BMW Rally In Georgia

The first week in May I decided to go to a BMW rally in Georgia. I left on May 3 and stayed the first night with Jerrod’s in St Louis. I had only made it to Kansas City when I pulled over for a pit stop and discovered I had already lost my motorcycle cover. I had it straped one but apparently not good enough. They cost $100. It had rained at topeka that morning and looked like another one was coming in from the West so I took off about 10 AM. I stayed behind the one and ahead of the other. Had a few sprinkles at one time and arrived at Jerrod’s at 3 PM. I was the first to sleep in the new Murphy guest bed. It folds up when not being used and looks like a cabinet.

I left the next morning and headed South down I-55 to St Genevieve, MO. This is where Grandpa Gerstner was born. I rode through town and want to go there sometime a spend some time looking for information about him. I had my GPS and had programmed it on my PC but forgot to load the final route to the GPS. I was supposed to cross the Mississippi at St Genevieve but could find the road. Two things now on this trip that didn’t go as planned, I lost the bike cover because I didn’t fasten it good and now the lost route. I went on down the rdoe South for a few miles and found a road that crossed. The next three days would all be non-interstate highways. You can get a better feel for the country if you get off on the two lane roads. I rode in the rain about an hour. That night I stayed in Savannah, TN which is just North of the Alabama line.

The next day I rode on into Alabama which was a new state for me. It was raining when I woke and I rode in rain msot of the day. I had a few times when it was heavy and had to stop and wait. I probably rode about 150 miles through Alabama and then into Georgia and another new state for me. The rally was in Hiawassee, GA which is in northern Georgia. This is a very beautiful area. I checked in about 6 PM, ate some chili, then found a place to set up my tent. Not knowing anyone I asked a couple of guys if I could camp next to them. They were from Bloomington, IL, close to Chicago. The next day I went for a ride by myself. It is very mountainious and a pretty ride. I had programmed my handheld GPS with several Geocaches in the area and looked for two of these. I never did find them as I was always on the wrong side of the mountain. That night we had steaks on a large open grill. You went through the line a picked up your steak and you fixed it how you wanted it. It worked pretty good as there was about 700 in attendence.

There was a band both nights and it wasn’t far from where I camped. The first night I had plenty of Jack Daniels and went right to sleep. The next night was a little tougher and it rained during the night. I woke up Sunday morning to a steady rain. People started leaving early and packed up in the rain. I thought I would wait until it quit and went up for pancakes and coffee. It kept raining and I finally packed in the rain too. Shortly after I took off it quit but rained several times during the day. I went into North Carolina which was another new state and the last of the Southern states I needed. I found a Geocache and left a Travelbug I brought from Topeka. I had two of them but could not find the other and thought I lost it. I knew I had it in my pocket yesterday. I later found it when I returned home. I had a hole in my pocket and it was at the bottom of the pants leg. Now I have to find another place to take it.

I went on to Deal’s Gap and the Tail of the Dragon. This road has 318 curves in 11 miles. I rode it up and back late Sunday and it was raining so there wasn’t much traffic. These young people go fast with there crotch rockets and many crash. I went as fast as I wanted and it was pretty but I was somewhat disappointed. There are many other roads around there that are exciting also. I stayed at the Motorcycle Resort and it was about half filled. It was a nice room and DRY! I could not call home as there was no phone service no matter what service you had. It rained hard that night and there were some bikers camped. I left the next morning for the Blue Ridge Parkway. I called Mary about 8:30 and she had been real worried about me and had left several messages on my cell. She was relieved I called. It was a beautiful morning and the ride on Blue Ridge was beautiful too. I took many pictures. It was a cool ride with temperatures in low 50’s. Then it turned foggy. It finally was so bad all I could do was watch the double yellow line and then when I went into the tunnels I could hardly see anything. I made it 140 miles of the 455 miles total and decided I better get off. Some day I want to ride the entire Ridge.
After I got off about 2:30 I ate then set the GPS from where I was to home the fastest way which is Interstates. I stayed overnight in Knoxville, TN then the next day rode from Knoxville to Topeka in 13 hours and 826 miles. I was tired. Total trip miles were 2,566.