The Big Ride 2019 Begins!

With Yamacraw all gassed up, washed and waxed, and loaded with my gear, we left Savannah yesterday morning early.

These pictures were taken by my good buddy, Pat, who came over on his bike to ride a couple of miles with me on my way out of town.

Even though I'm excited about this adventure, it's still not easy leaving home.

I'm very blessed to have support from home.

And I'll be back.

After our goodbyes, we roared up I-95 and crossed over the Savannah River into South Carolina at exactly 0800. The weather was a cool 78 degrees and traffic was light, so we may made good time. By about 1100 I was at the state line between South Carolina and North Carolina and simply HAD to stop at "world famous" South of the Border."

This place has everything: Gas stations, restaurants, stores, a campground, an amusement park...and on and on.

All of it, of course, is designed to separate the weary traveler from as much of his money as possible. I took a couple of quick snaps and we kept moving. The temperature was beginning to climb. It was now 88 degrees. 

In Lumberton, NC, our halfway point for the day (about 3.5 hours of road time), I stopped at Smithfield's barbeque. Highly recommended!

While I was there, I met Paul, who is a fellow biker. He was checking out my bike and we struck up a conversation. I was able to tell Paul what I was doing and give him one of my cards. It was easy to see that Paul is a super nice guy...which is good, because he's also a super BIG guy. God bless, you Paul. Ride safe.

By the time I hit Virginia, it was 103. So Virginia is not only for lovers, but apparently it's also for sweaty, fat, old bikers.

We pushed on though and the heat was never an issue for my faithful bike, and we offset some of the effects of the 103 degree heat by making our own breeze...at about 97 miles per hour. By 1630 I was in Norfolk and last night reunited with some great old sailing buddies, Brian, Al, and John. It was a good ending to a long day in the saddle. I'm here in Norfolk Sunday and Monday I head westward through the Appalachian mountains toward Franklin, West Virginia. From there it's on to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Stay plugged in and ride along with me, pray for me, tell your friends, and donate, if you feel so inclined. God bless!