Smoky Mountains Trip; Day 5

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you mothers out there.  Chris had a good morning because she heard from both of her sons before we left our motel.

We left Gatlinburg at 10:00.  It was 73 degrees and mostly cloudy.  We rode north into Smoky Mountain National Park.  At first look, it appeared as though there were many dead trees in the park.  Eventually we got it figured out that those trees were just starting to bud out.  Out first stop was at the Newfound Gap scenic overlook.Newfound Gap scenic overlook; SMNPWhile here we walked a portion of the Appalachian Trail.

The next stop was the parking lot for Clingmans Dome and from there we walked to the observation platform.  At the top of Clingmans Dome  it was 63 degrees and the clouds moved in so the views were limited.  My iPhone said the elevation on the observation platform was 6,810 feet.DSCN6817

We had a picnic lunch in the Chimneys picnic areaDSCN6845and checked out The Sinks waterfall.IMG_0393Then rode through Townsend, TN to our cabin for the next three nights.  The driveway to the cabin was very steep and caused a slight anus pucker.  After unloading and doing some laundry we rode back into Townsend for dinner (at the Beef Barn) and grocery shopping.

Another great day of riding with beautiful scenery; 98 miles with a high of 88.

For more pictures from today click on the following link: https://plus.google.com/photos/104542123131082631220/albums/6147406472480540881?authkey=CI3KqYffgYCfzgE

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorado; Day 9; June 30, 2012

Image
The evening of June 29th we saw the play, “Is He Dead” at the Creede Repertory Theater ( http://www.creederep.org/ ).  It was very entertaining,  one of the better plays I’ve seen. When we drove away from Creede at 6:05 am it was 41 degrees.  A short distance south the temperature dropped to 39.  We tried soaking up the cold for what we knew would be a hot afternoon. We rode South Fork and then east to Alamosa.  From Alamosa we took a detour north up Hwy 17 to see the UFO Watchtower ( http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ ).  It is a place for UFO enthusiasts to go to watch for UFO’s.  The lady who runs the place said something about some sort of vortex existing on the property.  Weird stuff, even for an open-minded guy like me. If the UFO Watchtower wasn’t weird enough we saw a male driving a Jeep with eye lashes over the headlights at a gas station in Alamosa, CO.  Hopefully it was his wife’s Jeep and he was just gassing it up for her. We continued east to Walsenburg, LaJunta, and La
Read more

Florida Trip; Day 15

Image
At 7:30AM we drove away from Russellville, AR on a cold 25 degree morning. At least the sun was coming up. Our route was 7 north to Harrison; 65 north to Springfield, MO; I-44 west; 13 north to Clinton; 7 north to Harrisonville; I-49 north; I-435 west to Kansas in the KC area and home. Hwy 7 in Arkansas is a scenic route with hills and curves galore. We stopped several times for photos. On the south side of Bolivar, MO we enjoyed lunch at Smith's Restaurant. It was 39 degrees when we arrived home at 2:20 but we saw a high of 44. It was a good day for our final of the trip. We drove 330 miles today and the total trip mileage was 3,109. I only have 6 photos today but you can click here to see them -  Final Day Pics
Read more

My Last Ride

On January 11th, 2017, I departed on a ride to Kelli's Korner (Paradise, MO - near Smithville, MO) for lunch with four friends (Carl, Gary, Bill and Larry). It was a beautiful day, which was all the excuse we needed for a ride. I was leading the group and we were taking a long way there. Riding north on county road N, about 6 miles north of Hwy 152 and I-435, the road turned and I didn't. I exited the road into a field. Fortunately there were no fences, trees, rocks, oncoming cars, etc. I have no explanation for this except that I was out of it for awhile. I remember crossing the center line but I was looking down at that time, which is weird. I have no memory of seeing anything after that until I was laying in the field separated from my motorcycle. I do remember a sensation of tumbling but that is all. My first thought was to drive my motorcycle out of the field and get it cleaned up so Chris would not know what I did. What a ridiculous idea that was. After I'd been up
Read more