Habitat for Humanity's Global Village

It was March 3rd and the forecast was cloudy with a high of 80. We were getting rain storms North of LaGrange so we decided to head South. The destination was the Habitat for Humanity's Global Village in Americus. I discovered this location through Roadside America which describes it as the Slum Theme Park.




With the warm outlook, I donned the half helmet and removed the liner from my jacket. When we left, it was in the low 60's, overcast and windy. It ended up being a much colder ride than expected. I got to use my new GPS for the second time and, once again, it was nice to relax and enjoy the ride without worrying about missing the next turn.




Our timing was perfect as there were two bus loads of school kids leaving as we were parking the bike. After a picnic lunch on the curb we went into the welcome center and saw a 10 minute video on the work of Habitat for Humanity. I was familiar with them and had previously visited a build in progress, but I did learn some things through the video - I hadn't realized that is was a global organization and they build houses across the world.








After the video, we went through a mock village showing an example of poverty housing, which made for the more interesting photo opportunities. Once through the village, they had examples of the various houses that they build in different countries across the globe. The various houses were customized for the various locations. One was on stilts, another was predominately outside, and the building materials were all different. The Roadside America website presented the village in a comic light, but it ended up being very well done and informative.














As we left, I told the GPS to take us home and we hit the road. At one point, we were directed down a side road that went from bad pavement to no pavement. I was getting concerned as we were in the middle of nowhere and the road was getting rougher and rougher. It eventually let led us to pavement and I was able to get some unexpected practice riding on dirt and rocks.




The trip took us over about 220 miles of roads and left us physically and emotionally relaxed. A good day and the second of ten planned trips for 2012.

The Museum of Wonder

In the beginning of last year, I wrote down 10 rides that I wanted to accomplish in 2011. This was both to prevent the night before dilemma of where to go and to encourage further exploration of Georgia and Alabama. In the end I was not able to cross off one of those rides. It was not a banner year for hogging any miles.

A new year brings the same goal, as well as a GPS to aid in navigating these trips. The weather was excellent this week and allowed me to cross off my first trip of 2012. Terence was home on leave, so he joined me on the experience.


I found our destination on Roadside America, which is one of the best places to locate those truly unique locations. I entered the address in the GPS for The Museum of Wonders in Seale Alabama. The default settings avoid all highways so we were able to cruise down the back roads and small towns of Alabama as we made our way South. It was so nice having the GPS and not having to worry about finding the next turn. I was able to relax and enjoy the ride - even when we hit a detour that sent us down forgotten roads.

When we got there we saw a mailbox and a long driveway that led somewhere way off the road. I stopped there and someone pulled up in a pick-up truck and asked if we needed anything. We mentioned the museum and he told us to follow him down the driveway. The person in the pickup was Butch, the curator of the museum. After we parked the bike, Butch unlocked a wooden structure designated as the museum. We went in to explore and he continued to work around his place.

The sun was right over the building and made for a rough picture

The museum far exceeded the high expectations that I had set after my Internet searches on the location. The building was packed, but not too crowded, with treasures. You could tell that he had spent a great deal of time on this labor of love. This place was truly awesome and had an atmosphere that was creepy, beautiful and comical.

Here are some of the shots I took there and later manipulated on the computer.

Upon leaving, I noticed that I had left my headlights one, which resulted in a dead battery. Butch pushed me down the hill and I was able to pop the clutch to get it going again. I had never done this before, so it was nice to learn a new trick.

I decided to take the main roads and interstate on the way home. The temperature had reached the low 70's and we thoroughly enjoyed some extraordinary January weather in Georgia.

Nashville

This was the last big trip of the year. The plan was to get up early, tour the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, see Nashville, visit with Kim, Tim & Kelly, and camp somewhere between here and there on the way back. I loaded up the saddle bags the night before and strapped my sleeping bag onto the rack behind the sissy bar. A loaded bike with a full tank and a sleeping bag had my spirit on road eight hours before my body was ready to follow.

A short stop along the way

I got up early and hit the road by six. It was dark out and the oncoming traffic made it impossible to see what was on the road beyond the next headlight. Roadkill is plentiful, so I was concerned that I’d hit something that the bike wouldn’t take kindly to. I did end up running through the center of a fresh armadillo, but the hard shell provided pretty good traction.

The sun was coming up by the time I entered Oxford Alabama an hour and a half into the ride. I was going to get a cup of coffee but was feeling good so I stopped at a gas station and put some air in the tires instead – they were low. After thawing out I removed the face mask and headed north.

Upon entering Tennessee, I felt a feeling of exhilaration and let out a victory yell. This was the farthest I’ve gone on the bike and everything was going perfect so far. Soon after, I got to the Jack Daniel’s distillery and got a number for the next tour. They had a nice museum that I went through while I waited for my tour. The guide took us through the various buildings used in the process and showed us some of the historical buildings on the grounds.

The distillery has special parking for motorcycles

The wood and location of the distilling process

Natural water used to make Jack

Jack Daniel and Me

The safe Jack kicked which led to his death

Things of note:

• The distillery is in a dry county
• All workers receive a free pint on the first Friday of the month (Good Friday)
• Jack Daniel died of gangrene after getting mad and kicking a safe in his office

After eating lunch, I headed out for lower Broadway in Nashville. I walked up and down the strip while I waited for Brother Tim & Kelly to arrive. I visited a brew house, saw the Charlie Daniels’ museum, and caught a couple songs at one of the numerous bars with live bands along the strip.

The Charlie Daniels Museum

Broadway during the day

At The Stage

Tim & I

We also met up with Kim in town and then went back to her house to catch up. I was finally able to meet her husband, Ron, before we headed back to Tim & Kelly’s at 12:30. The ride was about 45 minutes and I froze.

Broadway at night

Kim, the King & I

The next morning, Kelly made us pancakes and we had a nice time to hang out and talk about what is going on in our lives. Instead of stretching the trip out another day, I wanted to get home, so I left early and made a beeline for LaGrange. The drive was nice but turned to awesome once I got off the highway and cruised along the blue highways. By this time the day had warmed, the sun was out, the humidity was non-existent and I was almost home.

The rest area entering Georgia

I reached a new personal best for miles traveled in a single day. I rode 349 miles the first day and 249 the next for a total of 598 miles. Next year I’d like to take a trip down to Panama City, Fl.