Riding On Top Of The World

What a great day of riding! We left Maggie Valley, around 10 o'clock, after a deluge of rain! Rode to Cherokee, and on to Dragon's Tail. The Tail is 318 turns, in 11 miles. Little D, did herself proud! This was her second time to ride the Tail, and she rode it like a pro! Much better than last year! 

Little D, at Deals Gap. There was, probably, 150 - 200 bikes at the Gap today!

  

This pic was taken from my ride, as we rode the Tail 

 Little D, and our rides, atop the Tail!

A view of Fontana Lake, atop the Tail 

D&D atop the Tail 

Our Rides atop the Tail 

D&D atop Cherohala  Skyway

View, taken From Blue Ridge Parkway 

The new Harley shop, at the end of Dragon's Tail

As we left Maggie Valley, part of our ride took us over Moonshiner's  Run. This was an interesting ride! The roads twisted and turned every direction! I could imagine, the law, chasing a moonshine runner! After riding the Tail, we continued to Pigeon Forge, and across the Blue Ridge Parkway journeying back to Maggie Valley. Our ride was over 250 miles! The weather was fantastic, not a drop of rain! I was impressed with how well Decah did! She rode like a seasoned veteran!

Woodbury To Maggie Valley

Today, we departed Woodbury, TN traveling to Maggie Valley, N.C. Normally, we would take the north route (I-40), but we decided to travel the southern route, taking us through Chattanooga, and Cleveland, TN, on into North Carolina, passing through Murphy,and on to Cherokee, and on into Maggie Valley. After passing through Cleveland, we rode along the Ocoee River, for quite a way. This was spectacular scenery! We could have pulled over anywhere along the ride, and taken terrific pictures! We did stop several times, taking in the sites!

Ocoee River, dam #2. There are several dams, forming lakes, all along the Ocoee.

A view of Lake 2, along the Ocoee

Little D, on the Ocoee

Big D, on the Ocoee

Kayaking, and rafting was prevalent all along the Ocoee! This is a man made waterfalls, along the river! 

Another view of the Ocoee, below the falls.

Amazing, how calm the river is before the falls!

This pic is of the rock cliff, behind me, as I photo the river!

Little D, at the falls.

Our ride from Woodbury to Maggie Valley was terrific! One of the most scenic rides, we've taken! This is now our favorite route from Woodbury to Maggie Valley! We were lucky, in that we didn't encounter much rain, at all! We stayed just ahead of it!

A Really Cool Day, Visiting Jack!

Today, was another great day! We started out by visiting the Jack Daniels Distillery, in Lynchburg, TN. Our good friend, Reba, and D&D journeyed to Lynchburg, from Woodbury, to take in the sites. The tour is outstanding! A definite, must see, when in the area! After our tour we went to Lynchburg, where we had a super lunch, and visited several of the merchants in this really cool town! While there, we found that Lynchburg was preparing to host a bike rally this weekend. We took in the sites, and found a fellow biker who had some really cool vintage bikes! One being an old Cushman Eagle. It sure brought back a lot of fond memories! Excuse the order of these photos, as the blog has "new and improved" tools, and I'm having to learn to do this all over, again!

Reba, Decah, Jack, and Big D

This photo is for Dr. Bill, since he is the fire-chief!

D&D, at the cave spring, where the water for JD is obtained!

Little R, Little D, & Big D, with Jack on the rocks!

First out of order photo! Can you believe I used to fit one of these? Mine was blue!

Little D, in Lynchburg

Mr Jack's office

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Liitle D, at the safe in Mr Jack's office. Rumor has it that this safe was the reason for Mr Jack's demise. Supposedly, he got mad at the safe, and kicked it, breaking his toe, which developed a bone infection, and finally led to his death!?!

Little D, staggering down the stairs, after getting a whiff of  the fermenting mash!

Little R & Little D, at the Jack  Guitar, in the gift shop.

I couldn't resist taking this pic in front of the visitor  center, in Lynchburg!

This shot for Little D! Amazing, what a shot of Jack does for the blooms!

Our day in Lynchburg, was terrific! Ended the day with a visit to an 'Ol friend, who used to winter in the valley, with us, Hugh Dubose!

