Just an additional note about Deal's Gap... The speed limit on the Dragon is 50mph, and on the Dragon's Tail it is 30mph. The road is impeccably maintained.. There are also cars on the road and occasionally a truck or RV drives the Gap.... We saw all three....
Jeannine and I both appreciate how much the Lost Wheel's "Safety Day" helped us on this part of the trip, especially the obstacle courses and Ed Busse's turning and braking lessons.. Thanks Trish!! Thanks Ed!!
When's the next one??
It's Fourth of July and we are now relaxing at my son Will and Trish's house in Alexandria Va. Last night we enjoyed some delicious Mexican in DC, and for the Fourth Will is preparing BBQ spare ribs and Trish is preparing all the rest. Life is cool and easy....
For our return we have ridden our motorcycles from El Paso, Texas to Washington DC without going on the Interstate. Yup, mostly two lane roads, including a few hundred miles of desert and 600 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. Sigh, well almost no interstates... We tried to stay off them, but we had to go on about 5 miles of Interstate to get around Dallas, and we couldn't get across the Mississippi River without going on I-155 for about 10 miles. We also didn't do the Blue Ridge Parkway from end to end. We had to jump off a couple of times for gas, and part of the road was closed for construction, so we can't say we rode it 100%, but darned close.. Getting off and on the Blue Ridge turned out to be as big an adventure as riding it...and I'm glad it happened the way it did..... We also had a snafu just a few miles from DC when VA-55 merged with I-66 but that was soon fixed. I'm claiming we were really on VA-55. It just looked like an interstate for a few miles. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.....
After Deal's Gap there are two ways to get to the Cherokee Indian Reservation and the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The first way is to ride Deal's Gap a second time and take NC 28 to Cherokee. The second is to take TN-441 over Newfound Gap to Cherokee.. The bikers at the Princess Motel raved about 441, so on Tuesday that's the way we decided to go. How to get there?? I let Garmin Zumo decide. We went through some beautiful wooded roads in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and over a one lane wooden bridge for a unique trip to Cherokee. Nice ride....
Cherokee NC is an interesting combination of tinsel town and Indian Heritage. There were the typical tourist traps with their souvenirs along side some really nice shops with beautiful and sometimes expensive Indian crafts. The streets and some of the shops are labelled in both English and Cherokee. The Cherokee have their own written language with symbols different from our alphabet. All through town there were full sized painted bears, similar to the popular painted ponies. The Cherokee Indians are known for their beautiful basketry, pottery, woodcarving, and painting. We spent too much time looking at their beautiful artwork. As one honestly said "This over here is what I love, and that over there is what keeps food on the table"... Not everyone has been doing so well, with some shuttered shops ....We asked a local Cherokee Indian where to eat for a late lunch, and she said "Go to Paul's, it's where we go". Paul is a Cherokee and his frybread "Indian taco" and chili on frybread are delicious and highly recommended.... on the porch with iced tea is best...
We got onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed north a little late in the afternoon.. The first thing we noticed was that there were twice as many motorcycles as cars.. What gives??? We soon found out.. a 4000 ft elevation change from 2000 ft to 6000 ft in 30 miles, and then back down... Switchbacks. Twisties. Loop-de-loops (!).. Tunnels.. More switchbacks.. Vistas... More twisties... Whoopie!! YESssss.... Awesome!!! ..
The first 150 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, from Cherokee to Blowing Rock, North Carolina might be the best 150 miles of overall good motorcycle riding anywhere. (Yes, we mean that..) . Shade, sun, solitude, vistas..Viva North Carolina!!
My trip planning for the Blue Ridge Parkway consisted of finding the entrance and heading north. Not too sophisticated but who cares. Here we are in the Nantahala National Forest and then the Pisgah National Forest having a great time, going around constant curves and essess, waving to other motorcyclists, and smiling a lot.. Grinning is fun!! But after a while the sun seems to be going down and so do our gas gauges.... and we haven't seen an exit for the last 40 miles. A quick stop and check of the map tells us why: the gas stations and motels are a few thousand feet lower than we are. Finally an exit, NC route 80. We take it. The stop sign has beside it an ominous yet inviting yellow sign: "Not recommended for RV's and cars with trailers". Of course its too late for an RV or a car with trailer to turn around.. We turn onto NC-80 and its almost like the downhill section of Deal's Gap but this time we're fully loaded with our gear.... Yipes!! Whee!! #$%^!! WOW!! Awesome!!... 10 miles later we're at a gas station and we are both awed and grinning... The guy at the station is a biker and tells us that NC-80 is a really popular ride with the locals. We decide to make a beeline for a motel rather than head back up 80 to the the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Wednesday morning we head for the Parkway by the RV compatible route but we see detour signs.. We decide to go straight and get on the parkway anyway, but after a few miles on the parkway we run into "Parkway Closed" signs and a barracade.. Instead of following the Parkway detour signs (suitable for RV's and cars with trailers) we click on Garmin Zumo and get "shortest distance" directions for the next obvious parkway entrance, Deep Gap.. Garmin leads us on some amazing back roads and byways of North Carolina, and back on to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Deep Gap...It surely wasn't the "shortest time" route but what a nice ride...I don't know exactly where we rode, but it sure was beautiful..
We ride on the parkway until the gas gauge once again starts to quiver, and then look for another escape route.. Sound familiar?? NC route 43 (at mile marker 85) heads to the town of Bedford, NC and looks sort of inviting but maybe intimidating, in part because it has the same RV warning sign. We go south onNC 43 and it suddenly becomes as steep as NC 80, but it has been recently repaired and covered with fresh tar and gravel for about 3 miles. YIKES!! I sure know how to pick 'em. We motor carefully on down, this time cautiously and often in first gear. I was a little nervous about what Jeannine would think after this, but all she said was "Wow!! That was interesting!".We find food, lodging and gas in Bedford and call it a day. We met a Park Ranger who told us about an 18 wheeler moving van that tried to go up NC 43 in spite of the signage.. It got hung up on a switchback and it took two big tow trucks all day to get him unstuck.
Never a dull moment...... and miles and miles of smiles in North Carolina.....
Harris and Jeannine
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