Cherohala Skyway

New Motorcycle Friends We Met At The Cherohala Skyway Lookout

Hello again this is Carol:

A day like today makes me realize just how much I love fresh air, sunshine and nature. It was a beautiful sunny warm, not hot, clear day. I have been noticing many black butterflies in the fields where ever we go. They must be migrating by here and stopping at every wild flower possible. Not too many birds or other critters today.

We were on the Cherohala Skyway almost all day, it is Route 143 on the map. The Cherohala is a nice curvy newly paved road great for motorcycles. The main difference between our NJ landscape and NC is that when you view a mountain range in NJ you see a mountain. When you view the same thing in NC you see 6 or 7 mountains gradually getting hazier in the distance. This makes the near mountains appear to stand out separately. Not easy to get on film but very interesting to see.




The air is so different on the mountain. It is clear, fresh and feels like it contains more O2. It smells good and fresh. As you descend down the hill it begins to dark and the air smells moist and earthy, more like dirt and rotting trees. It is cold on the mountain, I mean really cold. As you descend it gradually warms to HOT while in the towns and valleys. Chriss bought me a shirt that says "The Mountains are calling and I must go". It is very appropriate.



We also met some very nice people today, both at the Fontana Dam and on the Skyway at a lookout spot. The people at the Fontana Dam were from NC and very happy to tell us some local folklore about the places we might visit. The lookout people were locals, motorcycle riders from TN out for a Sunday ride. They told us about Sweetwater,TN, where we are tonight. The main attraction in town is a cave with a large underground lake. They take people out on the underground lake in glass bottom boats to see fish and sights under the water. We will do that tomorrow.

We must make some time up going west as we have an arrival date for Lawton, Ok. We have finally gotten out of NC and are in TN and staying at an Econolodge. So far we have done over 1000 miles but have not made much distance after leaving Luray. We find too many interesting back roads to ride leading us nowhere. Because I sit behind Chriss and have limited view. My world has few colors. I see clearly the blue and white sky when I look up, green trees to the side and a black road with yellow stripe when I look down. When I look straight ahead I see Chriss’s black helmet. Overall everything is so pretty. We are really enjoying our trip. The wind just took my Tennessee map, do I tell Chriss?



Our main stop today was at Fontana Dam, the largest dam in the east. I have not seen a dam of that nature before and it sure was big. It is on a beautiful lake with a very meandering shore line. The water makes me really miss my kayak. The people at the dam’s tourist desk were retired volunteers and interesting to talk to. The man was an engineer who worked there before he retired, then they full time RV for 5 years now they are volunteers. We meet another motorcycle couple from Canada. We are really enjoying ourselves, were having fun. We are now headed for Sweetwater, TN. Oh, Oh, where is my Tennessee map????

Love to all, Carol and Chriss

Fontana Village, NC.

Hello from the Fontana Village in NC. The resort is located In the Great Smokey Mountains. How we got here is quite a story. We left Maggie Village today about 12:30 after an adequate free breakfast at the hotel, our destination the Smokey Mountains. The weather was very nice, not hot, as we traveled to the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we traveled to a higher elevation the temperature dropped significantly. Knowing the weather had been in the +100*F we were riding with our summer mesh gear which allowed masses of air flow through our clothes. We soon became cold. We stopped to put more (all) the clothes on we could, dressing by the side of the road.... no class. The Blue Ridge ended in a Cherokee Indian Reservation. There were all kinds of shops, junk yards and stuff. We only stopped for gas as we had a hard arrival time scheduled for Lawton OK and needed to keep going.

We followed our plan to head for the Cherohala Skyway.
We missed the turn but found ourselves on a very nice country road. We decide that it may be best to find a motel before getting on the Skyway. We continue on towards the town of Robbinsville but didn't see any motels that were suitable. Carol wanted a restaurant and high speed Internet connection. Chriss drove on and soon saw a lake appear on the GPS screen. We continued along the shore of Lake Santeetlah. Thinking we would surly fine a nice motel near a resort lake or at least something better than we saw in Robbinsville. WRONG, We found nothing.

Soon we realized we were heading for the Dragons Tail. It has 318 curves in 11 miles. Check out this link!!! I said to Chriss....please don't take me over the "tail" in the dark. He nodded OK in return. We agreed to stop for the night at the first suitable place. As we approached the "Dragons Tail" we saw a country restaurant/ Inn that looked descent so we pulled in and after 5 hours on the bike. We crawled off and Chriss went in. I should have known something was wrong when I didn't see any cars in the parking lot. The place was closed with the owners on vacation. A couple that was working there operating only the hamburger grill said that about ½ hour up the road was a nice resort called Fontana Village. They thought maybe they would have a room. Chriss and I looked at each other and said OK so they called for us and said they had a room left. We didn't ask how much but said hold it for us and off we went. We had a long ride on a very windy road from Tampoco NC to route 28 to Fontana Village. We found a nice rustic resort. The biggest surprise of all was$89.00 per night for our room. We were very happy to have a nice room and decided to have dinner in the dining room that just about to close. In we went with all out black leather riding gear on and helmets in hand. Yes, a lot of heads turned our way.

We were seated next to a very nice couple from Florida. We introduced ourselves and soon developed a nice conversation. Made some new friends we did. Chriss and i always seem to meet such nice people when we travel together. We both like to talk with people. We decided to spend Saturday night here also. We needed the break and then we will move on. There is no phone service here in the mountains and the Internet hot spot is up by the pool, so I am typing this in word and will send it later. Will take pictures of the place, to show you.
To be continued tomorrow…..Carol and Chriss .

The second day

Our next day at the village has turned out just great. There were professional mountain bike races at the resort today. The riders were well built young men and women who participated in a long hard race. They had a booth set up to give the racers a massage or acupuncture. Chriss has had much pain in his neck while riding our Sport Touring bike so he opted for treatment. He said it helped for awhile. The racers also had a spaghetti dinner that we were invited to for only a $7.00 donation. After dinner we walked over to the general store for ice cream. Oh those calories!!! There was also a square dance in the big hall, we really wanted to go but we had to pack for an early morning departure and couldn’t participate this time.

There is no internet in our room I have to go to the main lobby to get this sent. You will my lobby office in our pictures. Chriss will spend some time in the children’s “craft” room successfully repairing a rubber part for our motorcycle top box. A very relaxing time we have had.

It is getting late tonight so this will be short. We are packing to hit the road again tomorrow. This was a nice break and we met so many nice people and enjoyed the change of pace but now are anxious to return to our journey.

Carol and Chriss