Home again, home again, jiggity jig

Last day on the road. The sky in Maine was as clear and blue - no sign of a cloud until Houlton - as I've ever seen a sky. Glorious. The temperature was 7ish - the same as the day before but I couldn't seem to get comfortable. I figure it was psychological, knowing I was so close to home and would be warm then.

Orono is about 10 miles from Bangor and has a nice little bike shop, 'Friend & Friend', that Mark wanted to check out. The photo is of me trying on a Stars & Stripes doo rag. ps - does this jacket make me look FAT?! Probably, it's the 5 layers I had on under it.

Arrived home around 3:30 with 6286.6 kms on the odo; 3906.4 miles for the non-canadian speaking readers. Speaking of which, I had intended to mention the bilingual signage in Maine. Coming into Maine from NH, some of the mileage signs are in miles AND kilometers! That's right neighbourly of you Maine-iacs ;-)

Thanks for riding along with us. It's too bad about the sketchy internet access. "Do you have WiFi?" was always the second question after "How much?" when we checked into motels. And I spent a fair amount of time at the Roxboro Public Library.

Regarding photos, I have them on my computer. Just have to do some editing for quality and quantity (started with around 500 photos) and get them to Smugmug. They'll be here: North Carolina by the weekend, I hope. This is a pretty full week for me.

Boiled peanuts: the missing link

Well, folks. Here's the missing post from last Sunday which was the end, really, of the NC riding.

So, I got my boiled peanuts on our way out of Cherokee..... yuck! They're mushy *lol*. Of course, they would be since they're boiled. Duh. Per Mark's night-before declaration, we did get a fairly early start - 0835h by the time we gassed up and got on the road, and, luckily, the cauldron was set up on Rte 441 on our way to the Parkway. We ordered up our peanuts and I was presented with this bag of piping hot peanuts that the nice man dipped out of the cauldron. I looked at the steaming peanuts, looked at Nancy & Mark and said “what am I going to do with these on the bike?!” At this point, the vendor clued in that I was a boiled-peanut noob so he asked “have you had boiled peanuts before?” . “No” I tell him. “Well, you’d better try them first - before you buy them.” Good idea. In the meantime, a guy - a regular customer - came up behind us and bought “my” bag. Apparently, I hadn’t given them much of a chance. Mark ate several of them and developed a bit of a taste for them.

Back on the road again. We hit the Parkway and rode almost 400 kilometres - in and out of fog, drizzle and sun. When we the hit the Parkway around 0900h, I thought “wow, this is great. The cagers are still in bed!” No cars. Mark let me go ahead so he and Nancy could just mosey along. I hadn't gone very far when I came up on an SUV which, very thoughtfully - and unlike a lot of 4-wheelers - pulled into the next lookout to let me go by. I was fortunate to go another 45 minutes before I came up behind another vehicle :-) (or any I had to follow for any length of time, if I recall correctly)

It was such a perfect morning - mist coming off the valley and sun shining through the mist and the trees. The light was wonderful. Leaves were dropping and wafting down over the road which was slightly damp from the previous night's rain or fog. I was watchful and there weren’t enough wet leaves on the road lanes to create a hazard. It’s hard to believe that there would a difference in colours over a few days but I think there was. And, oddly, it was patchy - lots of colour in some places, more muted colours in others; many trees without leaves in some places and still greenish in others. Elevation didn’t seem to make a difference. And elevation didn’t seem to make a difference to the fog either. There was no rhyme nor reason - not that I observed, anyway. We approached a tunnel at one point (there were lots of those, by the way!) - the mountain ridges were bathed in sun and colour; came out the other end of the tunnel and I couldn’t see a anything for fog!

What to tell you about Sunday’s ride? Or our 3 days of riding. Earlier in the day, we had stopped at a Visitor / Folk Art & Craft Centre for a rest room break. A woman, slightly older than I maybe, was painting tiny dolls at a table near the washrooms and I asked her if I could leave my jacket, helmet and tankbag on the floor behind her while I went to the washroom. Yes, of course I could. When I came back out and was thanking her, she never missed a beat - kept right on painting and told me, smiling, “there’s no better way to see the world than from a motorcycle.” Holy smokes! Hadn’t I said that very thing the day before?. She’d had a motorcycle for years and got rid of it when her children became old enough to express interest. Of course, I encouraged her to get back into it since, from the look on her face, she clearly had very fond memories of it.

