The next day started with one couple heading in a different direction towards a Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. I think the name of it is "Jack Daniels" (lol). the other two couples continued their route to Pigeon Forge. A stop at Man-O-War Harley-Davidson on Sunday in Indiana found that it didn't open until 1:00pm on Sundays and the time was around 10:00am. After a few parking lot photos we continued on our way. Just before lunch we stopped at Wildcat Harley-Davidson in Kentucky. Being opened, we spent about an hour shopping and more photo opps.
Pigeon Forge on a late Sunday afternoon found it to be bumper-to-bumper traffic! If you have ever been to the Wisconsin Dells in the Summer, this was The Dells on steroids (as Chris put it), something Mr. Braun is too familiar with. After following the GPS and Doug's printed out directions, we found ourself looking at the Sherwood Forest Resort Welcome Sign. Our climb started immediately! Never once did we get past 2nd gear and most of the time spent in 1st gear as we found the Grandview Cabin.
Once parked, we took a second to take in the view from our cabin and Doug had named it perfectly, "The Grandview"! Wow, we actually looked over the roof tops of other cabins and straight out from our deck were the Smoky Mountains! The cabin had 4-bedrooms, 3-full bathrooms (2 with whirlpool tubs), 2-family rooms, full kitchen, central air conditioning (2-zones), a 3rd floor game room with pool table, 2-decks overlooking the Smoky Mountains and one had a hot tub! All our groceries were delivered prior to our arrival by Smoky Mountain Grocery. We paid a little extra, but then again we were on motorcycles. We then drew numbers to see who got 1st choice of rooms. Cathy and I got the #1 and choose the 3rd floor master with corner whirl pool tub, fireplace and master bathroom. Afterwards while the girls got situated, Marc and I rode to the Welcome Center by the Resort swimming pool. Remember we are bikers, had been riding for several hours and looked the part of John Travolta in the movie Wild Hogs as we walked into the Welcome Center. We saw several people in the Great Room having drinks and socializing. I looked at one of the ladies who had a beer in their hand and asked her, "where can you get beer around here?" After hearing this she immediately hid the bottle of beer behind a magazine she had been looking at. After some additional "small talk", a brave woman looked at us and said, "Who are you to come in here, this is a private residence." WOW! We thought since it was at the swimming pool and was a huge building, it HAD to be the Welcome Center. These people must have thought we were one bad-ass biker Gang of Two (lol). We apologized and backed out quieter than we arrived. Getting back on the Harley's we found the Welcome Center and got our Flat Rate Box that was shipped out a few days earlier. We then made it to the BP Station and purchased some beer and hard lemonade. While Chris and Cathy were relaxing in the hot tub on the upper deck and Marc and I were making drinks, we heard a scream from the deck! It seems that while the girls were relaxing Meeko (the raccoon from Disney's Pocahontas) decided to pay them a visit! Meeko welcomed the girls and then ran off!
Monday prior to Brad and Sabrina's arrival from Lynchburg, we rode The Little River Road to the Foothills Parkway and then to US129 Harley-Davidson Outpost. Shopping and picture taking then onto Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson, The Shed and Stinkers BBQ. The roads in the Smoky Mountains are awesome! Many curves, tight turns, climbs and descents, but very few straight aways.
Monday evening Marc and Chris had their turn at completing a dinner service (thanks Gordon Ramsay for that term). A chicken enchilada was baked and tasted so good! Brad and Sabrina made it to The Grandview Cabin as we were completing dinner. After selecting one of the two remaining bedrooms, they had the excellent dinner prepared by our riding chefs.
Tuesday morning Cathy not feeling too good stayed behind along with Chris as the rest of us ventured out to tackle the famous Tail of the Dragon, a 11 mile stretch of highway US-129 having 318 curves! I led the group onto The Little River Road then the Foothills Parkway. As we were rounding one of the many curves of the Foothills Parkway, I saw........two bear cubs in a playful wrestling match in the middle of the road! I rolled on the throttle and as they heard the v-twin rumble, they stopped and slowly moved their match into the woods to our left. As we slowly rode past them we got a glimpse of Mom, her profile view and was she BIG! She was now some 20 feet to our left. No we did not stop for a photo, but rather rolled-on and got out of there. Prior to the Dragon we stopped at US129 HD Outpost for shopping. As we were getting back on our bikes, Killboy drove by a beeped at us. Killboy is one of the several photographers that camps out on the Dragon taking digital photos to later sell. Others that were there, US129 Photos and Moonshine Photo.
