Harley Diva (Suzanne) and I went to the mountains of North Carolina this past weekend. We stayed at the Mountain Brook Motorcycle Resort between Dillsboro and Franklin, NC. What a great place!!! [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] Highly recommended if you want a quiet, cool place to relax, with no TV or phones to bother you. There's a brook running through the property that will lull you to sleep every night because it's so cool you don't need A/C, just leave the windows open, sit on the porch in the swing, listen to the water and the birds, and watch the lightning bugs. The owners are very nice folks, as were all the people staying there. The cabins have nice parking areas for the bike, and everybody is just there chillin' out.
We rode up Saturday from B'ham to Chattanooga on the slab, then off on 411 to Maryville, where we visited Smokey Mountain HD...they were having a throw down there with food, a good band, and some good people. Nice store, with lots of "stuff"...picked up a couple of shirts, and Suzanne got a hot little lambskin outfit that she'll model at MV in Oct. Left there and drove through Townsend, TN, around buy the river in the Park, over the mountain via Newfound Gap, then down into Cherokee. Once in the mountains, the temps cooled off to 70's and low 80's, which felt great after being in the low to mid 90's driving up. Rolled into Mountain Brook about 6:00 EDT, unloaded,cleaned up, and rode into Franklin for dinner..another nice little town.
After a good nights sleep...the gurgling water putting us both out after a 350 mile day...we got up and rode over to Highlands, NC, one of the routes for the MV trip. Highlands is a picturesque little place which has changed dramatically since my days of going up there, due to folks buying up property and building summer retreats and retirement homes. The ride over is fantastic, with sheer rock walls on one side,nice creeks and waterfalls, and shady, curvy roads. After having lunch at The Rib Shack (another stop on our MV route), we headed over to the Pisgah Forrest, past a couple of additional waterfalls, then hit The Blue Ridge Parkway into Waynesville. Fueled up there and then over to Maggie Valley to check out Salty Dogs, Jonathan Creek Inn, and a couple of other things, then back to the cabin.
The ride through the mountains was great....go up a few feet, or down in a "holler"
and the temp would drop 4 or 5 degrees...the sights and the smells of wildflower blooms, Rhodedendrum blooms by the creeks, and feeling of cool mountain air flowing over your body was unbelievable!! Wanda June (my scoot's name) loved the cool air too!! [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] 8-)
Monday morning we rode over to Robinsville via Hwy 28...a great ride on the MV trip...through pastoral settings and wonderful winding roads with curves made for a Harley....Wanda June, Suzanne, and I all enjoyed ourselves on that road. Then on to Robinsville to the Cherohala Skyway...yet another great road winding across the tops of the Western NC mountains...then down into Tellico Plains for lunch at The Bistro by the River and some good food and beverages (a beverage, I should say...the rest was good southern sweet tea). Back across the Cherohala to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest (the guy who wrote the poem about trees....look it up), a special, magical place for me, as I used to spend many nights in those virgin woods backpacking during my college days. After leaving there, we rode over to Deals Gap, the end of the Tail of the Dragon (or the mouth, depending on your perspective), where we visited with fellow riders, viewed all the parts on The Tree of Shame, then over to Tapoca Lodge, the Fugitive Dam, then back on Hwy 28 which runs along the edge of Fontana Lake, though you're up plenty high. Yet another great road!!! 103 has some great rides in store for those who attend MV!!!! It's been years for me, but the feeling you get in those mountains is unlike anywhere else I've ever been...Ancient, lush, cool, and refreshing for the body, mind and soul.
Headed back home Tuesday through North Georgia, Rome, then on to Gadsden where it was 100 degrees.....whew!! What a change from where we had just been!! We took backroads, with little traffic, no hassles, and just cruised our way back into Birmingham about 4:00. Unloaded, cleaned up the scoot (OCD kicked in), put her to bed, then we did the same.
What a great trip!!! Everyone who's going to MV is in for a real treat, seeing some beautiful sights, and we all know the company is going to be great as well. You don't want to miss this one, believe me!! Brian has done one hell of a job planning this thing, and deserves cudo's from everyone, and complete support for his hurculean efforts. I confirmed a few things for him, so we're good to go!!!
A few pics follow, so be patient
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First up, The Dragon's Mouth at the Smokey Mountain HD shop
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Topic: Maggie Valley Scouting Report (Read 6766 times)