For 3 days, I’ve wondered how to describe the vistas. Mountain ranges and ridges with barely a rock face showing and bathed in colour; some of it vibrant, some of it muted. Some of it very colourful, some of it already reduced to shades of ochre. Recall the multicolour shag carpet from the seventies and picture it like mounds of ....I don’t know.... forest moss. That’s what the miles and miles of mountain range look like. Today, at around 1600 metres, I came around a turn and fog settled in around the peaks seemed to meet the clouds. Where one stopped and the other began seemed indistinguishable. It was like coming down along Lake Superior from Wawa in June at dusk. With the quality of the light from the setting sun, I couldn’t distinguish sky from water. For the most part, the Parkway hugs the mountain side and there are trees on the slope side of the road. Most of the turns are “winding”, not really sweepers, and a good number of them are descending radius turns. The speed limit on the Parkway is 45 mph except for curves that are 35 mph, 25 mph or less. S-turn after s-turn after s-turn.... up and around, then down and around and back up and around. VERY rhythmic and fun! And looking from one ridge to the next, you can see through the road snaking along the mountain and through the foliage. I wasn’t very successful in capturing that particular photo.

JUST when I thought we’d seen it all and it couldn’t get any better .... the last few miles of our ride today on the Parkway were THE most spectacular we’d seen, and the now-familiar lump returned to my throat. We had come upon a view of fall foliage and rock face - kind of rare (the rock face, that is). There were many cars pulled over in the lookout with people milling about taking photographs. Mark pulled over to take what was probably his third photograph so, of course, I followed. As it turned out, I refer to this particular photo op as a “sucker punch". The BEST shots were a couple of miles up the road and I didn’t have my camera around my neck where it had resided since Thursday. I’d neglected to charge the battery Saturday night and when the drizzle got particularly heavy on Sunday, I tucked the camera away. Too bad.

All of a sudden we came around a turn and there was everything we’d seen - in bits and pieces for 3 days - all laid out before us. Instead of having to glance off to the side to see the mountain ranges - kind of difficult and dangerous in the circumstances - this vista was right in front of us. Mountain ranges bathed in every colour of yellow, brown, orange, red, green; the roadway widened and we rode over a viaduct. Looking across to the next ridge, we could see the Parkway climbing through the trees and once across the viaduct, we could look back and see the viaducgct running along the side of the mountain. The area was plugged full of cars and people walking, setting up tripods for photographs or just standing admiring the veritable splendor of the panorama before them. It’s a good thing I didn’t have my camera out amidst all of that as it would have been a mishap begging to happen. Plus, as I’ve said before, my little pocket camera couldn’t have done it justice.

So.... there you have it. We’re back in Timberlake, kicking back for a couple of days before heading north, enjoying what will likely be our last ride for 6 months. Oddly enough, we’re not seeing that many bikes around here. The Parkway and the mountains had lots of riders over the weekend but when Mark was down here around this same time a few years ago, at a bike dealer in Durham, he commented on the dearth of bikes in the area. He was told that people stop riding “for the winter” . HUH?! It’s perfect riding weather here right now. They need to live where WE do. Pussies.

A few housekeeping notes. I was going to remark the other day on how you have to love the ‘mericuns for the way they observe and celebrate all special events - pagan and otherwise. Right now, the vast majority of commercial establishments (hotels, shops, even the little service station in the woods at the end of the Cherohala) are all decorated with sheaves of wheat, pumpkins, scarecrows, potted mums. Very beautiful. You also have to love the CHEAP gas! I think the most we’ve paid is $2.80-something for a couple of tanks of premium gas for mountain riding. The regular gas been been right around $2.30. Which, in a quickie conversion, is between $0.60 and $0.70 per liter. Nice.

