A Soothing Ride To Kentucky and Back

Wednesday, 9-7-16, temp in mid-60s with a high expected to be in mid-90s,  A good day to ride, no rain.  Donned in my riding gear I pushed Sweet Thang out of the garage at 7 a.m. to meet biker friend Robert at Weigel's for 7:30.  I needed to top off the gas tank so I got there a little early.  We decided to ride for a while and then stop to get a biscuit and me some coffee.  Robert drinks water.  This is a nice ride early in the morning, long rolling hills, mountains in the foreground, a dab of fog here and there.  Just nice and relaxing after you get out of the morning traffic.

Meeting place.

On the way to the city.  Darned cars sure do slow down the traveling.  Must be working people.

Crossing the Henley St. Bridge over the TN River at some of Knoxville's City Centre skyline.

Looking forward on the Henley St. Bridge you can see the remnants of the World's Fair, the Gold Globe located in the World's Fair Park.

And to the West is portions of the Univ. of TN campus buildings.

Looking back East is a beautiful sunrise.

Finely north of the city heading to Kentucky.  Our goal was to stop off at Jellico, TN just before you crossed into KY to visit an old hardware store that doubles as a museum.  Nix that, I was taking a picture and missed the turnoff so onward to KY.

Friend Robert riding his Honda VTX1300 behind me.

 I-75 has a history of fog and today was no different.  Not bad, but made you slow down a bit while also giving some nice pics of fog hanging in the valleys and along the edge of the mountains.

Then we lost the sun to the morning fog.

Then back out of the fog again.  Traffic was very light heading north and very scenic as well.

A few big rigs like the one Robert is passing now.  Some of the larger hills has these big boys all in a row chugging to the top.

The the fog lifts, the sun is out, the sky is blue and the road is wide open.  I can smell that coffee already.

Fall is definitely coming.  Here's a stand of trees that have a few trying to change color.

Another area of color changing.

After crossing over into KY and stopping at a Hardee's in Williamsburg, KY, we headed west on a two lane scenic highway to Pine Knot, KY.  This was a rambling ride with changes looming whenever.

Modern day drilling equipment makes this job a lot easier than in the old days when they had to use exploxives and steam-driven drilling platforms.

Cool mountain morning air, wide open spaces, mountains and blue sky, what more does one need other than a motorcycle and some petrol.

We were skirting the Ky coal country.  Many of these mountains have tunnels in them from coal mining or coal exploration.  And some are still very solid.

This mountain side is terraced or in the correct lingo, laid back which is to help keep it from falling onto the roadway.  Relieved is another word for it.

Have I mentioned blue sky?  Well, what about white puffy clouds?  The do go well together.  Sort of like peanut butter and jelly.

An old ramshackle house, once the main building of a farmstead.  Now, it is probably home for rats, spiders and maybe a snake or two.

A meadow filled with wildflowers, shining bright yellow against the mellow green of the grass.

Then a turn or two and we're headed for another area, this time in TN as we didn't have to wait very long to cross the state line.

Farmers loading up recently rolled hay.  Now it's headed for a barn to be later used for winter feeding.

After a while we pulled over for a water break.  You find out that when riding a motorcycle you have the tendency to not think about dehydration and drinking fluids.  This was a wide pull off area and across the highway was a one time service station and garage.  No more.  Just used for storage now.

Friend Robert taking a picture of me taking a picture of him.

We were on the edge of a tall hill overlooking a large valley below.  This and chit chat pulled my attention away until almost time to leave again when I noticed this sign.  When we rode up there was a brown and a black dog laying on the ground in front of the house.  They never moved until finally the black dog got up and got on the porch with another black dog.  The sign was humorous.  

This is the brown dog and it only raised its head once the whole time we were there.  Neither of the dogs barked as us nor did they come out to see who was parked near their house.  Great watch dogs.  And you don't even need a bone.

And Sweet Thang looked absolutely stunning parked there in the morning sun.  That She Devil.  Keeps me on the road a lot.

More rolling hills, more mountains, narrower roads, twisties and curves and then into another neighborhood to make another turn headed for yet another destination.  Just how good does it get.  Time?  No watch needed.  Loose for the day.

By the time we see this fence we are nearing the house once again.  It has been a leisurely ride, no real need to ride by the clock, stop when you want type of day.

And the final miles seemed like the road to nowhere, endless for miles and miles.  It was a very enjoyable day of riding.  Nothing in particular great or historic, just out for fun.  This was a 233 mile day door to door for me.  I believe I had originally said 236 but was actually wrong.  I think that was the second time this year I've made a mistake.  So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, have a heart, forgive a little and love a lot.  Safe journeys to all.