2026 Natchez Trace ride - Day 17 - Blue Ridge Parkway

Scenic overlooks with cloud cover aren't so scenic

I woke up at 6:00 and got ready for the day. No one was awake. Last night when we went shopping we did not buy a case of water because we were on the motorcycle and we forgot to buy a large bag of peanut covered M&Ms. Don't ask me why but that's the snack of choice.

I decided to take the van and drive into town to pick those things up. It was still Pitch Black and driving that Winding Road was harder than I thought it would be. Especially right hand turns I could see nothing and so really slowed down. It probably took me about 12 minutes to get out this time.

I made it to the store and bought those things as well as a bag of trail Mix.  By the time I made it home the sun was just coming up and almost everyone was awake. But no one had made breakfast because they couldn't remember what we had decided. But several people had already foraged through the leftovers. We were supposed to make French toast but I just scrambled a few eggs. But once I scrambled eggs suddenly everybody was still hungry.

We were packed up and on the bikes by 8:30. Nannette did not sleep well last night and decided to skip today's ride. So I put my backrest back on the bike.

We were on the way to a gas station when Ron asked whether there would be air to fill up his tires. I replied that we didn't need air at the gas station because I had a little air compressor with me. I guess he had spent all yesterday looking for a compressor around the house but hadn't bothered asking.

When we stopped at the gas station I spent a few minutes digging my compressor out of my trunk. It's at the very bottom of everything, then I took it over to John who also needed to air up his tires. I went back to gas up my bike and by the time I was done they were ready to go.

We rode about 20 miles to get to the start of Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped and got pictures by the sign then started up the road.   Blue Ridge is much like the Natchez Trace that we rode last week. It's purpose-built for sightseeing with scenic turnouts every couple of miles and sometimes more often than that.

Southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Picturesque roadway

Drive by overlook

A few people took their heated gear off because it was starting to warm up , but they kept the rest of their jackets on . I took my mesh jacket off because I was stifled . It was about 72° and felt wonderful .

We did a few more scenic pull-outs and I did several just quick Dash in snap a picture with the 360 camera and then back on the road.  The clouds really started together as we climbed even higher, and eventually there was no point to taking a Scenic turnout because you couldn't see anything. 

Took my coat off because I was overheating.  They still have on heated gear

Much better without the coat

We stopped at the first couple of Scenic outlooks then skipped a few and did another one skipped and did them almost haphazardly. The road was steadily climbing up into the mountains and the clouds began together. Rain was in the forecast for the afternoon so we kept our eye on the skies.

I love when the canopy closes over the top and casts green light on everything

More drive by overlooks

Clouds added interesting shapes.  You can see the road way below us.

Ron has a rule that someone must be in pictures, so he's pointing to something for Karen's photo

Still no rain and still feels great

We reached the turnoff for Waterrock Knob viewpoint and rode to the parking lot. There are five or six cars and a couple of motorcycles. There was a thin fog across the area and no views visible through all the clouds.  We went into the gift shop but found nothing worth buying.

As we were getting back onto the bikes, we heard the rumble of motorcycles approaching. The first few motorcycles came in looped all the way around and started parking back close to the exit. Motorcycles kept coming and coming and filling spots until the whole Loop of the parking lot was packed with motorcycles. It took almost 5 minutes.

We backed out of our spots and started to leave the parking lot , somehow I wound up in the lead. Ron stopped and was asking people what the group was . It took him two or three people before he finally got an answer. This was a tour group from a motorcycle Festival. The leader said he had 60 bikes with him.  None of us were envious of the massive group and we got out of there quick.

When he reached the tallest point on the Blue Ridge we pulled our bikes in front of the sign to get a picture. John was disgusted with Ron and I because our bikes were not very straight. I used John's monopole to take the picture. I always get a bit nervous having my phone way up in the air on that dinky little tripod base but it worked.  I should have taken more time and reviewed the photos.  If I'd just moved to the other side of my bike would have left the sign clear.

