Blue Ridge Parkway Day 8

Day 8 517 miles

Started my day with a great, home-cooked breakfast with Bonnie. Got out of St. Louis at about 6:20, enjoyed a cool ride down I70 to Columbia for the Missouri State HOG Rally.

Hooked up with some riders from Joplin at the Rally for an observation ride--a route you ride and look for answers to trivia questions along the way. Was a beautiful day to ride around in the countryside. We had a wonderful BBQ lunch in Hallsville.

From the Rally, I rode over to my old home town of Mexico, MO. Had a real nice visit with my old buddy Bill and his family. Rode around town a while and looked to see how things had changed. The house I grew up in had a for sale sign in the yard.

Well, I just could not get my family in Joplin off of my mind, so rather than stay the night in central MO, I decided to press on, cause I just wanted to be in my baby's arms. After a personal one-day record 517 miles ridden, I got home at 9:30 and suprised them good! Hugs all around, and kisses from my dog Ellie. Words can't describe how good it is to be home! I'll get the bike serviced this week and begin preparing for my next trip to Memphis--stay tuned!

Blue Ridge Parkway Day 7

Day 7 347 miles

Today was a 4-state day: Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. The weather was nice again, the scenery was not quite at spectacular. The corn fields of Indiana were pretty in their own way, though. There was a big classic car show in Evansville, so I saw countless cars on the road heading that way. Driving into St Louis on the maze of super highways was an experience, fortunately the timing was such that I missed rush hour.Saw Bryan's house, and met one of his roommates, Vince. Stayed with my mother-in-law, Bonnie. Bonnie, Bryan, and I went our for dinner and then visited and watched the Cardinals win a game for a change. The pic is Bryan and Bonnie at the white coat ceremony the eve prior to my visit. Sure was great to spend time with them.

Blue Ridge Parkway Day 6

Day 6 372 miles

John and I parted company this morning, headed to our respective homes and families.

The hotel we stayed in graciously let us park our bikes under the entry out front, VIP treatment for the bikers! It was a cool, sunny, ideal morning for riding.

I found West Virginia to be an amazingly beautiful area to ride through. I64 goes through mountains, valleys, tunnels, sweeping curves, next to rivers--just awesome the whole way! I have become aware that people are much more apt to engage a biker in conversation--where have you been? where you headed? etc. I have enjoyed talking to many people along the way.My stopping point for this night was a suburb of Lexington, KY called Verailles, where my long time friend from Boy Scouts and High School resides--Brent. Brent and his wife welcomed me into their home for a wonderful dinner, a nice driving tour of the fancy horse farms (I didn't have my camera with me in his car), and a pleasant evening of conversation on their peacefull back porch. Sure was good to be with them!

Blue Ridge Parkway Trip Day 5

Day 5 236 miles

Awoke to thick fog, still. We ran with our flashers on, went slow, and made slow progress. The fog was gone after about an hour, but was still very cool and damp--yes we were having fun! We visited this place called Mabry Mill, a famous photo op. They had some nice displays of early tools and methods the settlers used. As we rode the parkway we saw more deer than we could count, slowed for several in the road. The smells of flowers were in the meadows, and spruce and pine when we were higher in the mountains, all for free!We ate lunch at Peaks of Otter, this picturesque pond was outside the window of where we ate.Here is a picture of one of the meadows, they are pretty in their own way. You can make better time on the straighter roads, too. The afternoon weather was super, until the rain showed up with about 60 parkway miles left to ride.We doned our rain gear and finished, got a pic at the sign, which is acutally the start, but we started at the end. Clear?The a quick ride down the interstate to Lexington VA for a night in civilization with pool, TV, WIFI, fast food, etc. I honestly liked the wilderness better. What stock market? We looked around Lexington some, a city of history, very quaint. We ate greek food. And we made phone calls as the phones finally worked, was so nice to hear my wifes voice.

Blue Ridge Parkway Trip Day 4

Day 4 282 miles

Boy we slept good last night with the windows open. Was 55 degrees when we headed out, wearing jackets, gloves, and full helmets--added chaps not too far down the road to keep warm.

Had just one little shower. Speed limit on the parkway is never more than 45mph, so you don't make the best time. We had a lot of miles to cover, and ended up running behind later in the day. We went through more tunnels than I could count, and they are fun! The Harley makes a ton of noise in them. One of our first stops was Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the United States east of the Mississipi River. Had a nice visit with 4 guys riding from Buffalo NY. The 2nd and 3rd pics are a views from atop Mt Mitchell.

Jumped off the parkway at a town called Spruce Pine, NC where I visited the Soap Shed and ate at Bama Q's barbecue. Mmmm good!

Got real interesting towards the end of the day. Was getting late, had a liitle rain, and then fog started to set in. My buddy and I had taken different routes and planned to meet at the place we were staying. Well the directions we had been given were bad. We were both out driving in the fog trying to find the place as it got dark, could only go about 20 mph and could not see 10 feet ahead. Of course, I should add that ATT phones don't work, so calling was not an option. I was having visions of parking by the road, building a fire, and camping for the night. I had some water and beef jerky with me. I was out in the middle of nowhere and couldn't find any landmarks. But I eventially found another motel that gave me directions to where we were staying and finally rolled in at 9pm--cold, tired, hungry, and relieved. After comparing stories, we realized that we were roaming around just missing each other in the fog, my buddy got there 10 min before me. We had a good laugh and the innkeeper fixied us a late supper and coffee--was a mom and pop kind of place. Oh what a day! What a grand adventure!

Blue Ridge Parkway Trip Day 3

Day 3 Aug 23 264 miles

Had a great stay at Hunt's Lodge. Off to a late start, my friend needed a mechanic to take a look at his bike before we headed out.