I've been to Daytona Bike Week, Biketoberfest, Myrtle Beach Bike Week, Sturgis Bike Week and other Rallies, but nothing can compare to the enjoyment I got out of riding The Tail of the Dragon! In fact Marc and I had so much fun after shopping at Deals Gap, we turned around and did it again! My 103 v-twin motor was just screaming for more! Rarely did I get out of 2nd gear as the the RPM's were roaring to 3200-3500. After we got done riding back, we thought about doing it again, but thought lunch was in order and another trip up to Stinkers BBQ at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson. Brad and Sabrina after leaving Deals Gap rode over to Cherohala Skyway. Tuesday was our "turn at the pass" (another Hell's Kitchen phrase). Prior to this, we told by Brad how disappointed he was in the rest of us! WTH Brad? He said that we never noticed something on Sabrina! Well I never want to get caught looking at another man's woman I told him. At that moment Sabrina held her hand out and showed us the engagement ring!! Brad proposed to Sabrina in the tasting room at Jack Daniels Distillery. To all of ours amazement, she said "YES"! Congratulations you two! We prepared steaks on the grill, a tossed salad and Cathy's famous Escanaba potatoes. Prior to dinner, Cathy while looking from the upper deck at the cabin informed us that there was a bear down below! She went to grab the camera and started to take pictures when she notice no memory stick was in the camera! Never far from my phone, I was able to get a few before it ran off out of view. 
Wednesday was a down day with a short ride to Gatlinburg and Hill Billy Harley-Davidson, Smoky Mountain Moonshine and the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. The Nature Trail with steep inclines was done with traffic at times stopped in front of you. This ride was challenging only because many of your starts were done on a hill and speeds throughout the park were much less than 10 mph. The park itself was beautiful and I am glad we did it. Marc and Chris parked a walked a few miles to one of the many water falls. Getting out of Gatlinburg in the early afternoon was crazy! Prior to heading back we stopped at Hill Billy HD and after shopping asked where the Davy Crocketts whiskey tasting store was, the answer "about 1 1/2 blocks up the road". After walking 3-4 blocks we found the place. Prior to leaving Davy Crocketts we asked where Smoky Mountain Moonshine tasting and store was, the answer again, "about 1 1/2 blocks up the road". We should have known by now, and after 3-4 more blocks found the moonshine store. Brad and Sabrina made tacos with al the fixins' Wednesday night for dinner. Our friends at the private residence by the pool stopped in with a bottle of homemade Riesling Wine. We had many laughs with them throughout the week of our poorly planned visit from Sunday night to later stopping the next night for cherries soaked in vodka and other novelties soaked in alcohol. Their cabin was an 11-bedroom and plenty big for their every 5-year family reunion. 
Thursday we rode Highway 441through The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Another excellent scenic ride! Leaving Hwy 441 we rode into Cherokee and the Harley-Davidson Dealership. Again this was a HD Outpost, no bikes just clothing and miscellaneous stuff. Staff was very friendly, made us coffee as we shopped. Before leaving we sat outside on the benches and ate our bag lunch we made at the cabin. Heading back to the cabin Marc and Chris led us up to Clingman's Dome over 6600' one of the highest points in the Smoky Mountains. As we climbed the temperatures dropped some 20 degrees! By the time we got to the top the fog had started to fill the Gaps and Foothills. The girls all decided to walk to the Observation Deck a half mile up and like good husbands we agreed and complained all the way (lol). We got to the top of the observation deck and guess what we saw? Exactly, nothing the fog was so thick we barely found our way off the deck onto the walkway! Cathy and I stopped at Lidl Dolly's Quilt Store in Pigeon Forge before heading back to the cabin. After looking at several of the quilts we decided on one for our foyer at home. Thursday night's meal, a leftover casserole. Everything and anything went into it and it was delicious!
Friday morning after breakfast, dishes, garbage taken out we left The Grandview. Marc had been having problems with his oil pressure every since getting back from Clingman's Dome. We thought it best to stop at Pigeon Forge Harley-Davidson prior to heading out. We got to the dealership at 8:30 and they didn't open until 9:30am! Marc was told that he would have to wait until 9:30 and if there were other bike's from previous service still being worked on, he would have to wait his turn! Southern hospitality at it's best. Once they opened and not a minute before 9:30, they told him they would work on it right away! He was told that the gauge was working fine and there might be a small piece of debris in the oil line causing the value to stay open. After an oil change, everything looked great. The mechanic took it out for a ride and the pressure was reading normal. But, he notice a charging issue. Long story short, Marc's stator was fried! Within an hour and a half, the new stator was in and we were on the road again, though 5 hours behind schedule. The weather was great and it took us 20 minutes to get out of Pigeon Forge with all that traffic and red lights every intersection! We had a nice ride to Crawfordsville, Indiana and arrived shortly after 9:00pm after riding 470+ miles.
After 2020+ miles cathy and I arrived back home in Watertown. We had a wonderful vacation, with great rides and friends. Next year's ride is already in the making and we will be sure to tackle VRBO for another home-away-from-home. Thanks again Doug!!
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| By the way, this photo is not from anyone in our group! This picture was taken by Killboy.com a professional photographer often times seen taking pictures on US 129 The Tail Of The Dragon. This photo serves as a reminder to ride within your abilities and ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time). Be safe! |
