Day Four

We had a great evening at Davidson River Campground. Friendly fellow campers offered us firewood, and with a little gas drained from the CB's carb, we lit a nice warm fire as the temperature started to fall. It got pleasantly cool, but at this lower elevation it was not chilly like last night and luckily there were no mosquitoes. We had picked up a roast chicken at the Ingles grocery in Brevard and warmed it on the grill over the campfire. The chicken was great and we ate almost all of it as we had forgotten to eat all day on the ride down, other than a couple pieces of jerky.

We checked Tim's tire before leaving this morning and found the bare spot growing. We were very cautious as we took off for Greenville and stopped occasionally to recheck the tire.

We back tracked a mile or two on US 64 west to US 276 which we took south into South Carolina. In Tim's truck last summer we had traveled the southern part of this road when we went up to Caesar's Head, and once we crossed the SC line today the twisty road we remembered was just the same, requiring third gear on the downhill grade curves.

Tire Check at Caesar's Head

Arriving at NC 11 (Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway) we turned east and had a pretty straight run all the way to US 25 south. NC 290 connected to 25 and we took it into Duncan, where Tim lives.

The riding was pretty straightforward today, other than the Caesar's Head area, which was good for the tire. When we arrived after a nerve-wracking ride, worrying about that tire all the way, we saw that the bare patch had grown from the initial 2 or 3 inches to about a foot! I don't think Tim will wait quite so long next time to change his tires!

Here are pictures of the tire from the first sign of the bare patch to arrival back at Tim's.

Bare Patch at First Appearance

MIdday Tire Check

Tire upon Arrival at Tim's

I will be out and on the road again tomorrow morning about 6 am. I plan to hop back up to the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway and head west to where it dumps out onto I-85 at the South Carolina border. It is a few miles out of the way but such a pretty road it will be worth the little sacrifice. Going back I think I will head back down Georgia through Athens and on US 441. I plan to stop in White Springs, FL, tomorrow for the night, making a fairly easy ride of just over 200 miles back to Lake Wales on Wednesday.

Road Dog

“Ride Your Own Ride.”