48 States: Day 4 & 5, Robbinsville North Carolina

Day 4 I went down to the French Quarter and checked that scene out.. what a crazy zoo! There was an annual festival going on with 20+ bands playing in random places. Tons of interesting characters and people walking around. Not really my scene, but I did eat a beignet and a muffaletta, so I figure I checked that off my todo list.

Day 5: original plan was to head to the coast and then cut back into Deal’s Gap. However the weather report was looking pretty good so I decided to just head straight there. I took a slight detour through the panhandle of Florida, and then headed north..

Now normally a cardinal rule is “don’t go through city centers” – but I figured.. eh.. it’s Sunday, maybe I can squeak through.. No way. Atlanta decided to close 3 out of 5 lanes on the major cross town freeway. It was a parking lot for miles and miles. This time it was my turn to hop on the back wheels of 2 other motorcycle hooligans. No way was I sitting in that and 86+ degree weather.

Also, the north bound freeway from Florida wins the prize so far as “most boring highway” (which is saying something) – it’s just an endless tree tunnel with nothing to see except crazy driving snowbirds from every new england state.

Once I got north, I took a detour into South Carolina along a “scenic byway” and then into North Carolina and Robbinsville, aka the start of “the tail of the dragon.” Total miles today around 760.. but that Atlanta traffic really took it outta me. Total for the trip so far is around 3000.

Tomorrow will be a shorter day in miles, since I won’t be riding the “Dragon” in the dark, so I’ll be rolling out later.

Audio book: Twin Towers.. I forgot Serkis also did Treebeard’s voice.. and wow does it take a lonnnnnng time for him to get through all the Treebeard dialogue in the book! I’m still not to Gollum.