We left Gainesville this morning right on schedule and once again the weather was perfect. Speaking of weather, I have been trying to keep track at what is happening back at home and it looks like it has rained almost everyday and the temperature has barely reached 60. Sorry about that guys.
Today we rode an upside down S-pattern turning southeast out of Gainesville then east, north, west, back north and eventually to the east to end up in Fernandina Beach. Toward the afternoon hours it was back to being a scorcher reaching 92 degrees, but as we approached the beach it cooled back down. I bet when we wake up in the morning it might be as low as 55 degrees here on the shore. We are located at the very top of A1A at the furthermost northeast corner of Florida and tomorrow we point due south trying to reach Vero Beach. Vero Beach should be about 250 miles south.
Old dummy here tried to take some video on the motorcycle today, but the memory chip was full, so that was a bust. I will attempt to get some video of the drive on A1A tomorrow to make sure that I'm ready for the Key West bridge. We should arrive in Key West in just a couple more days.
Tonight for dinner we went out to a local restaurant with Martin and Mary Crane. They moved away from the Winchester area last September and getting to see them again was fun. The Crane's just had a baby boy 4 months ago and what happy baby he was. That was until he got hungry, then he was letting it be known. Did I mention Lori and I are empty nesters and now we know why we like it. Ah the joy's of parenthood. After dinner the Crane's took us down to Amelia Island to walk and have a little ice cream. There are some really old buildings here and I took a picture of a very pretty sunset off of one of the piers.
Some details of the pictures for the day, just wanted to show you just how much crap we are cramming into the trailer, Nice sunset shot, and a shot down an historic street on Amelia Island.
Today’s mileage = 306
Total for the trip = 1696
Day 7 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Day 5 and Last Day in Gainesville
Another beautiful day of weather here in Gainesville with the sun shinning bright with only a few clouds. Today's loop was more to the Northwest of Gainesville and the roads were long and straight. We ended up in a very small fishing community named Steinhatchee. Let's see you pronounce that one. Took a real nice shot of the Bike and the water at this location. Since it was to early for lunch, we return to riding.
After more long straight and somewhat abandon back roads, we ended up in a little town named Mayo. We stopped at a little restaurant named Two Sisters BBQ and when I ordered some pork, the waitress said, "sorry we are out of pork". Ok, then let me have a Philly sub, then, coming right up. I had to giggle. How does a BBQ restaurant run out of BBQ at 12:15pm. Anyways, the sub was good and Lori had something new that neither one of us had ever heard of, Corn Nuggets. Kernels of corn wrap in dough then fried. They were good and interesting at the same time. After lunch we road back to Gainesville in the heat of the afternoon which reached 91 degrees. I swear it felt more like 100 in town, but better than rain.
If you're ever on the road and your looking for a restaurant guide to help you out, I would suggest Tripadvisor. I used it yesterday and today and it was right on both times. For dinner I wanted Pizza and Lori had no preference, so we ended up at local place named, Satchels Pizza. What a unique place. I mean pizza is pizza, but for some reason theirs was actually above average. The decor of the place was a throw back to the 60's hippie generation and they even had a Volkswagen Van out front that was used as seating for the restaurant. There was seating inside and out. When ordering pizza, you had 20 to 25 toppings that you could choose from and it was just so good. Lori and I finish a medium size pizza and that never happens.
Tomorrow we leave Gainesville and do an upside down s-pattern route toward Fernandino Beach. This will put us close to the beginning of A1A for our eventual turn south toward Key West. We will be meeting the Crane's at their new home and going out to dinner. Martin use to work at ZDC and transferred to JAX after he got tired of losing to me in Racquetball. I will never hear the end of that comment, but it is my blog and my rules, unless Lori tells me to edit something out. :) Looking forward to seeing the Crane's again because they are good people.
Today’s mileage = 220
Total for the trip = 1390
Day 6 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
After more long straight and somewhat abandon back roads, we ended up in a little town named Mayo. We stopped at a little restaurant named Two Sisters BBQ and when I ordered some pork, the waitress said, "sorry we are out of pork". Ok, then let me have a Philly sub, then, coming right up. I had to giggle. How does a BBQ restaurant run out of BBQ at 12:15pm. Anyways, the sub was good and Lori had something new that neither one of us had ever heard of, Corn Nuggets. Kernels of corn wrap in dough then fried. They were good and interesting at the same time. After lunch we road back to Gainesville in the heat of the afternoon which reached 91 degrees. I swear it felt more like 100 in town, but better than rain.