Terrific Ride Through The Wine Country!

Today, we took a terrific ride through the Missouri wine country, with Marion, and Velma. The weather was perfect, and the scenery beautiful! As you can see , below, I was able to get in a bit of "Barn Storming"! We passed several cool, old barns along the way, but it wasn't convenient to stop, and get pix. I thought this one was really cool! We rode to New Haven, a really neat, old town along the Missouri River. We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, "Somebody's", in downtown, old New Haven. Somebody's, is definitely, worth a stop, when in the area!

Below, a pic of the Missouri River, behind Main St, New Haven

A shot of the dike, along the river

This area is rich in history, particularly, Lewis & Clark Expedition!

Little D, at the John Colter memorial, a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

Another great day, spent with friends! We are really fortunate to have so many, great, friends around the country! Thursday, we will be riding to Tennessee, to spend a day or two in Woodbury, TN. We plan on taking in the sites, in that area.

To all of our friends, who view this site, please don't hesitate to make comments, otherwise, we won't know you visited our blog!

The Triumph Grill

Wow, what a great day! Marion, and Velma treated Decah and I to a visit to the Triumph Grill, in downtown St Louis. We enjoyed a terrific lunch, then toured the museum, and bike shop. This is a really cool and, very unique place! It houses a terrific restaurant, motorcycle dealership, and motorcycle museum.

The restaurant is themed with vintage, European motorcycles. Each room in the grille, is themed in various motorcycle motifs! In one room, all of the ceiling lights, are motorcycle head lights! What a cool theme!

After lunch, we visited Moto Europa, a really cool bike shop, located in the Grill! The bike shop carries Ducati, Triumph, and KTM motorcycles. This is really a cool bike shop, and we all enjoyed the dealership! There we met Pete Hall, the dealership general manager, and a prior racing champion. Pete was gracious enough, to give us the tour of the museum. This brought back many fond memories of my early motorcycle days!

This room is dedicated to motorcyclist, who visit the grill. Decah and I will be taking a pic of us, to be placed on the wall!

The room, below, is decorated with speedometers from many different motorcycles. I was really taken with this display, and plan to make something similar to this, for home!

Below, is a piece of art made from bike exhaust systems. Really cool!

This is one of the dining rooms, in the Triumph Grill. These bikes are suspended from the ceiling, with the ceiling painted to look like a highway! Note the doorway, and exit sign on the lower right!

This photo is of a new Triumph touring bike. This is for our friend Robert M, in Dallas!

This really is a wooden bike, that can be ridden! It is powered by a chain saw motor. This gives a whole new meaning to "custom cycles"!

This is an early 70's vintage Husqvarna, one of the last dirt bikes I rode

I was fortunate to have ridden a Bultaco Pursang, like this one!

Brings back a lot of good memories!

This is one of my earliest memories of dirt biking! A BSA Scrambler.

This CZ was one of the hottest dirt bikes before Suzuki, and Yamaha got big in Moto-X

Below, a vintage Indian Chief. This is my kind of ride!

We all really liked this bike, especially, the side car! Looked like something from the future!

I really enjoyed this bike! You can really use your imagination on this bike! Could it be a drag bike, or an early touring bike? The frame is really interesting!

Thought this was really cool! A decal of most motorcycles, on a display board, in the shop.

We, thoroughly, enjoyed our visit to the Triumph Grill, and will definitely return for another visit! Thanks to Marion, and Velma for taking us to the Triumph Grill! This is a destination for any motorcycle enthusiast, a must see attraction! We really thank Pete for taking the time to show us the museum! So, when near St Louis, don't miss the Triumph Grill!

Check out their websites:

Triumph Grill: www.triumphgrill.com

MotoEuropa: www.motoeuropostl.com

Sunday, Another Great Day, With Friends!

After a relaxing Saturday evening, Sunday we rode to Marthasville, to spend the afternoon with friends, who live on Sherwood Lake! Great afternoon for a ride in the country!

D&D, and Marion

D&D, Jean, and Velma, on Lake Sherwood.

Little D, Velma, and John

Capt. John at the helm!

Another great day spent with friends! Will probably chill out a day or two in St Louis, then journey to Tennessee.