Happy Mothers Day from Cherokee, NC

Friday we drove 300 miles. Left Cordele heading west on US 27 to Americus. This took us near Plains, GA, Jimmy Carter country. Americus is the headquarters of his Habitat for Humanity project. We then headed north on US 19. This road was incredibly good. Four lanes divided by a 50 yard meridian with almost no traffic. No trucks no cars no motorcycles. I figured it was a great example of pork for the State of Georgia. Which reminded me of this website. I ran across it 4,5, or 6 years ago and laughed so hard I cried. It doesn’t seem as funny now and don’t go read it if you are offended by the f bomb.

However, it does sum up my feelings about the south. It is such beautiful country but with such outrageous politics. Such polite people with so much blatant racism. I am weary of all the state monuments to dead civil war traitors and to battles that delayed the ultimate end. I wonder if we would not have been better off leaving them to their own ways rather than kill or maim a million people. The new nation would have withered, I think. Slavery is an abomination and the world would have soon ostracized them and they would have eventually come back asking to be re-admitted.

These monuments to traitors are getting to me.

We reached Atlanta and the REI store to pick up or new cots. I then turned right around and returned them because they were too large to fit in our trailer. We took the wrong turn off of I-75 and ended up following the GPS through 15 miles of Atlanta during Friday rush hour traffic. It was miserable driving but we did see a very nice part of the city. We decided to get some more miles in and got onto I-85 eastbound. We wanted to see the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

We drove to South Carolina, to the town of Anderson which is home to Clemson University. The hotels and restaurants were jammed with people there for a graduation that morning. It took three tries to find a room. The second place we stopped had but one room left. The Pakistani at the front desk told me the room had a problem but maybe we could work something out. Turns out the shower and bathtub did not function but he would let us have this regularly priced room of $85 for $65!!!

Such a deal. I offered him $35 but he wouldn’t go for it and we left. Found a room a few blocks away.

Yesterday morning we left on a scenic route to the Great Smokey Mountains. Finally some curving hilly roads. The first in a month.

When we started the serious climb to the park it started to rain pretty hard. The weather forecast was for possible severe thunderstorms. We had seen the rain coming and had put on our rain gear so we were okay when it hit and it only lasted about a half hour. Von was worried about the forecast so although the weather had turned nice we rented another cheap ass hotel room here in Cherokee. That took three tries as well because the first two did not accept pets and we saw three other hotels with no pet signs visible from the road. Arghhh. I don’t get that policy. Too many people travel with pets to completely eliminate them. It seems to me the best policy is a large deposit, large enough to ensure people return the room key and allow an inspection of the room. Ah well, when I am king of the world that will happen.

No photos today, I am on my aircard and it is too slow up here to try to load any pics.

Heading through the park and then north to Kentucky and the Cumberland Gap National Park. From there to West Virginia and then across Virginia to the Atlantic Coast ride again. We should get to Virginia Beach by Wednesday.