If you're ever on the road and your looking for a restaurant guide to help you out, I would suggest Tripadvisor. I used it yesterday and today and it was right on both times. For dinner I wanted Pizza and Lori had no preference, so we ended up at local place named, Satchels Pizza. What a unique place. I mean pizza is pizza, but for some reason theirs was actually above average. The decor of the place was a throw back to the 60's hippie generation and they even had a Volkswagen Van out front that was used as seating for the restaurant. There was seating inside and out. When ordering pizza, you had 20 to 25 toppings that you could choose from and it was just so good. Lori and I finish a medium size pizza and that never happens.
Tomorrow we leave Gainesville and do an upside down s-pattern route toward Fernandino Beach. This will put us close to the beginning of A1A for our eventual turn south toward Key West. We will be meeting the Crane's at their new home and going out to dinner. Martin use to work at ZDC and transferred to JAX after he got tired of losing to me in Racquetball. I will never hear the end of that comment, but it is my blog and my rules, unless Lori tells me to edit something out. :) Looking forward to seeing the Crane's again because they are good people.
Today’s mileage = 220
Total for the trip = 1390
Day 6 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Monday, May 4, 2009
Day 4 peaceful and plesant
During a conversation with my younger son in the last few days he joking said that he was going to raid my house and plunder all the remaining food in the house. I told him to watch out for the 500 pound Gorilla and today I actually ran across one that's even larger. So Daniel, watch it, there is a new guard on the premises. Daniel also gave us the news that Thursday, May 7th, he may be flying to Afghanistan. Not to sure what I think about that.
All you FAA guys and gals reading this blog, make sure that you find Bob Alicudo in Bay 1 and tell him that I have a special picture for him on the blog. You can click this PICTURE or click the picture link at the end of this article. For everyone else out there, it is a joke that Bob likes to claim that I blind him with my white legs and socks.
Today's ride was relaxing because we had no time table to reach a point, so we took our time getting going and took our time riding. I knew were heading toward the Gulf Coast and I knew the weather was suppose to be sunny and a bit cooler. What I didn't know was that I was going to be riding through so many horse farms. They're apparently a big thing around here and there is even a Triple Crown Winner, "Affirmed" from 1978 that was breed along this route in Marion County. If your into bird watching there is 22,000 acres here setup and reserve here just for that. Nice riding, but flat and not to many corners. There is a Duh statement if I ever heard one.
The highlight of today's riding had to be the middle point when we reached Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast. It is small, quaint, and charming with it's very odd color combination's and rustic feel. We past one house where the driveway to the house was nothing but a pier 8' off the water and the house was built on a very small piece of land that required no grass cutting or planting of plants. There wasn't much in the way of eateries open, but the one we choose was good. We sat with a window view of the Gulf and the was food good and reasonably priced to boot. You will have to checkout the pictures to see what I'm telling you next, but there I was all alone in the bathroom and there was this writing on the wall. I busted out laughing because it describes men perfectly. I was glad I was alone so I could take a picture and not feel weird in the process.
Ok, since there is not much to chat about on the ride today, it is time to share another Husband and Wife moment and what happens when you've been together to long. To long meaning you can say anything and you know everything. So here we go, the headsets were temporary disconnected with each other because the Garmin GPS was given me instructions, so Lori and I could'nt speak. After the GPS was done and I knew it would not interupt anytime soon, I manually connected to Lori and before I could say something to confirm to her that we are connected, she says, "Hello". A simple statement but one that raised my curiosity and also got me in trouble. I asked a simple question, "So how did you know we were connected before I said anything to you"? Well she started rambling for like 2 minutes and one of the last things she said was,"it is sort of like static." Then Mark says,"You mean like the static that I've been listen to for the last 2 minutes?" I mean in less than 1 second I hear smack on the back of my helmet. That wasn't nice! What did I say that was wrong? I was just confirming the static!! Ok, I've been known to throw a zinger a two.
Today’s mileage = 223
Total for the trip = 1170
Day 4 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Quick Flash Update.
Since Lori is usually to tired and the brain is fried after a longs day journey to input on the blog, she reminded me this morning of something I thought was funny but backfired on her. Somewhere on the road Day 2 sitting at a stop light I got bombarded by a low fling Seagulf. Splat, right on the Helmet face guard. This required a pull over and cleaning and Lori thought it was the funniest thing. Well yesterday sitting in a rest area and getting ready to get back on the road, guess who gets hit? Hehe. not so funny this time. 9am Monday morning and it is time to ride, so bye for now.
