9/20/08 - Trail of Tears

Well it was trail of tears weekend. That one weekend a year where hundreds of thousands of bikers descend on to the Tennessee Valley. This year unlike in years past the organizers got into a disagreement and the ride split with one portion going through Tennessee while the other group went on the traditional route through Alabama. I had organized a church ride leaving from Springville at 7:30AM and off we went with about 8 bikes in tow. We were actually planning on doing lunch up at Madison which is the half way point for the Alabama route. When we got there the trailer was at the lunch stop. There were only about 400 or so bikes there so the bulk had gone through Tennessee. Because the group was small by comparison we decided to go to Florence, Alabama where the two would merge at the park down by the river. Our ride through North Alabama was beautiful. It was a cloudy day all day and we even went through a few sprinkle showers. At one stop I checked my portable radio just in time to hear Eli Gold call out the goal line stand against Arkansas. Then I got to hear how unsatisfied Nick Saban was as he walked into the locker room with a 35-7 lead. I chuckled at that. I believe things are getting back to normal at Alabama! We arrived at Florence in a mass of bikes as the Tennessee route began to arrive. At the park we walked around for about an hour looking at the booth sales and custom bikes and trailer sales and such and then headed out. I had heard about this particular steak house in Moulton which was on our way home. It’s on 157 which is one of my favorite roads. We stopped at the Western Sirloin Steakhouse in Moulton and despite the full parking lot they seated us immediately. We were shocked at the ridiculously low prices on the menu. The young lady waiting on us heard our comments and said. “Yall not from here are ya”, “That’s all we have here are cows” which of course is true. No fuel surcharges on these steaks, they are fresh and tasty and I was out the door with a belly full of steak, all you can eat salad and a baked potato and a drink for $10.50. I can’t fill up at McDonalds for that in Trussville. We saw the only sun of the day leaving Moulton. We actually got a nice sunset as we arrived home just after dark.