The Blue Ridge Gathering - ST Owners Club (STOC)

Saturday - Sunday, October 8 - 9, 2011

"Leaf Peeper Creeper, Leaf Peeper Creeper
Driving down the road.
I want to drive too, But don't know if I can;
' Cause I'm afraid
Of the Leaf Peeper Creeper man"

(paraphrased from Stephen King's "Tommyknockers")

What a great way to finish up the moto camping season. This time every year, the online riding group to which Roo and I belong, ST Owners Club (STOC), gathers somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a 4 day campout. This club is a brand and model specific virtual club for owners of Honda's ST1100 and ST1300 Sport Touring motorcycles. We have camping outings throughout the US during the riding season, with the Southeast mountain camping culminating with the Blue Ridge Gathering. Usually after this date, it is too cold in the mountains once the sun goes down. It is for me at any rate. This weekend in October also coincides pretty close to the peak foliage change at the higher elevations. Roo wanted to veg out at home this weekend after painting our office all last weekend, so I was flying solo. Besides, STOC events are usually guy fests anyway. Hey, these machines weigh 640 lbs! Not very many women are going to want to manhandle a 640 lb. beaST (and if they can, and do, I don't want to get on their bad side!).

A busy workload this week kept me from going for anything but an overnight. But, I'll take it. The weather report was for beautifully clear skies Saturday, but bbbrrrrutally cold Saturday night , calling for temps in the high 30's to low 40's. Ok, I'll suck it up and use the opportunity to fine tune my winter camp sleeping gear. Yeah, that's what I call it. Homey don't do no winter camping though!

Our campsite this year is at Moonshine Creek Campground in Balsam, NC. This is a privately owned campground that has tent camp sites, rental cabins, and RV sites. They also offer a large ground space for groups who want to tent camp for $8 per tent. And so we did. Can't beat that price! 

Off I went and headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway once again, looking forward to seeing some beautiful fall colors. The campground is only four miles from the Parkway, so it was the perfect route to take.



In the same shot I took last week, everything was very green!
That's NC Hwy 215 in the backgound-the road I took up to the BRP.
What a difference a week makes!



At this elevation on the BRP, peak color burst was
about 3-4 days away.



This is just above Waynesville, NC on the BRP. Beautiful, yes?

However, I forgot about the LEAF PEEPER CREEPERS. Like ghouls in a Stephen King novel, they come out every halloween season seeking to get their LEAF PEEPER CREEPER MOBILES as close to 1 MPH as they can, while their ghoulish eyeballs peruse the fall foliage, giving no thought to the long line of cars, motorbikes, and bicycles that lie in their wake. And when that last golden leaf falls from the tree, POOF!, they disappear like a vampire in the sunlight. I have nothing against enjoying a drive through beautiful fall colors, heck that's what I was doing. But for the love of god, this is a public road. Why do they think it's ok to drive 20 MPH BELOW the speed limit? To paraphrase Sammy Hagar: "Post my name wanted dead or alive; take my license and all that jive; but I... CAN'T... DRIVE... 25! 
But really, I only got behind one creeper like that. But the stories that prevailed around the campfire this night from fellow ST owners who rode the Parkway today and got caught behind multiple Stephen King Creepers was pretty amusing.
Coming upon my exit from the BRP, I rolled onto NC Hwy 74 for a very short distance, then turned onto the road that would lead me to Moonshine Creek Campground. What a beautiful area, this Balsam, NC. The road kept meandering farther and farther back into the woods. There was nothing around here. I started to get worried as it began to look like this road was going to end in dirt. I don't ride dirt. The beaST don't ride dirt. Did I miss my turn? This was not looking good. Thoughts of another ride where the beaST and I ended up on a narrow dirt road involving lots of sweat, a tip over, and charging dogs, popped into my head. But that's a story for another time. Deeper into the woods I slowly rolled, scanning ahead for the pavement to end. And then................

