Couple quik notes on Tallahassee -
Did rent a coupla flicks while in Tallahassee (ten days ago, NOT the Sunday Night Massacre).
Saw Juno. Thought it was good, but I can see what Georgia meant when she stated why she didn't think it was that great. Basically, Georgia noted, almost NO 16-year-old is that quick, articulate and well-spoken with a very dry sense of humour (OK, there was one girl in my high skool who was sort of like that, but just one). But still......it was rather funny.
But, the soundtrack drove me through the roof!! I wanted to run fingernails on a chalkboard to block out Kimya Dawson's rancid, awful, horrendous, sickening evil voice so I didn't throw a brick through the TV whenever one of her shite songs came on.
Now, I'll tell ya how I REALLY feel about Ms. Dawson's ability as a singer and I won't mince my words......
And Belle and Sebastian?? Christ on a bike......
Tried to watch Cloverfield......but I got the usual shit DVD from Blockbuster that had been rented five hundred times before and was totally scratched and used up and Cloverfield died exactly halfway through the film and became unplayable.
Fucking Blockbuster......wouldn't even give me my money back.....just a credit for another rental. Just great after I'd already seen half the film.
Also, somewhere in the wilds of rural Northern Florida, I saw an election sign, pictured below.
Now, I'm sorry, but a name like “Bummy” does NOT inspire fear and manly intimidation from the top law enforcement officer in the county. I mean, I can see Jebidiah and Jethro, co-managers of the B.F.E. Ranch in Bumblefuk, Florida -
Jebidiah: “Gosh done-durn-dang it, Jethro......those mean 'ole Cracker boys done stole all our cows again!!”
Jethro: “Well, Jeb.....what we all gonna dang-durn-done do now??!?? I mean, last time you and me went over there to get our cows back, that Cracker gang put me in a full-nelson and gave me an Indian Brushburn and they held you down and gave you a Cleveland Steamer!! And we can't tell mom and dad.....'cause mom and dad beat you up TWICE as bad as the Cracker gang did after they heard about that Cleveland Steamer!”
Jebidiah: “I know!! Blasted' frackin' frickin' Cracker boys.......I wish I were bigger, then I'd show 'em.....”
Jethro: “Hey....heeeeeey!! I got it Jeb – let's go tell Sheriff Bummy on 'em. That'll fix their wagon!!”
Jevbidiah: “YEAH!! And, we can ask him real nice like not to tell mom and dad about our cows being thefted!!! Sheriff Bummy will go right on over to that Cracker Homestead and give them boys what for!! Good idea, 'ro! Sheriff Bummy don't take no guff from any Cracka!”
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So, after the Tallahassee debacle.......
......I died a thousand deaths in Marietta, GA in a really nice efficiency suite, and woke up the next morning, rode 25 miles and went to Honda of Canton (Canton is a seriously FAR-outer ex-urb of Atlanta, that's, like, literally 42 miles away from Downtown Atlanta......so that should give you an idea of how nice the sprawl here is.) to change out The Helix's rear tyre.
GOTTA love Dunlop K488 – put one on brand new in Portland, and it ends up going more than 6000 miles [EXTREMELY unusual for a tyre THAT small to last THAT long – generic skooter tyres usually die after literally 2000 miles]......so this new K488 should see me back home to Portlandia safely.
Dropped the skooter off, and my friend Ivanna came and fetched me. A few hours later, The Helix had the carb adjusted and a brand new Dunlop K488 on the rear wheel. Hopped back in her Minivan, and fetched the skooter.
A huge thank you to Jerry and Ivanna, who gave me the run of their entire basement (thass about twice the square footage of my entire apartment) with a separate entrance, a billiards table and a TV screen larger than most walls.
It was really skimping....but I somehow survived.....
After which, they took me out for wings (quite nice, I might add) and B-B-Q ribs!
It was sad having to take off back for The Road after spending only ond day with Jerry and Ivanna....but I'll catch them in a couple weeks in Downtown Rapids, NY.
(l to r) Cole, Jerry, Ivanna and Ty.
Love this pic - Jerry does a great job smiling....considering that Ty took Daddy's car and storage room keys to play with last night and now can't quite remember where he left them. Oh.....Jerry was supposed to be on the job an hour before this pic was snapped!
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And I trust Mapquest WHY again??