Highest point on Blue Ridge Parkway

We continue driving and try to couple of scenic overlooks I managed to get a few decent pictures but the clouds were still pretty heavy. Then it started to very lightly sprinkle. It's always a Gamble whether to stop and put on rain gear or keep riding until you're forced to put it on.

The temperature started to drop rapidly as the clouds got thicker and the sprinkles got heavier. Eventually I said I needed to stop just to put my mesh jacket back on. Karen did put her rain jacket on but nobody else was ready to surrender to the weather yet.  I forgot to put my waterproof camera back around my neck, so there were no more photos.

We kept watching the oncoming traffic to see if they had their windshield wipers on or if their cars were soaking wet or if motorcycle riders had rain gear on. So far everything looked dry even though the roads were wet and we are still getting sprinkles.

It was getting to be lunch time so John decided to take us off the Blue Ridge and head to a nearby town where we can find something to eat. We rode about 20 miles when suddenly the rain just poured down on us, no warning. Ron started repeatedly saying "oh my heck" because he couldn't see. I flipped my visor down but kept it slightly cracked open to prevent fogging. John said it was just a drizzle and we'd get through it quick and kept riding.

We rode in the rain for about 5 minutes and it did eventually peter out and stop. I didn't really feel all that wet though.

We eventually made it to town and found parking spots for all our bikes.  We also found a restaurant on Main Street. Both couples split a sandwich, and I got a Korean barbecue Bowl. The food is pretty good if a little bit expensive.  While walking back to the bikes, we heard marching band music.  The local high school band was setup in about 4 areas and were taking turns playing to raise funds.

Back at the bikes, John said hi to the guy getting into the truck next to him.  That led to him saying he was going home to watch football, then John made the ultra mistake of asking who he was rooting for.  30 minutes later we finally got away.  We just put the rental house into the GPS and headed for home. It kept looking like it was going to rain but it never did.

I haven't really talked about my struggle to get a tripod. My old one broke a month ago and my friend Mike ordered one for me to be delivered in Baton Rouge, but that one never did show up. He then ordered one to come here to Bryson City, but rather than delivering it to the house they sent via postal service and Mike got a note that it had been placed in a US Postal locker.  We don't have access to the postal lockers. But today as we are riding from the highway into the house, I thought I really should stop at the lockers just to see if there wasn't some way to get the tripod.

The neighborhood has a really nice looking hit for their mailboxes with a roof and flowers. I stopped out front and when I walked inside there on the ground sat my tripod. The house we are renting doesn't have a mailbox and so the Postal Service just left the tripod sitting on the ground.  For the last two days no one has walked off with it. Everyone was amazed including Mike.

Tripod left on the ground by the mail man

It's a little bigger than I would have liked, but it is way fancier than anything I've ever had. Really solid and will hold my camera much better than anything I've ever had before. I spent a couple hours making sure I understood all the various features and how they work. 

Folded up, the tripod fits well in my trunk

Only one segment extended and it's taller than my old tripod

I actually took a 30 minute nap today. This constant travel is definitely wearing me down. I shouldn't have done it but I looked up how far I am from home. Nearly 1500 miles and 22 hours. All that starts on Monday.

Because Nannette skipped today's ride, she put a chuck roast into the Crock-Pot. Then we added potatoes and carrots we baked some rolls pulled out the salad and I made some brown gravy. Dinner was really good but I ate too much and need another nap.

I had written much of the blog and was sitting chatting when John asked if I had a flashlight.  Of course I do.  John said his bike has occasionally been warning him of overheating and he wanted to check his coolant level.  He spent a while looking at his overflow tank but couldn't see the level in it.  So I decided to check mine and likewise couldn't see the level, nor could Ron.  We checked with AI and decided to go buy some pre-mix antifreeze in town.  Ron and John called advance auto while I grabbed the keys to the rental van.  They did have the right antifreeze and they would be open another 30 minutes so we headed off.  We got the antifreeze and a screw on funnel to put it in the bike.  But by the time we got back it was late and we decided to deal with it in the morning.

