Chris' brother turned 55 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ron!
We left Crossville, TN at 6:30 AM central time. It was 68 degrees, a great morning for riding. As it would end up, the entire day (almost) was great for riding.
To make time we rode east on I-40 and southeast on I-140 to Hwy 129 south to Maryville, TN where we stopped for gas. From Maryville we traveled east on Hwy 321 to just past Townsend, TN where we took Hwy 73 south and east into the Smoky Mountains National Park. In the park we turned south on Hwy441.
Riding in the Smoky Mountains was beautiful. As elevation increased the temperatures decreased to as low as 64. The only negative in the whole experience was the traffic. Cindy later told us that the Smoky Mountains National Park is the second most visited national park. Yellowstone is number one.
About half way across the Smoky Mountains we crossed into North Carolina. At the south end of the Smoky Mountains we jumped on the Blue Ridge Parkway headed east. It, also, was very scenic riding. We stopped at the Thomas Divide View Scenic Outlook at an elevation of 3,735’ for a picnic lunch. We took some pictures at the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway, 6,053 feet.
Just before exiting the Blue Ridge Parkway we ran into some rain. We stopped to don our rain suits and made the poor decision to use our rain jackets only. We exited the Blue Ridge Parkway on Hwy 276 south and the rain really came down, soaking us from the waist down. At Brevard, NC we caught Hwy 64 east to Hendersonville, NC. We made it to Ron and Cindy’s home on the mountain at 3:00 PM eastern time.
Today’s ride was only 250 miles due to many twisty roads, slow speed limits, and scenic outlooks. Temperatures ranged from 64 to the mid 70’s. It was absolutely perfect minus the rain.
Click on the following link to see photos from today’s ride:
http://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/NorthCarolinaRideDay371109?feat=directlink
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