| Date:
April 9 & 10, 2011 As we always do when
headed to the Warm Springs/Pine Mountain/Columbus area we me at Flying J
in Temple. For most of us it is a long ride just to get to that point.
Upon arrival we discovered that the restaurant there is being remodeled,
so we had to settle for snack food for breakfast. Doug and Teresa were
unable to make the trip which left only the Kohls the Howards and half
the Campbells. We headed out about 9:45. The weather was beautiful. It
was a little cloudy early on but that burned off by mid-morning and we
experience sunshine the rest of the day. By the time we arrived at the
Bulloch house in Warm Springs it was getting rather warm. Having not
stopped between Temple and Warm Springs we were ready to get off the
bikes and have some cool drink when we arrived. Luckily we beat the rush
and got seated immediately. All I can say is ....the food was good ! We
ate until we were full then went outside and found us some seats in the
shade and just sat and talked and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.
It was a good thing there weren't any chaises or hammock, I think we
would have all taken a nap. After about an hour we somehow motivated
ourselves and got on the bikes and headed for Pine Mountain and the
Animal Safari. At the Safari we had two options ride a bus with about 50
other people or rent a small van just for the five of us. We opted for
the van. Only problem was the wait for a van was stated as two hours.
Turned out that really wasn't a problem at all. There is a "Walk About"
zoo thing. We spend about an hour going through that. It really was a
small zoo with lions and tigers and bears...oh my....and a bunch of
other animals too like monkeys, hyenas, pigs, reptiles, raccoons and
even a 5 month old baby (10 ft tall) giraffe named Sheldon. After that
adventure we found some chairs on the front porch and just sat and
relaxed until our pager went off letting us know the van was ready.
The van was interesting in and of itself. You could tell it had seen its
share of action in the safari. However, it accomplished its purpose and
got us through the park with maximum exposure to the animals. The ride
though took about 90 minutes. There were multiple stops to feed deer,
steer, yak and buffalos as they stuck their heads inside the
car....drool, mud and all. Maria and Stephanie had the food, so it was
very interesting as they feed the various critters. Most animals were
running loose. They did have the giraffe, camels and rhino fenced in.
There were emus running around and pigs everywhere. At one point a few
Longhorn steer moved the van for us a little. I'm glad it was not our
car....although there were many private vehicles riding through. Upon
completion of the ride through the park, we returned the key to the van
and headed back to the bikes. We were less than a hour from the hotel in
Columbus. The sun was at full force and it was the heat of the
day....probably close to 90. But, it was a short ride and we were there
before we knew it. We checked into our rooms and agreed to meet in
an hour in the lobby to head to dinner. At 7:30 we all assembled and
rode over to Country's BBQ for a pretty good meal. The service was a
little off, but the food was good. There was a live bluegrass band
playing adding to the enjoyment of the evening. It was a very relaxed
meal. We ate, we drank, we talked and we enjoyed the music. When we were
finished with all of that, we left and returned to the hotel. Day one
was over. It was a full day, but at no time did we ever feel rushed. We
had no time table to meet and were able to really enjoy the day. The
riding was great. The weather was beautiful We had good food and saw
some really neat stuff. We actually relaxed and enjoyed the time with
each other. Sunday started not too early. The museum didn't open until
11am, so we met in the hotel lobby at 9 am, checked out and headed over
to IHOP for a leisurely breakfast. We took our time and had a good meal.
Sometime around 11 am we got on the bikes once again and make the 1o
minute ride over to the museum. First of all. The museum is HUGE. We
were welcomed as we entered. A guide got us started explaining the
museum and some of its history, then left us to do our own thing. He
would occasionally pop us\p and tell us these wonderful stories about
whatever we happened to be looking at. We started the tour at the "Last
100 yards". You basically walk through seven scenes, one from each of
seven wars, beginning with the Revolutionary War and ending with the
Gulf Wars. It was awesome. But that was just the start. There are whole
rooms dedicated to each of the time frames of the wars in America's
history, not to mention a whole section on Fort Benning, the infantry
and the US Army. We spent four hours there (including a little time in
the gift shop). Two displays were closed or I think we would have been
there another hour or so. You could spend a lot more time there.
Knowing we had to eventually get home, we decided to head out. First we
stopped at Applebee's in Columbus for a late lunch. We had a great time
reviewing our trip and tossing around some ideas about doing this again.
As with everything we did this weekend we took our time and didn't leave
until we were good and ready. We had no timetable. No one seemed to be
in a rush. Eventually we did leave. We got on I-185 and headed north.
Rick split off first onto US27 towards his house. There was a lot of
traffic around the merge of 185 and 85. We eventually got through that
and before we knew it were at I285 on the south side of Atlanta. The
Howards headed north around 285 and the Kohls headed east.
Everyone was home before dark. It as another relaxed day. The whole
trip was just very relaxing. We were never under any time restraints. We
set our own schedule. We did everything and saw everything we wanted. We
had relaxing meals. We had beautiful weather for riding. We rode great
roads. It was just good all around. I promise everyone it is something
we will do again and next time hopefully more people will be able to go. |