I'm definitely starting to include less details in the blog to make them shorter and easier to write. Probably the last day is just going to be three pictures and a few captions. 

2026 Natchez Trace ride - Day 16 - Great Smokey Mountain

Riding in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park

I woke up at 6:00 and quickly got dressed. It was very dark outside so I dug a camera out of my fanny pack and headed out to the bike. Last night I took much of the bike apart get it the headlights. I changed them both out then put it back together enough to to start the engine and make sure the headlights work. Then I was so hot and tired I stopped for the night, but now I need to put it all back together. 

I took my time while putting it all together. There have been too many times I get everything put back and I have spare parts , but not this time!! 

I was all finished just as the sky was getting light. I look hopefully to the east but all I saw was clouds and fog. No pretty sunrise for me. 

I hopped on the bike turned it around and rode up the hill. I turned left and had a deeper into the neighborhood. I went about 10 minutes just Meandering listening for problems trying to feel whether anything was loose or rattling everything seems good so I turned around and headed back. 

I got all my stuff put away including my new tools. I figured out where to put them on the bike so they would be ready when I next needed them.  Then I went in and got all my writing stuff ready and took it out on the bike. That will save me time later when I'm rushing trying to get out the door. 

By this time a few people are awake. I figured scrambled eggs was the easiest thing so I started cracking eggs into a bowl , cut a pack of bacon in the quarters and started that frying , then scrambled the eggs.  By the time I was done with all that everyone was awake and ready to eat. 

Getting ready for our ride

Foggy highway riding to start the day

Clouds starting to rise and break up

We are loaded and ready to go not long after 8:30. You stopped for gas and it's going till we reach the town of Cherokee we rode North and into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We stopped for a short break and went into the visitor center. They had a nice tropical map of the park we spent a while looking at it, then we wanted her back out, got on the bikes and started the ride. 

Like other days, it's redundant say it was beautiful because all the roads around here are beautiful. There wasn't much traffic and we kept our speeds down around 35 or 40. It was still in the 70s and everyone but Nan and I had on heated gear. 

Entering Great Smokey Mountain

Stopping at a scenic overlook

Beautiful views

All of us at the overlook

We stopped a few times to let cars pass. This National Park is actually a through way. It lets all the traffic from the south get up to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Fork and vice versa. Some of the cars are in quite a hurry. 

The road started climbing, and we started to catch glimpses through the trees of the beautiful views. Finally there was a Scenic pull out and we stopped to get some pictures. We used John's tripod to get photos. 

Also stopped at the next pull out, but just a quick stop. There were stops about every quarter mile after that for quite a ways. We didn't bother stopping at them all.  Several times man didn't even get off the bike, she would just stand up a little higher and say yep that's pretty and sit back down. 

Quick drive through a scenic overlook

I had purchased a driving tour to go with the park.  The app is called action tour guide, and the audio tour cost $15. It's the same app I was using last week when I toured Shiloh and Vicksburg. As you're driving through the park different spots on the road will trigger an audio description. It was a little hard being on the intercom and also trying to listen to the tour but we did hear some interesting facts and relay them to the rest of the group. 

The tour told us a lot about the people who originally organized to create the park. It also told us a lot about the Cherokee people who used to inhabit the area. It told us there traditions and stories about how things got created. 

View from Newfound Gap

After we cross the top of the pass we are now getting views out to the west of the mountains. Our audio guide told us about the 2016 fires that burned through the park and all the way into Gatlinburg. You could still see some scars from the fire, but nothing like out in the West. The hills were already densely forested again. You could see a few bear trees sticking up here or there, but other than that you would know it was burned just 10 years ago. 

