Nine riders met at AMW for the ride, including first-timer Ed Lybrook. Ed lives in the area and found out about our chapter at STAR Days. Hopefully we will see more of Ed on future rides.

As close to 'on-time" as we can get, we rolled out of AMW and headed north going up 400 until it was 400 no more and became 115. Turning onto 52/115 a little further north and following it through Cleveland and Clarkesville until we reached 441. Somewhere in there we took a break to stretch and get a drink. Once reaching 441 we headed north and made our second stop in Clayton. After a little stretching and some more liquid refreshment we headed toward Warwoman Road. Once on Warwoman Road, the ride got a lot better. The trees kept in some shade and the gradual rise in altitude resulted in a gradual decline in the temperature.

Warwoman Road leads into Highlands, NC. A great place to visit. On this day the town was very busy so we didn't stop, but turned onto 64 and headed back down the mountain towards Franklin. 64 is a great ride. Lots of tree cover and plenty of twists and turns. There are numerous waterfalls to stop and see, but since it was past noon and we had not eaten, we kept riding.

Arriving in Franklin we headed straight to our restaurant of choice. Doug had found a small cajun restaurant for us to try out. After being seated we got some cool drinks. It was amazing how much warmer it was in Franklin than it had been in the mountains and at Highlands. The server bought us a menu that turned out to be  Sunday brunch menu with no cajun dishes on it. After asking for and getting the "real menu" we all found our favorite cajun dish and placed our order. The food was very good and reasonably priced. Service was excellent. It's a place we may have to revisit in the future.

After lunch we plotted our course home. Those living on the westerly side of Atlanta headed one way and those of us on the easterly side headed another. We did ride together for a brief period before splitting. Us easterners made a couple of stops on the way home as we headed down 441 to 985. It was a very warm day and the breaks were a requirement for fluids.

All in all it was a great ride. Very enjoyable riding on great roads. We had some very good food in the process and of course had a great time with our friends.

Next ride is an overnighter to Savannah. Hopefully we will see you there. The Savannah chapter is hosting a Meet and Greet for us and has some things planned. It should be a great weekend.