What a weekend....I need a nap!

We left on Thursday night around 8PM - much later than I would have liked - but my neighbor has a real job and he did the best he could.  We had a 30' long RV and a 6x10 trailer behind with both bikes inside.

We were on I-75 going about 60mph and around 10PM and traffic was pretty thick for that late at night, and a female deer ran right at us from the right side of the road.  She saw the massive RV headed at her, and she tried to stop and turn around.....she slipped on the asphalt and her feet came out from under her.  She ended up flat on the pavement on her side as the right front tire contacted her squarely......followed immediately by the dual rear tires - she was quite a speed bump!  We pulled over and looked - we had disassembled the dear and scattered deer parts all over the undercarriage and onto the front of the trailer....but there was not a single dent, scrape or damage to the RV!

For some reason we never pulled over and we drove all night and arrived at Two Wheels of Suches at 4AM, and went to sleep.  We woke up around 7 and it was a heavy and wet fog....and the weather forecast was not promising.  We decided that staying in Suches was not a good idea - we headed north and ended up in Franklin around 10AM as the clouds were dispersing and we could see some blue sky.  We parked at a community center near the fairgrounds and unloaded the bikes and started riding.  We went down 28 to the Highlands, and then continued south on 28 and rode a few miles on Warwoman toward Clayton.  We then turned around and rode back up the Highland and got into a light misty rain.  We then rode Canada Road and by the time we got to Lake Toxaway the weather was drier.  We then rode back to Franklin and loaded up the bikes and drove north to Cherokee as Bruce wanted to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway on Saturday.

When we arrived in Cherokee we parked in a public parking lot near the downtown shopping area that was pretty much deserted.  It appears about 1/3rd of the buildings are vacant, and all of the shops were closed on a Friday evening.  We ate dinner at a very nice restaurant and spent the night in the RV in the parking lot.  When we got up it was very foggy and we unloaded the bikes and put on a bit warmer gear than we had the day before....the weather forecast was for all day clouds and possibly rain.  We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and pretty soon the weather started improving.  The clouds slowly dispersed and blue skies appeared.  Temperatures were in the high 60's at the bottom of the mountains and high 50's on top.  Traffic was very light and we had no problems going 40-50mph and we were not held up by any traffic.  The parking areas had a lot of cars parked for folks hiking - they stayed on the trails and off the Parkway for most of the day.  We went to 276 and rode it down to Brevard and had lunch, then got a tank of 90 octane gasoline without ethanol (more on that for MM later), then we rode 215 back up to the Blue Ridge.  Both 276 and 215 are wonderful little twisty roads that are a lot of fun (215 has a little less traffic).  We then rode the Blue Ridge to Maggie Valley in hopes of going to the Wheels of Time motorcycle museum....they were closing in 15 minutes when we got there and let us take a quick walk through for free.  We then rode back to Cherokee.  On that uphill ride from Brevard up 215, and then then the 50mph ride Blue Ridge to Maggie Valley and to Cherokee my neighbor got 95.5 mpg on his Honda CB500F using the pure gasoline!

When we got back to Cherokee we loaded up the bikes and headed out....we got home at 2AM Sunday morning.  I would have preferred to stop somewhere and sleep and continue in the morning - evidently Bruce wanted to be home for Mother's Day.

This was a really great time to be riding in that area, as the tourists were not yet dominant on the roads.....we had absolutely no issue with traffic (even on 28 between Franklin and the Highlands which is clogged with tourists in the summer).  The only bad issue about riding down in that area in May - is there is a lot of wet weather in the forecast!

We really had a nice time on the Blue Ridge Parkway....and 215/276 leading down from the Parkway to the bottom of the mountain.  The tourist season has not yet started and traffic was incredibly light on all the roads.  We never had to pass anyone going slow and there were no RV or Campers on the parkway....we could maintain 50 mph with no problem (speed limit is 45mph in most areas and we did see one officer watching to see that we respected that limit).  We should go back and stay in the Waynesville area again and visit......it appears the Blue Ridge Motorcycle campground is still out of business and has not recovered from the flooding in the fall of 2021, they have not posted anything on Facebook since December 2022 when they still did not have a bridge.  I suspect they will have a difficult time getting a bridge replacement, as they will likely not get permits to build a small bridge that restricts the flow of water on the Pigeon River (like the old bridge did).  We will need to find another place to stay.  

Yep, the 500 twin would make a great retro bike engine......a modern version of the 60/70's CB 450 would be a great bike.  Back in the day that was the biggest/fastest motorcycle that Honda made.....until the CB750 came out in 1969.

I will see when Deb has us scheduled for a vacation to Michigan.  If the second weekend in June is open I will head to Suches!

There may be hope for the Blue Ridge Motorcycle campground.

I was able to get my Facebook account restored (mixed blessing), and a lady posted a few days ago that she saw that they are building a new bridge.  She posted some photos and it had much bigger headwalls, and that was all that was completed so far.  I suspect that they will be working on the bridge for a couple of months at a minimum.