Day 3 pretty cool but also a smoker
As I was finishing up yesterdays blog at midnight, I realized that I forgotten to check the ferry schedule from Charleston to Fort Sumter. I brought up the webpage from the National Park Service and figured out that we had to there by 9am for a 9:30am departure. Otherwise we would be extremely late arriving in Gainesville Fl. The second departure time was at noon. So I left Lori a note in the bathroom, knowing that she would awake much sooner than me and then set my alarm for 6am. To my surprise, Miss Early Bird wasn’t all the early and she only beat me out of bed by 5 minutes.
We dressed, ate, and packed and were on the road by 8am and it was only about a 30 minute ride to docks. As we waited to board, we roamed around the small museum and walked around the docks to see the sights. The weather was warm but breezy but not so breezy that it made the water rough. The cost per person was $12 and the boat ride to the Fort was about 20 minutes. The only complaint that I had is that you only had 1 hour to tour the Fort and you had to leave. If I wasn’t on a schedule, I would have requested to be left behind and rode the 2pm boat back. Course then I would arrived 9pm or later in Gainesville instead of 6:15.
Fort Sumter, if you’re interested in history at all, is worth the trip. The facts, the strategies, the reason for building, the reasons for takeover, all were very fascinating. Should I disclose them here, or make you make the trip? If you do not want to know, stop reading and close this page.
Fort Sumter was suppose to be a 5 year project started in 1829 to defend Charleston from sea attacks because of what the British did during the war of 1812. There was no island to build on; just a sandbar and they had granite stone shipped in from New England to create a foundation. The walls were built with solid brick 5 feet thick and 55 feet above sea level. A lot of things changed from 1829 to 1861, mainly that South Carolina was now part of a new country. The North Country built the fort, but South Carolina wanted it. They tried to negioate a peaceful transfer, but on December 26th, 1860 when Major Anderson moved his Northern troops in the middle of the night into the Fort, the people and government of Charleston were a little upset when they saw the Stars and Stripes flying over the Fort first thing in the morning. Needless to say by April 1861 things completely fell apart and the Civil War began.
The Fort when it was almost complete, it was never finished before war, was a sight to see. It was impossible for a ship to pass without being destroyed and the Fort was so well built, that you could fend off almost all attacks. By 1863, the Northern forces had new Rifle cannons that would reach 3 to 5 miles and had them setup on shores out of harm’s way and then laid siege on the fort. The Northern forces fired over 44,000 rounds totaling over 7 million pound a shells but never defeated the Southern troops. The Fort itself was almost totally destroyed except for the lower levels. Once the Southern Troops could no longer get critical supplies to defend the Fort and the City of Charleston, they abandoned the Fort and left it and the city, to fall to the enemy.
All pictures today are on the Fort and the surrounding area. Charleston is a city I will put on my list of cities that I will have to come to for a week or more to see all the history that is there. More Forts, old churches from the 1700’s, buildings that also date way back and then you have things like the USS Yorktown an aircraft carrier docked in harbor waiting to be seen. The Yorktown, if I remember correctly, was almost sunk during the battle of Midway in World War 2. She was also a much decorated ship with many accomplishments.
After all the tourist stuff was done, Lori and I pointed south and headed for our long haul to Gainesville. It was hot, hot, and hot and I was wishing for a rain shower just to cool off. We crossed into Florida at 4:30pm and arrived in Gainesville around 6:15pm. Neither one of us felt much like a big dinner because of the heat, so we each got a salad, drank lots of water, and I had some Macadamia Cookies. I bought Lori one, but she didn’t want it and I wasn’t going to let that cookie suffer, so I ate it.
Tomorrow and next two nights, we will be staying here in Gainesville to see some sites here. We are in the home city of the Florida Gators, so I guess I should not wear my Virginia Tech stuff out an about town. Enjoy the photos and I will enjoy my rest tonight.
Today’s mileage = 321
Total for the trip = 947
Day 4 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
We dressed, ate, and packed and were on the road by 8am and it was only about a 30 minute ride to docks. As we waited to board, we roamed around the small museum and walked around the docks to see the sights. The weather was warm but breezy but not so breezy that it made the water rough. The cost per person was $12 and the boat ride to the Fort was about 20 minutes. The only complaint that I had is that you only had 1 hour to tour the Fort and you had to leave. If I wasn’t on a schedule, I would have requested to be left behind and rode the 2pm boat back. Course then I would arrived 9pm or later in Gainesville instead of 6:15.
