Every story has it’s climax. For this story that has passed. With the drive back west, it’s all “downhill” from here. All that remains now is riding the bike back to Atlanta and then dropping it off for shipping back to California. I started the day off by packing up the beach cabin and heading back to town. My niece had swimming lessons, so I stuck around for a bit of fun on the water and to see her swim.
She is learning to dive and swim with basic strokes. How I remember those days! She was a great swimmer, though even I was a bit nervous seeing her in the water without the arm floaters or a life vest.
We had an early lunch with a bit of southern flare: sweet tea and chicken fingers! Yum!
Shortly after lunch we saw a squall line out in the distance that didn’t look good.
Since today is a full travel day, I check to see what the weather is doing. Lots of severe weather over Charleston, South Carolina that seems to be holding steady. We cannot get stuck in that. We bid our good-byes to the family and head back to Atlanta.
We had to be in Atlanta by 7 p.m., but more importantly we needed to outrun the weather.
I exit town on Interstate 16 with a brisk but steady pace headed to get past the front. We make good time and once about an hour out of town all semblance of any weather is gone!
The rest of the ride up Interstate 16 is pretty uneventful. One in Macon, however, the traffic is horrific. It’s all stop and go and one cannot lane split (ride between cars) in Georgia. Our margin to get into Atlanta on time is slipping. I was to get dinner and see the laser show at Stone Mountain. I continue to plug and chug until I get to Atlanta at which time the traffic lets up. I have to admit, riding through downtown was pretty fun, but a bit harrowing. Atlantans drive fast, way faster than us San Franciscans.
I make it into Atlanta in the nick of time, get showered and hop in the car to meet Johnny G. and his wife Amy. We get dinner to go at Boston Market and take it to the park. The Laser Show is one of a kind where the park does animations on the mountain in a 1/2 hour show. I’ve seen the show 20 out of the past 25 years, and it’s one of those things you should see at least once, even if it is only once.
All that remains now is to send the bike out for shipping. I wanted to ship the bike in Savannah, but the shipping company was not able to meet our requirements so Ihad to go back to Atlanta.
I think I know where to get the bike dropped off but are not sure how much the shipper will let us pack in the bags. Either way, we ship the beast back tomorrow or find a way to get it sold in Georgia (not really :)).
Leave a Reply