What I don’t love about the ‘mericuns is the absence of daytime running lights on their damned cars. Man, there were times in fog and drizzle in the mountains that a car would be almost alongside me before I saw it. Or a car would be running with park (!) lights on. Jeepers. Mark and both have new LED lights on our bikes and there aren’t many around. Ours are two of probably fewer than two dozen FJRs (there ARE other bikes, eg., BMWs) that have them. They’re manufactured in California and I first found out about them at CFR. They’re highly visible so it was very easy to spot each other in our mirrors. Between those, bright double headlights and my 4-way flashers in the particularly soupy stuff, I felt pretty confident about my visibility to oncmoing traffic. It’s my hind end that needs work now - if you get my drift ;-)

Final post coming right up.....

I've turned into a weenie

645 measly kms today. And, although we started out in a 2-degree temperature, we DID hit a balmy high of 8 degrees in Maine! The really good news is: not one drop of precipitation and I actually rode some of the way with my sun visor down. To our credit, after yesterday's 9 hours of misery - consistent drizzle, rain, snow and/or fog - we weren't in a big, fat hurry to get on the road this morning, so we didn't leave Danbury until 1005h.

We had looked at distances and gave ourselves a time budget based on possible poor road AND weather conditions, anticipating we'd make it at least to Portland or Augusta. As it turned out, we made serious tracks - with yours truly in the lead since Mark likes riding the speed limit (not that there's anything - much - wrong with that!). We reached Newport (just south of Bangor) in a little over 6.5 hours and about 600 kms. Compared to the 602 kms yesterday (VERY well done, actually, considerng the conditions) in some 9 hours. We had dinner in Newport and discussed the feasibility of staying in Bangor versus riding the remaining 150 miles in pitch black with nothing - and I mean NOTHING - but deer and moose to keep us company. There's not even traffic north of Bangor! The POS Zumo WAS successful in getting us to the Econo Lodge in Bangor where we got the last 2 rooms. Gentleman that he is, Mark took the room with 2 beds that cost 10 bucks more ;-) And as I write this, I'm thinking I may put on my bathing suit - that made the trip to NC but didn't see the light of day - and go for a dip. Hmmmm.....

The ride today. Well, there was ONE photo and you're looking at it - taken at our first GPCB (gas pee coffee break) north of Hartford. No photos yesterday, for obvious reasons. Although the scenery yesterday would have been stunning - the foliage colours on the hillsides along the highway reduced to many shades of ochre mixed in with the evergreens As we rode along 81 N, we could look to our right and see the mountain range that we'd ridden days before. Even the frosting of snow on the trees was lovely - kind of.....

The fall foliage in CT and farther north is past its peak and the trees are losing leaves now. Coming toward Bangor after dinner the sky was gorgeous. It actually reminded me of the sky the night Jim and I rode into Sault Ste Marie from Wawa - our 1205km day. I was awestruck then by the colours and cloud shapes. I knew that neither (my) camera nor words would have done it justice. Same as tonight. The sky was all shades of lavender, lilac and blue - with some pink and coral tossed in. All of this was in stark contrast to the greens, browns, yellows and oranges of the foliage - and the red tail lights of the traffic ahead of us. Who made the "rules" about what colours go together? We just have to look to Mother Nature to see what "goes together". That, by the way, is the same rationale I use for my own garden and ITS organization - or lack thereof ;-)

As usual, I think of LOTS of blog material while riding but when it comes to actually talking about it....well, I guess I get blogger's block.

ps - I didn't make it to the pool.

Well, I. got my boiled peanuts.....

....but you'll have to wait to find out about them. I wrote my usual long post on Sunday evening when we got back to Nancy's, intending to 'copy and paste' it into the Blog on Monday when I made my jaunt to the Rosboro Library. No dice. I have a 'trial version' of MS Word on this wee 'puter and, apparently, I've used up all my "trysies". Consequently, I couldn't access any of the functions I HAD been accessing - up until Sunday that is. Because of my sketchy internet access, I'd been writing my blog in MS Word, instead of Notepad. So, I couldn't 'copy and paste' nor could I save it to a memory card and transfer it into the blog. So... very soon after I get home, I'll transcribe it from THIS computer onto my laptop at home. Thanks for being patient. In the MEANtime, I'll bring you up to date.

