Today we didn't put on many miles (182) but we saw a lot of the Smoky Mountains. Our goal was to do the Tail of the Dragon road which is famous in motorcycle circles so having the most turns (318) in the fewest miles (11). What we were not aware of was that the Tail is the famous one but by no means the only amazing twisty vista studded road in the Smoky Mountains. We started the morning on the Cherohala Skyway out of Tellico Plains. The temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and perfect. We got up into the upper 80s when we hit the valley floors but for the most part it was in the 70s. Perfect. These roads are much like the Blue Ridge Parkway but sort of unknown (except the Dragon).
The Dragon is really only 11 miles and it starts at a shop in Deals Gap which sells lots of Dragon stuff (and cold drinks). There was a parking lot full of bikes. I was expecting mostly fast crotch-rocket type bikes but most everyone had Harleys. I gotta hand it to Harley, they sell a lot of bikes and if you walk around a parking lot full of harleys, it is hard to find 2 that are the same. As usual the handful of BMWs were like stinkbugs at a flower show, but there were a few. We talked up a guy from Florida who comes here once a year and wants to retire near here mostly for the weather and the better real estate market.
He mentioned northern Alabama but we were just there and no thanks. He did tip us off to another road that was amazing at the end of the Dragon called the Foothills Parkway. As we were standing around we saw a tractor-trailer go up the Dragon and
everybody seemed in awe at this as meeting this on a corner would effectively block the entire road. And guess what else there are lots of on this road. Lots and lots of police. The park had
them too which makes sense. This road attracts every yahoo over-juiced on testosterone with a 150hp rocket between their legs. There are also lots of Porsche and other high performance cars driving around in packs. We saw 3 Porsches pulled over by the Mounties at one point. We being above all that decided to suppress the urge.
After the Foothills Parkway we decided to drop into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and got lost for a couple hours. The GPS did not know anything about roads in the park and there was no cell service so we wandered around in the park. There are some beautiful one way "loops" with lots of pull offs at the best overlooks where people were having picnics and enjoying the quiet and beauty. The speed limit through the park is 30 mph so they slow everything down, which really lets you enjoy it.
So after finding our way out of the park, we headed north east and decided to find a motel in Gatlinburg TN. This town is a tourist town with lots of amusements, places to stay and lots of restaurants. Out for Mexican food (no lunch) and back to the hotel. Tomorrow we go ???
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