I love fall. To me, while growing up in Iowa, fall meant... bright foliage and burning leaves, cold noses and sweatshirts, football games with blankets, and the anticipation of... snow days! It seemed like a nice transition from the warm and sunny summer to the long cold winter that allowed us to linger in between that change of season. But now that I live in Alabama, fall for me just isn't the same. Believe it or not, we can get pretty cold here, but it usually goes from warm to cold without much in between. While I've been reading about everyone else's dropping temperatures and winterizing their bikes, I'm thinking... WTF! It's still hot here!
I've been belly aching for weeks that I was ready for cooler weather and the brilliance of fall to show itself. The lingering summer heat was beginning to wear out its welcome as far as I was concerned.
Two weekends ago on the day we rode up to
Mt. Cheaha State Park, we finally got our cold snap. The temperatures dropped to the low 50's with an overcast sky, so it was quite chilly during our ride. It was nice to feel cold air around me for a change. Hell, the weekend before this one we were still riding around in nothing but a long sleeve t-shirt with sunny 70's! (oh... I guess I had my jeans and boots on too!) But the point is... we in the south finally got that cool blast from the north we so desperately needed. Thank you Mother Nature!
Riding north for 85 miles made such a difference in the color we saw that I felt priviledged to be so close to such a pretty area. I put together a slide show of our wonderful scenery while we were on our peeping expedition. The great road shots you are about to see were taken by Harley while we were on the move. Who needs a helmet cam??!!
Mt. Cheaha is the highest point in Alabama at 2407 feet and we love to come up here when we're riding. I
highly recommend a visit here to anyone who finds themselves near the area.
There's a small lake that borders the camping and picnic area and while we were snapping pics of the view, we noticed this poor chap pushing his bike to the camping area where we were parked.
By the time he made his way by us, I spoke a sympathetic hello in his direction and he managed to mumble out a return greeting. I felt a little guilty that right at that moment, that he was not sharing my jubilant attitude... understandably so.
We had a great rest of the day, and I really enjoyed our "cool" ride through the park. Our afternoons still like to heat up to the high 60's and low 70's, but the crispy 42 degree mornings are a promise of what's to come.
HAPPY FALL YA'LL !!
Lady R
There's no doubt I have fun on twisty curvy roads to challenge the playful side of me, but nothing says "ahhh" like a nice long sweeping country road that lets you see in front of you... sometimes up to a mile or so.
These old barns and farms have a lot of character in them and as I cruise by, I think about my home in Iowa. I grew up in the heart of farm country, but there's something just a little more charming about the farms in south. Maybe it's just the absence of pigs! Shew!!