Monday and Tuesday, we kicked back at Nancy's. Monday morning, Nancy and Mark had to make a run to the hardware store for more painting supplies (Nancy had started a painting project - living room and hall walls - that Mark kindly finished that for her - NICE guy that he is!) and we dropped Mark's bike off at the Suzuki joint for an oil change. They dropped me at the library - to post my blog (aargh!) and they ran their errands, picking me up when they were finished. We had lunch at the Cook Out, which is takeout only and has, allegedly, The Best Shakes. There were at least 500 shake flavours from which to choose ;-) I kept it simple and had the Hersey Chocolate; Nancy had Blueberry Cheesecake and Mark had Banana three Berry. We each had a hotdog - my first, and only, one this year. Nancy had cheese on hers; Mark and I had chili, which was good 'cause it masked the flavour of the hotdog! And we ate in the truck in the parking lot. Fun! You'll recall I mentioned that area as having a lot of churches? Our milkshake cups had "Psalms 118:65" printed on them. The takeout paper bags had Galations-something on them and a different Psalms verse. Good grief! OK - I have to add here, the lengths that Mark will go in order to buy lunch for his girls. Nancy was driving her Ford F150, I was in the middle (the booster seat) and Mark was in the regular passenger seat. Here's the scenario - appropriately embellished for story-telling value. He stretched his taut, muscular frame across me, across Nancy - his biceps rippling as he reached toward the clerk to hand her his $50 bill. And he HELD that position for the longest time - stretched across Nancy and me - to get his change. He must have been afraid that Nancy and I would split it ;-) And 'no', we didn't look up those Bible passages as soon as we got home. I geared up and rode back to the Libray for a couple of hours - in the rain and spent a couple of hours there. The pain of addiction....

We had dinner that night at the Golden Corral. I've told you how much Mark "appreciates" his buffet. He'd told me about the Golden Corral LONG before we got down here. It IS impressive but I'm not a buffet fan.

Tuesday was a perfect day. Sunny and 77 degrees! We drove into Durham and: went for a little walk through the Sarah Duke Memorial Gardens, then onto Duke University campus and a tour of Duke Chapel; went to Triangle Cycles (Yamaha et al) to shop for a bike for Nancy and a helmet for me; we got a spare MC key cut for me (remember, I bent mine); had lunch at the Streets of Southpoint Mall (VERY nice mall; too bad I'm not a shopper); and Nancy finished the afternoon by taking us through Chapel Hill and seeing UNC where she works. When we got home, I raced off to the Library for half an hour - before the cranky librarians turned out the lights on me, early (ie, before the 1800h closing time). Stopped at the Food Lion on the way home to pick up the ingredients for Nancy's apple tart - 'in kind' remuneration for Mark's painting services.

Wednesday was D (departure) Day. Grey, overcast and around 11 degrees when we left Nancy's at 1030h. Nancy's friend & neighbour, Sonia, stopped by on her way home from work (she's an oncology nurse) with bagels for breakfast. She and Nancy led us out to the highway - which was very helpful as there must be 47 roads in and out of the quasi-rural community of Timberlake. What a confusing place to drive around! Today was such a miserable ride, I can scarcely remember yesterday's. Suffice to say, the temperature dropped to 5 degrees and we were wet so we stopped earlier than we wanted - after 502 kms - at the Econo Lodge in Winchester - same place we stayed on the way down last week. Same chap, Mark, was on the registration desk. He's a pleasant guy and was very appreciative of our return visit. The weather forecast for today was less than stellar for a nice ride day so we set out at 0750h, which at least let us beat the rain that was impending in Windchester......

Which brings up to today. Damn. What a freaking miserable day, starting with my less than 2 hours of sleep last night. When we left Winchester, the temperature was 5 degrees. At 200km and 2 hours on the road, we stopped at a 'travel plaza' for gas. Mark had breakfast and I had coffee and a bowl of soup. The first hassle of the day was the requirement for a bloody postal code when using a credit card at the gas pumps. And it wouldn't accept 90210 ;-) (hey! the NYC subway system did when I got a subway pass). It had rained or drizzled the whole time, so by this time we were pretty well soaked. My gear was holding up quite well except my feet were chilly and my neck scarf was damp. Mark's gloves were goners. I took my boots off during our break and was ok for awhile once we got back on the road.