View toward Gatlinburg and the 2016 fire

One of the tunnels, my loud airhorn made quite the noise in here

More views to the North

We're eventually reached the other end of the park and The Visitor Center there . We stopped for a quick break and decided that it was late enough to get some lunch. I was still a little mentally confused about locations, but I picked a restaurant that said it was only 2 miles away.. John picked another one that said it was close as well but when we started heading there it wound up taking almost 15 minutes to get there. It turns out John had picked one in Pigeon Forge which is actually on the far side of Gatlinburg. 

But it doesn't matter because Pigeon Forge the home of Dolly Parton and with her recent death we all wanted to go see the town anyway. There were some Billboards commemorating her.  There also seemed to be a big car show going on. There were classic cars parked up and down both sides of the street. We didn't spend much time looking at the cars because it was too hot. 

We stopped at the barbecue place.  Nan and I split a plate of brisket burnt hands. 2 days ago Nan got the same thing and we both loved it. This wasn't quite as good.  We also got a banana pudding and it was pretty good too. 

Angela started rubbing her head and said she had a migraine coming on.  She took some Tylenol and drank some Dr Pepper but it didn't help. Eventually they decided they were just going to head back to the house rather than ride up  Cades Cove. 

We started riding back towards home.  I asked Nan if she wanted to go home or if she wanted to keep touring. She was open to doing more touring so long as that also meant we can stop by a casino for a little while. So we announced over the intercom that we were going to drop off and look around a bit more. 

Riding up Cades Cove

A beautiful creek running up Cades Cove

We didn't go all the way up Cades Cove because it was getting hot. But I started scrolling through the audio to her and playing the stories. Who pretty well finished all the stories about the time we were back to the main road. 

Not long after we turned south on the main road the temperature started decreasing again as we climbed. It felt really good. We stopped two or three times but more serious and one time we stopped for about 15 minutes just to stretch our legs. We did not bother stopping at the top, and often our stops we just to pull out line up a nice picture and then move on. Anytime car started to back up behind us I'd pull off and let them pass. 

Twin Peak (I think) where the 2016 fire began

Stopped to take stretch our legs and rest a bit

Drive by viewing

More drive by viewing

We got back to the visitor center to use the bathroom and buy a cold bottle of water.  The temperature was back up to 94 degrees and the sun was beating down on us making it feel much hotter.

We stopped by a grocery store to pick up a few things on the way back.  Salad, eggs, tomato, and Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches.

Dinner was mostly leftovers.  Chicken tacos and salad.  The salad was great after so many heavy lunches.  I haven't had my ice cream sandwich yet, I'm using it as a bribe to myself to get the blog done.

Daily Miles: 152

Total Miles: 3487

Total drive time: 79h27m

2026 Natchez Trace ride - Day 15 - Wheels Through Time

Parked at the Wheels Through Time Museum

I was up at 6:00 but there were low clouds and fog, so no chance of sunrise photos.  I showered and got dressed anyway, then sat out on the back deck listening to Grant's memoirs and enjoying the  cool air.

At 7:30 I  pulled out yesterday's left over french toast.  I used it to make an egg in a frame.  Then I also cooked 2 over easy eggs to put on top.  A bit of maple syrup and I had one of my favorite breakfast tastes.  I love the runny yolk and syrup.

Yesterday Nan said she wanted a day off of riding so we knew that was coming.  Karen had a bad night's sleep and decided not to ride, and Angela decided to join them on.  So women were going shopping and men were going riding.

We picked our destination as the Wheels Through Time museum.  I guess there was a TV show by the same name and this museum is his legacy.  The museum didn't open until 10:00 and it was an hour away, so we waited until after 9:00 to leave.

I wanteded to do a timelapse video of the ride out from our house to the highway.  It's 3 miles and many sharp turns, but I've never bothered filming or timing it.  It took right at 10 minutes which surprised everyone.

We headed east on the highway, then turned south on another highway.  Finally after 20 minutes we turned onto a small road that twisted through the trees.  I looked down to check the temperature and saw it was 68, so I asked on the intercom if they had their heated gear on.  "Yessir, and it's running nice and warm" was my reply.

