Saturday - May 8, 2010
 

This was the ride of the year so far.

We all met at Flying J in Temple. Just getting there is a ride in and of itself. For most of us it is at least an hour from our homes to the Flying J. Leaving home at 7:30 to get there at 9:00, we found the air already nice and warm. I left home in a t-shirt and no warm weather clothes packed anywhere. As we headed out I-20 west, the skies clouded up and darkened a little. But, knowing the forecast only called for possible rain in north Georgia, I remained optimistic. We arrived at the Flying J at 9:00 on the dot...and dry!

Riders slowly trickled in to the restaurant there and the majority of us opted to eat a little breakfast off the buffet. I'm not too sure that was the wisest thing we did all day, since we were planning to eat at a buffet in Warm Springs in about 2 1/2 hours....but we ate anyway.

We ended up not leaving FJ until about 10:00, but by the time we left we had six bikes and nine riders. Walking out the door to the bikes, the first thing we noticed was that the skies were clear and blue. It was like the dark grey overcast clouds just disappeared. So, with a smile on our face we headed out towards Warm Springs.

It was a good ride. Pretty uneventful. We had good roads, sunshine and the wind in our face. It just doesn't get too much better. We made a short stop about 45 min out of Warm springs for a break, allowing everyone to get gas, a cool drink and a little relief. Soon we were back on the bikes and before we knew it we were in Warm Spings.

Our first stop was at Bulloch House for lunch. Bulloch house is a buffet and we managed to scarf down a decent amount of their southern style foods. It was really amazing that we ate as much as we did after the big breakfast that most of us had. After getting our fill, we went outside and sat in rockers on the big shaded porch. The ladies did a little shopping. I think if we could have found a few hammocks we would have had a lot of napping riders.

Eventually we motivated ourselves to move and rose from the chairs and headed to the bikes. About half ended up heading on home for various reasons. The rest of us headed over to the Little White House.

The Little White House was only a few minutes away from the restaurant and we were there in no time. We took our time and toured the museum, the grounds, the Little White House itself and then rode down the road to the actual pools. It was a very interesting trip and we learned quite a bit in the process. We learned about first, second and fifth cousins and "once removed". We even learned about cousin uncles. We heard some history and some personal facts about the president. At the pools we got to touch and feel the water coming from the springs that fill the pools.

Eventually we had to leave if we wanted to get home before dark. The forecast for the night was a cold front that was going to drop the temps into the 40's. We knew when the sun went down the temp would follow it down.

The ride home was nice. With the sun out, it remained warm. As always there came a point when we each had to head our own way.

It was a great day. Good food, good weather, good roads, and better friends. This was a ride we really needed. It has been a long cold wet winter and spring and today was a very welcome respite.

Chapter Members Attending:

Doug & Teresa Turco
Gary & Maria Kohl
Preston & Stephanie Howard
Rick Campbell
Malon Metz
Rick Curtis