July 11th
Right
down the road from the motel we entered the Chattahoochee National Forest –
more two lane winding roads, but a little built up with homes on big
properties.
All
was good for sometime until we hit a nasty looking dirt section. I don’t think
it was too long and would have connected us back to the paved section we wanted
to be on. But it would not have suited Judith’s bike very well, so we l went
for plan B – find a detour.
While
we were looking at Google Maps and nice fellow named Corey pulled up on his
Honda – Harley clone and asked if every thing was OK. He pointing us
in the right direction for the detour, but he also had 30 minutes of
stories to tell. Fortunately we were not in a hurry.
After
getting back on route we continued through Chattahoochee National Forest on GA
2 and GA 5. These were super roads – more two-lane through pretty heavily
forested areas. We had a rest stop at a visitors center somewhere (forgot
where) and ended up talking to a local couple who were out for a ride – more
nice people.
We
eventually came to the Tennessee Boarder and on to US64/TN68 and through the
Cherokee National Forest. We enjoyed this road a lot. Again, two lane, winding,
different types of turns, great surface and little traffic. Right as we dropped
down and out of the Cherokee National Forest we got a little rain, but not bad.
We thought oh great, we are so lucky with the rain situation this entire trip.
This did not last for long.
Just
a few miles down the road was Tellico Plains. We stopped at a gas station for a
break even though we were only about 20 miles from the hotel.
As we sat there, we watched the sky in the direction we need to go turn ugly dark. We made a break for it, but three or four miles up the road the heavens opened up, along with serious mountain style thunder and lightening. We pulled into a gas station to see if it would pass by quickly – it didn’t.
As we sat there, we watched the sky in the direction we need to go turn ugly dark. We made a break for it, but three or four miles up the road the heavens opened up, along with serious mountain style thunder and lightening. We pulled into a gas station to see if it would pass by quickly – it didn’t.
We
bit the bullet and hopped back on the bikes and rode off to the hotel. Pretty
sure the rain got heavier too.
The
hotel in Vonore, TN was pretty odd. It was completely off the beaten path.
There was nothing at all anywhere close by. They did not serve food and no one
would deliver according to the lady who checked us in and did not like her job.
I asked for room on the first floor, but was told that the first floor was not
open – only the second floor.
The
style of the hotel was pretty much like a Holiday Inn Express, or any of the
others in that category, but it was missing something. For a while I thought we
had checked into Hotel California or House on Haunted Hill.
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| Judith's bike continued to attract critters |
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| We did get a nice parking spot |
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| Not many guests at Hotel Weird - the parking lot was empty |
We
had intended to stay three nights here and ride some of the local roads. But,
because the weather was being uncooperative and the hotel was strange, we
decided to only stay two nights. I checked with the next hotel and we could get in
there one day early – great. When I spoke to the guy at registration the next
morning to let him know we would leave a day early he said you only have a
reservation for two nights – great again. Actually when I checked the booking.com reservation it was for three nights, but there certainly was no
need to discuss that any further.
July 12th
It
rained and we basically hung out.
The
original plan had been to ride The Tail of the Dragon (TN 129) – 11 miles and
318 turns. Very famous road, but actually a bit of a pain every body and their
brother comes to ride the road and 90% of the people shouldn’t be on this road.
So,
we did not ride The Dragon.
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| Hotel Weird did have a nice touch for motorcycle riders - towels to wipe off the morning dew |
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