HELEN GEORGIA MOTORCYCLE RALLY RECAP

Both Jorge and I had a wonderful time in Helen.

It was great seeing our Indiana riding friends.

The last day of the rally was Thursday 

and Jorge and I stayed till Saturday.

He and I went out on Friday afternoon and

did some more riding on the curvy roads.

Yes, I got nervous at first, but I knew that I could do it.

I'm so glad I did.

I am so glad that Jorge did get the opportunity

to go ride the curves with friends.

The two guys he went with challenged him.

The same way he challenged me when he and I went out.

Saturday, he and I made our way home early in the morning.

We had to make many stops because it was so hot

and we were both getting dehydrated.

The temperature on our way home was 95

with a heat index of 103.

We got home and just jumped in the pool.

Boy did that ever felt good!

Our reservations are made for next year.

Overall, it was a great few days of riding.

 Jorge, Mark, and Rich riding and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

 The day that Jorge and I went on our own.

The scenery was beautiful!

I could really get use to riding on these roads

and getting more practice.

Jorge was ahead of me and he sped off so that he could

take a picture of me coming out a tight curve.

The only bad thing that happened to our bikes

was with mine.  The brand new right saddlebag plopped open.

The latch does not align and won't close.

FLORIDA GARDENING - BOUGAINVILLEA

For a very long time, I have loved bougainvilleas.

But because I used to live in Indiana,

I could not have them grow outside.

But that has all changed now that I live in Florida.

I love the many colors that it has and how

thick the flowers can be.

So today I decided that it was time

for me to go and purchase them.

Off to Lowe's I went.

I found two in the dark pink color that I fell in love with.

Bought two and brought them home.

I learned that the name comes from Louis Antoine de Bougainville, 

a French navigator and military commander who was the first

European to take note of the plant, in Brazil, in 1768.

The Bougainvillea is a tropical and subtropical woody, evergreen, shrubby vine.

The true, perfect flowers are small, tubular, and surrounded

by showy, colorful petaloid bracts.

They grow best in full sun.

Strong light is required for good flowering.

They can tolerate hot dry locations, 

 First thing was to clear the area.

I dug out several roses that I thought

would come back to life with my care.

But that wasn't the case.

 The two Bougainvilleas that I bought.

They both had trellises already in the pots.

They were very easy to plant.

Watered the plants and then added a bag of black mulch.

Now to enjoy and water once a week.

HELEN GEORGIA MOTORCYCLE RALLY DAY THREE

Our day started nice by having breakfast with our friends from Indiana.

Afterwards, Jorge and I with another couple and two guys

went off on a ride so that she and I could get experience

on very curvy and twisty roads that included

a couple of switchback roads.

I will be very honest that I was very nervous.

We did tell the two guys with us that the ladies

were going to set the pace.

I am very happy to say that I did the curves and twisty roads

well and did not go around them at 10 MP!

At one of the curves I scraped by right boot!

At the end of the ride, Jorge said I did well for being my first time.

One of the other guys told me the same thing.

Their comments really made me happy.

I saw that the more we got into the ride,

the less scared I got doing the curves.

I know that I'll need to do more of those types of roads.

At the end of the day, there was a bike show.

I decided to put my bike in the show.

I did not win my category but that's okay.

I still had a good time.

What I didn't realize how much of a hit

my bike was among the ladies there.

Jorge was listening in on their comments.

There was a couple on their honeymoon!

Breakfast at a German bakery.

The food was delicious!

After a nice day of riding, lunch was on the agenda.

I wonder if I could put that on the windshield of both our cars.

My bike was a hit with the ladies.

Several actually sat on it after they asked my permission.

The day ended with a banquet and the announcement
of next year's rally which will be held at
Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.
We've already made our reservations.

HELEN GEORGIA MOTORCYCLE RALLY DAY TWO

Started our day off with having breakfast

at Huddle House with our friends from Indiana.

It was so great to see them.

After breakfast, Jorge and two other guys went out riding

and I went with Laurie to walk the town of Helen

and we did shopping.  There are a lot of nice shops.

The architecture is definitely Bavarian.

 This candy shop was fantastic.

I bought pecan brittle and it was so delicious.

Jorge and I loved it!

There are two companies that do tubing down this waterway.

One of the bikes that I saw that had custom paint.