 Whew! What a relief. I made it, and still on pavement! Rolling into the campground, the paved entrance road transformed into hard pack gravel and dirt. Ok. I'm cool. This I am used to in campgrounds. Parking the beaST, I scanned the group tent camping area for some unoccupied grass. Finding a spot big enough to not be right on top of the guy next to me, I dumped some of my gear there to lay claim to it, then marched up to the office to register and pay up my eight bucks.



The group campsite-look at all those beautiful ST's!





Group campsite



Row of ST's with a few stray non-Hondas that must have gotten lost!
That red ST1300 in the foreground is a beauty - my next ST?



After checking in and setting up camp, there wasn't much more for me to do but chill out. I had arrived in camp late, having done a trail run in the morning and departing from home around noon. But this is good, as all I really wanted to do once I got here was recover from my run, enjoy the gorgeous natural surroundings and catch up on some reading. Oh, and take a nap, because tonight would probably be a late night around the campfire with the guys.

 

 

 

 



Moonshine Creek runs right through camp

I strolled around the campground, meeting some RV folks who were at the back end of the property and watching college football on their bigger-than- my-home-TV screens in their motorhomes. That's camping to them, I guess. Here are a few pics of the campground:



Decked out for Halloween

The still

 

 



Moonshine Creek



Natural beauty surrounds this campground

As dusk approached, I whipped out my trusty Pocket Rocket stove and cooked up a great campside meal, thank you very much. Somebody started a roaring fire in the communal fire pit, and just in time too as it was starting to get pretty cold now that the sun had gone down. Moving my chair to the fire, along with my favorite adult beverage, the recapping of the days riding began.  Well, around about midnight, I was cooked, fried, toast. I needed sleep. Bidding goodnight to the guys left huddling around the fire, I walked back to my tent. Jeeeeezzzzzz! It's frickin' cold (being polite here)! I hope my layering system works tonight! Got into my camp jammies and scurried into my bag. G'night.
Up in the AM, I actually had a good nights sleep! I was toasty! It worked! Fantastic. i have had many a cold night camping in early spring and late fall in the mountains. No more! Finally got it right. Must right this down.
I took my time breaking camp, as my ride home was only three hours. Some folks left yesterday and very early this morning for some long distance trips home. We had folks show up from as far away as Kansas!
After packing up the ST, I took one more walk around this beautiful campground and came upon ..........
a Beeeaagle!




Snoopy. Really. Snoopy.

This is Snoopy! He is a Beagle rescue. Snoopy and his owner live pretty close to Moonshine and camp here quite often. Snoopy's owner said that this is Snoopy's favorite campground, and is happiest when he comes here. Sure looks that way to me! Look at that smile. That's a happy dog.
Bidding Snoopy goodbye, it was time to head out. Firing up the ST's V-4, I roll out of Moonshine and head home. I'll be back next spring, hopefully with Roo, for another ST Owners Club outing at Moonshine: CampStoc. Maybe Snoopy will be there too.
                                                                            END
                   Thanks for reading our 2011 blog posts and for all your positive comments.
                                                         Check out the site in 2012!





But Baby, It's Cold Outside

" Oh the weather outside is frightful,

but in here, it's so delightful.

And since we've no place to go,

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow........."

Well, the weather wasn't really frightful. Cold, yes. Frightful, no. Unless you're afraid of the cold, which judging by the lack of bikes on the road, many are. It did snow overnight, apparently. And yes, by golly, I do have places to go. But I'm getting ahead of myself here........

Sunday October 2, 2011 - 260 miles

Little Switzerland, NC - Diamondback Motorcycle and Sports Car Route NC226A

After painfully watching my Florida Gators get soundly spanked by The Alabama Gruesome Tide Saturday night, I knew I needed a nice, long motorbike ride to lift my spirits and ignite the adventure fire in me once again. I couldn't think of a better way than to jump on the beaST and ride a road I had never been on before.

Sunday morning dawned bright and COLD! Perfect. I wanted to try out a new layering system on my riding gear, as well as some new cold weather gear. So cold was good. I left Roo and the quadripeds all nestled in bed, while visions of.......ok, no more Christmas song analogies.

