April 20, 2006 - TOUR DE GEORGIA
International Bike Races

The idea for this trip started when Ray suggested we go to the Tour De France International Bike Races. The long plane ride and cost was a big deterrent, but Jerry jumped on it and will be the only one of us going. Ray then suggested Tour De Georgia. We all got on the band wagon and with Ray’s planning and paying for the reservations, it went very well. We did pay him back. I tried to talk him into paying our way, but he wasn’t that nice of a guy J.

It started out with me needing a new bike. With trinkets and accessories, it came to $3300.00. I bought a cherry red Bike Friday (always wanted a cherry red vehicle) bicycle with a red cargo bag that my darling wife made for me. I bought a new red Colorado pickup to put my bike in too. I think a pickup should cost more than your bike. This can be a bad thing. Ilene is now looking at a newer embroidery machine so she can do more pretty things with string.

The day before we were to get on the plane, Valli called to say she and her mother had been in an accident. They were not hurt bad, just bruised, but this was a bad omen.

April 18th, day one of our vacation – Myran took us to the airport at 4:00 a.m. The airplane trip went real smooth. Everything was going real smooth – right up to our easy plane transfer in Dallas/Fort Worth. We then had another great flight to Columbia, SC – only 45 minutes late, six hours better than a train. We were starved when we got to Ray and Carolyn’s house. Carolyn had a great dinner all ready for us.

It was in Columbia that the bad omen raised his ugly head. Our baggage (4 suitcases) was lost! “Friday” was lost! L We were able to retrieve two suitcases late that night. “Friday” was among them. J Another flight was to come in the next day around 1:00 o’clock and they would deliver the cases to Ray’s house if they were on it. It was only our clothes; I wasn’t worried about them.

Ray and I put Friday together and went for a ride in the rain (which I brought them from Oregon); they furnished the very loud thunder. The ride went through the housing developments – over 20 miles. We saw people catching cat fish in the lake. Saw a big turtle in the lake. It was about a foot across. It has now been a long, full day and Ilene has been dreaming of her new wardrobe. Alas it was not to be. The suitcases arrived about 5:15 p.m.

We rented a Chevy Impala with only 3500 miles on it. Tomorrow Ray and Carolyn (CA/SC), Ilene and I (Portland, OR) would leave for the bike races. We were going to meet Valli (Denver, CO), Jerry and Marilane (Round Rock, TX), Cyndee and Elliot (Queens, NY) and share a log cabin with them. There would be nine of us altogether, five women, four men, and 2 bathrooms.

April 20 – I drove Carolyn and Ray, Ilene and I to the High Valley Resort in Georgia. They had a small airport there. The resort is located in the Appalachian Mountains near the Appalachian Trail. After the long ride, we were thinking a beer would be nice. Jerry was already out looking for us. He came back with bad news. There was no beer in this county. Jerry, Ray, and I found out after a short ride that there were also no flat roads in this county, but the bike riding was very scenic and there were only a few cars.

Valli finally arrived after taking a tour of the state. All of the gravel, asphalt, and dirt roads have been driven by her now. Valli and Elliot drove the group to Dahleonega for dinner. Since it was a “wet” county, we were able to buy beer and bring some back to the cabin. I was glad Valli was driving us back because the fog was so thick that we went about 15-20 mph through a very curvy mountain road. That, plus the rain storm, thunder and lightning, made it very hard to see.

April 21 – We walked across the airport to the lodge and had breakfast, then a 34 mile bike ride. It was a good ride through the country. The roads were not steep but the uphill and downhill seemed to go on forever. They were very scenic. It was a dry day with only one little rain storm. The lodge catered the lunch. We showered and went to watch the International Bike Races (like the Tour De France) go by. We all wore our special fuzzy hats and very “Large” wide rimmed glasses that Valli bought for us. When we walked back to our car, we meant 3 girls who said they had glasses too but were too bashful to wear them. They put them on and Elliot said, “You people are multiplying.” Earlier Valli made me go out to the back porch and hide while she dressed everyone up in their hats and glasses. It was quite a surprise when she called me back!

The girls cooked a great dinner tonight. Homemade pot pie and key lime pie with Cool Whip.

Really stormed all night. Rain comes down in sheets here. Lightning is very bright and the Thunder is really loud - so - everyone tells me.

April 22 – Wolf Pen Gap – Went to the base of Brasstown Bald. 23% grade (The highest point in the State of Georgia). We had lunch at Enota campground.

Marilane, Carolyn, and Ilene went to Bear Mountain Square Festival in Dahleonega. It was warm and rainy. That night we went back there to listen to the Blue Grass bands play. There were at least ½ dozen blue grass bands playing in the town square.

April 23 – Jerry and I rode over to Brasstown Bald and up as far as the road goes. There is a thing called Murphy’s Law – a rider following 2 trucks carrying porta potties called the trucks “shit trucks.” One of the truck’s brakes were smoking badly. I was exhausted from riding up and almost fell over in the road. A car coming up had to stop for me, and then there were only about 3 cars in the next 3 miles. It was very hard getting to the top but the ride down was very fast and curvy (23% elevation). You can get a high thrill from it!!

