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| Standing behind Bridal Veil Falls |
So I showered and got dressed, then grabbed all three cameras and headed out onto the back porch. It was just that first light . I was going to have to wait 10 or 15 minutes.
When it finally got light enough to see I was somewhat disappointed to find low-lying clouds all across the tops of the mountains and fog down near the lake. I kept waiting for the orange sunrise to highlight the clouds, but I wasn't seeing it.
I used my 360 camera to get a picture of me on the deck. I also took a few pictures of the mountains but they didn't really turn out. Then I walked out to the front of the house to see what picture I could frame out there. I walked about halfway up the driveway and when I turned around there was a really picturesque View of the house the lake behind the house the mountains off in the distance but unfortunately still no orange sunrise.
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| Back deck of our rental house |
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| Our rental house from half way up the driveway with the lake and mountains behind |
I went back inside and listen to my book for a while. Actually I'm not sure if I've even mentioned what book I'm listening to right now. I'm listening to the personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant. I've been going to civil War battle sites, and I recently listened to the Civil War by Shelby Foote. I thought Grant's memoirs would be an interesting follow on.
Everyone started to wake up around 7:30. Ron started making french toast and Karen once again helped by making bacon. By 8:30 most of us have been up and eaten but Angela had a pretty good headache and needed to lay back down so we delayed our departure for a while. Nan also laid back down to get more rest.
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| John coming down the steep driveway after a test ride |
I think we finally got on the road just before 10:00. We were going to do a loop kind of to the southeast and then come around and back in a clockwise manner. It'll be about 150 MI. We stopped for gas and to put ice in cups then headed east on Highway 74
After about 20 miles we turned South. We got a couple of odd instructions from GPS that had us flipping u-turns two or three times. Somehow I wound up in the lead. I almost never lead, not because I don't know where I'm going or how to lead, but because no one wants to ride as slow as I want to ride . So I usually wind up at the back following as best I can, but when I'm uncomfortable with the speed that the group is going I will just fall off the back end and catch up later.
So here I was leading while everybody's talking on the intercom. We're joking and laughing and I missed a left turn followed immediately by a right turn. This left us need to do another u-turns. That put us in even more laughter because I was complaining that I couldn't hear the GPS instructions with all the chatting going on. But nobody got run over and eventually we were on the right road headed in the right direction.
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| U-turns in the middle of the road - not really |
We had been on the road a little over an hour when our first call for a potty break came. It came right after we passed the gas station and we did not flip a U-turn to go back. I started looking ahead to see if I can see a gas station and eventually found one.
This gas station had a magic key that you must have in your possession to go to the bathroom. So we had a little ritual of passing on the power of the magic key.
When all were done, we got snacks or drinks or whatever was needed. Ron bought some boiled peanuts and several of us gave them a try . They are very salty and I can see how people could like them but none of us did.
We were sitting around talking for a while when John said that he and Angela were heading back to the hous. I guess Angela had a headache since we left and was hoping it would go away, but it was getting worse and finally reached the point that she couldn't take it anymore. They put on their gear and waved goodby.
The rest of us started looking at the map. We thought we'd go another hour down the road and get lunch before heading back. We picked a town called Highlands that seemed to have many food options and I put that in as the next destination. We loaded up and started riding. These were some beautiful roads
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| We see kudzu everywhere, here they have been spraying to kill it |
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| Riding past a beautiful lake |
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| More of the beautiful lake |
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| We took a back road to cut from highway 107 to 64 |
We have been dealing with road construction this whole trip, and this ride was no different. We Came upon a one lane road and wound up sitting there for almost 20 minutes. No cars were coming the other direction either so I think they were doing something that closed the whole Road for a bit. Finally we saw cars coming the other way and then we were allowed to go. They were repaving a large section and we had to pass by at a snail's pace.
We got to Highlands and I pulled us into a gas station so we could try to find a restaurant. The intercoms really help for things like this because no one had to get off of bikes and huddle over someone's phone to try to pick something out. Ron suggested a barbecue place and I looked it up, it looked good so we headed off in that direction, after I pick the wrong direction and had to do a u-turn. U-turns seem to be the theme of today's ride.
