Smokey Mountain Ride

We got together with Stu and Froggi Donna today for a motorcycle ride through the beautiful countryside. What a gorgeous day for it ! Temps were in the high 60’s, when we got together for lunch at our place. Linda grilled turkey burgers and veggies, and we had that along with deviled eggs, beans and potato salad. After lunch we jumped on the bikes and headed out. We went up over the mountain and at the overlook, could see Gatlinburg down in the valley. The nearby mountain peak (the highest one in the picture to the left) is about a mile higher, in elevation than Gatlinburg which sits below it. This contrast is the biggest of any town on the east coast. That was pretty impressive.







Lots of folks out on bikes and in their cars taking in the beautiful foliage and great weather. Our route took us  through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, along Little River Road and back Wears Valley Road, which brought us back to the campground. Lots of curves and switchbacks in the roads around here. Not sure I’ve seen a part of the country with such winding roads as around here. We stopped at lots of neat pull offs and overlooks to take in the sights.






Donna bought this little guy at a shop that we stopped at. He became Stu’s backseat driver for the trip home. It was a hand carved bear and he fit so nicely in Stu’s back seat. We all had ice cream at this shop, while we walked around and checked out all of the neat items they had for sale. They had moonshine jelly, which I’ve never seen before. I told my mom about it tonight when I talked to her. She had never heard of it either. It was a clear jelly and didn’t seem very solidified. Hmmm..not sure how that would taste. Reminded me of the fuel you put in tiki torches..(probably tasted like it too…haha)


It was a great day for a ride…especially with new found friends Stu and Donna. Supposed to be cooling off over the next couple of days. Rain in the forecast for tomorrow afternoon. Linda and I want to get back out again on the trike and check out some other roads. Not sure if we’re going to do the Dragon or not….with the stiff turning radius of our trike, it would be a heck of a workout for my arms to do 318 turns in 11 miles. Lots of other great roads to explore.