Day 2: Jacksonville to Suches, GA

We pop right out of bed excited for what was coming. Day two of our little adventure takes us from Jacksonville to Suches, Ga. Yesterday we traveled 365 miles by the end of today we would have logged another 430 miles.

It was a bit chilly when we headed out, but a beautiful day none the less. So If I remember correctly. We took 95 out of Jacksonville to 295 ( I think) to I-10. I-10 was a beautiful stretch of road.

We stopped at the Oceola National Forest for a quick rest... nice little wooded area with a cool breeze. So far the highway has been nothing but nice sweeping hills with very little traffic. Very scenic....

This was a gas stop along the way.. cute little country store. Speaking of gas the highest price we've paid so far has been $4.23 along I-95 close to Daytona. The cheapest so far has been $4.09...not to bad. Before we knew it we were in Georgia and the sun was beating the crap out of us. We got some rain around Atlanta but is was over before we knew it. The traffic around Atlanta by the way was crazy, much like Miami...

For the most part were stopping every 100 miles to gas up, stretch the legs and hydrate. The sun is pretty bad and after a while the humming from the bike starts make me drowsy. Luckily the scenery started to change alot after Atlanta. We took 19 North and it turns from a huge highway to a local street that starts winding around town. I'm thinking..... wow this is really nice. The traffic thins out and after a while were in a rural road in the mountains and the fun begins. All of the sudden I see a sign that says "Limited visibility please slow down" I think "okay"... So I start the climb up this hill, Rick is leading by the way, and all of the sudden I'm at the peak and the freaken road (excuse my language) drops about 40 feet at least, with no guard rails and a drop on both sides.. I'm thinking this is nice but I'm screaming HOLY MOLEY!! .... I knew the roads would be twisty, but this was a nice reality check... So I continue to push on through like a trooper and it only gets better... We wind through some nice quaint little towns, nice twists and turns. Nothing too technically difficult as long as you stick to the posted speed limit, which is 35 at max.

Finally after about 15 miles of twisties and we have to turn onto 60 which will take us to Two Wheels Only. We make a left and there is a sign that says "Tight turns and steep changes in elevation, Watch for falling rocks" Watch for falling rocks? How about watch for falling bikers!!! I'm trying not to roll off the road here... We continue turning and twisting up and down... don't even come here if you get dizzy easily folks!

These pictures were taken at a lookout point:

We continue on to Suches which is 6 miles from this look out point. We passed it and had to do a U-Turn in the middle of all this madness and there was a nice sloping loose gravel road to greet us. This was the actual entrance to the place. I'm thinking.. isn't this place supposed to be motorcycle friendly? So I manage to make it down and park. We checked in and the place is cute, but far below my expectations. The rooms are on the second floor and NO A/C!!! Nothing we can do about it now. We took a shower and it's actually cool, but if tonight is warm were out of here tomorrow!.

We went down stairs for dinner and ordered a half rack or ribs. We could smell these smoking as we drove up this afternoon. I have to say they have been the best tasting ribs I have ever had. everything was delicious.

The restaurant had tons of stuff on the walls... signs, maps, and even motorcycle parts from those who have had some bad fortune. There are signs everywhere warning you to stick to the posted speed limit.
This one needs little explanation...
This little guy sneaked up behind Rick during dinner. I think he wanted ribs as well...

These two rolled in during dinner, neat little buggies!
Motorcycles only and they mean business... :-)
This is the loose gravel road that greeted us this afternoon. I literally left the bike where it stopped. I didn't even bother to straighten it out. I'll worry about it tomorrow, I'm just happy I stopped before I washed my bike in the creek.
This beautiful waterfall is right across the street from the hotel. The water flows under the bridge and behind the property.

That's all for now folks... we got here in one piece, we had dinner and tomorrow is another day.

Time to go!

July 3rd rolled around and it was time to go! We loaded the bikes and were out of the house by 9:30 am. It was a pretty uneventful ride until we got to Fellsmere. All of the sudden we started to get rain... at first it was not too bad but then it white walled and the wind started gusting. We got off at the first exit and barely made it to a gas station/Mc Donalds right off the exit. We rolled in under heavy lighting and power surges... We hid there for about 45 minutes. I checked the Doppler on my Blackberry and saw that we had a small amount of time to get out of dodge before another cloud rolled in.

We headed out with much caution. The storm had caused two nasty accidents South bound on 95. It continued to drizzle until about Cape Carnival and then it was a smooth ride into Jacksonville. We headed straight to our family's house and stayed the night.

This picture was taken at one of the rest stops... He certainly knows how to travel. The semi cab is pulling the RV and he's even got the dirt bike loaded on there!

We had some bad gas along the way... no it wasn't the food. We think Rick got some water in the air box or something of that nature. Luckily it cleared up.

Too many twisties too little time

If you know me well enough you'll know that I'll attempt to plan every spare second of this trip. I want to see it all!!!!!!!! I want to know what's the most effective way to hit as many twisting road and see as many waterfalls, dams and look out point as possible? Well this nearly impossible because of the abundance of beautiful roads up there, I'm trying my best to not be anal about it after all it's a vacation not a project or a race. I'll admit that is something that I struggle with. After doing some searching, this resources was suggested and it's been by far the best reference tool I've come across. It's a Northern Georgia back road map ****heaven****! Those of you that ride understand that the less time on the super slabs the better, besides you can't really enjoy many waterfalls from the highway!

Here is the link to map... It's literally someone local that took the time to map it and indicate restaurants, look out points, hospitals, motorcycle shops, camp grounds etc...

http://info-map.com/cycle/

Let's just do it!

After realizing that we had a long weekend just around the corner and the kids being away, we decided it would be the perfect time to escape on the motorcycles. After contemplating various destinations for a few minutes, our selection was clear. Our adventure will take us approximately 800 miles north to a majestic mountain range full of exciting twists and turns for adventurous riders. We made reservations at "Two Wheels Only" camp ground and resort, an establishment catering to the traveling bikers. It's located in a city locals refer to as "The Valley Above the Clouds" mapquest however calls it Suches, Georgia.

Stay tuned... The adventure begins July 3rd just before dawn.