At 8:30 AM I was rolling down my street, my thermometer reading 43 degrees. I was toasty. The plan being to get to the Blue Ridge Parkway via Hwy 276 and through the Pisgah Forest, with my first stop at the Pisgah Inn at Mt. Pisgah, approximately 90 miles away. As the road slanted upward, my thermometer numbers fell, so that by the time I reached the Pisgah Inn, the temp reading was 38 degrees and the wind was blowing like stink. I was still toasty.

Until I took off my gloves. My hands immediately got very, very, cold, very, very, quickly. This quick cold hands/fingers thing all stems from a frostbite incident back in the 1980's while living in Florida. Don't ask. It's another story.

So I ate, drank, saw a man about a horse (ask someone if you don't know), put my gloves back on and rolled on down the Parkway. It took about 20 minutes for my hands to warm up again in my new Thinsulate/Goretex winter moto gloves. Then they were fine. Riding along on my favorite road, I kept my speed at the posted 45 MPH to 5 over. The park rangers here are very strict enforcing the posted speed limits, and if you get busted, it's a Federal rap with uber stiff fines. This is a National Park, you know.

So, my next planned stop was Little Switzerland, NC, a teeny, tiny little spot on the map and a great lunch stop. Descending from Mt. Pisgah, the temp began to rise until it hit 51 degrees. Then the road inclined upward once again as I made my way to Mt. Mitchell, the tallest peak on the east coast. Temperatures began falling once again, and by the time I reached Craggy Gardens, I had hit a low of 34 degrees! But I was still toasty!

As I rode through a tunnel and approached Craggy Gardens, I was reveling in the day, the machine, the road, and how great my riding gear was working. Rounding a long, left hand sweeper, I came upon a totally unexpected sight that blew me away. This is what I saw:



Damn! That's cold!

Wow! How cool is that? Pictures don't do it justice. Ice and snow with the sunlight glistening off the trees and grass like a million little prisms, was absolutely beautiful. What a great surprise. Grinning inside my helmet, I mounted the beaST and continued on towards Little Switzerland. Very carefully. Although the temperatures were beginning to rise, there was  some ice on the road in the shady areas. I rode the beaST gingerly until all ice and snow had disappeared. I didn't want to be sliding into Little Switzerland for lunch!

Arriving in Little Switzerland around 2PM, I was very hungry. The lunch venue today was the Switzerland Cafe, one of about 5 buildings that make up the town. Good coffee, great food, highly recommended. Lunch done, it was now time to ride an unknown road; NC226A. In short, what a blast! Not a long road, it curves it's way up to Spruce Pine, NC about 10 miles away. But there's no straight sections! Fantastic! So up to Spruce Pine I flew, turned around, back to Little Switzerland, enjoyed myself so much, I turned around and did it again! Back in Little Switzerland, I stopped in the Cafe store and bought myself a well earned T-shirt.

 Great fun! The sun was now on it's downward trek. Time to get back on the road to home. Back on NC226A to NC226, which is a fun road in itself as it drops down off the ridge. This is also a very curvaceous road, but what was amusing to me was the signage I saw that I have never seen on a mountain road before. I wish I could have taken a picture of it, but there was nowhere to pull off (or I was having too much fun?). This is what it said: " Road worsens after speeding truck ramp." What? The curves did tighten after the ramp, but.....What? Pretty funny. Into Marion, NC where I caught up with NC221 and then on to NC108. This is a beautiful road with long sweepers and beautiful scenery. It wouldn't be much longer until I was home again with Roo and the quadripeds. I wonder what visions were dancing in their heads this morning..........
                                                                              END









 



Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort Part Deux

"It's like deja veux all over again."

