Since I took my last trip in October 08, I have been looking forward to getting out of town. I finally made it. Robert Nash, James and myself took off for the mountains on Friday. We left at 3:30 and arrived at our destination, just north of Knoxville around 8. 
 

Saturday morning we started off early. The weather prediction was 60% chance of rain and 40% chance of sunburn. I applied my sun block and off we went. We rode about 200 miles before lunch.
 

We stopped in Boone, NC for lunch and that’s when we got our rain. Lots of it. After lunch we rode 50 more miles in a down pour. Then we decided to go ahead and check into the motel. We stayed in the Acorn Motel in Black Mountain. I have stayed here before, it is cheap, clean and comfortable. That’s all we needed.
 

After breakfast Robert needed to head for the house, so we followed him a short way on the Blue Ridge Parkway. James found an extreme twisty that turned off and we split to see where it went. We discovered that NC Highway 151 is just the beginning of a 600 mile route that leads right back home.
 

Recap: 3 Gold Wings, 2 nights in motels, 1 Chinese buffet, 20 miles of dirt road, 1023 miles of  pavement, 9000 curves. PRICELESS!

Keep on riding

July 4^th Ride (2009)

After our attempt to get the boys together for a trip to the West, we decided to settle for a five and a half day ride to the north.

Day One. We left out on Thursday afternoon and stopped in the little town of Caryville, TN. We had supper at the local Gas Station/Café. It was unexpectedly great! Spent the night in a motel with an Econo Lodge sign. Only a sign. We asked for our Choice Hotels discount and were informed that they only had the sign and are not a part of that chain. Wow, I got get me one of those signs for my house.

Day Two. We are in the mountains now! Back roads, nearly paved roads, gravel roads and , dirt roads. On a one lane road that traveled about 15 miles through a valley we found a creek coming out of a cave. The canopy above us was so thick it blocked out most of the sun light. A local farmer came by and stopped to chat. Nice young guy, said he was just headed down the road to check on his crop. I bet he was, y’all know what the #1 cash crop in Kentucky is? We had a hard time finding a motel room that night and wound up staying in Ashland, KY. Dinner was spaghetti at an out of the way foo foo type place, the highlight was Micky Dolenz of The Monkeys TV show was setting at the bar soaking up some suds, preparing for a show he was in.

Day Three, Happy July 4^th! We made our way along the Ohio River and up through the western boarder of West Virginia. At Sistersville, we crossed the river on a ferry and road on the Ohio side for a few miles. At the northern most end of WV. we made a pit stop at the Pennsylvania State Line (see the picture in the photo album). That night we spent in Clarksburg, WV.

Day Four. Today the rain will catch up with us right after breakfast. Audrey’s Restaurant on Hwy 20 just north of Buckhannon was where we stopped for breakfast. Everything including the bread is home made. If I had known how good the bread was, I would not have ordered anything else. I would have gotten something like French toast. But, I had an omelet. It was huge and stuffed with good things. Robert tried to order biscuits but the waitress told him he was having toast. We all had toast. Damn, good! You have got to try this place. So now it’s raining and we are headed to the highest point in WV. Up the mountain to Spruce Knob. The road was slick as glass, and the fog was so thick you couldn’t see anything. We made it to the top, used the worst stinking out houses ever and wandered in the fog for a few minutes. Finished the day at a motel in Fayetteville, WV. Hey they had a bar and after riding in the rain all day I really didn’t care what kind of motel it was.

Day Five. A beautiful day! The rain is gone. I had to take this opportunity to take the guys back to Burke’s Garden, VA. We went there on the Easter Ride, the weather was bad, and the entire valley was covered with fog. This time they would get see how beautiful this place is. We posed for a picture by the store and the crossed the mountain on a 20 mile long, twisty, wet, rocky, dirt road. Another one of those roads that is covered by the trees and very little sun light gets through. Back out to the pavement and some of the best mountain roads east of the Mississippi River. Down through the Mount Rogers, VA. area and we couldn’t resist. We turned it on, aired em out! High speed, flat out, see you at the top, big bike adrenaline touring! Yeee Haw, we eat this sh*t up. The guys loved it.

Once in awhile you just get lucky and wind up at the right place at the right time. This was our time. After making a stop for tonight’s liquid refreshments, someone pointed us to Shatley Springs on NC. Hwy 16. There you will find a restaurant that serves food family style. They bring out big bowls of food and you eat what they serve you. It was great. Delicious. Then we rented a cabin from them. No A/C, No Phone, No Kitchen. 4 bedrooms, one bathroom, and a screened in front porch. $45 for the night, split 4 ways, $15 each. After about a million miles between the 4 of us, we finally found the place we have been searching for. Sit on the porch, drink beer, and save the world. Yep, no one does it better than that. The next morning we were blessed with exceptionally thick mountain fog, allowing us the opportunity to eat breakfast right there.

Day Six (“nothing to good ever last too long”). As we headed to the house we had to take a moment to hit the Blue Ridge Parkway for photos at Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the eastern US. Back into familiar territory in TN. and eventually home. This was our longest day, it was a little over 500 miles.

My odometer says, 2203 miles in five and half days. My next project; figure out how to make a living do this!

Keep on riding,

John3