 Laurie and I found a Dutch shop.
I fell in love with all the things they had.
I had to use self-control and buy the many things I saw.

 The rally had scheduled a time for the ladies
to get to know how to take care of their
own motorcycles.  Jen did such a great job.
I came out of it knowing more than I did before.

 I rode this bike in the 2014 rally.
It was a lot of fun riding in the side car.

We all ended the day with ice cream.
Perfect way to end a great day.

HELEN, GEORGIA MOTORCYCLE RALLY DAY ONE

Jorge and I are on the road to Helen, Georgia

for the Kawasaki Concurs Owners Group

National Rally in Helen, Georgia.

He and I went to our first rally two years ago

in Johnson City, Tennessee.  

We had so much fun that we wanted to do it again.

Unfortunately, we didn't make to last years rally

because we were in the process of moving to Florida.

Since this year's is near where we live,

we decided that we needed to come.

We both decided that we did not want to go on the highway,

and also we had no desire to ride through Atlanta.

We start our journey north and things were going well.

I don't remember how many hours we were in riding

in Georgia when Jorge noticed that my right

saddlebag had opened up.

I was thankful that I had not lost anything.

These were new bags and Jorge and I

saw that the latch on the back was not aligned right.

Thankfully, Jorge had bungee cords and that's what we used.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful in Florida and Georgia.

I really wish that I had a GoPro to automatically take pictures.

The weather was warm and sunny.  We both made

several stops so that we could rehydrate.

When we finally made it to Helen,

we both were tired, hot, sticky and thirsty.

I'm happy to say that I was able to

ride my bike in some very curvy roads.

I am looking forward to the rest of the week

Me with my new motorcycle - Kawasaki Vulcan S with ABS

and Jorge with his C10 Kawasaki Concurs 

My right saddlebag secure now with the bungee cord.

SUNDAY RIDE AND EAT

Today was a beautiful and sunny day here in Florida.

Jorge and I rode our motorcycles to church and afterwards,

we decided to explore the northeast part of Jacksonville.

We went to Amelia Island. What a beautiful place.

Because we were on the motorcycles,

I was not able to take pictures of the beautiful old houses that we saw.

Thanks to Google, I can share them here.

This is one of the houses that I fell in love with.

Jorge and I are going to definitely have to come back and spend more time here.

The last time I was on a ferry I got horribly seasick.

A severe thunderstorm caught up to us and we were

going back and forth and I was turning every shade of green.

This ferry ride was so much better.

No storms and it was sunny and smooth sailing.

At the end of the ride, we were greeted by pelicans.

Once we were on the other side of the St. John's River,

We were in Mayport, Florida.

We learned that Mayport is known for its delicious shrimp.

We definitely need to come back and try some.

This also serves as a naval base.

From the road, Jorge and I could see a carrier.

We have no idea what its name is.

This picture I took from Google.

There is so much to explore here in Florida

and Jorge and I plan on doing a lot more

field trips and learn more about this area.

FLORIDA GARDENING

Since Jorge and I are now living in Florida,

gardening here is very different than what it was back in Indiana.

When we moved to our house last August,

I already knew there were things I wanted to do in the yard.

For one thing, the property has WAY TOO MANY bushes.

I didn't want to pull any out last year because I didn't know what they were.

So I waited till now and found out what several of them are.

After making inventory of the bushes and what I have

I came up with a plan.

So far I have removed eight bushes.

Today's bush was the hardest one to take out.

It took me almost an hour to dig it out.

The bush I took out was a Japanese Boxwood.

It was right next to the house in the back.

The Elephant Palm I pulled out last year.

The Japanese Boxwood is to the right of the palm.

During all of the work, I found poison ivy.

Thankfully it did not touch my skin.

 It took me almost an hour and drinking a lot of

water but I finally dug out the bush.

 I put edging all around

 I also planted grass seed.

I had to add soil because since this is Florida,

there is a lot of sand.

 I went to Lowes and bought 20 bags black mulch.

I did have a young man load it all up in the Suburban.

I should have brought him with me to help me unload it all.

Three pots filled with flowers.

 Landscape fiber down and now the black mulch.

I'm very tired but very happy with the results.

I will need to go back and buy more potted flowers.

I'm learning new things about gardening in Florida.