Last night we had planned on taking Woodrow’s parents out to
dinner in downtown Charleston but were so tired we decided to just eat at the
hotel. As luck would have it there was free food and drinks so we took full
advantage of that as can be seen by the many empty glasses in front of Terry
and Steve.
Long day today. We got up before sunrise at the hotel, had
breakfast and then waited for Woodrow to pick us up. I was advised that I must
have been tired last night when I did the Blog because I used several different
names for Woodrow, Edward and Woody (all the same person).
Today was our first real bike packing exercise. I stripped
out several items to ship back home including my electric jacket liner and
gloves. After checking the Wx forecast for Tenn I didn’t think I would need
them. I managed to get everything in my GL bag except my MacBook Pro so I used
my small Watershed bag and strapped it on top of the GL. Worked perfectly.
We pulled out of Charleston shortly after sunrise heading
northeast to Clemson, SC; 236 miles away. Nothing much to report on the trip to
Clemson because it was mostly flat two-lane. We arrived around 1:30 pm and
stopped at the Esso Club right on the Clemson University campus for lunch. We
made this diversion because Woodrow said it was God’s country plus it would be
full of co-eds that would love to hear about our adventure. Spring Break and no
co-eds! He then said we had to see the football stadium they call Death Valley.
Got a picture in front. We had a hard time getting Woodrow back on his bike to
continue.
Our original plan was to spend the night in Clemson and
continue to Tellico Plains, TN via Andrews, NC the next day; 236 miles. The Wx
was so perfect we decided to push on to Andrews to spend the first night. The
TAT starts just across the highway from our hotel. 369 miles today and when we
arrived at Andrews at 7:30 pm, just before sundown, we were all bone tired. As
a side note, we would have cut about 40 miles off that 369 if we hadn’t had to
backtrack after trying to take forest service roads over the mountains to
Andrews the last 25 miles. We finally came to a steep gravel road and were
deciding if we should keep going. It was 7 pm and the last thing we wanted to
do was be riding after dark in these mountains. About that time a pickup came
down the road and said there was a locked gate up ahead. That made the decision
for us; we backtracked and took the highway. The trail from 50 to 120 was todays ride.
After unloading the bikes and locking them on the front
porch of the hotel we walked about ¾ mile into town looking for beer and food.
This town was locked up tight and we were desperate when we found an open pizza
place with cold beer and a friendly waitress, Leslie. The walk back to the
hotel used the last bit of strength I have. I’m barely able to do this blog and
after a shower, I’m going to bed. It’s 10:45 pm now and well past my bedtime.
Tomorrow we meet at 6:30 in the lobby for breakfast and plan
on starting the TAT by 7:30 am. We have
already mad reservations at Ducktowm, TN, which is 143 miles from the TAT
start. This will be an interesting day I’m sure.
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