Day 2 - Little River Canyon

OK, seein as this is the first “real” ride of the season…and everyone is slowly wipin off the winter sludge that only comes after extended periods without any serious ridin…we decided this would be a leisurely event, with nuttin earlier than 8:00-9:00 am starts. Yeah right…if’n ya’ve read ‘nuff of my journals, ya know the above statement is a purely fictional event. So, once again, I’m up at the crack ‘o dawn strollin ‘bout outside, sippin my coffee, and enjoyin the crisp mornin air. I’m soon joined by the other guys…’cause…well…it’s just a guy thing I guess. We’re all gettin a bit hungry, but we decide the safest thing to do is just let the gals get a few more z’s afore draggin ‘em out fer some dead pig ‘n eggs. Now, as gals go, ours are probably more of the exception than the rule, as they are soon up ‘n dressed, and ready for chow. Well, Loosie does require a bit of prodin, and we wisely leave that chore to her hubby, Cuz. Hey, are YOU gonna prod ‘nuther man’s woman?! Nevermind, don’t answer that…I don’t wanna know.

Anyways, we quietly fire up the scoots...ok, who can "quietly" fire up a Harley, but we do twist a bit lighter on the wick ‘round neighbors that early in the mornin…and head down to the Park’s restaurant for breakfast. After enjoyin a heapin helpin of the afore mentioned dead pigs ‘n eggs, we head out towards the entrance to the Little River Canyon Drive just a few miles down the road. Now, ya gotta remember, we’re in Alabama so I’ve already come to the conclusion that we’re gonna be doin good to see anything more than a good sized ditch…right? Hey, at least we’ll probably have a relaxin and scenic ride thru the country on a day with such pretty weather I couldn’t have dialed it up better myself…but I do remember takin credit for it nonetheless. Well…lo ‘n behold…the Little River Canyon turned out to be a nice surprise, as it was much larger than I woulda imagined in the land of Bama. Not only was the canyon a fairly impressive sight for this part of the country, but the Drive ran right along its precipice, and we were afforded nice views of the canyon right from the saddle most of the way. We did stop a few times along the way, and there were waterfalls, nice views from cliff overhangs, and, at one spot, either a pick-up-truck-over-the-edge insurance job…or someone had a really bad night on a very unfortunate wrong turn. I was just happy to see if wasn’t a truck I recognized, as I have cousins in Bama that have been known to take “off roadin” to new extremes on Friday and Saturday nights.

After our ride along the Canyon, we hang a left on Lookout Mountain Parkway, and head south towards Gadsden where we’re gonna visit what I remember bein a beautiful, quaint little village type town, and the home of Nocalulu Falls. Now, mind you, these fond memories I have of this place originate from my childhood…and as with all those kinds of memories, we wanna keep ‘em in tact, right. Keepin that in mind, I shoulda just left those fond memories alone because what we found was nothing of the sorts. This neat little town had grown into a congested metropolis with little relation to the memories I once held of this town and its beautiful falls. Hell, even the park with the Nocolulu Falls and historic cabins and such, had been turned into a pay-per-view type of place, commanding eight bucks a head. What some folks call “progress” isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Needless to say, I was very disappointed at what one of my childhood paradises had turned into…not to mention, aggravated that I had just drug my buds 40-sumthin miles down the road for this. Oh well, it was a nice ride thru the country…so we saddled up for the same ride back.

Once we were back in the Fort Payne area, the gals wanted to ride down into town for a while…well, ‘cause it IS the home of the singin group, Alabama…and they’re bound to just be strollin the sidewalks…and chompin at the bits to sign autographs…right? Huh? They only do that stuff in the movies ya say? Wish I woulda known that…coulda saved us a trip into the dingy li’l town. Is it just me? Or do all our memories of these quaint little towns seem somehow quainter…that’s a word right…only in our memories? Oh well, after decidin that hangin out on the street corner of Fort Payne isn’t nearly as enjoyable as we thought it might be, we head back up the, ahem, mountain and stumble onto a neat little bar ‘n grill with an outdoor deck. Anyone that’s read my journals at all may be seein a outside-deck-with-beer pattern here. After some grub and a couple beers, we head back to the cabins for a bit of early afternoon relaxation. Ok, that’s just my way of sayin we’ve aged to the point that we’ve regressed back to the need for afternoon naps again.

After our nap and changin our Depends…ok, just kiddin…our buds that need those didn’t join us for this ride hehe…hey, ya’ll know who you are…we head up the road a bit and stroll ‘round the shops of Mentone for a while. After browsin the shops long enough to determine there’s nuthin there we just can’t live without, we head back towards the cabins, with a stop at the DeSoto Falls. Sorry…once again, I left my camera at the room…and didn’t get the first pic of the Falls. Hey, but they were beautiful, and worth the stop if’n yer ever in the area. Anyways, once back at the cabins, we settle in for ‘nuther fine evenin of brats over the fire, brews ‘n margs, and swappin lies with old friends and new friends alike…the perfect endin to a day of ridin.

See ya tomorrow for the ride home.