Nestled among the Great Smokey Mountains (actually hills by BC standards)in the most western extension of North Carolina, just across the Georgia state line is the small town of Murphy, our 13th night's stay on the road, population 1600. It is famous for a few things including the Appalachian town where the Atlanta Olympics bomber was arrested.
But to get here from Brunswick, Georgia, we headed west after getting to Savannah, got off the Interstate 16, and wound our way up roads only motorcycles love (with innumerable 25 mph corners, perfectly banked to allow leaning into the curve and accelerate coming out). Great fun and wonderful treed roads. Would love to do that piece again(Gainesville, Georgia to Murphy). Alas, we left behind a state we enjoyed (if you can enjoy a state going through it in one day stopping only for lunch, water and gas). The small towns like Madison, Georgia, boasted some of the prettiest tree-lined streets we had ever seen, most stately homes with white colonnades and well-kept yards. One puzzling feature was the abundance of Baptist churches; sometimes two next to each other and often marked by two signs at the road announcing "Antioch Baptist Church" and "Christian Baptist Church". I estimated, without exaggeration, that there were 10 Baptist churches for every other denomination. Battle of the Baptists I guess.
The local folk, when you get over the accents, are friendly and helpful (even if they don't always know their own area - like the self-proclaimed trucker who told us to take Route 19 when it was really 29 - Ah,the benefits of GPS). Apart from a few wrong turns (my fault but we saw some sights we would not have otherwise) we rode to Country & Western and took in a very green and litter free part of the country (not generally true elsewhere). We had started very late (I slept in) at 8 a.m., and arrived in Murphy at 5 pm, having traveled 687 km (412 miles) meaning we are nearly at a total of 10,000 kms (which we will likely reach on Day 15). As with every day, it has been a great day to ride (15 minutes of spattering rain - nothing serious). What a great experience!