It wasn’t supposed to go this way.

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The plan was simple: take the train to New Orleans, meet a friend, and ride north to Minneapolis. A clean line on a map. A straightforward journey.

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But the roads had other ideas.  By Natchez, it was clear: this wasn’t the ride we thought it would be.

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Narrow shoulders, fast traffic, and long days of riding on edge forced a decision neither of us expected. By the time we reached Natchez, Mississippi, the trip was already unraveling. In Jackson, my friend flew home.

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I kept going.

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What followed was something entirely different. The Natchez Trace, once a path of traders, travelers, and forgotten stories, offered a quiet alternative. A road with history beneath it and space enough to think.

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Kudzu Scarecrows is a story about plans that fall apart, the unexpected paths that replace them, and the strange, beautiful moments that only appear when you stop trying to control the route.

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Sometimes the best journeys aren’t the ones you plan—
they’re the ones that happen when everything goes wrong.