Tuscaloosa to Gainsville (Georgia)

Walking out the door this morning at 6:30am, my sunglasses instantly fogged up. A sure sign that the humidity was going to be through the roof today. And it didn't disappoint.

After a quick fuel stop near the hotel,  we started our journey north through Georgia at about 7:30am. I've stared riding without my gloves on, just to get some airflow up my sleeve into my jacket to try and keep things a little more bearable.

We left Alabama on a Saturday and everyone was out an about enjoying the Summer, loads of people with boats, side by sides and quads. We crossed over lots of rivers and lakes, and some beautiful back roads that took us through small towns and villages. We saw so many churches, that it was almost unbelievable that there would be enough of a population to support them all! The Churches, Schools and Community centres are all immaculate, with manicured lawns and gardens, most of the houses we saw seemed to be all on small acreages, with a huge set-back and striped lawns out front. Everyone seemed to be out with their bbq's running, the smell of wood smoke and cooking meat seemed to be on the air around every corner. Even the service station we stopped at for fuel had a pit (this is what they are called here) running out the back.

The scenery was amazing, and there were loads of run-down houses, farms and sheds, the forest starting to reclaim them. the rooves caving in and small shrubs breaking through the front porch I guess it is called over here. Some of them were spooky enough for me to remark to over the Radio - "Do you feel like you're in True Blood yet?"

The best part about today, was that we got to ride in the shade for some of the way! sounds crazy, but it really made a huge difference to our morale, not having the burning sun boring down into our faces - something to think about if you plan a motorcycle trip heading East! Towards the end of the afternoon, the clouds came over, and it started to look like we might get a storm.

Eventually, the heavens opened in a big way and we got dumped on. We both agreed not to wear rain gear because it had been so hot and a little rain sounded really inviting! we got MUCH more than we bargained for, and both got pretty well soaked. At one stage I was riding next to a truck that was creating a bow wave in the standing water on the road, and it was literally pouring into my lap like it was coming out of a bucket!

The rain was short lived, and we had about 60km to dry out a little bit before we got to our hotel. We arrived just in time before the lightning and thunder rolled through again. I had made the classic fuck-up of making our booking for the right dates, but in August not July. The front desk guy was cool though, cancelled it and gave us a King suite for the same rate. We got beer, ate, and have tumbled into bed like normal. It's my birthday today, but I'm having none of it. Birthdays just don't exist anymore as far as I am concerned.

Crossing bridges over lakes

riding in some shade -  FUCKING MINT!

Hmmm - might be in for a storm

Yep - Getting dumped on

cool small towns and villages