Sunday, August 15, 2010

Great River Ride – Day 11 – To Birmingham

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Today was a transit day. We intended to get up early and spend more time in Pensacola, but we woke up very late and barely escaped by noon. We needed to get to Birmingham before dark, so it was mainly just a day on I-65.

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We left Pensacola going north on US-29 which was an empty four lane road once we got out of the city. It started raining as soon as we decided to leave and continued to rain until we were actually out of the city limits fifteen minutes later. We quickly took off our rain gear since it was 93F!

The rest of the ride was just ticking off the miles on I-65. The traffic in Alabama moves quite quick with everyone wanting to go 80MPH.

We passed this RV with a large scooter on the back (maybe a 500cc) towing an extended cab truck with another 500cc scooter in the back!

RV hauling a scooter towing a truck hauling a scooter

We stopped at the store to pick up dinner on the way to stay with the family of a good friend. When we came out the clouds had gathered and it looked like rain at any moment. We decided to chance it and continue on. I turned left when I should have turned right, so we rode a few miles the wrong way! A u-turn solved that problem and we were back on track again. We made it about half way from the store when the skies opened up in a furious rain. We exited US-280 and watched this light go from green to red faster than I expected. It gave me the opportunity to practice a quick stop in the rain, two-up, down a steep hill.

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We survived and pulled under the bridge to wait out the worst of it. I’m glad I actually practice quick stops regularly!

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We saw a lot of motorcycles again today. One even joined us under the bridge. He didn’t appear to have any rain gear or a coat, just a helmet.

sport biker taking shelter from the rain

Our rain gear back in use, we continued on. It stopped raining about a mile before we got the the house. We finally found it after riding up and down the street a few times.

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We rode 272 miles today. Internet is not good here. Too many mountains to get a good signal, so a short post. Tomorrow we head to TN!

 

Thank you to Linda and Bruce for giving us their spare room today! It worked out great.

 

Full Flickr Album here

 

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4 comments:

  1. The photo of "her" and the other motorcyclist across the way waiting out the rain is wonderful. It seems to me a nice combination of forlorn, patience, and expectant waiting.

    ~Keith

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  2. I love that picture of waiting for the rain to finish too! That darn rain! Be careful on those 80 mph roads! They can be brutal. I've noticed many people in Alabama don't always use their signals.
    Sure do hope you make it up north today. Get those mountains out of the way!
    See ya!

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  3. Chris:

    "We exited US-280 and watched this light go from green to red father than I expected. It gave me the opportunity to practice a quick stop in the rain, two-up, down a steep hill." - you sure have a strange idea of "fun". : )

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  4. Keith: The more I look at that photo, the more I like it.

    Eve: Yea... most of the south hasn't learned what their signals are for yet. I learned that fast when we first got to MO or MS. It was great meeting you today!

    Dom:
    LOL! I dunno if I'd call it fun, but it got the heart going and no one was hurt/nothing damaged.. so fun right?? :) Wow, I need to proof read more when I post half-a-sleep.

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