Fort Sumter, if you’re interested in history at all, is worth the trip. The facts, the strategies, the reason for building, the reasons for takeover, all were very fascinating. Should I disclose them here, or make you make the trip? If you do not want to know, stop reading and close this page.
Fort Sumter was suppose to be a 5 year project started in 1829 to defend Charleston from sea attacks because of what the British did during the war of 1812. There was no island to build on; just a sandbar and they had granite stone shipped in from New England to create a foundation. The walls were built with solid brick 5 feet thick and 55 feet above sea level. A lot of things changed from 1829 to 1861, mainly that South Carolina was now part of a new country. The North Country built the fort, but South Carolina wanted it. They tried to negioate a peaceful transfer, but on December 26th, 1860 when Major Anderson moved his Northern troops in the middle of the night into the Fort, the people and government of Charleston were a little upset when they saw the Stars and Stripes flying over the Fort first thing in the morning. Needless to say by April 1861 things completely fell apart and the Civil War began.
The Fort when it was almost complete, it was never finished before war, was a sight to see. It was impossible for a ship to pass without being destroyed and the Fort was so well built, that you could fend off almost all attacks. By 1863, the Northern forces had new Rifle cannons that would reach 3 to 5 miles and had them setup on shores out of harm’s way and then laid siege on the fort. The Northern forces fired over 44,000 rounds totaling over 7 million pound a shells but never defeated the Southern troops. The Fort itself was almost totally destroyed except for the lower levels. Once the Southern Troops could no longer get critical supplies to defend the Fort and the City of Charleston, they abandoned the Fort and left it and the city, to fall to the enemy.
All pictures today are on the Fort and the surrounding area. Charleston is a city I will put on my list of cities that I will have to come to for a week or more to see all the history that is there. More Forts, old churches from the 1700’s, buildings that also date way back and then you have things like the USS Yorktown an aircraft carrier docked in harbor waiting to be seen. The Yorktown, if I remember correctly, was almost sunk during the battle of Midway in World War 2. She was also a much decorated ship with many accomplishments.
After all the tourist stuff was done, Lori and I pointed south and headed for our long haul to Gainesville. It was hot, hot, and hot and I was wishing for a rain shower just to cool off. We crossed into Florida at 4:30pm and arrived in Gainesville around 6:15pm. Neither one of us felt much like a big dinner because of the heat, so we each got a salad, drank lots of water, and I had some Macadamia Cookies. I bought Lori one, but she didn’t want it and I wasn’t going to let that cookie suffer, so I ate it.
Tomorrow and next two nights, we will be staying here in Gainesville to see some sites here. We are in the home city of the Florida Gators, so I guess I should not wear my Virginia Tech stuff out an about town. Enjoy the photos and I will enjoy my rest tonight.
Today’s mileage = 321
Total for the trip = 947
Day 4 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Saturday, May 2, 2009
All hands on Deck!!
After a good night sleep, breakfast, and the sun to meet us, we hit the road to Wilmington NC to see the Battleship USS North Carolina. In case any of you are in the area, she is definitely worth the visit. My first impression of the boat was that it was not all that big, if you could picture yourself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. To be fair though, you have to know that I worked at the Newport News Shipyard in the 80's and worked on the USS Carl Vinson, which is an Aircraft Carrier. Throughout the ship on this particular day were some veterans that actually served on the boat. There was also Navy and Marine personal on board to talk about life on the vessel. Lori had the distinct pleasure of trying on a fully load back pack that weighed 65 pounds. This did not include the weight of the Helmet, Rifle, and ammunition belt. Let's just Lori would not make a good Marine! I was really thinking the whole time this ole girl is going to tip over!! I took several pictures on the boat which I will try to put a description on when I upload them to Flickr.
Do you remember hearing and reading about the forest fires in Conway SC.? Well let me tell you they are still smoldering and there is smoke everywhere. The fires came right up to the edge of the road we were driving on and the smoke was a bit choking as we passed by. I really didn't think it was this close to Myrtle Beach, but I would say maybe 3 to 5 miles from the beaches, as the crow flies, from North Myrtle Beach. We did not travel down to the beaches since we were just here last summer. Plus we spent a good 3 hours on the Battleship and needed to make Charleston.
