4th August, 2016.
Day 13.
Bamarider picked me up in the morning after I checked out, after which we returned to his home for a lovely southern breakfast of bacon, eggs and “grits”.
I had “grits” for the first time, and it was so reminiscent of a breakfast grain we have halfway across the world.
I cannot say enough about their warm hospitality except for the fact that the world needs way more people like this.
Their friendship towards me is and continues to be a blessing that I am grateful for.
It had been a chance-meeting that started to come about several years ago.
We took a ride in his golf cart around the neighborhood, checked out all the bikes in his present “stable of bikes” (all 3 of his sport touring machines) and talked about upcoming rides to and of places we would like to visit next on each of our individual trips.
It was thrilling for me to have this chance to speak with a fellow motorcycling enthusiast who shared the same passion and had actually been to and visited all the places that I still dreamed of visiting one day, not once but multiple times.
I looked forward to those days and times myself.
He had lots of suggestions for me and pointers on what to see and visit along the way - he was/is a trove of road experiences and was only too glad to share his experiences and offer guidance.
The morning wore on.
If I was to knock down my assigned miles for the day, I would have to get onto the road soon.
At 11: a.m. after securing and re-checking my luggage on the bike, “Mrs. B” made sure that at the very least I had enough water with me.
After thanking them again for their warm hospitality we all bade each other farewell and I pulled out of their driveway, out through the neighborhood and wound my way back onto the highway to continue my way north through part of the Appalachian Mountain range.
I particularly wanted to ride along part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Cherohala Skyway - a road I had read so much about over the years and had placed it on my bucket list of “must-ride” roads.
The Appalachian mountain range is the 2nd longest mountain range in this country stretching for around 2400 mi. (3840 km) 2nd to the Cascades found along the west coast.
It has become a bikers’ heaven.
Unlike the remaining jagged peaks of other mountain ranges farther west in the country, created by the upward lift of colliding plates in the earths’ crust, the Appalachians were formed by gradual bending and folding of underground rock formations and later eroded by moving glaciers that created the gorgeous lush valleys, resulting in the now gentle and rolling highlands of the area.
My destination for the day was the town of Tellico Plains, TN. at the base of the mountain range where the Cherohala Skyway starts to wind its way through some of the high elevations of the Appalachians.
So after 6 and a half hours on the road I arrived in Tellico Plains - another of the places I had read so much about over the last handful of years and was excited to finally be here - The entranceway to the start of the very famous/popular Cherohala Skyway a.k.a. The Ribbon In The Sky.
I must admit though, I was pretty disappointed with Tellico Plains.
A “blip” of a town that didn’t even show up on my radar. Really small place and from all that I had read about it prior to this time, made it obvious to me that a lot of it was hype!
Arriving here, I was not even sure I was in the town. It could pass for outskirts.
I circled around not knowing whether I was really there or not. But it was what it was.
The only lodging I came across was already filled. Its tiny parking lot was already filled with a whole bunch of HD’s.
Pulling into the only gas station nearby, I sauntered in to ask the attendant/store keeper on duty for guidance to some more lodging in the town.
“Nothing else here, sir. You’ll have to go to the next town further back and try your luck”.
Shucks!
After having dreamed getting here to this place for quite a few years, I now had no choice but to double back and go look for someplace else.
Oh well, these are some of the situations that add to making trips like this an adventure - always a case of the unknown.
So getting onto highway 68, I turned north in search of a larger town and some possible lodging for the night.
18 mi. (29 km) along I arrived in Madisonville, TN right by Interstate 75, locating a Guest Inn and checked in for the night.
At 6:30 p.m. local time, after 324 mi. (518 km) of travel for the day, still hot at 88’F (31’C) unloading luggage off the bike and reaching for and dining on a slice of left-over pizza and the last bottle of water I still had on me in my “chuck bag”, I then took a shower, made phone calls to my wife and kids and went straight to bed.