                                             - Yogi Berra

1 Week Later

I have never done this before. This weekend was one of "firsts." I have never camped two weekends in a row (except when traveling), and, I have never camped at the same campground two weekends in a row, no matter how great the campground may be. But as Roo and I were riding home from Ironhorse last weekend,

we felt our time spent there was incomplete. It was a nagging feeling we both felt all week. It just didn't feel right, and so we felt the need to make it so. But, the only weekend we had left open between now and mid-October was this one, and Roo had already  made plans for a girl's night out. So, she gave me her blessing (permission) to go back to Ironhorse solo and make it right for both of us. Don't need to tell me twice!

By Friday the beaST was packed and chomping at the bit to be on the road again. Saturday morning was oh so gorgeous as I rolled down my street at 8 AM. I followed the same route as last week up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, where I took a break for a snack and to shoot some pics:



A beautiful day



Stunning vistas



Looking over at NC Hwy 215 from the BRP

 So, a beautiful ride along the southbound Blue Ridge Parkway took me back towards Great Smoky Mountain National Park. But this time there would be no tourist traffic gridlock for me in Cherokee, NC. I made an early exit off the Parkway onto the Smoky Mountain Expressway (NC Hwy 74), a nice, big four lane highway that gets you where you want to go fast, without feeling like you're on an interstate. I shoot past Bryson City, and in no time my exit for NC Hwy 28 north is in my line of vision. This road is a beautiful four laner with sweeping curves and constantly changing elevation that makes you feel like your motorbike is floating under you. A real pleasure to ride. Just past where 28 funnels into two lanes is my turnoff for Ironhorse. A few twisty curves in and I roll onto Ironhorse property. Home again, home again!

I checked in (felt like I never left), and secured my tentsite. After setting up camp, I ate my lunch and prepared to get on the road. The plan today was to ride north on NC Hwy 28 to Deals Gap, home to the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort and the infamous "Tail of the Dragon", NC Hwy 129. Hwy 28 up to Deals Gap is a beautiful, challenging  ride in itself. It even has it's own tag line: "The Hellbender." I don't know who thinks these things up. Anyway, a great ride up to Deals Gap, I roll into the throngs of motorbikes and people and noise, park the beaST, and start shooting pictures of this over-hyped motorcycle circus.

  As much as it is over marketed and played up ad nauseum, I love this place! The sounds, the smells and the atmosphere of nothing but bikes and sports cars is fantatstic. A real moto circus atmosphere.



I took this shot from waaayyy back on the property. The real
motorcycle mayhem is up front by the entrance!



The "Tree of Shame"
Broken bits of motorcycles that have crashed on this road through the years
A testament to the road's difficulty (not), or stupidity (my vote)?

If you have not ridden this road, do it. It really is a great scenic ride.What makes it dangerous, and thus attractive, is the other users, the Ricky Racers who make it there own personal race track. So avoid weekends. Take a day and do it during the week. It really is a blast. Then stop into the Deals Gap store and get your T-shirt and dragon sticker for your motorbike ( Yes, the beaST has one). You are now a Dragon Slayer, provided you're still upright, in which case if not, you'd be a candidate for the "Tree of Shame." Shame on you.

 Leaving Deals Gap, I head south on NC Hwy 129, descending down to the Nantahala Gorge. A couple of real sharp twisty curves to start with, and then the road opens up to beautiful long sweepers with breathtaking scenery taking me down to NC Hwy 74 and into the Gorge.

The Nantahala Gorge is a beautiful place. Nantahala is the Cherokee word for the phrase "land of the noonday sun." Mid-day is the only time the Gorge gets full sunlight. The Nantahala River flows through the Gorge, and is a haven for whitewater rafting and kayaking. The Gorge is loaded with river rafting businesses and slow moving raft buses on weekends, and exudes a great bohemian atmosphere. Kayak and raft central is the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC), my favorite place on the river and where I learned to whitewater kayak 15 years ago. NOC has a great outfitter store, bicycle shop, and two fantastic restaurants with great food. If you want to see elite and pro kayakers playboating on the old Olympic kayak course, check NOC out. It's amazing to watch.

