This ride doesn't have any pictures because I went off and left my camera at the house. Got too busy fixing stuff for the dog before I made my early departure from the house. Not the dog's fault, just my lack of thinking. I tried using some pics from my rider friend but they kept tripping out the blog. So you'll have to use your imagination on this one.
I've been working my butt off on replacing the deck (Patio to you flatland folks) which is about 2 ft. off the ground on the East end and 4 ft. on the West end. Anyway, I decided that I needed some R & R. So late Tuesday afternoon I called my biker friend Paul to see if he was riding Thursday and the answer was yes but he didn't know where to. I told him I didn't care where, just what time and where did he want to meet up. Wednesday evening I received an email saying to meet at our local Micky D's at 7:45. And that I did.
Our trip was going to take us down in South TN to a place called Hiawassee River Overlook. This is Northeast of Chattanooga and East of Cleveland. The Hiawassee River has a lot of canoeing, kayaking, rafting, fishing, etc. At this time the water is very low and we saw only one fly fisherman. After viewing the river we stopped at Reliance, TN at the local convenience store, gas station, deli, tackle shop, fishing permit, Saturday night hang out and Business Stuff outlet. A lot of BS conversations according to the three benches out front of the store under the canopy. Great folks and a cheap cup of coffee, at $0.50 per cup.
We left Reliance and headed for Ducktown, TN or as some people refer to it as Copper Hill. Back in the mid 1800s a man prospecting for gold found a lode of copper instead and before you know it there were 16 copper mines. This went on until in the early 1950s and then everything dried up. The place was a mess, all eroded and treeless as they were cut to make charcoal for fuel for the steam boilers and what trees that were left were killed by the acid run-off from the smelters. My first time there was May of 1960. It was just an eroded mess with a few scrawny trees and a lot of red dirt. Today it has been replanted in trees. One of the mines caved in leaving a large hole with a small lake in it. There's also a small museum there with a lot of pictures of its busy time and some old mining machinery.
From Ducktown we rode North toward Coker Creek. We made a little side trip to a place called "Fields Of The Wood" which is owned and operated by the Church of God. It is a tranquil place nestled in the valley between two large hills. On one hillside are the Ten Commandments spelled out and on the opposite side of the valley are the Psalms of Praise. There's also a hill referred to as the Flags of Nations with flags from numerous countries flying. I suppose this represents the countries where they have churches or missionaries. There's a replica of The Tomb along with a baptism pool, a deli and a gift shop. A nice quiet place to visit and ponder on your thoughts.
We rolled on through Coker Creek by-passing most towns and came back into Tellico Plains where we had stopped that morning for gas and a coffee. There we met two riders from Montreal, Quebec Canada. We gave them some riding tips on their trip back up the Blue Ridge Parkway and then we headed out. Still on the backroads passing old buildings, large farms, big barns and finally the lake near Vanore. From there we scooted on to Seymour where we stopped at the White Star Market near my house to grab a soft freeze ice cream to cool down. It was in the upper 80s in the shade and a lot warmer in the sun.
We had a great day of riding. Meeting new people, seeing new things and enjoying a restful day while clocking in 250 miles for the day. Now back to the deck. UGH.
Next time there will be pictures. So ride safe, enjoy life and have fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment