Friday, 5/28 - I know, I know... we said we were going to ride the Gulf states and maybe go to Key West before we headed north. Well after spending the night in Beaumont Texas and getting slapped in the face with the heat and humidity of the coast, we said the hell with that and decided to head north towards the Smoky Mountains. By the time we cleared our camp in the morning and packed up the trailers we were both drenched with sweat and miserable. We plotted a backroad route NNE on route 165 through Louisina and finally got going around 10:30. With the temp running up towards 90 and the humidity high, it was a pretty grueling day for us West Coasters. We stopped many times to down mass quantities of water to stave off the dehydration, as we were literally soaked with sweat all day. The travel route was interesting though and we enjoyed the scenery and the people we encountered. Very rural. We intersected I-10 at Monroe and headed East on I-20 towards Jackson Mississippi. As we approached Rayville, LA, Jay raised me on the CB and told me to listen to NOAA weather channel 6. I punched it up and heard that we were in a severe thunderstorm warning zone and that there was a travel warning for quarter-size hail! After the tempest in Del Rio, we were in no mood for more abuse, and took the next exit. Checked into a Super-8 motel, dropped the trailers in the parking lot and hurriedly stowed the bikes under cover as the skies darkened and distant thunder was heard. How was the storm you ask....?..... never appeared. Not a drop of rain. Oh well. was nice to sleep in a bed, and we certainly enjoyed the air conditioning!
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Saturday 5/29 - After a quick launch from the motel and breakfast at the Waffle House, we got back on I-20 for a short while, exiting onto the Natchez Trace Parkway just before Jackson Misssissippi. This route was exceedingly enojayable. The Parkway is two-lane non-commercial, stunningly verdant, with freshly mown twelve foot grass margins on either side. We took "The Trace" all the way up past Tupelo and attempted to check into the gorgeous Tishomingo State Park in Tennessee for the night. It was at this point that we were informed that since it was Memorial Day weekend, that this and all the State Parks on The Trace were full. Having been traveling for over two weeks, we had plumb forgotten about the holiday weekend and the need for advance planning! The Park Ranger was very concerned though, and graciously took it upon himself to call several private RV parks in the area for us, finally locating one spot left in a park a few miles away. When we arrived at Piney Grove Campground on Bay Springs Lake we were surprised to find that it was managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Since it was Federally managed, Jay's Golden Age pass was honored and the toll for the night was only $9. When we pulled into the campsite, we realized why the spot was vacant. It was ten feet away from the basketball and volleyball court which was highly populated with high energy children of the church group which surrounded us. The holiday-inspired exuberation of the kids wore a little thin on us, but hey at least we had a legal place to pop the tents. The neighbor said they would run the kids out at 10 PM, which was done on schedule, and the place slowly quieted down.
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Sunday 5/30 - Word traveled fast around the park about the Californians. Several folks stopped by in the morning to stare at us, some making inquiry regarding the nature of the mental disorder which caused us to embark on this journey on such inappropriate conveyances. We continued up The Trace towards Nashville, but bailed off on Hiway 64 to avoid the City and take in some of the more inhabited back roads heading east towards the Smokies. The temperature had moderated since heading away from the Gulf Coast and we had a very good day traversing Tennessee towards the mountains. A lunch stop at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg proved refreshing, but since it was Sunday no souvenir spirits were acquired. When we encountered the foothills late in the day, we were thrilled to engage some technically challenging roads up and over a ridge to the town of Pikeville. Finally off the flat lands. An interesting observation we made is that although we encountered many, many motorcyclists over the past few days, sport bikes were nowhere to be found. Mostly Harley and metric cruisers and quite a few wings. This be cruisin' country. From Pikeville, we located Cumberland Mountain State Park and found a very nice spot in the dense hardwood forest. It rained overnight, but minimal impact since we were already set up, fed and ready for bed when it began. It was interesting in the morning to observe how long it took the trees to shed the rain water. The canopy was so dense that it dripped on us all morning while we got underway.
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Monday 5/31 - This was to be our day to finally experience the motorcyclists nirvana know as Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I had plotted a very circuitous route around and through the park which included Deal's Gap. We had heard it was closed, but attempted the route anyway from both directions. No good. As weather descended upon us, we gave up the pre-planned route and joined the throngs on the more traveled byways. Not motorcycle nirvana, but still a gorgeous journey along thrilling, albeit damp, river views and vistas. One more waypoint was checked off of the bucket list. We exited the park into Gatlinburg and headed back over to Townsend. I left Jay and went into the KOA office to check us in, and as I exited the building, there sat Jay on his bike in a full-on downpour. We had removed the raingear a few hours earlier when we thought the weather had passed. By the time we found the campsite we were both drenched. Oh well, we'd been wet before and we would likely be wet again. We ducked under the shelter of the shower building and waited out the cloudburst. After popping the tents, we decided to forego attempting to prepare a meal, and ate sandwiches.
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Tuesday 6/1 - Its wet. Not raining, but looks imminent. Crap. Our plan was to take alternate routes through the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia, but decided to bite the bullet and take I-81 directly to get to Bob's place this evening. The ride up to Roanoke was on & off rain all day with the mountains mostly obscured. Just before Salem, Jay's right rear trailer tire gave up the ghost. De-laminated and lost a chunk of tread. Got the spare on and stopped in Salem for a late lunch. We called Bob to let know we were getting close. He said it was not raining at his place so we doffed gear and hit the home stretch. Of course five miles up the road it began to rain, but what the hell. Bob treated us to a great country ham dinner at the Peaks of Otter Restaurant, then chatted and sipped Captain Morgan until after midnite.
Wednesday 6/2 - A beautiful morning in Bedford County. Jay and I decided to make this a rest-and-dry-out day. The tents were opened up and the contents of the storage set out. Everything was wet/damp. We breakfasted at a local diner, then stopped to see about new tires for Jay's trailer. None in stock, but the order was placed and they will be in about 9:30 tomorrow morning. We will take the wheels off today and bring them over to have the new shoes installed. Clothes are washing, Jay's napping, and you can see what I am doing. Bob had to run some errands. Bob's place in the country is an ideal place for a little R&R.
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