On Tuesday the 22nd, my friend Jerry and I were both furloughed by our wives to go on a motorcycle trip to San Antonio. Well, we’re not to San Antonio yet, but we are in Jackson, Missippi. Let me start at the beginning. We left Pomeroy, Ohio and headed down US 33 East until we got to I-77 in Ravenswood, West Virginia. We did the West Virginia Turnpike to Wytheville, Virginia and shortly thereafter we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Fancy Gap. By the time we had ridden 335 miles it was time to call it a day so we pulled off the Parkway and turned in for the evening at Boone, North Carolina. We continued to ride the Blue Ridge Pkwy and let me tell you, it is some kind of beautiful. I We rode up Mt. Mitchell in NC. 6700 feet at the summit. What a ride, what a view! It was also cool… almost Canadian weather.
We got off the Pkwy some 227 miles later and stopped for the night in Waynesville, North Carolina. Leaving Waynesville in the morning we went to Maggie Valley where we visited Wheels Through Time… an American Marque Motorcycle Museum where every single machine that was there was in running condition no matter how old. Totally one of the best museums I have ever had to pleasure to visit and I grew up in DC with the Smithsonian!
When we left Maggie Valley we rode to Robbinsville there we had booked two nights at the Two Wheel Inn…This was a motel that catered to motorcycles only and each room had its own garage with a roll up door for safe bike storage. We checked in a little early so we got a chance to ride the Hellbender road on the way to US 129, the fabled Dragon’s Tail. On the way we saw the Fontana Dam… the second highest dam in the US after the Hoover. They filmed part of The Fugitive with Harrison Ford there. Anyway, we finally got to the Dragon and rode it up and back. 314 corves in 11 miles as I recall. Good… good stuff! The next day, June 25th, we rode allover the Smokies…Nantahala State Park, the Cherohala Skyway out and back and a good night’s rest getting ready for the Natchez Trace Parkway.
June 26th I got up at 0530 and sat outside my room watching the sun come up over a cup of coffee while I got ready for our ride back over the Cherohala Skyway to Tennessee. When we were leaving Murfreesboro which is just south of Nashville, we got caught in a huge thunderstorm. We waited until the lightning had passed, suited up and continued to ride. We got on the Natchez Trace Parkway and continued to ride to Waynesboro were we pulled in for the night. This morning, the 27th of June started out in the seventies but before long the souther heat was on us with a vengeance. We peaked at about 112 degrees today. The last couple of hours getting to where we are here in Jackson, Mississippi, was tough on this old picker. When I finish this entry, I’m hitting my air conditioned room and not coming out untill tomorrow. We had a delicious Japanese dinner here in Jackson and it was certainly our best meal of this run. Mississippi for good Japanese food… what a great time we live in.
I have no way to load my pictures yet. I’ve noticed something else too. I need to do something with incoming comments. I don’t know what that is yet so it will probably have to wait until I get home. I will say this, the face of America is stunningly beautiful! What a grand land… and what a grand night’s sleep I’m going to get. Who knows when I’ll get another civilized hotel. I’ll be back on line with a report when I do. Onward!
