Robinsville NC
Woke
up around 3, then 5, then 6, and finally stayed up at 8:20. The Sleepless in Seattle routine wasn’t my
fault…it was the trucks on the Highway doing all their downshifting….very, very
noisy. And my room was actually above
the highway but only some 30 feet away!
After
leisurely loading the bike up I crossed over to the other side….of the highway
that is, and had breakfast at a small shop named WE (Waffles and Eggs). Am so glad that I went there for my breakfast
cuz they had raw jalapenos which they graciously grilled for me and put it on
the side.
Outside
the skies were seriously overcast but The Weather Channel app on my Droid
didn’t show any thunderstorm activity for Claypool Hill area. BUT….scrolling the map around showed
Knoxville getting plummeted, as well as the Maryville area, but all moving ENE
on the map. It seemed that by the time I
reached Knoxville the thunderstorms would have passed thru already. Buoyed by that optimism I mounted my iron
steed and headed out onto the 19 towards Knoxville. And I was indeed very fortunate. The closest I came to rain was a thunderstorm
on the left of the highway and one on the right about 10 miles apart…and the US19
split between them! Once on the south
side of Knoxville the skies cleared and the sun began warming the gorgeous TN
countryside.
Shortly
thereafter I connected to the 129 and headed for Maryville and then towards
Tallassee. But first was a planned stop
at The Dragon Inn at the junction of TN72 and US129. I had to meet Dennis and see his hotel and
BBQ business that he started last year.
He and his wife are very courageous to embark on this adventure ! His place is all natural wood and gives a
country feeling to the stay. His BBQ is
open on all sides giving a nice feel to being in the woods and a full view to
the road watching bikers going to and coming from the Dragon. If you are planning to ride the Dragon from
Tallassee south to the Deals Gap you should plan to spend the night at The
Dragon Inn or stop for refreshments. (865) 253-3566.
Dennis’s
BBQ was closed for the day (Mon & Tue) but he still insisted on making a
sandwich for me with a side of potato salad and also some iced Pepsi….that’s
some fantastic Illinois transplanted hospitality into TN!!! We chatted for about an hour and then took
some photos. He then armed me with some
advice for riding the Dragon and off I went to the starting point 11 miles down
the road at the end of Lake Chillowee.
First
stop was at the Harley store to get some gas and prove I was here and to buy a
‘Dragon’ TShirt J. While there Hanna took some photos for me and
also joined me for a pic….every old man enjoys getting his photo taken with a
young lady!
Next
stop was only a mile or two into the ride when I came out onto a viewing area
and saw another biker and his gal sitting on the rock wall and enjoying the
view. Mike and his sweetheart Bailey
were kind enough to pose for some pics as well as take a few of me. Then some tourists in a van cage stopped by and they also joined in on the photo
session. Andrew (NYU) and his sweetheart
Olivia (Columbia) posed on the bike and took photos of each other….we may have
some high IQ Harley converts in the making J.
Then it was time to go slay the Dragon!
Wow! What a thrilling ride…so many turns (318 in
11 miles), ascending and descending 180’s, deep banked turns, tight turns,
Little to no room for error. No chance
to look for vistas as the focus is completely on the ride.….couldn’t see it
anyhow as the road is in the middle of a thick forest. On a number of curves I could see deep
scrapings probably made by scraping running boards and in some places it seemed
as if a bad crash marked the spot.
And
suddenly the NC state line showed up…Deals gap was there in front of me and the
11 miles of 318 curves was over. I was
elated that I completed it without crashing….but saddened that it was done…I
wanted to ride it again! It was just so
much fun!
But
it was time to move on. I took a self
photo in front of the curved dragon but couldn’t find the “Tree of Shame”. I noted the Deals Gap Country Store on the
other side of the road so I drove over there but it was closed. Although tempted to continue on down 129 I
noted a fork and couldn’t see any signs giving directions. So I turned Sophia around to go into the
motel parking lot so I could see the front of a sign that was about 100 feet up
the road. Am so glad I did that…’cuz
there, in the center of the lot, was the “Tree of Shame”.
Time
for a Kodak moment. And while setting up
the camera a gentleman from Chicago came over and offered to take the
photos. Mark Lewis was there with his
daughter MacKenzie and we ended up taking photos with his and my camera and
chatted about riding. We promised to
connect via email and exchange photos. Oh, he also mentioned a friend of his
who is considering doing what I’m doing now and asked if she could contact me
for riding advice. So I may be getting
another blog follower in the future.
All
that was left now was to ride the Cherohalla Skyway. Not more than 2 miles down the mountain I came upon the Cheoah Resevoir/Lake. The Dam here was made famous in Harrison Fords "Fugitive".
But I knew it was too late in the day to make
the ride. I had 20 miles to go to
Robinsville and then 30 miles to ride the Cherohalla. And it was already 7:30pm. So I decided to look for Microtel that Mark
told me was in Robbinsville. 20 miles
later I was in the town but found the
Microtel fully booked up. The hostess
suggested I try the San-Ran motel (828) 479-3256 just a few buildings
over. Anne and her husband are the
owners and they have a very nice, clean and comfortable place at a very
reasonable price. It definitely was my
good fortune to be sent to San-Ran ….highly recommend it as the place to stay
if you stay in Robbinsville.
Oh,
one other good note to a sad note. Turns
out this NC county is a dry county. I
found that out from an 18 yr old employee of the food store. But with a grin he told me where I could find
beer only 30 minutes away in the adjoining county (but I wasn’t going to ride 30 minutes just
for a beer). So I headed over to the gas
station and bumped into 4 other bikers from Michigan-Steve, Rick, Gary and Tim
have been on the road since Friday and were on their way to Deal’s Gap Motel
where they had reservations. We had a
good chat swapping stories and I mentioned the sadness of a Dry county at which
point Steve dipped into a cooler strapped on the back of Harley and gave me a
Coors!! Wow!! Made my evening. Then another sad note…they hit the road and I
realized I never gave them my card…and didn’t get any pics of us for the
blog! It sure would be great if they
bumped into Mark and his daughter and got the info J
Well,
time to get to sleep. The Cherohalla
awaits me tomorrow as does Neal, my good USMC buddy, in Nashville.
Hope
I don’t twist and turn too much in my sleep tonight J
C ya mañana,Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
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