Route for the day - Heading east from home through Dallas and Texarkana and stopping for the night in Little Rock
Finally the day came to head out for our next big adventure. There are roads in North Carolina and the eastern corner of Tennessee that are considered the best in the country for motorcycle riding. Among them are the Tail of the Dragon, which boasts 318 turns in only 11 miles. Woohoo! Also the Cherohala Skyway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Rattler, the Diamondback and I'm sure several more that we don't even know about yet. For those of you who would like to know the trick of traveling down interstate 35 from our house toward downtown Fort Worth, here it is! Do it at 4:45 in the morning. Smooth as butter!
A pretty uneventful day of interstate riding, which is not very fun but a necessary evil in order to get to the good spots if you live in the Metroplex. Seems like it takes forever to get out of Texas for the primo riding places. Even going to ride the Twisted Sisters in the Texas hill country takes several hours of riding just to get there. But worth it!
After getting up at four in the morning and riding to Little Rock, we both collapsed onto the bed for a nap in the afternoon.
Day 2, June 11
Route for the day - Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville and stopping Cookeville, Tenn. for the night
So nice to sleep in until 6 am. Lol! Prettier scenery today. And we went through Memphis, which meant crossing the mighty Mississippi River. I love the Mississippi. So majestic! I can't count the number of times I have crossed it and it always makes my heart swell. I love the history, the antebellum homes that still grace it's banks in some areas, the songs about it and the stories about it. Much of Tennessee brought more huge rivers that I didn't really know about. And some smaller ones that had sweet scenes of canoes with fishermen, if I dared to steal a glance as we sped over the bridge.
Hot day! Mostly in the mid 90's along with humidity. Yuck! We stopped really often to stay hydrated and even came across a local HOG group out for a day ride. Had a nice little visit with them.
Trees! Beautiful, huge trees along both sides of the road made for a really pleasant ride. Trees do such a wonderful job of cleaning the air, leaving the sky a beautiful blue instead of the rather dull color that we often see in the larger cities. So sad to me that humans have destroyed so many of these majestic plants that do so much good work for our planet. Jim and I always feel so fortunate to have traveled to so many places and have seen some of the beautiful parts of this country. Still lots of places on our list though.
Note to George: Jim wants you to know that he is riding lead for most of this trip. Actually, I'm having him stay in front so he can keep up. Wink-wink! Hahaha! The real truth is that he is in charge of the navigation and I don't want to listen to her!
Day 3, June 12
We rode from Cookeville, Tenn. to Maggie Valley, NC and arrived about 1 pm. Decided to have lunch while we awaited the arrival of John and Charlyne Feagans, our long time friends. Charlyne and I have known each other for most of our adult lives and I have known John almost that long. We last saw each other three years ago when we met up with our RV's in Charleston, SC for a vacation together. Another fabulous trip! Lunch was at Pop's,which is a wonderful family owned little restaurant next to the motel where we are staying. If you are ever in the area, don't miss Pop's! Wonderful breakfast and lunches. And I can't say enough nice things about the Holiday Motel in Maggie Valley. Such a cute, affordable, spotless and convenient place. Owned and run by a very hard-working sweet younger couple, Rob and Gabi, who go out of their way to make everyone feel like family! Rocking chairs in front of each room for relaxing and visiting with other guests at the motel.
Four best friends!
Below are two shots of the motel.
Day 4, June 13
Charlyne wanted Jim to take her for a short ride on his bike. Here are a couple pics of them before the ride. No other details are forthcoming. LOL!
Finally the Tail of the Dragon, Jim's main bucket list ride for this trip. 318 turns in 11 miles! After breakfast at Pop's we rode the 67 miles to Deal's Gap where the Dragon begins. The ride up was really beautiful and twisty in itself. We rode in an area where the road follows Fontana lake. Wow! Emerald green water looks like someone had dumped in food coloring, all bordered with beautiful treed shores.
Over looking Fontana lake
Cherokee HD
Deal's Gap! There were a ton of bikers there and it was a Monday! I know it is crazy on the weekends and that was our reason for avoiding the weekend. I was worried that the ride on the Dragon might be really crowded but it was not, thank goodness! There is a big tree by the parking lot that is called the Tree of Shame, with bike parts from wipe outs on the Dragon hung all over it.
So glad we didn't have any parts to add to it!
Jim on the Dragon.
