Time for a Dragon Run

[windrider]

Hello all, and since we didn't make the Deal's Gap rally this year, (sorry about that), we are leaving in the morning for our 3rd trip to the DRAGON.  SOQS has birthday later in the week, and it what she wanted for a birthday present, (how lucky is that?).  Won't be at Moe's but will be down the road at Joe's.  Got a new camera to take with us on the bikes, so we'll post some pics when we get back.  Of course you watch for us on the photo websites for the dragon, Black 750 Nighthawk with a Meir fairing, being chased or followed by a Blue Yamaha 650 V Star.  Hope you have a great week-end, I'm sure we will

[ariwhiteboy]

 


Ride it safe and take lots of pictures. 

[windrider]

Well,  we are here.  Bikes unloaded, camper set up, all is well.  Haven't ridden the bikes yet, hope weather holds tomorrow.  Have pics Thursday night, we hope.

[NightHawked]

Enjoy   

[drdubb]

Great weather. Bet it'll be cold up on the skyway. You guys be safe and have a good time.

[windrider]

Great first day.  Empty parking lot at Deal's Gap, for the most part.  Had a great run down the Dragon, no Leo's, and little traffic.  Then across the Foothills Parkway, and on to Pigeon Forge for her birthday meal at Log Cabin Pancake house.  Blueberry Pancakes, while I had a bacon and egg. 

[windrider]

Great day all around, did some shopping in Pigeon Forge, then headed back.  Super run up the Dragon, only one crotch rocket went by, near the bottom, then had it all to ourselves.  Finally caught a car that pulled over, then we sailed on.  One again, no Leo's.

Hit some wet road and cooler temps after Hellbender coming back, and the road was wet when we went by Kick Stand.  Stopped down at the bridge just before you get to Fontana Dam for a few pics of the "dragon's breath", out over the lake.  Notice how it closed in over the road.  Made for a very cool ride.

[hppants]

Pics bring back some great memories.  Thanks for sharing.

[windrider]

Well, we don't always get things in order.  Here are are a few pics of our camper, set up in Tumbling Waters campground, just down the road from Kick Stand.  Nothing to eat yet today, steak on the grill tonight.

[windrider]

Today's ride was down Moonshine 28.  Nice road, no speed limit to speak of.  Very light traffic, and no rain..

Bet you can't guess from the pictures where we went?

[windrider]

And we made one more stop at dry falls on the way back up.  Can actually take a a hike and go behind the water fall. Kind of hard to see the trail in the pics.  Hate we missed being here in May with everyone, but hope you see our post, stop, and reflect on your visit here, and smile.

[windrider]

Ok, supper has come and gone, and we took a nice 1.5 mile walk down the road and back.  Temp is around 80, cloudy, and might rain tonight.  Just sitting here on the deck, with an adult beverage, listening to the sound of the creek, and enjoying life.  For those that haven't eaten yet, here are a few pics of supper tonight.  Steak, onion/pepper kabobs, rice on the stove, and some garlic toast.  It was good.....   Hope it counts since we fixed it ourselves.

[hockeyhawk]

Looks like your off to a great trip. Thanks for sharing, Pictures are awesome. I really hope to make it there some day.

[drdubb]

Great pics, I must say I'm jealous. Great view from the "Back Porch".

[hockeyhawk]

By the way, I'd love to see more pics of your camper/toy hauler.

[windrider]

Well,  Today was an off day.  Took the truck over to Maggie Valley and toured Wheel's Through Time museum.  Nice to see some old American iron.  Makes you wander what went wrong?  Very interesting stuff, and got to hear several of them run. 

We did get around to eating, country ham on the grill.  SOQS made a ham and egg sandwich, while I just had mine with some toast.  We did have a couple of special guest try to join us.  Somewhere, SOQS found some time to play in the creek and cool off.

[coffee_brake]

Your wife's birthday dinner was at a pancake house?!?! Dude that is a GOLDEN woman right there. Bet she ain't got more than a dozen pairs of shoes to speak of, either, and at least one of them's riding boots so that's even better.

I really like the fog pics. As many times as I've ridden those same roads, I've never gotten good fog pics. Rain, yes.  but never fog.

[windrider]

Hey Coffee,

You met her last year, in white leathers.  She is a great woman to have put up with me for over 32 years.

Any chance you can make our fall Blue Ridge Parkway ride this year?

[coffee_brake]

Of course I remember the V-star, white-leather-with-fringe rider. How do you forget a lady like that?!

You know I'll give it my best try, but I can only get so many days off of work a year...

[windrider]

Hello All,  Sunday morning, with a threat of storms very soon.  We elect to stay close, and it is lunch time, so burgers on the grill.  We finally get to head off, for one last ride on the dragon.  Once again, Deal's Gap parking lot is mostly empty when we get there.  We spend some time in the store, get a few items, and take a very nice ride.  No traffic going our way. 

[windrider]

Since Coffee has never gotten "fog", pictures, we stopped once again, and took a few.  Then we went down to Fontana dam, tallest one on the east coast. Then back to camp.  By the way, we drove across the dam. 

[windrider]

Well, for those that are keeping up, Monday morning came in beautiful, temps in the low 60's.  Since we had to get packed up and go home, we decided to do things a little differently.  In case you haven't noticed, we have a toy hauler camper.  That keeps us from having to pack everything on the bikes.  It also allows us a little freedom to cook our own meals, this saving a few bucks while spending hundreds on a camper.  Anyway, as we were slowly packing, and since it is the wife's birthday weekend, I came to realize that she had caught fish before, but never caught a freshwater rainbow trout.  Now there is a pond, in the campground, less than 100 yards from pur campsite, so off we went.  SOQS and her first trout, or three.

[windrider]

And of course we had some nice fresh trout, and they were filleted, we had to do something with them.  Wonder what that would be??????


And the the 4 and 1/2 hour ride home, where we did see few wild turkey on the side of the road, but the camera was packed for travel. Bikes stayed secure, air stayed in the tires, and fenders remained unscratched.   It was a great week-end, very little traffic on the Dragon, or anywhere else.  Great weather, no rain, and nice temps.  School had started up there already, as we did pass a few buses on the way home. 

It was a good trip for us.  Rode about 400 miles total, not as much as some would, but we had some relaxing time also.  Sunday night the campground only had 4 sites full, with us being one of them.  Mo has a nice place, but sometimes you just need to get away, after all, isn't that what motorcycling is all about, just get away...............and as I shifted in to high gear, I couldn't remember a single thing he/she  said.......

Thanks for reading and the comments.

[hockeyhawk]

Hi windrider, I enjoyed following along on your weekend get away. Looks like you guys had a great time. Thanks for taking us along. 

[chromy]

That is about as good as it gets Windrider!