Blasting out of the Nantahala Gorge, I'm now motoring towards my favorite town in the area: Bryson City. I exit off Route 19 and head into town, making a beeline for my favorite coffee house.

I park the beaST around the corner and walk to Mountain Perks. Closed. After 5 PM. Crap. But the owner is inside sweeping up getting ready for their open mike night starting at 8. He unlocks the door, apologizes up and down, and directs me to another coffee house a couple of blocks away. Who does that anymore? Fantastic. I thank him and off I go, walking across town.

This place is really cool. A coffee house and wine bar. Get jacked up on caffeine, then mellow out on a bottle of your favorite fermented grape juice. Fantastic concept! The Cork & Bean is a more upscale establishment, with decor that is a combo of contemporary and Victorian styles, and probably caters more to the tourists and well-to-do residents, where as Mountain Perks is much more laid back with more of a bohemian atmosphere. I dig on them both. Hey, I can fake it anywhere. After relaxing on a great latte and chocolate brownie to die for, I strolled around this quaint mountain town for a while.



Downtown Bryson City



Downtown Bryson City



Ruth's and my favorite Italian eatery in Bryson City




The Nantahala River flows right through the middle of town.



Another draw to Bryson City is the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. It's really cool, especially if you like trains. They do day excursions and special dinner trains that are lots of fun. Roo & I did a Mystery Dinner Train one year and had a blast!
A short story: Way back in the last century, 1996 to be exact, I took NOC's whitewater kayak course for a week. The Smoky Mountain Rail day excursion passes through and stops at NOC. By the time it gets to NOC, people have been on this thing, with screaming kids, for a few hours. One day, during my stay at NOC, we were getting our kayaks loaded up and ready to paddle when the train pulled in. My instructor stopped working and said "OK guys. Here comes the zombie train." The zombie train? "Yeah, watch these people as they get off that thing. They walk around like the zombies in Night of the Living Dead." And damn if they didn't. To this day, Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is now affectionately referred to as the Zombie Train by Ruth and myself.



The Zombie Train



A Zombie Train locomotive

 Walking back to the beaST, I bid farewell to Bryson City and  scoot back to Ironhorse. By now it's time to unpack the cooking gear and prepare dinner over my Pocket Rocket stoves. No gourmet lodge food for me tonight. Camp food is my choice when camping solo. After dinner and cleanup, I stroll over to the firepit that has a blazing fire going in it by now, pour out a glass of wine, sit down and chat it up with fellow moto enthusiasts under the stars next to a warm fire (it's chilly up here at night.) A couple of hours later, I'm off to my tent for a night's sleep.

The next morning everyone is up and packing. Time to head home. As I am loading up the ST, there is a fellow parked next to me on a Triumph 800 that was a unbelievable sight to behold. I laughed as I asked him, "Are you by yourself?"  He said, laughingly, "Unfortunately, yes."



This guy was traveling alone, and he only lives in Tennessee!
Everyone gave him a wide birth as he rolled out.
And yes, I did see the kitchen sink in there!

 Everyone gave him a wide birth as he rolled out and watched as he climbed the fairly steep drive up to the road. A collective sigh of relief from all of us was heard as he turned the corner and rolled on the throttle safely. We thought for sure he would just topple over. Thankfully, he did not.
Finished loading up, it was time to head home. Waving goodbye to other riders, I rolled out of Ironhorse. This time I felt good, making right last weeks trip that got cut short. My only wish was that Roo was here to share in it also. So I took a quicker, but very scenic route back home to get to my little fam that much sooner. Another great overnight moto trip that felt longer than it actually was.

                                                                             END
                                                         THANKS FOR READING!















 



The Best Laid Schemes of Mice & Men

But little mouse, you are not alone,

in proving foresight may be vain;

The best laid schemes of mice & men

go often askew

and leave us nothing but grief & pain,

for promises of joy.