The weather was perfect! We started on the Cherahola Skyway. Abosulutely amazingly beautiful! Heres a pic of us at a water fall on the route.

Next we rode the famous Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee, highway 129, 318 curves in 11 miles! Many have died on this road, and we were very carefull. The sport bikes rode like hell, though, and some sports cars were getting after it, too. We survived and bought T shirts and a patch for my vest.

We saw some pretty cool lakes in the mountains, and this is the damm for one of them, at the end of the dragon.

Next we rode the Foothills Parkway, which was quick, pretty, and fun. Time for lunch.

Then we were going to go through the Smokey Mountain National Park, but a rock slide on Saturday has closed the road over the top indefinately. So, we took a huge detour to get around it and finally made it onto the Blue Ridge Parkway at Cherokee, NC. The Blue Ridge parkway is 480 miles, ends at Waynesboro, VA.

Here is a pic of the BRP road, it winds along and near the the ridge. It got pretty chilly at the higher elevation, had to put on a jacket and full finger gloves. Then ears got cold and swithed to full helmet, too.

Here we are at the highest point of the parkway, traditional photo opportunity.

It was late, about 730, when we finally got to our hotel. This is a shot from out of our room's balcony, can't beat this! We slept with the windows open and it got quite chilly!

We also became aware that there was no WIFI anywhere, and ATT cell phones don't work up there either. So, no posts for a few days. That's why this post is late.

Blue Ridge Parkway Trip Day 2

Day 2: Woke up to heavey fog. Dressed, packed, ate breakfast, then talked to someone who had just driven in, and decided to head out and take it slow. Was a little chilly, so pulled over and put on my jacket. Had a nice ride east on I40 to Crossville, where I stopped to see the oddest roadside attraction ever! Called the Minister's Treehouse, it was built over a period of about 10 years by a minister around and between several trees. It is litterally 10 stories tall, made out of all recycled lumber and nails. Narrow stairways, secret rooms, a big sanctuary with balconies, and a bell tower. I think some homeless people live there, I saw a bed in one room, a stove in another, and a couple of dogs. Was pretty clean, though, and some other tourists stopped while I was there. I took a lot of pics and have posted a half dozen here for you to see.

After that, I got off the interstate and road through the county of Tennesse to Tellico Plains. I alwasys encountered friendly people wherever I stopped. The hills are quite a bit bigger than Arkansas. We are staying at a motorcycle campground in a little shed (see pic). Not too bad, the AC works, the scenery is great, is very peaceful, and there is WIFI. Cell phone doesn't work, though. Waiting for my vacation/riding buddy to show up. Really looking forward to seeing him again, and riding the next few days. Tomorrow we will do the Cherahola Skyway, Tail of the Dragon, Smokey Mountain National Park, and start the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'll take pics, but if I can't find WIFI, may be a couple days before I blog again. Thanks to all of you who are praying for us. The Dragon is dangerous, so please continue to pray.

Blue Ridge Parkway Trip Day 1

The much looked forward to day finally arrived! Oh what a great feeling to head out of Joplin at 720am going east on I-44! The sun was shining, the air was cool and fresh, God was really blessing me! I made great time going accross southern Missouri on hwy 60, beautiful country. I really like the smell of saw mills, much better than the chicken houses in SW MO. Was fun crossing the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to get into Kentucky.

Saw a big gathering at the Harley Dealership in Paducah, so thought I'd stop and check it out. Not nearly as nice a place as Cycle Connection in Joplin. Even saw a Hells Angel in the crowd.

Kept going, went past my previously planned stopping point of Eddyville as I was ahead of schedule, one can make much better time on the interstate as opposed to curly back roads. Tennesse is a very pretty part of the country, was a nice part of the trip. So I decided to stop in Nashville. As I was riding down I24 I prayed that God would help me pick the right place to stop. Next thing I know, a storm is brewing and I take the next exit, check into a motel and get my bike on the sidewalk under the awning outside my room and then the rain poured! God is great! Rode 490 miles today. Walked next door for a fabulous Mexican fajhita dinner, then showered off the days sweat, bugs, and dirt.

I think I'll sleep good tonight, and I look forward to tomorrow and hooking up with my old friend.

Arkansas HOG Rally Day 4

Ok, I want to say that I found something fun to do last night--sat on a bench next to the main drag and watched a thousand bikes and riders go by. Every kind of bike and person you can imagine, some wild, some reserved. A local rider came and sat on the bench with me to visit. I now know how to pronouse Ouchita, ask me sometime.

Day 4........

Got an early start, about 0615, up highway 7, a very scenic route. Enjoyed the cool morning air, fragrant pine trees, and sparse traffic. Crossed the Arkansas River and headed west on I40, took a picture:

I have grown to enjoy interstate riding. You make better time, the lanes are big, the views bigger. I had my heart set on some Cajun BBQ, so took highway 23 North, also known as the Pig Trail Scenic Byway. Always a pleasure, very pretty, not too curvy, and just the right lenght for a slow, scenic ride. Drank a Coke on the front porch of Turner Bend Store. Took a couple of pictures:

Stopped for my dreamed about BBQ lunch on highway 16 south of Fayettville. If you are ever close, be sure to stop. Best ribs, best potato salad, best beans, best Jambalya I have ever had, bar none! Keith can back me up on this claim.

Then a fast trip up 71 to Joplin. The dog was glad to see me, and its good to be home. Will I be able to sleep tonight without the roar of Harleys all night long? I think so.

If you have enjoyed reading my blog, check back in 3 weeks. I will be going on a 10 day trip through Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky, riding with an old friend and stopping to see some other old friends. The highlight will be the Blue Ridge Parkway. Also, going the Missouri State HOG Rally in Columbia.

I would like to thank God for being with me and keeping me safe.

--John