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THE END OF THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

July 30, 2011

So, we've been on the road for about 3-1/2 weeks...on our way to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Tonight finds us back in West Virginia, in a town called Huntington. We left Knoxville this morning and rode through the Kentucky countryside. "Rural" does not even begin to describe it! But, I'll back up a bit first...

MIKE & I AT THE WHEELS THROUGH TIME MUSEUM

The day before we got to Knoxville, we stayed in Robbinsville, NC. We finished riding the Blue Ridge Parkway (all 470 miles of it) and had a great visit at the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, NC. We stayed at a "motorcycle resort" called the Two Wheel Inn, in Robbinsville, NC. Very cool place, but "resort" is a bit of s stretch...the place was designed specifically for motorcycles, and every room comes with a garage to park your scoot in! Clean, fairly large rooms, and very reasonably priced. Here's the problem: North Carolina has only one "dry" county...meaning you cannot buy liquor of any kind there. And Robbinsville is pretty much in the middle of the county. Nearest liquor store? Over 20 miles away. Yeah, should have researched THAT better...

TWO WHEEL INN, ROBBINSVILLE NC

THE START OF THE TAIL OF THE DRAGON

We had a great time visiting with some riders from New York and talking about our adventures,, then on Friday morning we hit the road for the 20-mile ride to Deals Gap, the beginning of the Tail of the Dragon. For those who don't know, the Tail is a stretch of State Highway 129 that has 318 curves in 11 miles. We got to the store (read: tourist trap) about 8 am, and set out to tame the Dragon. Just after the beginning of the "Tail", you hit the state line between North Carolina and Tennessee, so most of the Dragon is actually in Tennessee. Anyway, we rolled through it with no problems, feeling the curves and corners and staying mostly in 2nd and 3rd gears the entire way. Near the end (about milepost 8), one of the turnouts overlooks the Cheoah Reservoir; so we stopped to take pics. Back on the road, we finished the Tail easily and found a spot to turn around. Yep, we were going again! Now that we knew how the turns were laid out, we set out to tame it one more time. Floorboards scraping and lots of clutch action, we rode it again, arriving back at the beginning less than an hour after setting out. What a blast! Since we were heading north after riding the Tail, we thought we were going to do it a third time, however, one of the people at the hotel had told us about the Cherohala Skyway...a mountain road that rolls out of Robbinsville and climbs into the Smoky Mountains over 5000 feet high, emptying out at Tellico Plains, TN. Never wanting to miss a great ride, we set out to run the Skyway. Unfortunately, we climbed into the clouds and skirted a few rain squalls so we didn't get to see much scenery. But still, a great ride!

TRUST ME...IT'S FUN!

We stopped for lunch, then blasted up the highway into Knoxville, got our scoots serviced and hit the motel. We only had a few miles to go before hitting the Kentucky state line this morning, and headed up I-75 to London. We made a quick stop at Wildcat Harley-Davidson, then headed off on HIghway 30 for a nice scenic ride toward Beattyville. "Highway" is being generous...this road rolls through some absolutely gorgeous country, little towns, farmland, and (cue the banjo music) lots of miles of ... nothing. Barely a two-lane road in most places, and twists and turns that would make the Tail of the Dragon proud! Lots and lots of trailer houses (circa 1956) and dead cars in fields....I'm surpirsed we didn't see an old washing machine in a front yard!

KENTUCKY HIGHWAY 30

MAIN STREET-BEATTYVILLE KY

After stopping to gas up and grab a bite for lunch, we rolled on out of Kentucky and back into West Virginia on I-64. More to come....