- " To a Mouse" by Robert Burns
(English translation)

Labor Day Weekend, 2011

And so it was, this Labor Day weekend, the best laid plans of mice, men, women and motorbikes I mean. Ruth & I bookend our summer season with a two day motocamping trip on Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend every year. But tropical storm Lee was breaking north and threatening to make for a very wet camping excursion, throwing our scheme askew............

Our camping destination this Labor Day was Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort in Stecoah, NC. A beautiful area at the very western tip of North Carolina that borders on Great Smokey Mountain National Park. A haven for motorcyclists, hikers, whitewater kayakers, mountain bikers, campers and backpackers; if you are not engaged in any of these activities you have no business being here. No enclosed malls, no strip malls, no malls period. Well, there you go, that eliminates two thirds of the population right there from coming to this outdoor paradise.

So, with the ST packed, fueled and ready to go, I checked the weather report on Friday morning. Saturday beautiful, Sunday 30% rain, Labor Day 30% as well. Good to go. After a good nights sleep, I get up, pour a cup of espresso and scan the weather one more time. Uh-oh. Big change overnight. Saturday (our day of departure) still looked good, but now Sunday called for 50% rain in the afternoon, 60% overnight and into the morning, and 70% Labor Day! C'mon Rooster, we can still get one night in and and play a rousing game of beat the rain back home on Sunday! Maybe it will change for the better anyway!

So off we go taking some beautiful roads up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. A beautiful, cool, sunny Saturday morning has us smiling in our helmets.



One of many beautiful vistas from the BRP



Even bicyclists ride the BRP



"Bread and Butter"
Motoring around a Blue Ridge Parkway curve.

 Riding southbound on the BRP, we are heading for the southern terminus at Great Smokey Mountain National Park.
We will be on the Parkway for about 40 miles, most of that topography will have us traveling uphill, to the highest point on the BRP at Balsam Bald, then a nice steady, twisty descent into Smokey Mountain National Park.



A refreshingly cool 58 degrees greeted us at 6000 feet. Ahhh......



Hey, it was a tough climb!



More bikes climbing up to the Parkway's highest point.

Oh no! Dat wabbit's back! Where's Elmer? 

After a brief stop at the Parkway's highest point, we started our descent down to Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Unfortunately, our planned route takes us through the town of Cherokee, NC,and the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The reservation is the home of the Eastern Band of Cherokees, and has become the biggest tourist trap in Western, NC. Casinos, Indian trinkets, tribal dance shows, etc. all for the amusement of the touristas. I don't begrudge them for making their way in the world any way they can, given what was done to them at the hands of our government, but now the town and surrounding area is just jam packed with vehicles every summer weekend. Negotiating gridlock on a motorbike is no fun! But hey, our choice, and now as we finally wave Cherokee bye, bye we have clear motoring to Stecoah and our destination for the night, Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort.


One of our top 3 places to camp.



The Lodge at Ironhorse



Bikes parked under the awning at the Lodge

 Ironhorse is probably the most upscale of all the moto campgrounds that we frequent. The owners have dropped many a sheckle into this place over the last 8 years, and it shows. The resort has tent sites for tent campers, RV sites for those arriving with small RV's and campers, and rents cabins for those who really want to rough it. No private cars are allowed on property unless towing a motorcycle. Same for RV's. Food is provided in the dining hall should you not want to cook over your Pocket Rocket stove. Breakfast and dinner are served, and a box lunch prepared by request to take with you on your ride for the day. This ain't no primitive campground pardner! I prefer camp food when I camp, but Roo doesn't get out camping as much as I do, so we come here when she is on board so she can enjoy the beautiful lodge and grounds.



The rental duplex cabin. Absolutely gorgeous!
Inside decked out in pine wood with antique furnishings!



Tent camping by the creek



Rental cabins nestled in the trees.



This is the rear of the dining hall facing the firepit



Tent camping area off to the side of the lodge.
There's the beaST in the center of the picture.



RV section. As long as you have a motorbike on or in your rig
somewhere, you're in!

