TALLADEGA SCENIC HIGHWAY ON MT. CHEAHA ~ ALABAMA ~ photo taken by Dianna Stover
All material posted here is the original property of Lady R, author of this blog, unless linked from another source or otherwise noted. All material and photos not to be reprinted without permission.

Friday, June 20, 2008

FUN WITH KIT AND BOO

We had some friends come through Montgomery last Friday on their way to spend a few days at 29 Dreams Motorcycle Resort up near Birmingham. Kit and Peeka Boo, who live in Tallahassee, FL., met Kit's brother and his wife, Mr. J and Jtoo in Dothan, AL., and rode up together. The J's live in PC with most of our other friends and we haven't seen either of them since we partied together in Holt. (See my BikeFest Series, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)

We met them for lunch at Ryan's Friday as they were traveling through, and after we filled up our bellies, we decided to ride up the road with them for a while. Jtoo rides her own Road King and I had to compliment her on her tag. "RDQWN". She told a quick story about some young guy talking to her about her cool "Road Queen", but he thought the Road Kings were cool too! We just laughed about how many people will say the stupidest things to try and appear cool and knowledgeable.

We mounted up and headed north, up Hwy 231 to Hwy 9 and made a pit stop in Rockford, AL at Indian Hills Motorcycle Resort. Kit wanted to check out this facility, and it gave us a great place to stop for a stretch and a drink. We split ways here though, and headed back home to Montgomery, and they proceeded north to 29 Dreams. We made plans to meet the next morning in Talladega and ride up to Mt.Cheaha State Park and spend the day riding and sight seeing around that area.

At 2407 feet, Mt. Cheaha is Alabama's highest point in elevation. The view is beautiful and on a pretty day, you can see for miles. The Park has cabins and chalets available along with a full restaurant and hotel. For those who like it rough, primitive camping is available, and swimming too! It would be a great place to have a chapter meeting or a group weekend getaway. There is a lot of nice riding in this area. It's fun and curvy on one side of the mountain, and more curvy and slower going on the other side. Harley and I have ridden up here so often, I would have to consider it one of my favorite places to ride.

It's Saturday... Flag Day. The day was perfect! A slightly overcast sky kept the sun from scorching us, which just made the ride even more pleasant. Unfortunately, something was wrong with Mr. J's bike and they weren't able to join us. We hoped they would get it going and join up later, but no such luck. Sadly, Jtoo stayed behind with him, but they made the best of it by enjoying some rest and relaxation back at camp.

We met Kit and Peeka Boo in Oxford, and after a short visit to the Mt. Cheaha Harley Davidson Dealership, we started our ascent up to the park. Boo was snapping pics as we rode and she got one of me leading us up the mountain. Harley's gauges weren't working, and being more familiar with the road, I took the lead. I'm usually not in front, but I have to say, I liked it! I could get used to that!

We took advantage of some great photo opportunities at the scenic overlooks. A really nice fella, also out riding, didn't mind taking the time to snap this pic of Harley, me, Peeka Boo and Kit. Thanks Dude!
Of course, I had to get one of our bikes on the overlook, with the beautiful Talladega National Forest in the background.

We stopped at the top and stretched our legs and took some more pics. I was having fun! Kit and Boo were taking it all in and I think they were enjoying the ride too. I always get satisfaction from my rides, and I think today was a little more special because we were sharing it with someone. As we continued on our way down the twisty curves on the other side of Mt. Cheaha we went through Talladega and ended up near Pell City.

We found a good smelling BBQ Shack and decided to stop and get something good to eat. Since I'm the one who spotted it, I'm glad we weren't disappointed. To be honest, I smelled it before I saw it. I bet you can't do THAT in a car! I guess I have a good nose sense for good grub!

After we ate lunch, we took a couple of county roads south and rode along the Coosa River and Logan Martin Lake. It didn't seem long before we came to the turn were Kit and Boo would head west to go back to 29 Dreams, and Harley and I would proceed south to Montgomery. We waved our goodbyes and made promises of keeping in touch. "Bye! Ride Safe!"

