Models Methods Software

Thursday May 6, Townsend TN to Erwin TN

Another day of natural beauty plus tons of joy on man made machines. Wonderful !!

Another beautiful evening, too.

Roads rode today. NC 73 ( the Pigeon Forge bypass ) to Cade’s Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park GSMNP, and then to US 441 across the Park. Wonderful old-growth forest, cool fresh air, sparkling steam beside the road. Beauty. The road to Cade’s Cove and the cove itself are marvels. Over 700 people lived in the cove in 1850. US 441 across the Park is wonderful, too.

The Blue Ridge Parkway to NC 215. The Parkway was beautiful up high above the Springline and the Dogwood just beginning to blossom along the sides of the mountains. Rode 215 to Canton to pick up NC 209 off US 23. NC 209 was a wonder and a trip back in time. I’ve never seen so many genuine log structures or so many abandoned houses and barns. The road surface is in very bad shape, but well worth the effort to ride. Not a single wide sweeper on this un-proved up narrow two-laner. Rode through Luck, Trust, Spring Creek to Hot Springs.

Picked up NC 208 and NC 212 which became TN 352. Unlike NC 209, these are smooth surfaced and gave some wide sweepers mixed up with the twisties. Another beauty. Can be taken a few MPH above the posted limit.

Putt-putted into Erwin on a short stretch of I-State 26.

Met Walt in GSMNP. Walt is from Princeton MA and was ridding a Beemer, the GS model. He’s on his way to attend his son’s graduation from Clemson. We spent several minutes discussing the extraordinary intelligence of people who chose Clemson to continue their education. We also noted the other outstanding characteristics of these people. His wife will fly into Greenville for the graduation and then back home and Walt will make a fast destination run back to MA.

Met Bruce from Greensboro NC in Hot Springs. Bruce was also riding a GS. Fully accessorized to the max. Bruce knows Saratoga Springs because he’s a horsy farmer. The horsy farmers in Greensboro buy hay from Upstate NY because it’s very clean. The local NC stuff has lots of weeds and dirt in it. The truck drivers taking furniture up to Yankee Land and have empty trucks after unloading their loads. A hay broker will find the hay to be hauled back down NC.

Met a guy here at the motel just as I pulled in. He’s riding one of those Other Brands you usually don’t see actually on the road. He was taking his cleaning materials out of the side cases and proceeded to polish up his chrome. He had his ‘Tude turned up high and was not really engaged in chatting. And, only because I knew his ‘Tude was high, I continued to chat. It’s fun to do that.

I can’t begin to describe the natural beauty and wonders that I saw and experienced today. Beautiful mountains, beautiful trees, beautiful flowers, deep blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and sparkling streams along every road. Priceless.

Bypassing both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg while experiencing NC 73, triple priceless !!

later

May 6, 2010 - Posted by Dan Hughes | moto touring | moto touring