It's sort of a dream, it's sort of reality -
Spring Ride - 2009
The Tail of the Dragon - Deals Gap, TN. If you haven't ridden it, you haven't ridden anything like it. Good ride - Good (if not a little cold for a few days) weather. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio -- Mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, lakes, plains, forests... There's also a blog entry - A sort of rough "road diary" of this trip in the "BLOG" section.
(South) London, KY after 500+ miles on Sunday (5/17/09)
Hampton Inn, London, KY. Highly recommended...
Approaching the Smoky Mountains on the morning of day 2 -
Very cool... And very cold. Below 40 degrees.
Fueled up in Williamsburg
At the head of the Dragon on the TN side - A day early! All those miles on day one paid off.
On the Tail of the Dragon - Various photographers dot the Tail just like a Disney ride. You can visit their websites, punch in the date, and find your photos. There were over 7,000 photos from one of those photographers taken that day. A Monday. Off-season.
On the Tail of the Dragon
On the Tail of the Dragon
Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort at the end of the Dragon
Cool place - Great bratwurst.
Lots of bikes...
Shortly after the North Carolina side of the TOTD
The views started really getting spectacular on the afternoon of day 2...
The famous Blue Ridge Parkway - Unbelievable.
Needed to get a shot with the bike once in a while...
Bridges through the mountains - For some dumbass reason, the ones on the NC side are ALL BLACK inside. Hint to the NCDOT - Black doesn't reflect light. It's freaking dangerous, okay? Fire someone.
These aren't even the really cool shots... The best views were right off the road where you can't stop.
Overlooking Gatlinburg, TN
Gatlinburg, TN
Morning of Day 3 - Just inside Virginia. Pretty boring.
A little later - Inside West Virginia. Some of the most picturesque roads I've ever seen. Wish I had photos of them...
Still day 3 - Inside Ohio. Just wanted to get a photo of something... Made it all the way into Indiana that evening at around 1:30AM and stayed at the most disgusting Super 8 I've ever encountered. Normally, I'm pretty happy with Super 8. I don't expect much. But this place was a dump unlike I've ever seen. If we weren't so tired (after over 600 miles and around 16 hours of saddle time), we would've checked out immediately and went down the road. Or slept in an empty dumpster.
Shorter day on day 4 - Made it to Springfield IL and wandered around downtown - Stayed at a Best Western - Very nice place, very nice people. Highly recommended.
Illinois Supreme Court
Illinois Supreme Court
State of Illinois Capitol Building
Unbelievable architecture on that building...
Seafood place - Great food, totally reasonable prices, charming staff, unique building.
Yep - That's the place to stay if you're out there.
Morning - Day 5 - on the way home. Got off the beaten path to beat on the *original* beaten path - The Mother Road - Route 66.
Got our kicks for a while and then jumped on I-55 and headed back home. About 2,000 miles total. Came home, relaxed for a bit, washed the bike and then went out riding - You know - To dry it off nice...