Coast to coast in the US back again!

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mrs west
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#106

Post by mrs west »

Tail of the Dragon
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Really tight curves!
Really tight curves!
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Gravel road to the campsite
Gravel road to the campsite
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mr west
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#107

Post by mr west »

Rednaxs60 wrote:Great ride to follow, followed your last as well. Don't let the pundits dampen your trip with the you're doing the trip "on that".
Haha, no way anyone can dampen the trip, im just surprised that anyone is surprised that someone is touring on the most legendary touringbike ever...... I would never concider to put a lot of money into a bike that is modern, for the reasons you mentioned. Actually all of my main interests come to think of it (music, motorcycling, martial arts, ice hockey etc) were all much cooler in the 70s...
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mr west
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#108

Post by mr west »

DAY 20

Woke up fairly early and got the tent and luggage together in record time as we now work as a well oiled machinery in the mornings. Even before coffee!

We had a thought to do the tail of the dragon back again, but opted for another route on to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I think the Parkway is my favourite road so far. More faster, longer, sweeping curves that gives nice flow!

We went off a bit to get food in Asheville, a town with a bit younger, open minded people it seems. Looked like a fair bit of hippies around too.

Back on the parkway and made it to the campsite. Our neighbour Chris, made contact by coming over to our site while I was making fire to just stare at our bike. With a "that's cool" every 5 mins, he just continued to stare for a while, before introducing himself and offering beers! The wing is really making friends!

After some chatting we still managed to get some early sleep.
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desertrefugee
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#109

Post by desertrefugee »

Western NC. My home turf. (Lenoir). I miss it terribly.

Wonderful trip and diatribe. Why to follow your previous excursion and enjoyed it as well. Ride safely!
- Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning to ride in the rain.
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#110

Post by mrs west »

desertrefugee wrote:Western NC. My home turf. (Lenoir). I miss it terribly.
I totally understand! It is some pretty country down there.
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#111

Post by mrs west »

Yes instead of taking the Hellbender, we opted to take hwy 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains NP. Great views!

Blue Ridge Pkwy has been everything and more than all we heard leading up to it. I felt super underprepared for what an epic adventure the whole thing is. But now that we have a list of where all the gas stations are and some food with us, I feel way more at ease and able to enjoy the breathtaking scenery.
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Abrams Camp all packed up
Abrams Camp all packed up
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BRP
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mr west
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#112

Post by mr west »

DAY 21

Woke up by the rain on the tent. Looked out and saw nothing. Dense fog. 3 hrs later we decided that we might as well get going and try to ride better weather... So we packed up our wet stuff, the wet tent, put it into the wet bag, put on our wet helmets and sat down on the wet bike. Ready to go.Damn. Forgot my gloves on the bike during night. Soaking wet.

We ventured out in the dense fog with initially 5 meters of visibility.... trying to reach a cafe just 4 miles away.

Closed...

But after some waiting Amanda found that the bookshop next door had coffee and pastries.

Then onto the parkway again. Rain in the eyes, and only possible to go very slow... but whenever the fog was less, it was actually very beautiful. The Parkway is a clear favourite of mine now. Its quite varied and the pavement is mostly good.The wet weather and coldness, clouds and shade is a nice contrast to the Nevada desert, or Utah or Kansas or the humid heat of Missisippi. And coming from Sweden I guess I can stand the cold better than the heat.

A while later it all cleared up and the whole turned out to be one of my best motorcycling days ever. Crisp air, clear visibility, beautiful road and long sweeping bends through the landscape. With gas in the tank, coffee and food in the belly and Amanda on the back, I cant ask for much more.

Except for the occasional bikers or car (like the whole granpa-biker-convoy from Florida, mostly we were completely alone on the road!

Towards the end of the day some deer reminded me to also be alert to the sides of the road... We saw many deer, turkeys, grounhog and at one point Amanda even thought she saw a bear (might have been a cow though...) Finally we checked in to Willesville biker camping as suggested by camping-neighbour Chris yesterday. I really recommend this place. Looks simple, but it best facilities so far! Really clean showers, plugs everywhere, coffee machine and lots of community stuff if you forgot something.

Happy campers!

Good night!
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Good morning
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mrs west
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#113

Post by mrs west »

The fog this morning was no joke! The rain was light but the mist was powerful, thick and relentless. We were camped under a bunch of trees so it seemed like heavy rain from the inside but once we finally got out we saw that we were in a passing cloud, and it was mostly condensation dripping from the branches.

We were camped just outside of Little Switzerland, North Carolina. Our second Switzerland of the trip! We didn’t get to see why this one was named that, other than the wet weather and the good coffee.

Once it cleared though, what a day! I couldn’t take many pictures cause I was really cold and didn’t want to take off my gloves. I kept thinking how to commemorate the experience forever. Should I get a tattoo? Or matching t-shirts? Or maybe just try to return and do the whole thing again and again. Some of the best riding to date!
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Little Switzerland
Little Switzerland
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After noon
After noon
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About when I realized what the Blue Ridges are
About when I realized what the Blue Ridges are
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#114

Post by hmax »

You probably won't see much traffic on the Blue Ridge Parkway, especially on weekdays!
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#115

Post by Rednaxs60 »

Fog is no friend. When I rode my new-to-me VStrom 1000 from Ontario to BC first week of September, second morning out of Thunder Bay was 4 deg C and lots of fog. First restaurant I saw was my stop for over an hour to thaw out, warmed up after a while.

Thoroughly enjoying your thread and pics. Enjoy. Cheers
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#116

Post by hmax »

And I hope you're going to take the Skyline Drive, which isn't on the parkway!
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#117

Post by rcmatt007 »

hmax wrote:And I hope you're going to take the Skyline Drive, which isn't on the parkway!
yes and no.... it isn't if you think that the parkway ends at the beginning of Skyland drive (and Shenandoah NP), but it is if you think of it as the same road with a name change
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#118

Post by rcmatt007 »

the clouds on the parkway can be incredibly thick with so little visability that you are driving by looking at the yellow line.... VERY scarey! Another really bad spot on the parkway is near Fancy Gap
-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
"it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
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mr west
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#119

Post by mr west »

Blue Ridge Parkway MPG: 39,4

Not bad!
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Re: Coast to coast in the US back again!

#120

Post by Whiskerfish »

Nice! Rat and I got trapped one very hungover morning on the parkway by some of that nasty fog. It was so bad that at one point I actually drove into one of the tunnels without even knowing it was there :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I was about 60 mile East of you today working at my Camp outside Danville Va.
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