Iron Butt 4810 - Day Two

It's 2 am Eastern time and all my chores are done. Logbook complete, RD gooped up with Ben Gay, and Under Armour drying on the shower rod. We added Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to our list today.

Florida was a pretty eventful stop. We missed our turn and had to back track, so we stopped for gas in Pensacola. A group of Harleys pulled up. Oddny Tangvik and her friends came in from Norway, rented the Harleys and hit the road. This was their 3^rd year to tour the U.S. She has a blog in her hometown, so we swapped addresses and promised to send comments.

Georgia presented some of the strangest looking trees I've ever seen. There's an ivy on the trees that covers the trunk, leaves, limbs everything. It makes them look like very bizarre statues. When you see a whole grove of trees with the ivy coats, it's pretty freaky especially at night when they all look like the boogey man.

We got doused twice today with rain and both times it was as refreshing and cool as yesterday. I'm really beginning to love riding on cloudy days. I'm also learning new and unusual ways to stretch while riding. I may have to write a book about it.

RD loves the gas. He claims he's getting better gas mileage out of the non-ethanol mix. At $3.98 per gallon we hope the pump prices don't choke us.

We got bogged down in Atlanta. Highway 85 was fantastic until we hit rush hour traffic and sweltering heat while inhaling exhaust fumes. Cost us 1 ½ hours and bumper-to-bumper traffic. I've got pictures. In fact, I traveled with my camera around my neck all day. Got awesome shots during one of the downpours. Along with the Battleship Atlanta and The George Wallace Tunnel on I10 in Mobile, Alabama.

Riding 15 and 16 hours a day doesn't leave much time for any more than food and sleep. Other riders suggested we eat power bars during the day to save time. We tried yesterday. Not going to work. Today we took the time to eat during a rest stop, and we had a lot more stamina. We chowed down on a pizza tonight! This kind of riding is calorie consuming. Maybe someone should create the Iron Butt Diet. It could work.

Lots of waving today. But not at the guy the cops pulled their guns on. While we were waiting at a stoplight, I looked to my right and saw police officers walking towards something with their guns pulled. I realized IF the light changed, and IF we drove forward, we might get shot. Should I tell RD? While I was trying to figure out what to do and hoping the light didn't change until I could make up my mind, a man in the car next to me said, "That doesn't make a good first impression does it?" I nearly wet my riding pants. He startled me. Then he said, "Ok. Looks like they got him." The light changed; RD was oblivious to my soap opera moment and meeting a new friend. I saw the police officers and another man spread-eagled on the ground as we drove past.

Tonight we got spooked when we came into the mountains. We stopped in Hendersonville, North Carolina after a pretty cool twisty turny gulch. That's what they call passes here. We kept seeing all these signs with jumping deer on them. All the trees started looking like shadow deer waiting to jump on us. Since it was close to 11 p.m., we stopped.

Better close for now and get some shuteye. RD is snoring and I'm jealous. Tomorrow we keep heading north thru the Appalachians. Photo album.

Read Day Three here.