April 6, MRT

April 6,2011

I forgot to mention the lake we rode by yesterday. It is called Reelfoot. Some of you may have heard about this lake. It was formed in 1812 by the largest, strongest quake every recorded in North America just Southwest of St. Louis. Tremors from the quake were felt in Quebec City, Canada. The quake cause the Mississippi River to flow backwards for a time. I believe the fault is called the New Madrid.

The 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes (pronounced /nuː ˈmædrɨd/) were an intense intraplate earthquake series beginning with an initial pair of very large earthquakes on December 16, 1811. These earthquakes remain the most powerful earthquakes ever to hit the eastern United States.[1] These events, as well as the seismic zone of their occurrence, were named for the Mississippi River town of New Madrid, Louisiana Territory, now Missouri.

Today was another windy one. We left from highway 181 where we topped yesterday. The trip ended with Frank being pretty tired in Covington, TN, We are staying tonight in an Holiday Inn Express in Millington, TN. Tomorrow we head for Memphis and beyond. Vicksburg is probably out of the question for this trip. We will ride some on Friday and then head home. We have had a great time. We missed Bud and Bob. And, we enjoyed having Grace driving the Sag Wagon. She has done a great job!

The trip south today was very windy. And, it was great fun. We stopped near. Ripley, TN to help a couple change a flat on their car. We did not get it done, but used our phone to call for help. He bought us lunch at the Rat Cafe in Edith. See if you can find that on your map. The gentleman is 92 and his wife is 93. They have been married 72 years and have lived in the area all their lives. His son farms 7,000 acres of bottom land. Says,”The farms are bigger and the famers fewer.”

The ladies who run the Rat Cafe have been doing this for over 16 years. They sold their previous cafe to some “foreigners”. “I don’t think they are doing very well!” We had a one pound hamburger. Only thing on the menu. It was great!

We are now 320 miles below St. Louis. Should get in another 100 miles. I am having a great time. This is the way to discover America. We live in a great land. I hope Congress doesn’t ruin it! Please support the workers who make our country so strong. We need more jobs and less complaining. Somebody has to make money.