The past 3 days I spent part of my vacation riding in the North Georgia mountains, motorcycle riding with 2 old high school friends, Lyle & Jimmy. We get our families together every summer and every Christmas holiday, and have long talked about doing a road trip together. We met up at Jimmy's house in Alpharetta Sunday at 2pm, then took country roads up the state to Hiawassee, up near the state line. Jimmy's dad has a mountaintop cottage there, and I definitely fell in love with Hiawassee. It is a beautiful mountain town, on the shores of Lake Chatuge, a beautiful mountain lake. I want to live there someday!
We got up Monday morning and took off, following tranquil, scenic country roads over mountains and through valleys. The weather was sunny, breezy, & cool- perfect riding conditions. I always love riding up in the mountains- it seems to untangle my mind & heart. I worship Christ while I ride- so much beauty to behold. We rode & rode & rode...
Then Lyle's bike broke down. Late in the day, on our way back to town for a supper break, the bike just died at a stop sign. Nothing we could do kept it running. We roll-started it down a couple of hills, pushed it across a parking lot in town, and finally got it up to the cottage, coughing and hacking all the way. We never got it started again. Bummer...
Tuesday we got up late, cooked breakfast, cleaned the place up, then packed for home. Sadly, we were going back one bike short- we had to leave Lyle's bike behind at the cottage. Lyle rode with Jimmy for the first half of the trip home, and with me the last half. Kinda awkward, but we had to get him home!
We stopped up at an overlook on Hwy.9, where the Appalachian Trail crossed the road, outside of Dahlonega. We walked some of the Trail, just to say we did, and found a wild apple tree near the parking lot. The apples were small & red, and delicious. We kept to the country roads all the way back to Jimmy's house, arriving by 7pm.
Although the ride was cut somewhat short by a broken bike, it was still worth the time spent with old friends.
The older we get, the busier our lives get, the more intentional we have to be about keeping our friendships strong. I'm glad Lyle, Jimmy & I have stayed close friends over the years. Any time we can get together is time well spent.