We set off at about 5pm on Friday. My roommate and I wanted to test out his J&M CB setup and my GL1800 CB setup while on this trip, and long story short, it worked very well. I was pleased, as was he, and now we are trying to get our buddy to get one for his bike as well. It really came in handy.

This is our buddy and his wife cruising along the interstate with us. Apparently, as my girlfriend was taking this picture, the wind caught her shirt and started to lift it up. There was a white truck coming up on us that you can’t see in this shot, and the going theory was that he was watching her and not paying attention when he almost merged on top of us. Ungh… I really wish people would pay more attention to driving!

The views became more and more amazing as we got deeper and deeper into the mountains. It was an amazing experience.

Here we are about to enter one of the many tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The first tunnel I entered was dark… darker than I expected, and that really caught me off guard. Once I made it out the other side, I knew what to expect next time so it wasn’t so shocking.

We caught up with a group of about 10 Goldwing riders on the parkway. I never got a chance to stop and say hello, but we were behind them for several miles.

Here we are riding the Smokey Mountain Parkway, equally as beautiful as the Blue Ridge Parkway. My only complaint was that the Smokey Mountain Parkway was much more crowded than the Blue Ridge, so in the future, I might just stick to the Blue Ridge (and maybe go from end to end one day).

And finally, we arrived at the Cabin in Pigeon Forge. All in all, it was a blast, and I can’t wait for the next opportunity to take a multi-day trip. And as a result, I can now log down Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee as visited on my motorcycle!

We got up early and got the bikes ready to go. We washed the bikes, checked the air in the tires, and then loaded them down with luggage for the trip. I had two small sidebags and a small top bag, and Lisa had… quite a bit more.

We arrived in Savannah early in the afternoon, and when we got to the hotel, we were told (to our surprise) that we could park the bikes here, right next to the entrance. It was an ideal spot because there was always someone working at the entrance for parking and whatnot, so there was always someone able to keep an eye on the bikes.

The next morning we took a self-paced walking tour of River Street in Savannah. Of course, we couldn’t visit the city without stopping in the Harley-Davidson shop. I don’t mind visiting Harley stores, but I wish there were Yamaha stores so I could shop too.

This is the Anchor Monument, erected in 1974 by the Savannah Chapter of the Women’s Propeller Club of the United States, and was built in honor of the Chatham County seamen who lost their lives while at sea.

This is one of many ships that are constantly docked in Savannah. In the opposite direction of this photo, there are huge container ships docked for loading and unloading. Seeing them making their way down the river is very, very impressive.

I have been to Savannah many times, but this is the first time that I really paid attention. Walking along the old roads was awe-inspiring… just thinking about the history and what it must have been like so long ago.

We left Savannah and headed to St. Simon’s Island, which was a short road trip for the day. Lisa had some training she had to attend while in St. Simon’s (the whole reason the trip came together in the first place), so our stay there was brief and pre-planned. Unfortunately, I don’t really have any photos to share of St. Simon’s.

After St. Simon’s, and on Day 3 of the trip, we headed to the Okefenokee Swamp. Again, I unfortunately don’t have any photos to share, as carrying the camera with me is something I have to get used to. Suffice it to say that the swamp was an exciting experience, but getting there was even more exciting. Why? Well, the GPS routed us onto what appeared to be a dirt road. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a mud road, discovered only after we sank into the mud. We survived the road, but the bikes were covered in wet, caked on filth. We made a bee-line to a car wash at that point.

Day 4 of the trip took us to Providence Canyon State Park. I had never been here before, but after going, I highly recommend that people stop by and visit. It was really interesting to see the natural erosion that lead to the canyons.

Lisa was captivated as well, and I was able to sneak a photo of her (she doesn’t like her photo being taken).

Despite her dislike of her own photographs, I was able to convince her to sit still long enough for me to get a proper photo of her. Now it’s her turn to try and convince me to sit still long enough so she can get a photo of me… I don’t like my own photographs either.

This is what you walk along when exploring the canyons… a mostly dried up creek. When we first got off the trail leading to the canyons, I wasn’t quite sure what to do next. I didn’t want to walk along the creek, but it became clear that was exactly what we were supposed to do, as odd as it felt.

And this is the path that leads you to the canyons. This picture doesn’t quite do it justice… the path is steep. Going to the canyons is great as the path is all downhill. Leaving the canyons after being in the hot sun, wishing that you had brought a drink with you, however, means that you have to climb back up the path (now uphill all the way).

This trip was a turning point for me, as I discovered just how much I really enjoyed the multi-day trips on the motorcycle. I also discovered just how much I truly enjoy Lisa’s company, and can’t wait to take the next multi-day trip with her. Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that the Yamaha FJR-1300, while an amazing machine, isn’t the bike for me for these multi-day trips. So, you might want to keep an eye out for something to replace the bike in the near future…

This is a shot of the new Zumo 660 installed and ready to go. It replaced the TomTom Rider 2 I had purchased just a few weeks ago. It has better Mac support and route planning, although there is a bug (that has reportedly been fixed in BETA) that alters routes that are created on a computer.

I arrived at Buford Dam and left my pre-planned route to explore side streets. First, I found the visitor center, as seen above.

I left the visitor center and headed down another road where I found a parking area. From here, I was very close to the base of the dam.

A closer shot of the area just left of the bridge.

I went back out the road I came in on, and stopped to get a parting shot of the dam.

I then crossed the dam, and found another road to explore. This one led to another parking area with a picnic spot and boat ramp. You can just barely see the dam, and off to the right of the dam is the parking area where I took the previous pictures.

I stood on the boat ramp and got a shot of some people fishing in the waters controlled by the dam. There were actually quite a few people fishing, swimming, and one even jet skiing.

This is the dirt road I went down to get to the parking and picnic area above. It wasn’t too bad, but there were potholes everywhere. Each time I tried to avoid one, an oncoming car tried to avoid one too. Luckily, we were all creeping along, so it wasn’t any big deal.

From here, I continued around the dam and took back roads through small towns until I got home. I was testing my Zumo 660, new camera (Canon SD780IS), and my new Camelbak (not a lot of testing required for that one). All in all, everything worked well, I was comfortable, and the ride was enjoyable, even when I got rained on pretty heavily. The only complaint I had was that at one point, the Zumo 660 refused to accept that I had passed a waypoint, so it kept trying to reroute me to the “missed” waypoint. Very frustrating, but a good learning experience nevertheless.