We parked in the shade then climbed up some long steps to reach their patio. Ron and Karen ordered chicken tacos, I got shrimp tacos, and Nan got brisket burnt ends appetizer as her meal. We also got a banana pudding that the lady told us was the last one they had.
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| Lunch at the Highlands Smokehouse |
The food was awesome, especially Nan's burnt hands were fantastic. There were some left at the end so we got a box and brought them back.
When we were done eating I went to get our banana pudding. It wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic . Then we all took turns going to the one bathroom, but on our way to the bathroom there was a whole refrigerator filled with banana puddings .
We put all our gear back on except Nan and I decided not to wear coats so we slathered on the sunscreen and hopped on the bike. We got about 15 or 20 miles when I saw a waterfall off to our right and stopped. It was a pretty interesting waterfall with almost a little cave back behind it . We spent a while getting pictures then headed on down the road.
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| The "cave" behind bridal veil falls |
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| Standing behind bridal veil falls |
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| A bit farther back |
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| All of bridal veil falls |
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| They even put up a sign just for Nan |
We've seen so many beautiful things that the rest of the ride was yet more beautiful things and unfortunately that becomes a little redundant . I'll post some of the pictures .
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| Achingly beautiful roads |
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| More beautiful vistas |
I've been on the road for 2 weeks now, and my bike is filthy. I've ridden lots of hot roads, a few very wet roads, some chip sealed roads, little bit of gravel , and it's all stuck to my bike . So I wanted to go give my bike a good wash but Ron didn't want to do that . So part way back to Bryson City they peeled off to the left .
We followed the GPS and eventually wound up at wishy-washy car wash. I pulled into an empty Bay then went to go swipe my credit card, but this one only takes cash. Luckily Nanette had $5. I wanted to get a picture so I gave Nana the phone grab the wand stuck the money in and immediately started washing the bike so now that can get a picture. Then I grabbed the phone from her and she wandered off to go look at a thrift store.
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| Pre-wash and loosening the dirt |
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| All lathered up |
I got the bike wet it down and then sprayed with some light soap, and switched on the foaming brush. This had a really good foaming brush and soon I had the bike completely covered in thick soap foam. I scrubbed all of the worst areas on the bike . I was kind of hurrying because I had no idea how long $5 would last. Once I got it all scrubbed I put the brush away grab the wand and switched it to rinse.
I saw that the countdown was at $4 and I'm thinking it was counting up, so I started rinsing the bike as fast as I could. I got it fully rinsed and then went back over thinking it was just about to run out but when I looked at the counter and it was now at $3.50. I still have more than half of my wash time left.
I gave the bike another really good rinse then switch to wax . Might as well. I put a light spray of wax all over the plastic parts , then switch back to rinse. I made sure to get all of the soap and all of the wax off of everything I can see. That's when the timer started beep meaning that I was down for my last dollar. I walked around for one last rinse and then put the wand away with about 5 cents left to go.
I got out one of my micro fiber cloths and started wiping first the bike seats , then the window , then the rest of the bike . It was pretty warm and I was done in just a few minutes.
I rode the bike over to get Nan at and then the two of us rode over to the local grocery store. We needed gallon Ziploc bags, Kleenex , and a bag of ice . Nan sat on the bike while I ran in to get all of that, then we headed back to the house.
We kind of sat around for the afternoon chatting and telling jokes until about 5:30 when John started pulling out the hamburgers to grill them. After only about 10 minutes John came back in and said the grill ran out of gas. He wound up frying them on the stove. We boiled some corn to go with it, then we sat down to eat. It was a very good meal.
While we were sitting around chatting, we got on the subject of politics. I let my dislike of Trump be known. We talked about it for a little while then got back off the subject. It's perfectly fine for friends to disagree and continue to be friends.
Along with washing my bike, I decided it was time to wash my riding jacket. I've sweated over 3,000 miles in that thing and it's a bit whiffy. So I took all the pads out and put it in the washer and set it to delicate. Then I'll dry it on low heat.
It's not even 8:00 and I think I'm done with the blog for now. I still need to process all the photos and add them to the blog. Then I'm going to call it a night.
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