We arrive at Ironhorse about 2 PM. After checking in, we pick out a tent site and set up camp. The plan (scheme) this weekend is to make a short run to Bryson City 10 miles down the road,  eat lunch, hang out in town awhile, then motor back to camp. Tomorrow, a great ride over the Cherahola Skyway to Tellico Plains, TN for lunch, and a visit to our favorite motorcycle accessory shop; Tellico Plains Motorcycle Outfitters. Top it off with ice cream snack from the ice cream/coffee house right across the street, then back on the Skyway to NC and home base.




Wadda you lookin' at?

Camp all set up, Roo and I gear up, ignite the big V-4, and off we go to Bryson City.
Or so we thought.
Five miles out we roll right into a storm cell that is just hanging out there. We continue on until I couldn't see my nose in front of my face, and as anyone who knows me can tell you, that's a hard probiscus to miss!
Fortunately, right when I couldn't see anything outside my visor, a BP station beckoned us to come in; us and about 30 other riders huddling under the awning. We pulled in, shut the ST down and strolled to the awning. Hell, we were wet anyway. What's the rush!

Rode hard and put away wet.  But she's tough!



Huddling under the awning



A lot of these riders had no riding gear on (?????!!!!!)
This was a HARD rain...it had to hurt!

We waited for an hour for the storm to pass or let up some. It did neither. So we lunched on petrol station foodstuffs (yum yum), and waited, and waited, and......................
Finally, just a wee bit of respite from the downpour, I said to Roo "Suit up! Let's beat feet. I'm done with this." And so, with that, we mounted up, swung the ST around and headed back to Ironhorse. One mile from camp the roads turned dry, not a spot of wet to be found anywhere. It never rained here. Not a drop. Ah, such is mountain weather; all part of the adventure. You've got to love it. Parking the beaST for the night, Roo and I strip off our riding gear and head for the showers. Then it's time to pop the cork on a bottle of wine and head on to the dining hall for a delicious salmon meal with sweet potatos and salad bar fixings. Topped off with a blackberry cobbler for dessert, it was a great meal. We met some nice folks at our dinner table, and now college football was on the big screen TV. It's just as well, because outside the rain was beginning to fall.



Big screen TV and stone fireplace in the Lodge



This is one comfy couch in the Lodge



Dining Hall & entrance to the camp store



The atrium adjacent to the Lodge



The atrium

 Upstairs in the Lodge is a game room with a billiards table, table hockey, and bar chairs and tables to occupy oneself in the evening if you don't like sitting around a campfire listening to moto BS.




Upstairs game room



Roo making her way to the billiards table

Having polished off the bottle of wine, eaten a fine meal and watched some good college football, it was time to check the weather, both outside now and the forecast for tomorrow. We walked onto the porch to a nice cool evening. It had rained during dinner, but only moderately, and had currently stopped. We went back inside and checked out the forecast on the  Ironhorse laptop. It did not look good. Actually, it sucked. Now, the forecast was for 100% rain beginning Sunday afternoon, into Sunday night and all day Labor Day. Ma Nature had spoken, and we shall pay heed. Off to our tent we went for a good nights sleep.

Sunday AM I woke up early, made some coffee, and started to pack up. I let Roo sleep until it was time to break down the tent. It was a beautiful morning, with fog enveloping the mountain sides all around us. There was a lot of activity about, as a number of riders were heading out also to beat as much of the rain as possible. Roo woke up, and we proceeded to the dining hall for breakfast. After eating, we got the tent packed up and loaded on the ST, suited up, and headed down the road. We took the faster route home to minimize the amount of time spent in any rain. As it turned out, we didn't hit any precip at all! Back home in South Carolina, after unpacking and stowing gear, I just had to look up the weather back in Stecoah because it wasn't raining here at all (I would have been really pissed if we cut our trip short for nothing!). But, my fears were laid to rest as the radar showed they were getting pelted with orange and red storm cells, right where we were!

But our trip seemed unfinished, unsettled. There was a sense of a lack of closure that Roo and I both felt. I have a strong feeling that we will be back here very soon...................

 Next up: Deja veux all over again