So....maybe the campground can reopen for next year?

It is a bit weird that the owners of the Blue Ridge Motorcycle campground have not posted anything or provided any updates to their Facebook account or their website.

Deb and I are at Black Rock Mountain State Park - just a few miles north of Clayton, GA.  Deb arranged this camping/motorcycle trip to replace our cancelled trip to Texas.  The campground is small and at the top of a very steep/curvy road....it is nice and peaceful here.  She had a bit of a tough time getting available camping, as the Memorial Holiday is approaching and campgrounds are full for that weekend .  We drove down on Saturday and spent the night at the Cleveland, Tennessee Cracker Barrel parking lot - they allow overnight RV parking for free,  We arrived around 8PM and were the second RV in the lot - by morning there were a total of 5 of us parked in the lot   We then had a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel and drove the rest of the way on Sunday morning.  We are in the RV and trailered down a motorcycle - the steep curvy hill was a bit of a challenge in the RV with a trailer!

On Sunday afternoon we unloaded the motorcycle and detached the trailer and parked it in a small gravel lot at the camp store, as there was no room for the trailer in our camping spot....we spent the rest of the afternoon just hiking with the dog and getting settled in.

On Monday morning we did hiking and visiting with neighbors and exploring the campground.  In the afternoon we put the dog and cat inside the camper and took off on a motorcycle ride.   We rode east out of Clayton on Warwoman to 28, then rode south on 28 down to South Carolina and went to Walhalla and turned east on 11 over to 130.  We then rode to 130 and went north Lake Toxaway and picked up Canada Road (281) to Tuckesegee, then north on 107 to Sylva, then on 74 and 23 back to Clayton.  (Canada Road is the place where we stopped at Jimmie's Market when Springman, MM, The Hammer and maybe Versy and a few others met the couple from Canada on the big Harley, and we all discovered the curvy road over to the Highlands....where the Black Bear crossed the road in front of us).

The riding temperature was great in the afternoon with 68-74 degrees on the ride.  The overnight temperatures are down in the high 40's/low 50's which might be a bit coolish for sleeping in a tent.  The light traffic is wonderful however, and once out of the towns we pretty much have the roads to ourselves.  The roads are not yet busy with tourists and there are no RV's or camping trailers blocking our progress.  The only slow vehicle we passed yesterday was a truck on a hill that was loaded down with water from a Crystal Geyser bottling plant on Route 130....it was easy getting past him as he lumbered up the mountain grade.

I am starting to believe that the first weeks in June (before Memorial Day) are perfect for riding down here.....if you can find days that it isn't raining.  I don't  believe you can plan the trip long in advance - you need to watch the weather forecast and go when the weather forecast is good....and stay home when the spring rain settles in for several days in a row.  We got lucky as the weather this week is likely going to be dry the entire time we are here!
 
After this Memorial Day Holiday - I believe the tourist season begins, and the traffic will increase (especially on weekends).

MM:  I warned Stewmills about your plans for Suches in June....he is going to try and come down to annoy us.

  “It seems like there should be more Savages (type people).”

I hate to miss such a nice week to ride in such a nice area.

MMRanch wrote on 05/23/23 at 16:53:33:



I know and I appreciate your heart.
Y’all have space here as well Michael.
Hopefully before long circumstances will allow.

Deb had made the camping plans only a couple weeks ago, and all the campgrounds were full over the Memorial Day weekend - so we had no camping spot for Friday night.  Well.....the thought of being on I-75 on a Friday night before the holidays was a bit scary, I think the traffic would have been awful.  (And we found out later that there was a large accident on the I-275 loop around Cincinnati that created a parking lot....and we would have sat for hours had we been in it).

So rather than head home on Friday - we headed to Tellico Plains.  We called the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground and they said to come on over and they would get us a place to stay.  It turns out that on "Family" holidays their business is light as their clients spend time with family rather than going out and camping with their motorcycles.  We arrived around 2PM and unloaded the bike and took a ride on the Cherohala Skyway before dinner.  The owners of the campground live behind the store and are very dedicated and helpful....it is a nice place to stay and they have small cabins for $51 a night, tent camping spaces at $10.50 a person and RV hookups at $28 a night.
https://cmtrails.com/

We headed home on Saturday around 10AM and got home just after 5PM.  We spent the rest of the evening unpacking.

It was a great trip with absolutely no rain for an entire week....the rain is coming back and the next week looks wet - we were very lucky to have great weather.  We saw a sign posted at the Firefox Museum that stated the climate is the second wettest region in the US...it is no wonder we have trouble finding dry days to go riding!

Hay the camp on the Skyway sounds like a nice place to meet next time !  

I'm thinking the weather should warm-up a little in June .   Maybe durning the week might be the best time to be camping in the mountains anyway ?   The traffic is a lot more friendly Monday-Friday !  

I need to put one ride behind me before I can Schule the next one.   After we get Anders moved into his house , my "do" list will loosen up a lot !.

Nice find on the Skyway campground Dave !!