When we went back out, the temperature had dropped to 4 degrees. According to the weather forecast, the snow-rain showers forecast for Scranton - our turnoff point to head east - had changed to light rain. Not so. We went about 30 km when the temp dropped to 3, 2, 1 .... zero and we had hit snow. What a drag. We slowed down and just as I was wondering if the Feej's thermometer registers negative values, I got the answer to my question. It does. Minus 1. To borrow John Bliss's term, I'm a bit of a 'nothenarian' in the religious department so I wasn't all that optimistic that my brief prayer to keep us 'tards safe was going to work. But, here we are, holed up in Danbury, Connecticut, telling you about it.

I think we went only about 130 km before the next break. And we thought we were soaked before! We spent quite a bit of time at the Rest Area. I wouldn't take my helmet off since I didn't want to rearrange my neck gear. I took my jacket off - it was laden with water; the wind/waterproof layer is inside so the outside gets soaked. Same with the pants. I took my boots off and held them under the hand-blowdryer to warm them up! (I did that at least 2 more times before we pulled off the road for the day). And every time I took my gloves off, I had to be really careful to have my hands dry before I put them back inside the gloves. Kind of hard to do since my jacket and cuffs were so wet. Struggling into the gloves and getting them tucked inside the sleeve and the sleeve cinched was a sight it inself. Because I have heated grips on my bike, I was thinking that my gloves were staying dry because my hands weren't cold. But at the last couple of stops when I had to take my gloves off, my fingers were WHITE and puckered - and feeling pretty tender. So not so dry after all, but not cold - until the very end.

Our gas stop in New Jersey was a little prolonged as we ministered to our wet and cold gear and body parts. I had to laugh when I 'clumped' out of the washroom after heating my boots under the hand blower and my gear was so wet. There was a young lad (20s I'd guess) at the cash; he watched me moving toward him and this big grin came over his face as he gave me a 'thumb up'. I chuckled and assured him this was NOT a fun ride :-). I say 'clumped' because I felt as though I was walking like Frankenstein. Or Ralphie in A Christmas Story - when he got dressed in his snowsuit and couldn't move his arms. I was wearing: my hundred-day shirt, my CFR (rally) shirt, a lightweight cotton sweater, a long-sleeved t-shirt and the fleece liner to my suit. Bottoms: Janet G's bicycle shorts (the padding really helped; recall the little problem I had with my saddle coming home from CfR!) and my jeans under my riding pants! And big wool socks in my boots. Note to self: "get a freaking heated vest!"!

Our objective was to get to Hartford, which is an hour from here. Couldn't do it. It had started to snow again and this time I couldn't keep it off my helmet shield. Previously, slush would build up on my windshield and every once in awhile, a piece of it would slide off and smack into my shield on the way by. But after our last stop, the snow kept building up on my helmet shield and the shield kept fogging up so I had to keep cracking it open which let in lots of cold air and snow/sleet. Wiping the snow every 30-45 seconds kept my hand off the grip and then I found out how wet and cold my hand was. LONG story short.... the temperature was back down to zero and 1 (the highest it had gotten was 2), and by the time we decided on the Super 8 motel in Danbury, my left hand was hardly working and the traffic was 'stop and go' - like first gear, creep along - in the cold and snow and with my left (clutch) hand barely working. I was in pretty pitiful shape. All that said, our ETA at home has been delayed to Saturday afternoon versus Friday evening.

for those of you who know me and may even love me ;-), a bit of a postscript about our rooms at the Super 8. At the visitors Center 4 kms back on the highway, I picked up one of those Tourist Coupon Books and Danbury-area hotels were on the first page. The Super 8 rate was $59.95 and it included wireless internet. Great! There were hardly any cars in the yard when we got here - no thanks to that POS Zumo which had us turn left when we should have turned right - yet the ESL (english second language) lad at the registration desk SEEMED to be telling me that "all those special-rate rooms were gone". I say "seemed" because I couldn't really make out what, exactly, he was saying between HIS language, MY earplugs and the sound of the waterfall coming off my gear. Now, you know I was not going to buy this. I hadn't noticed any such limitations on the coupon so I just stood there - looking at him - as I gathered my wits in anticipation of possibly needing to 'have a word' with him. Mark, the peacekeeper, was still outside so it was just "me and buddy" in the standoff . Luckily, he caved before I could open my mouth and we got the $59.95 rate, just as Mark came through the door.

