Due to the weather and some errands, biker friend Paul and I didn't leave until noon for our ride. We met up at Wendy's for a quick snack and then mounted our faithful steeds for a ride down to Townsend to the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center. Access to the center was free this week. It is basically an Appalachian Museum of how things was done in the old days. Townsend abuts the Smoky Mountain National Park. During the winter it has only a few residents and a few tourists. During summer it is full of tourists. Townsend is in a rather long valley with a river running through it from the Park.
Coming into my area of Seymour where we would take a right turn onto U.S. 411 heading south for a short way and then hit the back roads. A snake's trail is much straighter than the routes we take.
Shortly after we left U.S. 411 to the left toward the mountains this beautiful home sitting atop a pretty tall hill has a magnificent view of the mountains. And, I might add, sits on a very nice size property.
Way off in the distance the mountains are topped with clouds. The temp at this time of day is about 38. High is 42. Since it rained some earlier in the morning the roads were still damp in places and you could feel the humidity. Damp cold, chill to the bone type but we were rather warm in our layers of fabric.
This section of highway was nice. It had pleasing scenery along the way, rather recent asphalt and it had stripes separating the lanes. This would change later as we changed routes.
A beautiful, to me, old farm house overlooking the highway. Of course the tree trimmers has taken a toll on that huge maple tree. And from the size of the tree and the age of the house, I would say they were there first.
Here's a similar farm house. From the size of the house makes one wonder how many kids once lived there. Notice the trimmed tree in front.
As mentioned several times in articles dairy farming was well established in this area of TN. Still lots of old barns, silos and milking sheds but many are slowly falling apart.
The dark horizon in this picture are the mountains. The white layer just above the dark are the clouds. So knowing the area, you can bet the temperature where those clouds are is rather chilly. Later, on our way back, the clouds had shifted and the tops of the mountains was silver, meaning the moisture from the clouds was freezing on the trees. I didn't have my camera hanging from my neck on the return trip so I missed that shot. Drats.
This picture is for my friend Barbara, an artiste in LA. These are sculptures of cows in a pasture setting. See how motionless they are? I believe they are Charolais.
On roads like this I wonder if anyone has entered the barn from this direction. It's amazing how fast people drive on some of these small roads.
The fence set this picture off as it seems the mountains and the fence are on a converging meeting point. And, the daunting darkness of the clouds wasn't making me feel really rosy about the remainder of the day.
And the clouds just keep hanging in there.
Then we changed directions again to run parallel to the river. We are nearing the town of Townsend at this point but on the west side of town. This road following the river turns into a little community of houses. Some are lived in year around, some are summer homes and some are rental cabins.
Rocky, craggy stone wall on one side and a cold swift running river on the other. Run off the road in either direction could spell hurt.
And notice the rocks aren't smooth finished either. About as nice as running along a barbed wire fence.
This is one of the older homes in the community. They just park them almost anywhere, on the side of a mountain or overhanging the river. Wherever they can get a footing to build on.
This is one of the older houses in the area and is need of some TLC. It is situated between the river and the roadway. And I would imagine it has seen water in it or really close from time to time.
We came to this intersection, still not in Townsend proper and this old dilapidated old house caught my eye. There's a small stream flowing in the front, a bridge crossing it to the house and at one time this was probably a very attractive place. It still has a very nice setting, a small valley all to itself.
The small stream in front of the house. Not big, but flowing well with crystal clear water, straight out of the mountains. Not a suitable depth for skinny dipping but definitely cold enough to give your goose bumps goose bumps.
Last picture for today. Just shortly after this picture was shot Paul started hearing a noise from his bike, a Kawasaki Ninja 500. We stopped and turned around and discussed the situation. I had him mount up and ride slowly to see if I could locate where the noise was coming from. Aha, it's right by his left foot. So he stopped, got out his tools to take off a plate on the side and found he didn't have the right tools to do the job.
So Sweet Thang to the rescue. I opened her right saddlebag, pulled out my bag of tools and behold, an 8mm boxend/openend wrench, just what we needed. Long story and much discussion later, we found the drive sprocket for his chain was sliding off the splined shaft and was grinding metal. After a while we got the part back to where it should be and decided to try to make it back to Seymour. If all else fails, we park it at someone's business or house and double-up on my bike to go get a trailer and haul it.
No trailer needed, this time. We did the Mobil Gas Economy Run, traveling at 35 mph all the way back to Seymour, about 20+ miles. Took mostly back roads so we wouldn't have to deal with traffic behind us. Made it to MickyDs, had a cup of coffee and a hot apple pie, food needed for our troubles and the patience used up.
Never made it to the Heritage Center but can do that another day. Total mileage I did today was about 60 miles. Stopped by my local convenience store, picked up dinner consisting of a Full House (their homemade chili with a hot tamale stuck in it) and a small banana pudding. This took care of warming me up, my meat, bread, fruit and dairy products in just two containers. Not one of the best days of riding but yet another good day. Until the next adventure, which should be tomorrow, live long, stay safe, and enjoy life.
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