Off to the conclusion of the bike races in Alphareta to watch them ride around a 3 mile circle 6 times after already riding 115 miles. It was really great watching J.J. Haeddo from the Toyota United team win today’s race and Floyd Landis the overall. It was really great seeing them up there on the podium. Jerry and Marilane, Cyndee and Elliot left for home from Alphareta. The rest of us went back to the cabin for one more night. Valli left for home the next morning.

April 24 – We left and headed back for South Carolina. We got a little shook up when a car and boat trailer traveling in front of us stopped rather suddenly. The trailer didn’t have any lights. I locked the brakes up on the Impala and slid quite a ways, but no connection. God was watching us.

Yes, yes, we got lost taking the car back to the airport when we got back to Columbia. Ilene’s fault – didn’t have a map, doesn’t know town. I am doing good in her training.

April 25th – Ray and I took a bike ride around, through, and over Harbison Forest. Saw a brownish-red snake and a turtle sunning himself on the bank. We rode for about 5 hours. It got up to around 90+/-. Carolyn and Ilene went to the antique store. We took the rest of the day off, watched TV and cooled off. No Murphy’s Law today.

April 26 – Went for a bike ride in and out of cul-de-sacs in Columbia, SC for about 2 hours. Ray and I picked the girls up and drove to Prosperity, SC for lunch at “Pa’s Back Porch” restaurant. We experienced our first Tornado warning while there. No one new if the siren meant warning or the real thing. They didn’t know where to go if it was the real thing. The store clerk called someone who was supposed to know. They said a tornado touched down around Newberry, 7 miles away, and they were getting golf ball size hail. When the siren quit, we left town and headed for Newberry. We’d never seen hail that size. Still haven’t.

The weatherman said it would rain today – it was sunny and hot for our bike ride but started to rain and thunder around 4:00 p.m. The weathermen are as bad there as they are here.

April 27 - Rented another car. This time we tried Triangle Car Rentals (much cheaper than at the airport). We left Ray and Carolyn and headed for Virginia and to us some more cities with strange names. We experienced Murphy’s Law again. Lost my sunglasses off front of bike. There are always trucks surrounding you when driving on the freeway in a heavy rainstorm. Cars speeding up on you from behind. One thing when you get within 50 ft of a car or truck in front of you, you can see them. This is no joke! We went past an army convoy. There was some guy driving along with his emergency flashers going. That only lasted about 10 miles in the driving rain. Visibility did increase to about 75 feet. We will always remember this place because it was by “Murphy” Road (Fayetteville, NC).

Took a detour off the freeway to see the Averasboro Battlefield Museum. This was a Civil War battle between 5,000 Confederates and 100,000 Union soldiers. It was the 5,000 Confederates job to slow down the union before the main battle in Bentonville.

Another Murphy’s Law – there was a car carrier going the wrong way onto the freeway.

Arrived at Kill Devil Hills, NC and found Ray and Minnie Smith’s house. Ray and I were in Viet Nam together and I hadn’t seen him for about 25 years. We stayed with them. They showed us a gorgeous sunset over the Bay and of course the Atlantic Ocean.

April 28 – Ray and I rode to the Bagel shop, and then all of us went to breakfast. Ilene and I toured the Wright Brothers Museum and monument and walked all over. Drove to the Brodie Lighthouse but couldn’t go through it. Walked on the beach. We had dinner with Ray and Minnie and visited.

April 29 – Went to some garage sales and breakfast. Ilene decided she could get used to all those southern gentlemen and their flattery. We said good-bye to Ray and Minnie and headed north to Yorktown.

April 30 – Went to Yorktown and the best Maritime museum I have ever seen and then continued driving to Williamsburg. We checked in at the visitor’s center and reserved a motel then went out and walked around.

May 1st – Walked over to Williamsburg (there is about a mile of colonial Williamsburg blocked off for tours). We went through the Governor’s Palace, the Capitol and other historic buildings. Everyone of the guides or speakers were dressed in period clothing and would speak as though they were living in that time. A word to the wise: If you ever do this tour, don’t wear sandals. There are little pea size rocks over all the paths. Need I say more? We stayed another night, saw a few more things and went on to Jamestown.

May 2nd – We left Williamsburg and toured/walked the excavation site at Jamestown. We saw the old glass blowing kilns and watched them blow glass in the reproduction kiln area. It was very interesting. At the Visitor’s center, there were 25 bus loads of junior high age students. Do the math and you will know why we didn’t stay. From Jamestown, we took a ferry and traveled to Petersburg, VA for another look at the Civil War. We were told that 60% of the Civil war was fought in Virginia. The siege at Petersburg lasted 10 months.

May 3 – This was a travel day back to Columbia, SC. We dropped the car off and Ray took us home with him and Carolyn again. We had picked up a carton of fresh strawberries and so had strawberries and chocolate syrup that night.

May 4 – Byran and Ray took another ride. Mostly we just cleaned, packed up, and visited as this was our last night.

May 5 – Back on the plane to Dallas/Fort Worth, then Portland, and then Home! It is always fun to be with friends, see new places, do new things, but . . . There’s no place like home!”

One last Murphy: When you take a shower, the faucets turn this way and that way, push-pull and one thing for sure – there are no two alike!!! After you get that to work there is the part that makes it go to the showerhead. This too is a challenge. Going to the toilet is fun too. Some of them have sensors or push-pull, step this side or that side. After all that you think you need a drink of water. Yeah, Right!!!