After a couple hotel waffles, we were on the road while it was almost still too dark - the clear lens motorcycle glasses were in the saddle bag. It got light soon enough.
Temperatures were moderate, in the low 70's, compared to the last week and much lower humidity as well.
Once on the road, we made very good time. I-75 through Georgia is mostly three lanes so for only the second time I can remember, I set my cruise control and never took it off until a fuel stop 170-some miles later. The only other time I can remember doing this was in Wyoming.
After stopping for fuel between Macon and Atlanta, we continued through Atlanta. Timing was good, with the bulk of rush hour over, but traffic was still heavy. The HOV lanes through Atlanta helped immensely. Even though traffic was tolerable, there was less harassment in the HOV lanes. I was surprised at the level of abuse of the lanes though - especially given that traffic wasn't at capacity. Most drivers respect the treatment of HOV as a "separate" roadway, but many cars and even a truck crossed the double while lines. I don't know about Atlanta's enforcement of HOV lanes, but police in other areas of the country I've driven through have very little humor for this.
Once through Atlanta, we got off the interstate for a while. It was a nice break and allowed us to get an extremely good and quick lunch at Wes-Man's on US411. Wes-Man's is a small restaurant and I questioned why they have bags of water with pennies in them in front. The waitress said it was to keep flies away. I asked if it worked? Her answer, "No..."
After lunch we continued north on US411 for about an hour before making our way back to I-75. US411 was much more fun than the interstate, even if only for a short time.
Going through Knoxville was almost worse than Atlanta, but we made it through unscathed before stopping for the night in Caryville. If we hadn't made reservations, we may have continued on since the rain forecast was calling for the rain we would have ridden through if we had gone home by the coastal route to come west. I'm glad we didn't take the coastal route, and I hope we get out before it gets too wet. If not, tomorrow should be short enough.
We had to evict a couple stinkbugs from our hotel room, but it is that time of year. Dinner that night was about a mile walk down the road at a BBQ joint inside a nearby state park. The walk there included entertainment of the police giving a sobriety check to a man who looked doomed to failure.
The BBQ restaurant was fairly quiet when we got there, but filled very quickly with pensioners. They all seemed to know each other as well. We were on the extreme lower end of the age scale. The food and service were excellent.
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