Well, it seems my grand tour of the USA may be cursed! Rode the Wing from south FL to north Ga. Great weather, a tad hot in the afternoon, did the 650 mile trip is under 12 hours, taking my time. The next day I had the usual sore spots; however, it was raining, so no big deal.
Got word that a couple that was going to ride the Blue Ridge with us cancelled due to medical problems...he had to get "roto-rootered" (colonoscopy) and his wife returned to FL for the procedure. All motel/hotel reservations made were cancelled - no problem, there were still four of us to make the ride.
Next, my nephew's daughter screwed up again and had to move in with him, she has a bit of substance abuse and alcohol problems. My nephew was afraid to leave her alone in his house, afraid he would return home and find everything saleable gone. He cancelled the day before he was supposed to join us in Ga. No problem, there were still three of us.
Two day before our ride started...headed for Cherokee, NC for two days, then the Blue Ridge, my brother and his daughter went for a short ride...I stayed home to prepare my bags and bike for the big day. Anyway, my brother made a slow turn and dropped his bike, broke a mirror and scrapped himself up pretty good, his daughter was right behind him when he dumped the bike. The next day, rainy day again, he took his car and went looking for replacement mirrors, (he had to have matching mirrors
)found them for $90.00 bucks and mounted them. Departure day and it rained, the forecast for the next week was rain. My brother, I think still shaken from his fall, though we may as well drive the car to Cherokee since we beyond the reservation cancellation date. We did. Cherokee turned out to be the hightligh of the trip, I won over six hundred dollars in the Casino.
After two days, we went to Little Switzerland on the Blue Ridge where we had reserved three rooms for two days. The folks there let us cancel the second day but would not allow us to cancel the first day because we were within the 10-day cancellation policy. Rather than lose the bucks, we went to check out the area for future travel plans. Little Switzerland is the Bees Knees!! Have a wife, girfriend, lover, etc take them there! Absolutly beautiful area. Motorcycle lodge rooms were great, no phones, tv, bathroom and a great bed. For the price of $79.00 it was great. I found the lunch hamburger great, the dinner menu was super; however, my brother and niece though the breakfast sucked. I did'nt eat breakfast. Next stop on the Blue Ridge was Grandfather Mountain.
The next morning we packed to depart; however, the cars keys were missing? The car was a Hundai and only Hundai can make a key for Hundai's. Well, the car was towed to Hickory, NC where my brother had a key made. On the way back to Little Switzerland he go lost. Almost 5 hrs later, rain in the air we decided to return to Ga. Oh the wrecker only had one passenger seat so my niece and I waited at the hotel.
Back in Ga, all was not lost. We had a no-rain day and decided to ride the bikes to Helen, Ga. My brother dropped his bike in the parking lot and broke a road peg in half, he was okay, just embarrased. He decided to go to Helen by car, my niece went with him and I rode my Wing. Great trip, good lunch in a German restaurant in Helen.
So, we took the car to Cherokee, NC and guess what, no rain!! We drove to Little Switzerland, no rain. We did have a little rain on the way home to Ga. I rode my Wing a total of maybe 200 miles in about 12 days! My brother, 69 yrs old in Jan 2013 decided his motorcycle riding days were over and felt lousy but he made the right decision in my mind.
So, my extended trip was cancelled for now. Weather, personal circumstances, and bad luck caused me to re-think my journey. Oh, I won't go into ten days worth of missing mail that included 2 credit cards and my passport card that was not picked up because my relative "couldn't" make it to the mailbox after telling me three times that he was going to do it. My neighbor told me the mail was gone, he thought my relative picked it up, he didn't.
So, I'm home. First trip tomorrow is to the Post Office to pickup my held mail and hopefully the missing mail. Afterwards the Wing needs attention, covered in FL love bugs.
Sorry for this long, sad tale. I hope all of you have better trips in the future.
Got word that a couple that was going to ride the Blue Ridge with us cancelled due to medical problems...he had to get "roto-rootered" (colonoscopy) and his wife returned to FL for the procedure. All motel/hotel reservations made were cancelled - no problem, there were still four of us to make the ride.
Next, my nephew's daughter screwed up again and had to move in with him, she has a bit of substance abuse and alcohol problems. My nephew was afraid to leave her alone in his house, afraid he would return home and find everything saleable gone. He cancelled the day before he was supposed to join us in Ga. No problem, there were still three of us.
Two day before our ride started...headed for Cherokee, NC for two days, then the Blue Ridge, my brother and his daughter went for a short ride...I stayed home to prepare my bags and bike for the big day. Anyway, my brother made a slow turn and dropped his bike, broke a mirror and scrapped himself up pretty good, his daughter was right behind him when he dumped the bike. The next day, rainy day again, he took his car and went looking for replacement mirrors, (he had to have matching mirrors
)found them for $90.00 bucks and mounted them. Departure day and it rained, the forecast for the next week was rain. My brother, I think still shaken from his fall, though we may as well drive the car to Cherokee since we beyond the reservation cancellation date. We did. Cherokee turned out to be the hightligh of the trip, I won over six hundred dollars in the Casino. After two days, we went to Little Switzerland on the Blue Ridge where we had reserved three rooms for two days. The folks there let us cancel the second day but would not allow us to cancel the first day because we were within the 10-day cancellation policy. Rather than lose the bucks, we went to check out the area for future travel plans. Little Switzerland is the Bees Knees!! Have a wife, girfriend, lover, etc take them there! Absolutly beautiful area. Motorcycle lodge rooms were great, no phones, tv, bathroom and a great bed. For the price of $79.00 it was great. I found the lunch hamburger great, the dinner menu was super; however, my brother and niece though the breakfast sucked. I did'nt eat breakfast. Next stop on the Blue Ridge was Grandfather Mountain.
The next morning we packed to depart; however, the cars keys were missing? The car was a Hundai and only Hundai can make a key for Hundai's. Well, the car was towed to Hickory, NC where my brother had a key made. On the way back to Little Switzerland he go lost. Almost 5 hrs later, rain in the air we decided to return to Ga. Oh the wrecker only had one passenger seat so my niece and I waited at the hotel.
Back in Ga, all was not lost. We had a no-rain day and decided to ride the bikes to Helen, Ga. My brother dropped his bike in the parking lot and broke a road peg in half, he was okay, just embarrased. He decided to go to Helen by car, my niece went with him and I rode my Wing. Great trip, good lunch in a German restaurant in Helen.
So, we took the car to Cherokee, NC and guess what, no rain!! We drove to Little Switzerland, no rain. We did have a little rain on the way home to Ga. I rode my Wing a total of maybe 200 miles in about 12 days! My brother, 69 yrs old in Jan 2013 decided his motorcycle riding days were over and felt lousy but he made the right decision in my mind.
So, my extended trip was cancelled for now. Weather, personal circumstances, and bad luck caused me to re-think my journey. Oh, I won't go into ten days worth of missing mail that included 2 credit cards and my passport card that was not picked up because my relative "couldn't" make it to the mailbox after telling me three times that he was going to do it. My neighbor told me the mail was gone, he thought my relative picked it up, he didn't.
So, I'm home. First trip tomorrow is to the Post Office to pickup my held mail and hopefully the missing mail. Afterwards the Wing needs attention, covered in FL love bugs.
Sorry for this long, sad tale. I hope all of you have better trips in the future.