Left Canton, GA with a Mapquest'd plan to take about ten different backroads up to my destination for the evening, which was Boone, North Carolina. WAS planning to hit Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, but after not being able to find thee shittiest, most flea-bag motel anywhere near there for less than (literally) $150 per night, I said “screw it!” and decided to give Appalachia a chance.
Good and bad......
Bad that Mapquest said my route was roughly 251 miles. I clocked it at 293 miles!
Bad that Mapquest put a road on the route (Georgia State Road 255) that either had changed it's number designation, or just didn't exist. Jerry had questioned that when he looked over the proposed route.....and I just assumed that Mapquest was correct....
Bad that I didn't take the truck by-pass version of US route 221 through to Boone. I took normal route 221. Normal route 221 turned out to possess numerous pigtail bridges and hairpin turns that were NOT conducive to mellow fiddy-five to sixty-five M.P.H. cruising. So I just whizzed around these turns and I was going to pretend that I was one of those crotch-rocket Euro-motorcycle racers and I was gonna lean waaaaay into a turn and run my knee along the asphalt........
......then, I remembered that I was wearing shorts.
Good that I did take normal route 221. There was nobody else at all on this road, and I got to see several deer, a black bear cub and this porcupine that just stood in the middle of the road. I stopped right next to it, looked at it, blared the horn and screamed at it to get the hell out of the road so it wouldn't get hit by something larger than a Helix. Was gonna take a fotograff of it.....but I just wanted it the hell out of the road first and foremost. It scurried away into the woods......
Yeah, going straight up the heart of The Blue Ridge Mountains at twilight was well worth the extra time. Probably the most beautiful ride I've done on this adventure (save for some sections of Northern California Redwood forests, which were just stunning). Seriously, the Blue Ridge Parkway IS a must-ride for anybody who enjoys riding.....
Stayed in the college-town of Boone, North Carolina Wednesday night. It just looked a bit isolated on a map, so I figured "why not?" If I had any idea it was a college-town, I just woulda went onward.....
Had a few pints at a college bar, and wondered why I got rooked for $65 for a rather skanky-ass room at the Red Carpet Inn that had gross black stains on the room's carpet......
....oh yeah: College town during orientation week.
Cute....
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Had to have brekker at the wrong House......
........'cause there was no Waffle House within 50 miles of Boone. Huddle House is a pure rubbish attempt to piggy-back on Waffle House's success by blatantly copying everything (I DO mean everything) that Waffle House does. Literally, from the sign down to the exact interior floorplan! Only thing thass different are the colours!
DO NOT be fooled.....I ate at the Huddle House in Boone and the one in North Florida......
....they SUCK!!!
Took a long, but incredible ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway through to US Hwy. 58 into Danville, Virginia. Nothing spectacular about this town.......but I did snap a few shots along the Parkway -
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I went to Starbuck's for Free-Wi-Fi.....
.......(I have a wireless carrier account with one of their providers) in Danville so I could get fone numbers and price out a motel for tonight. This cop walks in with his girlfriend, and she looks about 35 and this cop is 5'4” and looks LITERALLY like he's fourteen-years-old. Too freaky.....maybe they have a severe police recruiting problem here. WAS gonna snap a pic, but......
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Just sucks so badly that I really planned this ride so poorly. I mean, I really wanted to hang with Jerry and Ivanna another day......but I pretty much screwed up the entire trip by saying to several of my kind and generous hosts in the May and early June part of the trip - “Yeah....what the hell?? Why not?? I'll hang forra another day with you guys!!!” and a few too many times of doing that, and I'm way behind.
In a perfect world, I'd have more money to spend and I'd have added the month of August to this trip so I coulda hung out with EVERYBODY for a decent period of time!! But what ideally shoulda happened to reach the best positive result and what actually DID happen in reality are two vastly different things (sounds kinda like one of my former places of employ, actually), so, sadly, everybody during the second half of this trip gets E for ONE NIGHT only!
Don't feel slighted....I hadta chop out the entire plan of FINALLY seeing The Maritime Provinces of Canada from this trip, and I cut my original time with my family from, like, almost three weeks to 10 days....
.....sucks......
If you is a teensy bit sad that we can't hang together longer......ask Will and Cindy in Albuquerque: THEY got stuck with me for EIGHT DAYS, for Chrissakes!!
Off to see Mary and Jorge tomorrow in Virginia Beach........
-E-
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