7:30am, the VTX is loaded and I am ready to roll.. The temperature is 56 degrees, and the fog is so thick visibility is about a 1/4 of a mile. Travel is slow as I head south on rt.11 but it is a nice ride. Three hours of riding and I pull into Fort Payne Alabama, by now the fog has lifted and the temp is climbing. 86 degrees,,a 30 degree swing in 3 hours. A short stop to change to some more summer friendly gear , off with the full face helmet and grab the shorty,,take off the tour master and grab a lighter jacket and I am ready to go. A short ride down the road I decide to alter my route, down to Gadsden, then 431 to Anniston. There I pick up Route 78, Rolling along I cross a steel truss bridge over the Coosa river. With breakfast wearing thin I decide to stop here for lunch, I pull onto a side road by the bridge and park the bike. I open the cooler, time to fix a couple of Ham and cheese sandwiches , grab the chips and a diet Pepsi and set under a tree to watch the boats on the Coosa river. A young couple fish off the bank about 30 yards to my left, I walk over " having any luck?" ,,na, aint nuthin biten round here today, jus to dang hot,,,amen to that. We chat for a couple of minutes and I figure it's time to roll, "well good luck, catch a big one" ,,hey we'll try, and you be safe on your trip.
2pm I pull into the parking lot of the hotel in Leeds Alabama, there is Dad,,waiting on me. He has already been by the museum, and they are open. The plan was to go there tomorrow morning, but going today will put me ahead and that will help on the trip. Bikes bikes and more bikes, of all of the museum's I have been to this one has more to see than any of the other's. They also have a track, and that weekend there was a vintage car race going on,,so we had double the treat. We wonder around the museum for a few hours, and watch some of the cars on the track. A quick walk through the gift shop and it's back to the hotel, time to clean up for dinner. We found a nice steak house down the road, wish I would have written the name of the place down,but it was a good meal and a great end to the day. Dad and I do not get to see much of each other, me in Ohio and him in Tennessee, but this has been a good day and I enjoyed seeing him. Back at the hotel we chat for a bit, but are both tired so it's an early night.
