Okay, so this computer is being a total butthead and it took me almost 20 minutes to actually connect with WordPress, but I’m gonna give this my best shot.
First things first. I have had this song stuck in my head for the past three days, and now you do too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEDw9xgSmSc[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEDw9xgSmSc]
“She don’t eat meat, but she sure likes the BONE!”
You hate me, I know it. Bwahahaha. I win!
Ahem. On to other things…like the ride. Man, it’s been something else. Kentucky and Tennessee were AWESOME. I could totally see further explorations in the whole “mid-south” region. North Georgia hasn’t been as barbarous as many have warned me that it would be, but I must say that drivers are pretty aggressive around here, and the highway engineers were awfully stingy about the shoulders on the roads.
TN was awesome, though. I got a few nice pictures of trees gone all autumnal. There were some days when I was just riding along thinking, “wow, this is incredibly idyllic.” The camping was generally pretty good, too. We stayed behind a number of fire stations in TN. The firefighters haven’t been as understanding here in Georgia, however. In TN, it seemed like people were more willing to be helpful. If there was no good place in town to put up, either the firefighters or the police could be relied upon to suggest some good camping spot not too terribly far outside of town. At one stop here in GA, the policewoman could give us no better assurance than that if she got a call about us, she wouldn’t arrest us, she would only ask us to leave. Fat lot of good that does me at the end of a long day! At that point, when it’s 30F outside, maybe I’d rather she hauled me in…at least it would be warm in the jail!
Anyhow, we’re narrowing in on the last of the trip, and I must say, this whole post-Amtrak side of our adventure has been a damn fine time. North-Georgian unhelpfulness notwithstanding, it’s been a lot more congenial countryside, the weather has been much better than I could have hoped for at this point in the season, the scenery has been lovely, and all of our various equipment has been functioning perfectly.
We’re about 4-5 days out from Charleston at this point and just shy of 2 weeks out from our plane tickets back home. We’ll have basically a week’s downtime in Charleston, so we’ll sightsee, prepare our bikes for being shipped back, and probably do a lot of reading. I figure I’ll spend a few bucks in a used bookstore so I have something handy for passing the time, especially in the evenings. We’re looking into hostels and/or cheap, extended-stay motels. I’m a little unsure of what I’ll do with myself when I’m not riding!
I’ve definitely been enjoying this adventure, and I’m glad I had the chance to do something like this, but I am definitely getting very ready to get back home and to “normal life.” It has given me some new perspectives on things and new ideas on how to approach various aspects of my life once I am back and settled. One thing about long distance riding is that you have a lot of time when your brain is not actively engaged in other stuff. Without all of the distractions of daily life, work, and other must-do stuff, I have had a lot of time to think about projects, about how I’m going to accomplish a few goals, about stuff to make, new ways to use materials I already have, and various cooking experiments that I want to try. I’ve thought about how to find my next job. Of course I am a little nervous – I’ve got a LOT coming up, but it has been nice to be able to work on a little strategy without immediate pressure.
That video is no longer available SO THERE. HAHAHAHAHA.
Anyway.
Glad to hear that the South has been mostly good to you thus far. I’m sorry to hear that about North Georgia though.