My friend Pete and I set out on a five day road trip, returning to a place that I had missed and almost had forgotten. And now returning, nearly eight years later, running on those back roads to an old favorite spot - rolling by Florida's bygone citrus stands, Georgia's cotton fields, pecan groves and numerous peanut farms - we ran all the way north, to Georgia's Chattahoochee National Forest, where the Two Wheels Only Lodge (TWO) is set off beside a creek, at a crossroad, in tiny Suches, Georgia.
First night out, Alissa greeting me at the front desk. Super 8, Newnan, GA.
Pete in the motel parking lot, watching for "bats".
Me posing, and watching for more bats.
The following afternoon, we arrived in Suches, the "valley above the clouds", where Zeb & Peyton helped take care of most of my cigarette needs. Wolf Pen Gap Country Store, Suches GA.
Boiled and slowly steamed peanuts, cooking over a open fire. Suches, GA.
The lodge at TWO where conversation begins on the front porch. Suches, GA.
Inside the dining hall where the preferred motorbikes are advertised with old signage. TWO, Suches, GA.
The management crew in the kitchen - Skip & Mary, with their helper Libby, and two of Mary's daughters, Kianna and Kaniesha. They do it all - cook, clean and serve, and for the last two years - also built the cabins and chopped plenty of the needed fire wood. TWO, Suches, GA.
Our sweet little cabin for the two nights. TWO, Suches, GA.
The fire pit in the late evening was mostly motorcycle talk. But, the poor young woman I sat with for most of the evening, was in dreaded fear of a real Sasquatch after hearing a large animal's primal cry, which came up from behind the cabin, high, back up in the woods. TWO, Suches, GA.
Heading home - Pete outside talking with his wife on his cell and getting the results from the day's Redskin's game while on speaker phone. And me, nursing a sore shoulder with a hot shower. Best Western, Thomasville, GA.