Nice roads

More nice roads

I love tree lined roads

As with the last 3 days, the roads were well maintained and the views were beautiful.  We had very little traffic.  The joking on the intercom continues to be one of the highlight, but most of the joking is so situation that it wouldn't translate well into the blog, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

We arrived in Maggie Valley just after 10:00 and pulled into the museum parking lot.  There were already about 40 motorcycles and more kept coming in after us.  We asked google, and it said that about 600 people visit every day.  John had watched the TV show in the past, so he was very excited to be here and his enthusiasm made Ron and I excited too.

Pulling into the Wheels Through Time Museum

We started in the gift shop, then paid our $12.00 (with our old man discounts).  There are bikes everything and in every condition. 99% of the bikes are Harley Davidsons and they had examples of every model ever made.  I guess the guy would go all around looking in barns to find hidden gems, then bring them back and film himself restoring them and talk about the process and the history of each bike.

Many of the bikes on display still run because of his skill.  Every so often you'd hear one of the bikes be started as an employee would start it while giving a presentation.

We saw racing bikes, hill climbing bikes, flat track bikes, glitzed up bikes, ancient bikes, and new bikes.

I didn't see any "celebrity" bikes, but I did see displays honoring a person that rode a particular bike for years.  There was a display of police bikes, but I expected it to be bigger.

There were also several mechanic shops that had been brought entirely into the museum and left much as they used to exist.

I pointed out to John that all the bikes had drip pans under them, he wasn't amused

Home built bike with a car's V8 engine

We spent almost 3 hours wandering the floors until my back started hurting.  Ron and I wandered outside and found a bench to sit on.  After a few minutes John came out and laughed when he saw us because he was going to sit down and wait for us.

We headed for our bikes and found a group admiring Ron's black Spyder.  They asked him allot of questions.

When we got on the bikes, Ron asked a question.  John hadn't turned his intercom on and I made a snarky comment.  Ron burst out laughing which got me laughing and we both could have fallen off the bikes we were giggling so hard.  John finally came online and wondered what was so funny.  I'll not share the joke here because it requires way too much context and setup, but to us on the ride,  it will be memorable.

We wrote about 2 miles to the twisted Spoke restaurant. They weren't many bikes here yet but it looked okay. We asked to sit outside and started looking through the menu. 

Ron and John decided to split a chicken sandwich and fries. I ordered nine buffalo wings with lemon pepper. They weren't very excited about their sandwich. It wasn't very big and John didn't like the parmesan cheese on it. The fries were very good, and my chicken wings were fantastic. The skin was incredibly crispy and the lemon pepper was very flavorful. 

When we were done we talked about weather just to head home or to keep riding and we all agreed to keep riding.   But I think we made a wrong turn as we exited the parking lot. Google Maps will recalculate very quickly if you make a wrong turn and that's what happened. We were riding for about half an hour when we all started saying hey I saw that earlier or I think we're going backwards. Google Maps took us right back the way we were coming instead of routing us around the rest of our ride. 

We had just gotten back on a main road when John spotted an LDS chapel. He quickly turned off the road and we rode up the hill to figure out new plans. I suggested we park in the shade and then get a picture of ourselves with the church in the background. With the pathetic little tripod I have it took a while to get a picture. 

Route planning at the LDS chapel

John planned us a new route and we headed off, but the very first thing we did was stop and get gas. No one wanted to get out in the middle of nowhere and run out. 

We followed the highway for a little while again , then turned off onto some small roads and we're back out into treelined and tree covered small roads. Especially like them when we have very little traffic. 

More nice backroads

Some highway riding

We rode around for about an hour and a half and then I can tell we were slowly headed back towards the house. We are on a road with a lot of sharp curves. When we're on roads like this John and Ron usually pull away from me. I just don't like doing them as fast as they do so I sit back, relax and do my own thing. 

