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!