As I watched them ride off, I just smiled. I was thinking, "What a great day we had!" I enjoyed seeing our riding friends again and I look forward to the next time we can have an opportunity to get together. I hate we didn't get to have as much time with Mr. J and Jtoo, but at least we got to share a nice lunch and short ride together.

The fact that this Saturday was the day that Harley and I celebrated our 28th year around the block of life together, I couldn't think of any other way I would have wanted to spend it. I got to ride my motorcycle all day with the love of my life, and we had some nice friends to share it with! Ride on and ride safe!
Lady R

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks nice. Still can't wait till we can ride together. Am I allowed to ride with you since I ride one of those "OTHER" bikes? LOL
I wanted a Harley Davidson, My heart screamed YES...YES... my wallet screamed louder..NO...NO..

Lady R (Di) said...

Aw, Bucky...It doesn't matter what your on! I'm proud that your on two! I got your other pics. Beautiful! Sometimes, the wallet speaks louder than the heart, but at least your using your head! LOL!

Mr. Motorcycle said...

Looks like you had a great ride. Beautiful scenery, and pics!

Ann said...

Wow...looks like it was a great ride! The pics are great!

Happy anniversary to you both!

FLHX_Dave said...

A good day. A great anniversary. A great ride. I loved the picts. Now I have to go find a bbq joint...I'll just follow my nose! Thanks for putting out.

Anonymous said...

Sound like a fun day! I plan on being in the south region in the fall lets plan on a ride with everyone even non-hd riders. just giving ya a hards time bucky knows truth be told i never owned one til just recent and fyi i wipped the shit out of a guy riding a new indian on my ultraclassic cool eh?

Lady R (Di) said...

mr. m and ann...Thanks for the anniversary wishes! We did have a nice ride and Boo took more pics. I need to create another slide show.

Dave...We were coming around a big bend in the road and I thought, "damn, someone's cooking something good out here." About 50 yards around the curve, there it sat, a rustic log cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney. Always a good sign if you can smell it before you see it. Hope you got yours!

ultra 242...I think it would be awsome if we all could get together on our bikes. I'm jealous, I won't be at Sturgis with you guys! BTW, be careful who you go around whipping. Someone might come up on you and spank that ass! And it may be me! LOL! It would be cool if, me, you and Bucky could take it to the road and see what we've got. I'm ready! Take care bro!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great way to spend your weekend...and your anniversary. I hope one day Jay and I will get there and still be just as happy as you and Harley (we will hit 1 year in a couple of weeks). Best wishes for many more.

I know what you mean about smelling the BBQ place, we passed one yesterday that smelled soooo good! :-)

Ronman said...

Congrats on the 28 to you two! How nice is it that your friends came along just to be the official action photographer of your special day? Great post pretty Miss LadyR!

Ronman

Unknown said...

Congrats on the anniversary.

Lady R (Di) said...

Mrs. RC, Thanks! Happy Anniversary to you to! We were mere babies at the tender age of 19 when we got married. That seems like so long ago!

Thanks Ronman. We would have probably spent the day the same way, with or without our friends. We love riding together and it's great having a built in riding partner!

Thanks Rick!

"Joker" said...

Happy Anniversary! Sorry I'm a little late. I've been busy lately and have fallen behind a bit on blogging.

You know I'm a big fan of "sharing the ride," so I'm glad to see you and Harley got a chance to ride with some friends. Riding together, stopping to eat together, the convo...it's what makes for the best of days. Oh, and a lil' BBQ too! Only thing with me is, I don't follow my nose. If I did, I don't think I'd ever get to the end!

Lady R (Di) said...

Joker...It's never too late for a nice word. Thanks for the well wishes, we had a great day. I love finding good BBQ out on the ride. It always seems to taste better when you find it like that. Maybe I should start a BBQ Blog. LOL!