Georgia to Greenville, South Carolina (July 9, 10 and 11)

Greenville at last, July 9

In using my hillbilly diary on the bike, it's not so easy to write … and so many things I make a note of are unreadable later on. I need to work on the Iphone with the microphone thing so I can just click it on and off and make a note for myself. Too technological for me, I believe.

I couldn't help it.  A Harley shop with leopard print in the ladies room.  Needed this photo.

We got started from our lowest low-budget motel and on the road about 10 or so. We were in no real rush since we were less than 200 miles away and we had an easy ride in to Greenville. Besides, you really can't usually check into a hotel until 3 p.m., and we didn't want to sit around in the lobby waiting and waiting.

I was feeling kind of grumpy and out of sorts. I don't know if it was the hassle and the lack of real food the night before, or maybe I didn't sleep well. I just wasn't feeling my normal mostly-chirpy self. Maybe it was the lack of coffee??

The rigors of the road are there for those who wish to challenge them … mowers along the side doing what mowers do was the first one we met. I don't like the mowers because a dear friend, Mr. Dearth, got hit along side the head with a branch from one years ago. He was never the same after that, physically or mentally, and died at the age of 52. I always put my hand up thinking if something does get thrown at me my hand will blunt the force of it hitting me. However, I love the smell of mown grass.

Once again I was wearing only a short-sleeve T-shirt, and the cool air of the morning blew across my arms. This day was perfect for riding. It was in the 80s, there were lots of clouds but lots of sun, and I needed nothing more to make my ride pleasant. We took an off-highway with two lanes, lots of trees and cool air so we weren't suffering from the heat. There were gentle curves, some hills and just the kind of ride you never want to see end.

But all roads lead to lunch, or something like that, and we stopped in Blue Ridge, Georgia, the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

It may not look like much, but it was woonderful.

It was an amazing lunch … chicken salad with almonds. The chicken salad was unique, not made with mayonnaise but with Caesar dressing. It was so yummy I'm going to try it at home. It was served on a slice of dark bread on a bed of salad … I'm still thinking about it hours later.

More rigors of the road were out there to meet us. We got behind a truck with a load of tree branches and wood. It kept throwing things off the truck, so we got to dodge them. It becomes a game, but we were never close enough to be in danger. It's an irritant, though, that people can be irresponsible enough to trash the highways and create hazards for their fellow drivers/riders.

We stopped for gas and there were lots of deer heads hanging on the wall.  This one's for you, Hobbs.

We continued on, and the road got even better … T-wisted with a capital T. It was so much fun, just winding in and out, flying down the road, I know I could do this forever. We had been riding in two beautiful national forests, Chattahoochee and Sumter, large trees, and cool air. But, too soon, it ended and we were on the final approach to Greenville.

We were a bit froggy when we arrived at the Ride In.

While most good things come to an end, this did not. We were at our destination, meeting up with a few hundred other women who are out doing the same thing we were doing … riding, having fun and enjoying each others company. Let the fun begin, again!!!

The Women on Wheels organization is now 30 years old.

P.P.P.S: Saw gas for $2.93.

Greenville, and a few days of rest, and short rides, July 10

Ruth and I decided to hit the work-out room for a little bit. Exercise bikes, treadmill, a few other things. I did the exercise bike for a while, but it sure isn't zumba. Oh well. We did the best we could. And I guess something is better than nothing.

Things got even froggier at registration on Tuesday norming.

Sylvia needs to use a scooter ... and she has a little ramp that operates hydraulically to load it in and out of her van.  It's quite nifty. 

There's no mistaking we're at the BMW plant.  Ruth and Sylvia posed at the sign.

This is the entrance to the plant.,

The best part of the day was going to the BMW production plant that's located here in Greenville. I had no idea. There were various vehicles from early on, including two that were used in James Bond movies. I was impressed with those. But still don't care if I have one because cars aren't my thing. It was fun to visit. There were even some motorcycles. Again, don't care to have one, but fun to look at. Can't help it; I'm a Harley girl through-and-through. Besides, I've got so many Harley shirts I don't dare ride anything else. My wardrobe is taken care of for the rest of my life.

Yep, the James Bond Car.  Wouldn't this be fun for a day?

No explanation required.

The most interesting part of the tour to me was watching a short movie that shows how they make the cars. The vehicle parts are moved in and out, up and down to make it ergonomically (sp) correct for workers applying various parts and pieces. A lot of it is done with robotics, painting, dipping them in primer; the whole process is unique and there appears to be a lot of pride in the making of the cars. It takes six hours to put the body together, and 10 hours to do the painting. I did not find out how long it takes, start to finish, to complete a single car. The motors are being assembled simultaneously, but the film didn't say how long it took, or how long to get it into the car and all hooked up. I'd like to have known … start to finish … how long?

There were lots of different engines on display.  Car engines to engines used in helicopters and lift-off vehicles.

BMW made car engines to engines used in helicopters and lift-off vehicles.

And they make some pretty fine motorcycles, too. Even the old bikes are beautiful.

The Isetta was an inexpensive "roof" over a person's head.  Using a single-cylinder motorcycle engine the Isetta was  known as a bubble car.  They became popular in the 1950s post-war Europe, and represented the transition from two-wheeled motorcycles to a real motorcar.

This racing car makes me think of a hammerhead shark.

Tonight were opening ceremonies, and then an early night. I needed it. Which is why no blog was posted.

Sylvia and Ruth had fun with the bubble guns we bought at Cracker Barrell.

I was in Ruth and Sylvia's room.  Ruth was working on a puzzle we all had to put together where you scan barcodes and fill in blanks on a crossword puzzle to try to win prizes.  I had loaded the barcode ap on my phone, and now I even know how to use it.  Mostly.

P.P.P.P.S: Saw gas for $2.91 in Greenville, South Carolina

Greenville, July 11

WOW is all I can say. I attended a social media seminar today, imagine that … me, the computer-illiterate. But it was quite interesting, and I learned some things. Christine, a W.O.W person, is a player, too. She rides – I mean really rides – and she's a computer person. Quite, quite, quite literate. YAY! She helped me get the tracker back onto the blog page, and now it's become the first thing you see so you know where I am. I think it's a very cool thing, and that was just one of several she helped me do. Thank you, Christine. I so appreciate your time and help today, and your patience.

People from all over are here ... Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Minnesota, Nebraska, even from across the country from Seattle.  There's even a lady from England.

I found another redneck GPS.

WOW women go a little frog crazy.  There are frogs everywhere ... on bikes, shirts, jewelry, hats.  It's lots of fun seeing what people come up with or how they wear their frogs.

Ruth, Sylvia and I then wandered out where the bikes were and frogged them. WOW gals put frogs on people's bikes … bikes they like, bikes of people they like, frogs just because they can. And it's supposed to be done secretly. There are some very interesting bikes here, beautiful bikes, and they aren't all Harleys. But many are. It's just amazing that there are so many women who ride, and so many who come to an event like this. It makes you feel good to be a part of an organization that promotes women in riding, no matter the denomination of bike you ride. WOW rocks!!!

Many ladies have nice-looking vests.

So I did photograph a few of them.

This afternoon we are to go to the Harley shop for bike night. Hopefully it won't rain, but the shop is only a few miles away so how wet can we get? HA!!! Don't go there. Pretty wet if it rains hard enough.

Bike night didn't happen … rain, and the band couldn't play. Oh well, there was a restaurant called Quaker Steak and Lube. It's an interesting place, and lots of bikers go there … the food wasn't half bad either.