Thursday, April 30, 2009

Norm! -an

Tivo has been "suggesting" Cheer's for me to view. And I am a sucker and did enjoy the show. As well as the name "Norm -an" meaning more to me as that is one of my father's names. No, I am not a test tube baby with multiple fathers. But I'm not explaining any more then that! ;-)

C, Mr. Oilburner, had Friday off for his compressed work schedule. As the day was GORG-E-OUS we were on the bikes. Of course it was also supposed to be the hottest day of the weekend. But I still think that Saturday won that distinction.

We didn't have any particular place in mind, but felt a good starting point would be Jefferson...where we left off when the bike started reeking. We hopped on the freeway and made it to Jefferson right quick.

I had come through here a couple days before, from the opposite direction, and liked the roads. So I navigated us up some of those roads and enjoyed the scenery. We stopped to fill the tanks at the main (and only) intersection of Ila, Ga.

As we staked out our little piece of sidewalk, I again received chit-chat from a few people. One lady stared at my bike as she walked past. Then asked if it was a Harley BMW mix of some sort. We cleared her up that the bike sitting next to it was a Harley, but this one was all BMW. Again...no one looked at Mr. Oilburner's Harley. :-)

Another gentlemen pulled up on his little Piaggio three wheeler. I've seen these on the road, but never really up close. So he joined us and we chatted for awhile. He rides this little thing as a commuter vehicle 60 miles one way a couple days a week.

After refreshments we headed off again. We decided to work our way down to Washington, Ga so Mr. Oilburner could check out Talk of the Town. But on the way we spied a little town by the name of Norman. We just had to go!!

On our way, we found ourselves in Elberton again. This time we quickly veered off to see the granite war memorial park we had missed before. This was an impressive little place considering where it was. The land was orignally deeded to the ladies of the Service Star Legion of Elbert County from Ora Eugene Tate in 1923. From 1923 thru 1984 the park was managed by those patriotic ladies of the Service Star Legion. Early development included a large landscaped raised star in the center with five walkways to each point, a tall flagpole placed in the center of the star, a planted magnolia tree honoring President Woodrow Wilson and oak trees placed around the perimeter honoring the soldiers of WWI. In 1984 the park was donated and deeded to Elbert County.


The oaks remain, but nothing else does. I would have enjoyed seeing it's original layout. There are many more memorials for the wars that have come since then. And each has their spot of interest.

Back on the road...and the gps again takes us down gravel roads. Feeling confident, I show Mr. Oilburner just how great I am, and continue on. He is duly impressed for the mile we are on gravel. We veer onto pavement for a couple hundred yards and again are told to take a dirt road for 3.4 miles. This road doesn't look quite so nice or well traveled. We look to the GPS' to find that if we stay on the paved portion we will be at the highway in 0.7 miles. No brainer!!

We finally arrive at a our small community that at least has a sign!! If not much else...


We have to stop and document this! And then head on our way to Washington. With the temps in the mid-80's we jump into the air-conditioning of the cafe. Hey, at least there isn't any humidity to speak of. That will come soon enough. And even with the temps Mr. Oilburner orders soup. But I sorta pushed him into it since the Roasted Red Pepper with Gouda sounded absolutely scrumptious! And it was.

I opted for the daily special Pork Tenderloin sammich. I am not normally a pork eatin' individual, but this was delicious!

Feeling fat and happy after the meal, we walked around the square a little and determined it was time to book it home. It was getting a little late and we had plans that night. We stopped over at the hotel coffee shop to get some "wake-me-up" juice. Then high-tailed it home without incident.

In all, it was 232 miles of beautiful weather and great scenery and fun.

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