9/21/2014 (Ride to Murphy, NC.)

                                                            The view from Clingman's Dome

We left Townsend, Tn. with jackets on this morning.  The further up the mountain we rode, the happier we were to have on jackets.

The bear scat in Tn is not nearly as big as the bear scat in Alaska.  Lauren said he never saw a bear in the Smoky's. I was sure glad that he didn't see a bear today as we walked up the trail.

We took some foggy pictures at Clingman's Dome and headed down the trail. Been there and done that.  Wouldn't mind doing it again, when we have sunshine.

The shirt I bought yesterday at the Tail of the Dragon didn't fit.  We had to go back and exchange. 2 shirts later, and a hat, (for Lauren), we are content.

We stopped halfway between Clingman's Dome and The Tail of the Dragon, and ate  left over steak and chili cheese fritos.  Don't get much better than that.

We traveled 182 miles today and had some really good pizza delivered at the Best Western Hotel in Murphy, NC.

We will head south tomorrow.

Amber has given the McLaurin's another fabulous day!

                                                                 
                                                                  After the ride....

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/Y3ASXeZ5xagyz5gFA

9-20-14 (Day 3 Twisties)

We woke up to the sound of motorcycles cranking up  at 6 o'clock this morning.  By the time we went to eat breakfast at 8, Amber was the only motorcycle in the parking lot.  All the other motorcycles headed to Waterloo, we headed to the Cherohala Skyway.

We packed up the leftover fajitas from last night and had the best Mexican food on the Skyway.

We rode 229 miles today and are staying in Townsend, Tn. tonight.  We strolled across the road from the hotel and ate at Trailhead Steak and Trout House.  It is very rare that the I order a steak well done and it is done right the first time.  Delicious!!

We are going to Clingman's Dome tomorrow then start heading toward home.

Dang we are having fun!!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/e88tLqsTYfhWXiRN7

9-19-14 (Day 2 Chattanooga. Bound)

We had a great breakfast at the Coldwater Inn, then took "Amber" across the street for her 1000 mile service.  The folks at the dealership were as nice as the people at the hotel.  We plan to go back and see them again.

We checked out of the hotel and headed to Waterloo.  We walked around the vender area, bought some T shirts, and went to the Trail of Tears River Walk.  It was pretty awesome to see my good friend, Robin Bowman's name, along with several members of  her family's names on the bricks.

After riding for 2 1/2 hours Lauren finally stopped for gas.  His goal was to get through Huntsville before the 5 o'clock traffic.  I took plenty of pictures to distract myself from the bumper to bumper traffic, riding 60 miles an hour.  I sure am glad we missed the 5 o'clock traffic,

We finally made it to the other side,  WHEW!!  Nice and relaxing, then we see a rainbow.  And then we feel the rain. Hmm, rainbow means rain.

We rode 233 miles today.  We found a hotel near I 24, walked over to the El Toril Mexican Restaurant and had awesome fajitas for dinner. The parking lot is full of motorcycles gathering here for the Trail of Tears ride tomorrow morning.  We are going the opposite way to the Smoky Mountain National Park.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/enzqCMRDcVYaefDL8

9-18-14 (Day 1 Tuscumbia,Al.)

New Harley, 6 Days Off, Time for a road trip!!

We left the reservoir this morning, got on the Natchez Trace, and headed to Tuscumbia, Alabama.

It was a nice day.  The only sweating we did was at the camp when we were trying to figure out what we could fit in the motorcycle.  After pulling out half of the clothes we packed on Sunday, (most of which were mine), we narrowed it down to the essentials.

Fernie must of knew we were leaving her for a few days.  I tried to give her a treat before we left. She ignored me.  I bet she will be happy when Pat comes to see her this evening.

We stopped at French Camp, sat on the patio under the big ole tree and ate a Big Willie.  The special sauce on the BLT is awesome.  It was all I could do to stay awake after leaving.

