Day 1: Wall Doxey, MS

We woke up to crisp temperatures, after some coffee and food we started unloading the bikes.



Breakfast: Mike brought Boudin from Louisiana







We did some gravel roads and some forest trails today, just kind of checked out the area to figure out where to go tomorrow.

It was a cold day, in the upper 40's, low 50's, with a late start and no lunch, we got back to the camp site for an early dinner.



Mike pre-prepared all the meals and had them frozen, we just needed to heat them up.



Our cook



Our dinner tonight: shrimp and pasta



Our camp site



The fire felt good as the temperatures plunged in to the 30's again.

Heading down to Mississippi

My friend Jay and I left work early so we could get an early start. By 3PM we were on the road heading to Mississippi in a borrowed pickup truck arriving at the Wall Doxey State Park in North Mississippi around midnight. Surprisingly Mike was coming from Louisiana and he arrived 5 minutes before us. We set up our tents and by 1AM we were ready for bed.



My driveway, my XT225 and Jay's DR650, ready to go

It was a cold night, in the mid 30’s, we had an electric hook up which meant we could use the electric blanket. This weekend will unfortunately be cold and the next few nights are supposed to be even colder than tonight. I wasn’t looking forward to any more cold weather, I was hoping for more seasonal temps, the overnight temps should be in the mid 40’s right now.

New Orleans, LA

I was supposed to fly back this morning but I missed my flight because of a bad accident on the highway. I had a few more hours in New Orleans, now I was flying out at 5PM .



Bourbon Street



Fancy balcony decorations





Lunch at the La Bayou Restaurant, crab cakes for appetizer



Seafood with pasta for lunch

New Orleans, LA

In the morning we left for New Orleans. Another nice day, sunny and 70's degrees.



Palace Cafe for lunch on Canal Street





Our appetizer, a quiche made from crab



And I had a mini quiche for lunch, the food was great



French Quarter, Mississippi River







St. Louis Cathedral located in Jackson Square



How some people earn their money







Having fun with statues



The Queen and the Crescent Hotel in French Quarters



Nice and affortable

Lafayette, LA

I flew in to New Orleans last night, Mike picked me up from the airport and two hours later we were in Lafayette. Known for the Cajun and Creole cultures of the surrounding region, Lafayette has one of the highest restaurant counts per capita of cities in the area.

Today was 70 degrees and sunny. I got a tour of Lafayette, but for the most part we spent the day relaxing and eating. Mike is a good cook, he made dinner at the house and for lunch we had a Po’Boy so I could see the difference between a good one and a bad one, the one I had on he Toledo Bend trip last month.



Lunch, a Po' Boy sandwitch with shrimp



Crawfish boudin



Mike very own crawfish etouffee

Hiking Starved Rock State Park

Today was going to be a nice winter day, sunny and low 30’s so we headed to Starved Rock to do some hiking, about 1.5 hours south of Chicago.



Hiking through the woods, the snow was slippery at times



We attempted to hike in to the French Canyon but it was way too iced over to continue any further



It wasn't cold in the sun









Frozen waterfalls





Cool ice formations

Downtown Chicago and the Planetarium

Mike flew in last night. Today we wanted to go to the Shedd Aquarium, but there was a huge line outside to get in, so we went to the Planetarium instead. The temperature was only in the low 20’s or high teens at the lake front. The walk from the parking garage to the Planetarium was a cold one.



Mike said this was the coldest temperature he's even been in



The Chicago skyline





The Planetarium







Hiding from the cold wind, I left my gloves in the car