but the camellias and azaleas were starting to blossom.
The McIlhenny family started the institution of the Tobasco Pepper Sauce here in 1868. The private Avery Island was once home to hundreds of acres of Tobasco Peppers and a small community of company owned housing and stores for workers. Today the seed crop comes from the island but most growing is done abroad to minimize crop loss. The island sits atop one of many salt domes that dot the bayou landscape. The salt extends deeper than Mt Everest is high! An active salt mine still operates here, some salt used in the barreling and aging process as an air cap over the bubbling mash. After aging for three years, the mash is strained and mixed with vinegar for a few days until ready to bottle. The factory now produces as many 700'000 bottles per day!
Somewhere in the middle of Cajun country down on Chapel Rd, I heard a roar overhead and caught sight of a yellow biplane in a banking turn. I stopped and watched the pilot rise and fall to dust the crops, passing overhead 8 times before veering back toward the airport. Just another gift from the road less travelled.
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Mike SaundersIn May 2014 I quit my job to ride a Honda Ruckus over 69'000 mi and counting. Wild camping most nights and cooking most of my own meals, I keep the costs low and the landscape changing. Archives
April 2018
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