My trip to the Great Smokies via Gold Wing...
WOW - how time flies. It was just yesterday (it seems) when I was getting ready for our annual, last of the riding season, vacation trip. Most people, who don't know me ask - "Are you going to ride your motorcycle on your vacation?". Yep, been doing it for 30 years. Been so many places, seen so many things, and met so many interesting people while vacationing on a motorcycle. Well, back to this years ride. We (Wayne Cox, Connie Cox, [my better half] Shirley, and yours truly) met at our watering hole,
Hardee's at Bell's Fork, for a biscuit and beverage on Friday, September 23. Most of the regulars in
Hardee's commented that it was looking like rain. We agreed but that's just part of the ride,
whether we like it or not.
We were doing okay until just west of Greensboro. Then it happened - liquid sunshine. We rode the Gold Wings hard enough to catch clearing skies and dry
highways around
Statesville, then fair sailing all the way to Maggie Valley. We rode the back roads for a couple of days in the beautiful mountains around Maggie Valley (western NC and eastern TN) and even managed to visit "Joey's" with it's delicious pancakes and the fixings. The leaves had started to change but they were to peak around mid October.
Next, we were on the super scenic "Blue Ridge Parkway". Terrific mountains, terrific road and terrific friends on a terrific motorcycle. If it wasn't for that fog, it would have been really terrific - terrific. The next few days were truly enjoyable and relaxing. We stayed at the K.O.A. Campground in Boone,NC (this K.O.A. is the highest in altitude east of the Mississippi). We did some riding, quite a bit of eating (Connie is a great cook and Wayne is one grilling dude), and a lot of relaxing. But as
usual, our vacation was coming to a close and we were to leave the next morning for home. Wayne went down to the K.O.A. store and returned with a news flash. The higher altitudes around Boone were to get 1 to 2 inches of snow with winds of 40 to 50 mph. We quickly decided it was time to leave, like right now. So at 12:30PM, on Friday September 30
th, we started packing up, putting up, and locking up the camper. We departed, at 1:30PM, in the sunshine for the trip back home.
Great ride back home until we reached Durham. It was around 5 o'clock when the sunshine
liquefied and every four wheeled in the Durham area decided it was time for them to get on I-40. I don't know which was worse, the rain or the traffic. All I know was that we did not like it at all. We finally Winged our way through all the rain and all the traffic when we reached Zebulon. Got to house about 8:00PM. Thanks to the good Lord and the Gold Wings, we made it safe and sound. Well since time is flying, we are one month closer to our next trip. It surely will be here before you know it.
Oh
yeah, it was nice having those new
Dunlop E-3s,
Kuryakyn highway pegs, and Frogg
Toggs.It's great to feel safe on new tires in the rain, comfortable in the saddle, and dry in the ????.
If I can help you with your Gold Winging needs (got great prices on safety chrome/parts) or a bag of popcorn, give me a call or stop by RAM.
Ride safe and ride a lot,
Jackie