We rode 257 miles to The ColdWater Inn.  Nice folks at the desk and a nice room,

We will take our new Harley, "Amber," for her 1000 mile service tomorrow at Natchez Trace Harley Davidson which is in walking distance from our hotel.  Then we will head to Waterloo for the Pow Wow at the Trail of Tears.

We loved ole "Smokey," our 04 Harley, but "Amber" is a lot more comfortable. I hope our adventures with "Amber"  are as great as they were on "Smokey."

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/sDbQkQAAwtNCNUaS6

8-8-13 (Day 15 - Back to the Ross Barnett Reservoir)

We traveled a couple of hours today to our campsite on the reservoir. Ferny meowed almost all the way.  She hates it when her vacations end.

After getting the camper parked, we went to Salsa's for lunch.  After 4 hours of working in the heat we got things back in order.  Lauren informed me that I need to choose a cooler time of year for our vacations.

We sat around with friends lasts night and had take out from Penn's on our patio.  A great meal, with great friends, and a wonderful view.

Just think, when I work, I have to stay here.  Dang, life is good!!!!!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/CJpcZNzVjMvaWEaQ7

8-7-13 (Day 14 - Poverty Point)

It's  HOTTTTTT

 

We left around 10 clock this morning from the mountain top at Queen Wilhelmina Campground..  Lauren was able to hook up the camper without any complications.  He felt like a pro!!!!  He only sweated a little bit when the sun beamed down on him at the dump station.

Lauren decided to take the 1.5 mile, 14 degree stretch of road that we took when we entered the campground a few days ago instead of the route that is a 13 mile stretch of downhill curves.  No brainer.

Lauren sighed a sigh of relief a little while later when he was faced with straight aways and flat country.  He loves riding the slopes and curves on the Harley, not a good thing in a truck pulling a 38 foot camper.

We rode for about  6 and a half hours and stopped at Poverty Point Campground in Delhi, Louisiana,  The state I was born in and retired from.  WOOHOO!! 

Ferny demanded to come out as soon as we got the camper set up.  She didn't last long.  She finally came back out around dark.  It was way too hot for a cat with that much fur.

We sat outside with a fan blowing on each of us.  When the temperature dropped from 99 degrees to 96 degrees we took a short stroll and looked at the lake.

We plan to go to the Rez and set up the camper tomorrow.

8-6-13 (Day 13- Scenic Talimena Drive)

We were supposed to get up early again this morning.  It didn't happen.  We got breakfast at The Royal Meal Trolley across from our campsite and headed out around 10.  We had a nice, hot, day to ride.  Although, when we were on the mountain it was a lot cooler than the valley.

We got on the Talimena Drive just outside of the campground. We were in Oklahoma in a very short time. 

We stopped at the Visitor's Center at the end of the Talimena Scenic Drive in Oklahoma.   We only saw 2 motorcycles on this stretch of ride.  They passed us twice. 

The views at the vistas were pretty, but after a while they looked about the same.  Lauren wanted to bypass some of them, of course, I insisted we stop at each one.

We took a nice ride through the town of Talihina then on to the Indian Highway.  Another pretty, curvy, road.  There were numerous signs of Big Foot Crossing.  We never saw him.

When we got here last night our water hose was not long enough to reach the faucet.  We used the reserve in the fresh water tank last night.  We stopped in Mena, Arkansas and bought a hose.  We got back on the Talimena Drive and completed the 13 miles loop we had missed this morning.

We returned to camp and walked to the train depot.  We had a milkshake, then took a 2 mile ride on the train.  Lauren tried his best to get out of this.  He didn't.  The engineer was nice enough to take our picture. You can tell by the picture he really enjoyed it!! 

They are building a new lodge and we were told by the engineer that there has been evidence that a bear or bears has been in the area.  We didn't see one.

I was planning on hiking the Lover's Lane Trail while we were here.  During the train ride the engineer told us about a woman that went hiking on this trail a few years ago and disappeared.  It is a mystery of what happened to her.  After hearing this story, hearing about evidence of bears in the area, and seeing Big Foot Crossing signs.  I decided to skip this hike.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/twR4zUJpFR8MbWVM7