FL 2 TN Day 1: Sunburn Injuries
Wow, if it wasn’t already crazy enough posting from the past, it looks like I’m jumping around randomly in time to fill in on my earlier adventures. I hope you guys are following me in Twitter so that you don’t lose track… ~Al Torigo
I’ve really missed the freedom of the road, and sad as I was to leave Manila behind just as I was starting to get into the rhythm of the place, it’s really great to be back on the Harleys again. Using points from the timeshare we bought in Sedona 18 months ago, we’ve booked a condo in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains National Park for 2 weeks starting on the 27th. That gives us 4 days of riding time to cover the 657 miles from Orlando to Gatlinburg, via both South Carolina and North Carolina.
Although we want to take our time and enjoy the ride, there are flood warnings for South Carolina and storms are forecast for Tuesday, so we plan to cover at least 200 miles a day from the outset incase we are held up by weather later on.
We made an early start this morning to give us time to return our hire car to the airport before checking out of the hotel and enjoying a leisurely ride to Daytona Beach for a late lunch in Tail Gators Grill & Bar at the intersection of Atlantic Drive and International Speedway Blvd. I ate alligator for the second time, washed down with a Guinness while I watched the custom bikes chugging by in the run up to bike week.
As if my hands haven’t taken enough punishment recently, by the time we stopped in Jacksonville, FL for the night, I noticed that while cruising along the A1A on the Fat Boy in the afternoon sun, I had burnt the backs of my hands pretty badly.
Note to self: Even if there is a nice cooling breeze while I’m riding in Florida, I still have to cake any bare skin in SPF50!