I was coming around a corner to my left when out of nowhere to sport bikes flew past me on the inside of a blind turn. If a car had been coming around the corner, everybody would have been dead.  The Riders were dressed identically with helmets that seem to flow right into their jackets. I did get a small wave from the trailing writer as they sped off into the distance. 

That had really scared me because there was no warning. But I kept on writing kept on loving the views and the trees. About 5 minutes later another pair of bikes did almost the exact same thing, except this time they actually slowed slightly to get around the corner and then zip past. I don't know if that's a common thing here but it was really unusual to me. 

I kept on riding and the miles to arrival kept clicking down. Finally I came around the corner to a large Highway and I recognized where I was. I was just a mile or so from the turnoff to our rental house if I turned left. But I also knew that if I turned right there is a gas station just a mile or two up the road where I could get a nice cold drink of Gatorade and I was very thirsty. 

So I turned right, and I knew that John and Ron were probably waiting for me at the entrance to the neighborhood, so I texted them that I was going to get a drink. 

The gas station is also a fishing shop. I went in and was hoping to find gatorades Waters or something. When I went around the corner to the other half of the shop it had a massive display of drinks and a bunch of snacks. I went and found a gatorade, then to my surprise I also saw sugar-free purple Gatorade which we've been searching for since we got here . That's Nannette's favorite. 

I grabbed her for Gatorades and me one and as I was walking to the counter I saw an ice cream freezer. So I set the drinks down and went back and got myself an ice cream cone. I put the drinks in the bike and sat down on a rocking chair in the shade to enjoy my ice cream. I texted a picture of me back to the group so they wouldn't worry about taking so long. 

Carmel filled ice cream cone

Hydrated and refreshed, I got back on the bike and headed for the house. There is a truck just going through the gate and I thought about sneaking in behind him that decided against it. I looked up the gate code and entered it. Then I turned on my 360 camera and started a time lapse. This time it only took me 8 and 1/2 minutes to get back to the house. 

We chatted and joked for a few hours at the house and I started thinking about my broken headlights . I would really like to get them fixed. I changed them about 2 years ago so I know I can do it but it takes over an hour. I sat friending about it when I just should have gotten up and got on with it. 

Finally I looked up finally I looked up the YouTube video and watch that then headed out to the bike to see if I had all the tools I needed. I thought I might but I wouldn't know until I was deep into the process. 

Almost got it, but can't get the bolt at the top center above the headlight

I started pulling mirrors wind deflectors and body panels off so that I could remove the headlights themselves. It took me about 45 minutes to get all the way inside. I started with the left side headlamp and removed three bolts, but I could not get at the fourth Bolt. I needed a long extension and a 10 mm socket and I didn't have it. So I went inside and thread it again about what and how to do it. Put the bike back together and do it later? Take the rental car and go by tools and parts? Leave it till tomorrow by Parts in the car and do tomorrow is Drive in the car? 

Finally someone nudged me enough that I went out and got in the car and drove to town. I was going to go to an auto parts store and see if they had the tools as well as the headlamp I needed. When I got there I saw a dollar store next door so I went in there. Sure enough they had a little $5 set with sockets and an adapter that I needed. Then I went to the auto parts and got the headlights. By the time I got home it was about an hour and a half round trip. 

PERFECT.  Hex to 1/4 adapter with SAE and metric sockets

They had already started eating our street tacos for dinner so I made myself some. It hit the spot, especially a big dollop of guacamole and chips. 

I went back out to the bike put all my extensions and things together and got the headlight off. Sure enough the bulb was broken so I put a new one in and started reassembling that headlight. I disassembled the right side headlight but that bulb didn't seem to be broken. I replaced it anyway and put it all back together 

YUP!  1 broken fillament

When I fired up the bike the headlights came on. I was so relieved. But I was also sweating like a dog and decided that the rest of the assembly could be done tomorrow morning when it's cool. 

For the last 45 minutes I've been dictating this blog, I'll add the photos, then I'm going to shower before going to sleep . I stink. 

Daily Miles: 112

Total Miles: 3335

Total drive time: 74h29m