Later in the afternoon as we were passing through Georgetown SC the rain finally caught us. I pulled into a parking lot, told Lori as soon as we finish putting these suits on, it will stop raining. Well not exactly, but all we got was about 2 miles of light rain, then a few spurts a little later on down the road. I can live with this and it was a good test for the new boots, which also passed.
It was a long day today even though we actually did a little less in the mileage department. We pulled into Charleston, SC. around 6pm to very warm and sunny skies. I would say it was 85 or higher when we arrived. Once we got to the hotel, unpacked, talked to clerk about his favorite restaurants, we ended up at a place called Sticky Fingers. I had their Ribs, wet, with original Memphis sauce. All I can say is that they were awesome. The only complaint was that I could not finish the meal, I was stuffed. Lori had Pulled chicken, which in my opinion was good, but not as good as the ribs. Do you know you can go online, order a meal, and these guys will ship it to anywhere in the USA. How weird is that? We also got a complimentary Peach cobbler to take with us, which I'm munching on right now as I type. Good for me, bad for you.
Tomorrow, we will hit Fort Sumter here in Charleston and then bolt to Gainesville, FL. We will be staying in Gainsville for 3 nights because I have 3 rides from Road Runner Magazine that I want to do before I visit the Crane's and then turn south again for the Keys.
A few more things I would like to mention and then it is bedtime. I fixed the issue with the Garmin and GPS and I was able to talk to my oldest son today while riding down the road. The Valkyrie will rollover with 60,000 miles on the odometer tomorrow which is a lot for a motorcycle. Well it's a lot for me. Some have asked that Lori put a few comments on here and here is what she has for today, " zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz". I kid you not; she passed out on the bed by 9:30pm. Party Animal!! She did the same thing yesterday. She'll be up by 5am ready to roll, but she better not wake me. hehe!
Today’s mileage = 287
Total for the trip = 626
Day 3 at EveryTrail
Day 3 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Do you remember hearing and reading about the forest fires in Conway SC.? Well let me tell you they are still smoldering and there is smoke everywhere. The fires came right up to the edge of the road we were driving on and the smoke was a bit choking as we passed by. I really didn't think it was this close to Myrtle Beach, but I would say maybe 3 to 5 miles from the beaches, as the crow flies, from North Myrtle Beach. We did not travel down to the beaches since we were just here last summer. Plus we spent a good 3 hours on the Battleship and needed to make Charleston.
Later in the afternoon as we were passing through Georgetown SC the rain finally caught us. I pulled into a parking lot, told Lori as soon as we finish putting these suits on, it will stop raining. Well not exactly, but all we got was about 2 miles of light rain, then a few spurts a little later on down the road. I can live with this and it was a good test for the new boots, which also passed.
It was a long day today even though we actually did a little less in the mileage department. We pulled into Charleston, SC. around 6pm to very warm and sunny skies. I would say it was 85 or higher when we arrived. Once we got to the hotel, unpacked, talked to clerk about his favorite restaurants, we ended up at a place called Sticky Fingers. I had their Ribs, wet, with original Memphis sauce. All I can say is that they were awesome. The only complaint was that I could not finish the meal, I was stuffed. Lori had Pulled chicken, which in my opinion was good, but not as good as the ribs. Do you know you can go online, order a meal, and these guys will ship it to anywhere in the USA. How weird is that? We also got a complimentary Peach cobbler to take with us, which I'm munching on right now as I type. Good for me, bad for you.
Tomorrow, we will hit Fort Sumter here in Charleston and then bolt to Gainesville, FL. We will be staying in Gainsville for 3 nights because I have 3 rides from Road Runner Magazine that I want to do before I visit the Crane's and then turn south again for the Keys.
A few more things I would like to mention and then it is bedtime. I fixed the issue with the Garmin and GPS and I was able to talk to my oldest son today while riding down the road. The Valkyrie will rollover with 60,000 miles on the odometer tomorrow which is a lot for a motorcycle. Well it's a lot for me. Some have asked that Lori put a few comments on here and here is what she has for today, " zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz". I kid you not; she passed out on the bed by 9:30pm. Party Animal!! She did the same thing yesterday. She'll be up by 5am ready to roll, but she better not wake me. hehe!