It was time to hop on our bikes and take the leap. So many frightening stories of the Dragon, that it almost made me a bit apprehensive. However, it was absolutely fabulous and I would not have missed it for the world. Last June I rode the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado and considered that quite a feat for a rider who had only had her license for 6 months. This year I can add the "Dragon" to my list of challenging roads that I have conquered. There are no large trucks allowed on that road and the maximum speed limit is 30 MPH, but most spots are 20 MPH and a couple 10 MPH turns. It feels very much like a large cone course, with one turn leading directly into the next. You get into a rhythm and it was so much fun, we rode it all the way to the end and then turned around and rode it back to Deal's Gap, where we treated ourselves to T-shirts, patches and lunch.
Day 5, June 14
Breakfast at Pop's again. Best shrimp and grits in the world. OMG! Charlyne and John headed back home to their little piece of heaven on Lake Gaston after breakfast. Jim and I took a suggestion from Gabi for a riding route for the day and it was just wonderful. We rode Hwy 276 through Waynesville and then turned south on Hwy. 215. It runs through the beautiful countryside with sweet farms on both sides of a road that gives way to lots of twists and turns through tunnels of cool shady trees. Beautiful! At the south end of 215 is the Blue Ridge Parkway, a piece of it. We rode the parkway up to Asheville, where we decided to take interstate 40 back to Maggie Valley to avoid a rainstorm. We did beat the rain, yay!!!! Gabi had told us her favorite restaurant is a place called Frankie's. Wow! Was she ever right! It is a very nice, white tablecloth Italian restaurant with impeccable service and food. We chose pizza, which was very, very good and washed it down with a couple glasses of Chianti. An amazing find in this little piece of the world!
Day 6, June 15
Sooooo.....another bucket list ride! Cherohala skyway all the way to Tellico Plains and back. Beautiful road that runs along the top of a ridge and is 51 miles long. Unfortunately, there was a lot of fog in the morning which obscured the view at many of the overlooks. Still a wonderful ride though. At the end is a Harley store, one that only has clothing and collectibles. We got our Cherohala patches and then stopped for lunch at Kat's Deli in Tellico. It is a tiny little deli restaurant owned and run by two older women. We had a delicious Panini sandwich, large enough to share, and enjoyed it while sitting on the deck over looking the river.
Day 7, June 16
Our last riding day in this paradise area. We couldn't believe that the trip was almost over. We decided to not do such a long ride because we have some really long riding days to get back home. We headed to another piece of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Maggie Valley and then rode back up Hwy 215, one of our fav roads. On the Blue Ridge Parkway, we stopped at several overlooks and looked down upon valleys and clouds. Hwy 215 brought us back though Waynesville to Maggie Valley. We had lunch and then visited the Wheels through Time Museum. Amazing collection of hundreds of American made motorcycles dating back to the early 1900's. We still had some of the day left after the museum and didn't want to go back to the motel yet. After a glance at the map, we decided to tackle at least a part of the Rattler, highway 209. Fun but not as well maintained as the Dragon, Cherohala or the parkway. Really good twists and turns, but it is really a farm road with homes in lots of areas that have gravel drive ways, hence, gravel on the road in too many places, especially on turns. A bit hair-raising for me.
We always treat ourselves to a special dinner on our last night of vacation, and we both agreed that it had to be Frankie's again. Another hit with stuffed mushrooms, a special salad and a fabulous baked penne pasta dish. We shared each dish and barely made a dent in the salad and pasta! Along with wine and tiramisu, we wrapped up a fabulous dinner and an even more fabulous trip.
Day 8, June 17
Time to head for home! Boohoo! We will be glad to see our 3 fur babies. Thank you to Christi and Freddie for taking care of them while we had this fabulous trip!
It's a wrap!
What an incredible trip! So much fun and new adventures! Unforgettable! 2658 total miles, 671 of which were ridden on the twisties of NC in four days.
The Good:
1. The Holiday Motel
2. Pops' Diner for breakfast every day
3. Frankie's
4. The Best Western Hotel in Texarkana, Ark. (About as nice as any Ritz Carlton I ever stayed in.)
5. The Tail of the Dragon
6. Showers at the end of every riding day. So refreshing!
7. Worth every mile of riding to get there!
8. Seeing John and Charlyne and laughing until we almost made ourselves sick!
9. Avoiding almost all of the rain showers and storms
10. The adorable downtown area of Waynesville
11. Onion rings at the Maggie Valley Diner. YUM!
12. Dos Locos Gringos restaurant in Hope, Ark on the way home. Another YUM!
13. Five Hour Energy drinks to keep us alert on the ride to and from NC
14. The delicious meal Christi made for us when we went to pick up the dogs on Father's Day.
The Bad:
1. Garrett's Chop house in Maggie Valley. Do not go there for a meal.
2. Gravel on the road of the Rattler
3. Go to the Wheels Through Time museum in the morning. They have no AC and it was sweltering in the afternoon
4. The taste of five hour energy drinks. YUCK!
5. It's over! Bummer!
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