So.... stay tuned for the last ride post that I'll transcribe maybe Sunday, when I get home from work (yup, I picked up a shift while I was away). And I'll also post the Smugmug gallery url when I get it set up.

Cheers for now!

I'm getting kind of tired .....

…. of breathtaking scenery and ridin’ the twisties. NOT!!!! Good grief! Is there no end to this craziness?! Quick post for today – Saturday. It’s after midnight now and Mark’s declared tomorrow an an early start. I, however, am not leaving Cherokee without scoring some boiled peanuts...

Our starts are getting later and later. It was a few minutes after 10 when we rolled out of the Princess parking lot this morning. We headed west and south for the Cherohala Skyway. Another fabulous route through the Appalachian Mountains – allegedly VERY beautiful (according to my ‘wing-riding friend from the Princess last night) but, for the most part, I had only his word for it ‘cause it was so stinking foggy! Or drizzly. Very damp anyway. There was no breakfast for our $50 at the Princess so we hit the road for Tellico Plains where we would have lunch and get onto the Cherohala Skyway. After, of course, some shopping at the Cherohala Skyway Visitor Centre where I got Dragon t-shirt (they were more tasteful than the ones at Deal’s Gap).

I’ve already mentioned the Cherohala. From the Cherohala, we went back up route 129 back to Deal’s Gap to ride route 28 South aka “Bucksaw” . I THINK that’s what my ‘wing/Princess friend called it. Every bit as nice as the Dragon – as were a couple of little routes we did. The thing is, the Dragon gets all the hype – perhaps because it’s “318 curves in 11 miles” but it’s technically no more challenging than a few roads we’ve been on. Route 28 , I’ve also mentioned – twisty route through forest and along a river. Well worth the ride if you’re in the area. A word about Deal’s Gap. There was LOTS of activity there today compared to after 5:30 or 6pm when we were there on Friday. While Mark shopped some more, I struck up conversation with some Harley doods (you’ll notice, I don’t call them Hardlys now after meeting all those nice HD guys on the BC ferries; they’re ok guys – just have poor taste in their choice of rides). These guys were neat: 2 were brothers – one had been riding for years and was on a Sportster he’d won in a golf tournament for getting a hole-in-one; his brother, a divorce attorney making a LOT of doh-ray-me, had very little experience and was quite nervous about the Dragon. I, a rider with relatively little experience (except I’ve put on a little over 21 000 kilometers so far this year!), gave him some pointers and assured him he’d be fine ;-). The third guy started riding only after he retired. The point of my story is…. when the lawyer found out I’m from Canada, he ripped open his jacket and said “check this out!” He was wearing a Tragically Hip t-shirt and was pleased as punch to be showing it off to a couple of Canucks. He said he was taking his 9-year old son to a Hip concert in Syracuse and his wife “is pissed about it” – grinning all the time he was telling us about it. In the meantime, Nancy had joined us and they talked about Hip and Great Big Sea concerts. “Bill” (we exchanged names for Facebook) handed his brother his cell phone and insisted he get a photo of us – his new Hip buddies – for his Facebook page. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’m not particularly a Hip fan ;-)

Fast forward because it’s 0045h ! We made it to Cherokee around 5:45 and attempted to cross Smoky Mountains National Park to Gatlinburg TN but …. there was a LOT of cage traffic, it got foggy and cool at the peak AND my bike was ‘chugging’ again on the climb up the mountain. Mark and I have been refueling at the same time and getting the same gas so I don’t know what the problem is. The ride was somewhat of a “been there, done that” so we turned back to Cherokee to find a room for the night. Regarding the boiled peanuts, Nancy told me I HAVE to try the boiled peanuts which are a specialty of this particular area. So, although Mark has declared an early start, we can’t go before Buddy gets his cauldron fired up. Hwy 441 enroute to the Smokey Mountains is a real ‘tourist strip’ with motel, craft and souvenir shops, restaurants and general kitsch. We had passed Buddy and his peanuts cauldron on this road. It’s also the access to the Blue Ridge Parkway - WHICH we’re riding AGAIN tomorrow on our way to Boone and then back to Nancy’s in Timberlake. Ho-hum. Er… I mean… yahoo!

Dragon Day! 443 kms

We got kind of a late start Friday from Lenoir. The sky was dark and threatening but there were slivers of light in the west – our destination. We left our rooms and headed for the lobby for our ‘continental breakfast’. JUST sat down and it started to POUR! Thankfully, it was shortlived and we were on the road a few minutes after 9. Our route was Hwy 64 – very picturesque until we hit Lake Lure, where “Dirty Dancing” was filmed and the scenery became unparalleled. I’ve said it before… it’s my story and I’m sticking to it. EVERY locale has its own unique beauty. Hell, even New Brunswick is wonderfully scenic if all you’re used to is mountains or ocean or interstate. Lake Lure is surrounded by mountains, there’s a lake and a lovely little beach with a boardwalk right in the town, and there’s the equivalent of maybe two city blocks of quaint little shops. Add a big spa hotel, romantic little cottages along the river or stream (not sure which!) and some B&Bs – and it’s definitely a place I could revisit.

It’s just past Lake Lure where we missed the turnoff that would have kept us on highway 64. Rather, we ended up on a short distance of wonderful twisties. Behind a big, freaking tour bus with Alaska plates! Damn. But that’s ok. We were, after all, headed for the Tail of the Dragon with its 318 curves in 11 miles. Plus, we rode another section of the Blue Ridge Parkway during our quest for the Dragon.

There were many pit stops Friday and they all involved checking the map and the Zumo and adjusting our route . Here’s an FYI (for your information) regarding the route to Deal’s Gap (which you likely won’t find on your GPS) …. find “Robbinsville” on your map and take EITHER route 28 (from 74 directly to Deal’s Gap ) or 129 North from Robbinsville. Route 28 is another twisty road through woods and part of it along a river. The Fontana Dam is on this route.

I’m writing this on Saturday night and I’m writing rather frantically. I had no internet connection last night at the Princess Motel in Maryville, Tennessee, and tonight – in Cherokee, NC – I have no internet connection in my room. Which means writing this in Word and going to the lobby to post it. But, again, I digress….
The rain yesterday morning stopped as suddenly as it started and it didn’t rain again. The temperature went from 16 to 26 (and back down to around 13 when we hit the peak of the Parkway in cold fog). It was a perfect day and, between the jigs and the reels, we finally arrived at Deal’s Gap around 5:30 or something to 6. We (I) got psyched, got something to drink, took some photos, Mark and I picked up some Dragon paraphernalia (most notably, a pin for my Yamaha ball cap which also sports ‘BC’ and ‘Katahdin’ pins) and we geared up. I was a little concerned as I hadn’t had much sleep the night before and I wanted to be on top of my game.
The road leading up to Deal’s Gap had its own twisties (switchbacks) and I did ok o those but I figured the Dragon was going to be 11 miles of the same. Not so. I was careful to choose my line and keep it for each curve and kept my speed down – to speed limit; sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. The key was to keep my speed adjusted so I didn’t have to brake a lot. Apparently, the Tail of the Dragon has a healthy representation of LEOs (law enforcement officers) but the only one WE saw during our run after 6pm was the one – along with the 2 ambulances – who respon ded to the crash that we came across about a half mile into the ride. Some kind of sport bike – the bike was lying on the side of the road, there were a couple of vehicles parked and people were peering over the embankment. I didn’t look too closely – kept my eyes on the road and, seeing people already there, I kept on going. Oddly, as I write this, I wonder now if I should have stopped since Nancy and I are both nurses. Hmmmm…. As a postscript to this particular story, we were back at Deal’s Gap this afternoon and I inquired about this accident. Apparently, a car – travelling the same direction as the MC, was veering left to pull over (to let the MC pass?) and the MC, attempting to pass the car, collided with it. Both at fault. The MCist was airlifted out and we don’t know the extent of the injuries. For some reason, the motel where we landed for the night had newspaper clippings about each death that occurred on the Dragon this year. Five of them to date – the last guy being a chap from Lenoir where we’d spent Thursday night.

We came off the Dragon at dusk along a gorgeous river or lake (I’ll have to check a map and get a better idea of the geography here) with a heavy mist or fog coming off it. It was spooky and beautiful at the same time. It got dark pretty fast and we had no notion of where we were going to spend the night. It’s a good thing it was dark (and I mean DARK in the country) because at dusk, I felt as though we might have been riding through the set of Deliverance. Trailers with lots of trash and broken down vehicles. Meanwhile, there’s a huge lightening show going on to the northwest of us – we were riding toward it. We finally stopped at a service station where I checked Zumo and Mark consulted with the locals ‘hangin’ out’ (men, women and a small child!) on chairs in the service station yard. He got directions to the Princess Motel which I found in Zumo and also got word of a tornado warning for Monro County – the next county over. Great.

We got to the Princess as directed - $50 taxes in; no internet and, well, the towels were kind of thin. But you can’t beat that price (which sure as hell trumps the $119.69 – cash, all discounts and taxes in – rate we’re paying tonight in Cherokee). Plus, we met some nice MCists from Florida and Maryland (I think). One of the guys had been carrying a Canadian penny around intending to spend it in Niagara but he didn’t get there so he wanted to return the penny to “its rightful owner” . Which, apparently, was me and he actually had to root around in his wallet to find it! My new lucky penny. The gal at the registration desk had told us we could put our bikes up on the ‘verandah’ (I think that’s what she called it; it was the sidewalk) under the eaves, in case of rain. As it turned out, it started to rain within minutes of our parking. We hadn’t originally put our bikes on the sidewalk but we quickly did. And the other guys got the hang of it some time later so that, finally, ALL the bikes were on the sidewalk! Which wasn’t a big deal since there weren’t a lot of other patrons there last night. The tornado, by the way, didn’t materialize nor did the rain that was forecast for today. We did hit a drizzle or heavy fog on the Cherohala Skyway but no rain. A final note about the Princess. The photo today ? I think I mentioned ‘bible belt’ one time this week. The bible on the table in Room 19 – MY room, which I chose because my birthday is January 19th - was open to Psalms 41-45.

To finish up Friday’s post….once again, I was overwhelmed on Friday by my good fortune to be healthy and fit, and to have the opportunity to see parts of the world that are, in my not-so-humble opinion, best seen from a motorcycle. As I ride these amazing mountain highways, I can’t imagine travelling the same routes in a car. There’s absolutely no feeling quite like rolling through the curves, looking out over miles of mountain ranges in all their fall glory, feeling the cool mountain air rushing in around my helmet visor , and riding through mountain tunnels and beneath canopies of foliage. It’s like watching a 3-D movie except better because I’m actually IN It. And experiencing all the senses that are missing from a movie. As I type this, it’s more obvious that my hands are a bit stiff from the grips; and the blisters on my throttle hand have turned to calluses. My hair’s a mess most of the time from my helmet especially since I’m growing my hair out (which is why I prefer my very short haircuts! But that’s why I keep my ball cap in my tankbag). And it’s hard to actually do ‘touristy’ things lugging a helmet and tankbag, and wearing MC clothes. But the bike gives a rush that just canNOT be had on four wheels.

Time to tell you about today’s ride…..(with my apology for any and all typographical errors you may have found within. It’s late and I’m tired of this ‘no internet’ business!)

Short ride today! 321 kms

Mark loves his buffet! As do most of the patrons in "AJ's". Problem is, they enjoy it TOO much. Good grief - some of them overflow the chairs. And that's all I'll say about that.

We had a late start today. I took a run into the library in Roxboro to make my blog post and Nancy had to go to Roxboro for doggy food. She then had to make arrangements for someone to look in on the dogs and horses. Between the jigs and the reels, we didn't get away until 1230h. Beautiful day - sunny and 22 degrees. Great riding weather. Too bad the scenery was so uninspiring! Hwy 64 all the way to Lenoir - except for the little bit when we zigged when we should have zagged.

I think the community on the way into Lenoir is called Oakhill. That's when the scenery changed to 2-lane highway, lush foliage, beautiful 'estate' properties and finally, a view of mountain ranges.

The weather forecsat is for rain beginning tomorrow evening so we're planning to get to Deal's Gap and the Tail of the Dragon tomorrow afternoon. Mark has ridden "the Dragon" twice already. His plan for me is: he and Nancy will wait in the parking lot while I ride it alone - it's only 11 miles long. And then we'll both / all ride it on our way to Tennessee. I don't know the rationale for me riding it alone once but there you have it!