Today’s mileage = 287
Total for the trip = 626
Day 3 at EveryTrail
Day 3 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Friday, May 1, 2009
Day 1 in the Books
When we were doing the final packing of the trailer this morning it really looked gloomy outside. So much so, that I told Lori that we better put on the rain gear. Didn't look like the start of this vacation was going to the be all that great. Well it turned out ok. We did hit a little drizzle through Fredericksburg, but once on Interstate 95 it started to warm up and there was actually breaks in the clouds. We still had a few sprinkles here and there, but no steady or drenching rain. Sweet!
Our first break of the day came in Hopewell Va. where we stopped for fuel for the bike and fuel for the humans. Nothing fancy for lunch, just a sub for her and sandwich for me. I was saving special for dinner. After lunch we drove over to Petersburg National Battlefield where the 9 month standoff took place and was the last gasp for the Southern forces. It was also the place where the famous Crater battle took place. I will provide you with the only pictures we took all day below, but there is not that many. It always amazes me how the men lived and fought in the conditions they did. It also amazes me at their ingenuity in finding the high ground, weapons, and survival. I told Lori, I'm going to have to layout a complete trip to this battlefield via GPS routes and comeback and do it right. To much to see on a short visit.
I stopped twice today for fuel and I found out something remarkable, I need to slow down. My bike normally gets between 36 and 39 mpg without trailer. I knew it was going to bad pulling the new bigger trailer, but I didn't expect what I got. First tank at 31.2 and the second tank at 25.8. Ouch!! The speed limit in NC is 70mph on the Interstate and I was clipping along at 75 sometimes 80 when I wasn't watching my speed, oops! Guess who did notice? Oh, no, not the cops, but the wife. Oops again!
Dinner!! Well we stopped at Wilber's BBQ in Goldsboro NC and had their Pulled Pork vinegar based. Wow, moist and not to spicy, just right. I asked the Waitress if they served it for Breakfast and I got a laugh, but the answer was no. Oh well, it was awesome and it might be the excuse I need to comeback this way to visit the Morris's who we will not get to see on this leg of the trip. Bummer! After dinner, we got our things together and headed for the hotel for the night. The weather here is perfect, 70 degrees, clear skies.
One last thing to note, my new GPS - Phone - Headsets, not working so well all of a sudden. The Phone is not functioning with the GPS, but all else is good. Will work on it tonight after Blogging. Tomorrow we will be heading for the Battleship in Wilmington NC, USS North Carolina, and from there Charleston, SC.. See map below.
Today's mileage = 339
Total for the trip = 339
Day 2 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Our first break of the day came in Hopewell Va. where we stopped for fuel for the bike and fuel for the humans. Nothing fancy for lunch, just a sub for her and sandwich for me. I was saving special for dinner. After lunch we drove over to Petersburg National Battlefield where the 9 month standoff took place and was the last gasp for the Southern forces. It was also the place where the famous Crater battle took place. I will provide you with the only pictures we took all day below, but there is not that many. It always amazes me how the men lived and fought in the conditions they did. It also amazes me at their ingenuity in finding the high ground, weapons, and survival. I told Lori, I'm going to have to layout a complete trip to this battlefield via GPS routes and comeback and do it right. To much to see on a short visit.
I stopped twice today for fuel and I found out something remarkable, I need to slow down. My bike normally gets between 36 and 39 mpg without trailer. I knew it was going to bad pulling the new bigger trailer, but I didn't expect what I got. First tank at 31.2 and the second tank at 25.8. Ouch!! The speed limit in NC is 70mph on the Interstate and I was clipping along at 75 sometimes 80 when I wasn't watching my speed, oops! Guess who did notice? Oh, no, not the cops, but the wife. Oops again!
Dinner!! Well we stopped at Wilber's BBQ in Goldsboro NC and had their Pulled Pork vinegar based. Wow, moist and not to spicy, just right. I asked the Waitress if they served it for Breakfast and I got a laugh, but the answer was no. Oh well, it was awesome and it might be the excuse I need to comeback this way to visit the Morris's who we will not get to see on this leg of the trip. Bummer! After dinner, we got our things together and headed for the hotel for the night. The weather here is perfect, 70 degrees, clear skies.
One last thing to note, my new GPS - Phone - Headsets, not working so well all of a sudden. The Phone is not functioning with the GPS, but all else is good. Will work on it tonight after Blogging. Tomorrow we will be heading for the Battleship in Wilmington NC, USS North Carolina, and from there Charleston, SC.. See map below.
Today's mileage = 339
Total for the trip = 339
Day 2 at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
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