ninjagirl06
06-18-2010, 11:46 AM
This is one of those trips that we made absolutely no plans for. We knew roughly where we want to go but we also had to be flexible partly because we had our 12 years old son Caleb with us and we knew we were going to have to deal with bad weather.
We left early Mon. for Johnson City, TN. Our goal was to take back roads and state routes when ever possible and just enjoy our ride. Our first stop was at Tallulah gorge for a break and some pictures of the falls but we were told that we would have to hike so we passed on that. I’m not hiking in my riding outfit!! From there we follow US 441 to Sylva, NC there we picked up US 23 to Lake Junaluska, NC.
Now this is where the ride gets interesting. We are now on St. Rt. 209...it’s like Tail of the Dragon but 55 mph and 30 miles long. This road is so fun and I was white knuckled the entire time!! I’m so glad we had our new Sena headset so Brian could give me a heads up on anything from loose gravel to hair pin turns in the road. Some of you speed demons will love this roads!!!!:up:
Once we got to Hot springs, we headed north to Greeneville, TN and between there and Johnson City, I got a bug in my eye. Before you jump all over me, I was not riding with my visor up, I had it slightly crack open and it was a small bug but big enough to irritate my eye. We stopped right away to put drops in it but oh man did it hurt:eek:. By the time we arrived at my friend’s house, my eye was so swollen and I thought to myself what a way to end a great day of riding. Always carry eye drops with you :)
So now were settling in for the night, watching the weather and it does not look good! There’s a huge band moving through the Ohio valley heading in the direction that we were planning on riding.
Next day we headed north to Bristol, TN, we rode passed the race track and didn’t even think about taking pictures. From there we took back roads to Break Interstate Park at the KY and VA boarder. We did stop there and got some pictures. This part of the country is so pretty. You have the mountains, the twisty roads and we were very surprised that we didn’t see any bikes. From here, we went into KY and did a loop that took us back into VA and then onto WV.
I really like WV it so pretty there!!! We went through several coal mining communities and boy it’s a rough life!! I know you all have seen the Isle of Man TT where the homes sits right next to the roads…well it’s like that. I don’t know what it is but NC, KY, VA, and WV all the twisty back roads are 55 mph. Brian said it’s for population control. There’s no way I’m taking those corners that fast especially with a bike loaded down with luggage. These roads are comparable to 180 and 348 in GA. We ended the day at Bluefield, VA. We got a nice hotel with a pool and time to chill.
Day 3, we woke up to heavy rain and high winds. The weather man said that we can expect steady wind of 40 - 50mph and gusts up to 80. So we sat tight until early afternoon. At this point in our trip, we decided not to continue North East due to the path of the storm. It’s not worth it we can always plan another trip for another day. With a little break in the weather and rain gear on, we’re ready to ride. Brian tells me that we’re jumping on the interstate for about 27 miles to Wytheville, VA this is to put us south of the storm. “No problem”, I said until we got out on the interstate and I was tossed around like a rag doll or at lease I felt like it. Oh man…the wind spooked me a couple of times:eek:. I could handle the rain or wind but both at the same time…that sucked!!! Caleb did very well; the rain and wind didn’t seem to bother him at all. He did like going through the tunnels. I kind of enjoy that myself, it gave me a little break before I was back out in the rain and wind again. While we’re in the tunnel, Brian told me to go into the light…he’s trying to be funny…I told him not today:nono:. I was so glad when we finally took our exit!!!!
So now we’re on US 21/221, the sun is shinning:handclap: and we’re heading to Boone, NC and we found a hotel with an indoor pool. We all had a great time just chilling by the pool:beer:.
Day 4 - Today we decided to make it a light day of riding and just enjoy the country side. We took Caleb to Linville Caverns and had a great time. After the cavern, we jump onto the Blue Ridge PKWY. I was disappointed with the PKWY. There was so much traffic and this was on a week day too. I can’t imagine how it would be on the weekend. We had RV’s to people starting their Sunday drive early and they couldn’t even manage to go the speed limit!!!:gah: It was very boring compare to the road we were just on. It’s pretty but just too slow. We stayed on the PKWY until we reached Cherokee, NC and decided to stay there for the night there. Caleb loves Cherokee and I even got to go to the casino for 2 hrs. The slot machine was calling me…hey…I won $38.00 dollars playing the penny machine:crackup:. We also played a round of 18 hole of put-put…I lost count after 50 something…I suck at put-put!! Caleb won!! We had a great time in Cherokee.
Day 5, got up hung out at the pool until check out time and my wonderful man is getting my bike ready for me. A friend of ours has a cabin in Suchess at Wolf Pen Gap so we headed there and just enjoyed what’s left of the day. On the way to the cabin, we stopped in Helen for dinner and ate at Paul’s…wow that was expensive. We saw people tubing down the river so we told Caleb that we’ll do that the next day. I forgot to mention that the cabin is only ½ a mile from TWO:up:.
Day 6, we took 180 to 17 then to Helen. We stopped for lunch and ran into Ramm, Troyboy, and Alicia. It was nice meeting them and now I can finally put a name with a face. After lunch, we took Caleb tubing and that was so much fun!!! We headed back and took Blood Mt. to the cabin.
We are so blessed to have friends that are willing to share their homes with us. My only regret on this trip is that I didn’t take enough pictures:bigsadeyes:. Over all we rode 1220 miles (not enough) but for my very first trip, I did pretty good. Instead of picking up 6 states like we had originally planned, I now have 3 more. This gives us an excuse to plan another trip. I thank God for a safe trip home.
