I guess even the beer makers and distributors are patriotic!  This was in the window of the BP we stopped to fill up at just outside of Cleveland TN on Tuesday.

After leaving Wheels Through Time we headed to Waynesville, NC to....DUH.....the Harley shop....Ghost Town Harley.....after grabbing a couple of shirts and pins we headed off to find the Blue Ridge Parkway.  There was an entrance to it a couple of miles down the road but we wanted to ride as much of it as we could so we headed east on US276 to the Blue Ridge.  US276 once you leave the developed areas is a great ride.  It's mostly uphill with great twisting turns and gorgeous views of the mountains.  We got to the entrance and began one of the most beautiful rides we've had.  The views are stunning.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one.  This is also where we had our one and only scare......in a tunnel.  There are no lights in the tunnels, TJ's glasses were still dark, he couldn't see and went over into the middle of the road....the pave ment was horrible.  He kept control and we continued on our ride.  The parkway ends outside of Cherokee and we came back through the rez.....couldn't get TJ to stop at a local restaurant for Indian Tacos....maybe next time!  We came south down US19/74 through the Nantahala Gorge....it would be absolutely gorgeous except for all the river rafting companies that have built up in it.  The river is beautiful, I didn't have the camera on me (inthe trunk) or I could have gotten sevearl shots of all the rafters/kayakers/canoeists running the river.  If we had stayed on the highway we would have intersected US64 and followed the Ocoee River and gone by the US Olympic Whitewater Training Center.....maybe next time.  We turned back on US129 and headed to Robbinsville, NC to eat at a place a friend had told us about.....Sweetwater BBQ.  It was also a favorite of our friend who died a few weeks ago.  We had some great food (the cook gave me some of his own creation hot sauce for my BBQ) and the wonderful staff shared memories of John with us.  We got a picture of his favorite table and his flag hung on the wall behind it.  We thanked them, took my leftovers with us and headed off for the Dragon one last time, this time to ride it in memory of John.  It was a good ride.

After the really good pancake breakfast we headed north on US19 from Cherokee to Maggie Valley and the Wheels Through Time Museum.  The ride took us by the casino....no we didn't stop.....and through the northern part of the rez......a pretty ride through the mountains on a nice, twisty road.  Maggie Valley is a high mountain valley, a small town without all of the tourist "glitter" of Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge.  Wheels Through Time is it's main tourist attraction, biker tourist anyway.  It's grounds are covered with lots of mini-gardens contained by rock walls but having the feeling of wild and free.  They have all kinds of old motorcycles, yes, mostly Harleys, but the difference with this museum as compared to others is that no matter how old and ragged the bikes look....they all run!

.....Or, How I stayed out of jail........Adult language advisory

After riding the Dragon (twice) we headed for Foothills Parkway.....a "road less traveled" between the Dragon and US321 (Maryville to Pigeon Forge).  We took it into Townsend where we FINALLY found a BBQ place another Multiply friend had told us about......Little River BBQ......Thanks Dana!!  It sits right on the river with a screened porch you can eat in.  Food was good and the lemonade was fresh.  After lunch and a short rest we headed to Cades Cove.......our only mistake in the trip.  Don't get me wrong, Cades Cove is an absolutely beautiful place........unfortunately it's a magnet for idiots and assholes.  There are signs posted all along the 11 mile drive telling drives to NOT stop on the roadway.  Come on people, have you NEVER seen wildlife.  People were parking on the road and running out of there cars to look at bears......UH......BEARS people.......they are NOT tame, they are cute from a DISTANCE and dangerous up close and personal.  I didn't get pictures of cabins , barns and other buildings because of either being stuck in traffic or no parking.  It was not an enjoyable drive and no, we will not be going back to play catch up.  TJ had to restrain me on the bike to keep me from going up to one idiot who had 30+ vehicles backed up behind him and beating the shit out of him.  Even with people yelling at him to move on, he had traffic stopped at one point for almost 10 minutes....looking at ONE deer.  I am very ashamed to say he had an Alabama tag.  ANYWAY....we finally got out of that insanity.....without me going to jail for assault or attempted murder.  We took Little River Road over to US441...a beautiful drive beside the Little River that comes out at the Great Smoky Mountain Visitor Center....bypassing the commercial crap and traffic in Gatlinburg.  The ride over the mountain into Cherokee was beautiful, the sun and clouds playing with the contours of the mountains.  It took away some of the frustration of Cades Cove.  We saw deer and elk coming in to the reservation where I had spent summers in my childhood.  Cherokee is different now....cheap, tourist traps line the highway.  A few real, locally owned shops struggle to survive.  We stopped at one and found some cool pins, a Korea veteran pin with a feather.....I will wear it for my father.  The girl told us her family ahd a small motel on the south side of town......we crashed for the night, not even bothering to eat.....I didn't want to eat at the Holiday Inn across the street and TJ didn't want to get back out on the bike....bedtime!  We woke up about 6:30 or so and got ready for the day's adventure.  We started off with a great breakfast at Pete's Pancakes in Cherokee.....great food.....pancakes were awesome and the ham was tender and tasty.....we then headed to Maggie Valley, Waynesville, US276 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.....

No jail in this part....wait for it.....

We started out at 4:30 Tuesday morning (I thought TJ had to do more to get ready...I was wrong) and 58 degrees.....a little cool.  We stopped in South Pittsburgh TN at Waffle House for breakfast, a nice Fiesta omelet to warm us up!  We got through Chattanooga in one piece.......for all who've been through there you know what I-24 is like.  We got off the Interstate at Cleveland and took US64 over to US411.  We stopped at Nancy Ward's gravesite, she was a "Beloved Woman" of the Cherokee.  She's buried with her sons on a small hill under a cedar tree.  The graves are surrounded by a wrought iron fence and tobacco offerings are tied in the branches and on the fence, we left our offering of tobacco, sage and cedar along with the others.  We got up to the Dragon about 10:30-11:00 and made our first run.  It was SO different on the bike than it was in the car.  It was more FUN.  I got a LOT of shots, including the Dragon photographers.  We got to Tail of the Dragon.com and Deals Gap, bought our patches, stickers and tag holders and decided to ride it BACK.  It is different going north!  TJ dragged the kickstand on a switchback turn.....not really scary but kind of a weird sensation.  Lots of bikes on the Dragon.....not a huge number of cars and trucks and, thankfully, NO 18 wheelers.  We took the Dragon back to Foothills Parkway to head over to Cades Cove......here's the photos up to that point.....more coming......