Nov. 1 – I’ll take the meat and three – and turn up the heat!

A new month! Time is flying by so quickly…..today I crossed the border into my tenth and final state – Georgia. However, Just like my crossing into Missouri – there was NO SIGN welcoming me. I had this feeling that I had crossed the border, so I asked Siri where I was and she confirmed it. Oh well. It was tough to get going this morning as it was cold – below freezing when I first woke up at 6. As you can imagine, I was not very motivated to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag and tent. I had a work conference call at 10, so I waited until 9 or so to get up and moving, made a quick breakfast and coffee and packed things up. We finished the call around 11 and to my dismay it was still in the low 40’s. I had all my layers on and my hands were numb as I headed out of Chattanooga with my sights set on Calhoun, GA. It was more than 60 miles, so with my late start I didn’t have much spare time, and stopping meant getting cold – so I just kept pedaling. I rode through Ringgold, GA around 1:30, and since my tummy was rumbling I stopped at Aunt Eppies Country Cooking for a meat and three lunch. That is a traditional southern lunch where you pick your meat dish (I picked chicken and dumplings) , then then you pick three sides ( white beans, turnip greens, fried okra) and finally chose your bread (cornbread). Wash it all down with some sweet tea and you can ride your bike all day!

I made one other quick stop at a Dollar General to buy some gloves in preparation for tomorrow morning. But except for potty and water stops I just kept pedaling. I cut it close, but right at sunset I pulled into my resting place – The Quality Inn at North Calhoun. No camping tonight and a hot shower never felt so good! Tomorrow I will ride to my friend Bob Pierson’s home in Atlanta. It is a 60 mile ride and Bob is meeting me halfway through so we can ride together to his home. It is going to be a fun day!