Day 3 - Cloud Canyon and a Guilty Ride Home

Well, it’s that time again…no, not spring time…already did that at the beginnin…remember?...nope, it’s time to part with our friends, as we’re all takin our different routes home. Cuz ‘n Loosie and Dog ‘n Rae head out first ‘cause they gots well over 300 miles to go today…all on backroads. Come to find out, Dog ‘n Rae are not only doin the 300 back to Cuz’s place, but then are gonna load up the scoot in their truck and do ‘nuther 500 miles home to almost the east coast of North Carolina. All I gots to say, Dog…is I’m glad it’s not me, bud. hehheh Hey, bein an asshole is ok as long as yer buds are aware of it…right?

Now, CK ‘n I had done nearly 300 miles to DeSoto State Park on the way down, but that was just ‘cause we backtracked east a ways to meet up with our buds at the Waffle House in Blairsville, GA. Have I mentioned my addiction to the Casa de Waffle? But, our ride home could be as few as 140 miles, dependin on what whims catch our fancy, so we take our time gettin packed, and are the last to get started.

Ya might be askin, “Why the Guilty Ride Home?” Well, as ya recall from yesterday’s ridin, the trip down to Nocolulu Falls was hardly worth the effort. Durin my plannin for this ride, and tryin to pick out some interestin and scenic ridin for the gang, I thought ‘bout takin ‘em all up into northwest GA to the Cloudland Canyon State Park instead. But, my childhood memories and the promise of a nice ride along the Lookout Mountain Parkway overrode Cloudland, and we pretty much wasted 80 miles on our trek to Gadsden. OK, very seldom do I consider any ridin wasted, but compared to what we’d encounter today, it’s ok to call yesterday’s trip to Gadsden wasted. As it turns out, Cloudland Canyon is a much better destination, and a much more scenic ride gettin there too. How do I know this ya ask? Well, the missus and I decided we’d hit Cloudland on the way home…and lemme tell ya, the detour was more than worth it! Sorry guys…I’ll get it right next time.

Anyways, the guilt faded pretty quickly…hey, I’m an asshole, remember?...the detour to Cloudland didn’t add all that much to our trip home, and we found ourselves gettin close to home way too early. Not that we’re not always eager to see our son again after such a trip, but endin a day of ridin when there’s many, many hours of daylight left just don’t seem right. Now, I gotta stop and ‘splain something here. I’m fifty years old and have been ridin off ‘n on since I was ‘bout twelve. However, this tourin on the scooter thingy is right new to the missus…and it was this impendin early end to the day’s ridin that gave me my first clue that she was comin full swing into the biker’s way of life. Ya see, it was my li’l sweetie, CK, that first said something ‘bout it not seemin right to end our ride so early in the day. It was also CK that, after this thought came forth, spent the next hour tryin to figure out a way to extend our time in the saddle. I know, that’s an easy one…just keep ridin, aye. But, we do have an 11-year-old son waitin for us, and it’s the beginnin of the season, so we gots plenty of time to acquire all the saddle sores our little hearts desire this cycle 'round the sun.

Until next time…stop ‘n smell the flowers along yer route…it is springtime ya know.

TJ