We left early Mon. for Johnson City, TN. Our goal was to take back roads and state routes when ever possible and just enjoy our ride. Our first stop was at Tallulah gorge for a break and some pictures of the falls but we were told that we would have to hike so we passed on that. I’m not hiking in my riding outfit!! From there we follow US 441 to Sylva, NC there we picked up US 23 to Lake Junaluska, NC.
Now this is where the ride gets interesting. We are now on St. Rt. 209...it’s like Tail of the Dragon but 55 mph and 30 miles long. This road is so fun and I was white knuckled the entire time!! I’m so glad we had our new Sena headset so Brian could give me a heads up on anything from loose gravel to hair pin turns in the road. Some of you speed demons will love this roads!!!!:up:
Once we got to Hot springs, we headed north to Greeneville, TN and between there and Johnson City, I got a bug in my eye. Before you jump all over me, I was not riding with my visor up, I had it slightly crack open and it was a small bug but big enough to irritate my eye. We stopped right away to put drops in it but oh man did it hurt:eek:. By the time we arrived at my friend’s house, my eye was so swollen and I thought to myself what a way to end a great day of riding. Always carry eye drops with you :)
So now were settling in for the night, watching the weather and it does not look good! There’s a huge band moving through the Ohio valley heading in the direction that we were planning on riding.
Next day we headed north to Bristol, TN, we rode passed the race track and didn’t even think about taking pictures. From there we took back roads to Break Interstate Park at the KY and VA boarder. We did stop there and got some pictures. This part of the country is so pretty. You have the mountains, the twisty roads and we were very surprised that we didn’t see any bikes. From here, we went into KY and did a loop that took us back into VA and then onto WV.
I really like WV it so pretty there!!! We went through several coal mining communities and boy it’s a rough life!! I know you all have seen the Isle of Man TT where the homes sits right next to the roads…well it’s like that. I don’t know what it is but NC, KY, VA, and WV all the twisty back roads are 55 mph. Brian said it’s for population control. There’s no way I’m taking those corners that fast especially with a bike loaded down with luggage. These roads are comparable to 180 and 348 in GA. We ended the day at Bluefield, VA. We got a nice hotel with a pool and time to chill.
Day 3, we woke up to heavy rain and high winds. The weather man said that we can expect steady wind of 40 - 50mph and gusts up to 80. So we sat tight until early afternoon. At this point in our trip, we decided not to continue North East due to the path of the storm. It’s not worth it we can always plan another trip for another day. With a little break in the weather and rain gear on, we’re ready to ride. Brian tells me that we’re jumping on the interstate for about 27 miles to Wytheville, VA this is to put us south of the storm. “No problem”, I said until we got out on the interstate and I was tossed around like a rag doll or at lease I felt like it. Oh man…the wind spooked me a couple of times:eek:. I could handle the rain or wind but both at the same time…that sucked!!! Caleb did very well; the rain and wind didn’t seem to bother him at all. He did like going through the tunnels. I kind of enjoy that myself, it gave me a little break before I was back out in the rain and wind again. While we’re in the tunnel, Brian told me to go into the light…he’s trying to be funny…I told him not today:nono:. I was so glad when we finally took our exit!!!!
So now we’re on US 21/221, the sun is shinning:handclap: and we’re heading to Boone, NC and we found a hotel with an indoor pool. We all had a great time just chilling by the pool:beer:.
Day 4 - Today we decided to make it a light day of riding and just enjoy the country side. We took Caleb to Linville Caverns and had a great time. After the cavern, we jump onto the Blue Ridge PKWY. I was disappointed with the PKWY. There was so much traffic and this was on a week day too. I can’t imagine how it would be on the weekend. We had RV’s to people starting their Sunday drive early and they couldn’t even manage to go the speed limit!!!:gah: It was very boring compare to the road we were just on. It’s pretty but just too slow. We stayed on the PKWY until we reached Cherokee, NC and decided to stay there for the night there. Caleb loves Cherokee and I even got to go to the casino for 2 hrs. The slot machine was calling me…hey…I won $38.00 dollars playing the penny machine:crackup:. We also played a round of 18 hole of put-put…I lost count after 50 something…I suck at put-put!! Caleb won!! We had a great time in Cherokee.
Day 5, got up hung out at the pool until check out time and my wonderful man is getting my bike ready for me. A friend of ours has a cabin in Suchess at Wolf Pen Gap so we headed there and just enjoyed what’s left of the day. On the way to the cabin, we stopped in Helen for dinner and ate at Paul’s…wow that was expensive. We saw people tubing down the river so we told Caleb that we’ll do that the next day. I forgot to mention that the cabin is only ½ a mile from TWO:up:.
Day 6, we took 180 to 17 then to Helen. We stopped for lunch and ran into Ramm, Troyboy, and Alicia. It was nice meeting them and now I can finally put a name with a face. After lunch, we took Caleb tubing and that was so much fun!!! We headed back and took Blood Mt. to the cabin.
We are so blessed to have friends that are willing to share their homes with us. My only regret on this trip is that I didn’t take enough pictures:bigsadeyes:. Over all we rode 1220 miles (not enough) but for my very first trip, I did pretty good. Instead of picking up 6 states like we had originally planned, I now have 3 more. This gives us an excuse to plan another trip. I thank God for a safe trip home.