Some More NC Backroads

Thursday, March 2, 2017.  Meet up time temps, low 40s.  Place, Exit 407, I-40, Kodak, TN at the McDonald's.  This will be the first long ride since I broke my leg.  Rider friend Paul, Ken and Terry will be along on this ride.  Where?  Some more NC backroads but NOT the same road as my leg breaking accident.  It's a clear crisp Early Springish day and a darned good day to ride.  Kick stands up time is 9:30 a.m. and away we went.

We would be running I-40 Interstate East to the Newport, TN exit and then we'd hit the back roads over the mountain into NC finally topping out at Marshall, NC.  Ingle's Food Store is a good pit stop with excellent apple fritters and hot coffee, just what the body needs on a crisp day.

Hitting the Interstate found the traffic very light therefore allowing you to twist the throttle a little more.

After Newport we hit the smaller highways but still wide compared to some that we would ride.

The taller barns in this area were also used to dry tobacco as well as house feed for the farm animals.  This one is chuck full of hay rolls.  Tobacco is about non-existant these days.

Nice riding surface, long curves and smooth sailing.  Great to be back in the saddle again.

What you see to the right of those guardrails is dry lake bed of Douglas Lake.  Will take a lot of rain to get the lake back full again and these little showers we're having don't count for much.

Spring has already come to East TN.  Bradford Pear trees blooming, wild pear, peach and forsythia are really showing their colors.  Won't be long before they are joined by a variety of other trees and shrubs.  Even my grass is starting to grow.  Rats.

Mountains looming off in the distance is one of our objectives for in the middle of those we cross over the line into NC.

As I have stated before in some of the Adventure writings, Spring in East TN is almost as pretty as the Fall when it comes to colors.

From the water along the side of the roadway you can tell that it rained last night.  In fact, it stormed last night but it was moving fast enough that it did not hamper the day's riding.  Highways were dry except for a few spots where the water drained across the pavement.

Crossing the French Broad River.  In late summer the island in the middle is larger.

The closer we get to the mountains the higher the spirits.  Steady fellow, as I speak to Mr. Redbug.  I think it's as anxious to get out and roll as I am.

Very nice amount of water flowing today from the past few rains.  The French Broad meets up with the Holston to make up the Tennessee River.

Water crossing a rock ledge across the river.

The countryside is so pretty, even with the winter effects still showing.  Green will be coming real soon.

A couple of barns on this rolling landscape, sheep on the hillside grazing the grass.  Quiet and peaceful.

As the engine purrs along at a nice pace we eat up the miles of roadway.  Traffic is practically nonexistent. 

I will have to do a story strictly on barns for there are as many varieties of barns as there are people.

Blooming Forsythia in front and a cherry tree blooming on the side.

And some blooming idiots riding down the highway as if they owned it.  And at this time, we do.

The remains of a once thriving business.  Union 76, that name hasn't been around for a number of years.  It's gone by the wayside like Pure, Sinclair and a number of other brands of gasoline and oil.

Tripping through the mountains on a good road.

It appears the riders are riding off into an abyss but fear not, the road continues onward.

If it was Sunday, we could stop and attend church.  But it wasn't Sunday so we just rode on by.

Along this particular stretch of road if you lived on the eastern side you had to build a bridge to your property.  I guess you just throw that into the cost of living.  There were a lot of bridges.

Horses grazing off in the distance, cool mountain water to quench your thirst, and peace and tranquility.  All you need is a fishing pole, a lawn chair and a jug of tea.

One of the straight stretches of road.  One thing about living in the mountains, your steering wheel/handlebar gets a lot of work due to the twisting roads.

Ever just take the time to sit by a bubbling stream and listen for a while. For some it sooths the beast and eyelids start to close.  For others it makes them run for the bathroom.  For me, just the eyelids close.

No, this is not the leaning Tower of Pisa.  But it does have a slight listing to it.  May need a prop pole soon.

Resting time for the herd.  Don't want my hamburger to get tired and stressed.  Keeps the meat more tender.

Very few large flat spots to build on so the people squeeze every inch of usable land.  One reason many of the houses are small, not enough room to build on.

Sweepers with a bridge.  No drifting here or Smack.  It's all over.












This house sits just past an intersection of two roads and I just love the semi-Victorian style.











Riding through the valley.













Barn reflecting in pond water.












An old farm house/business along the by-way.











Church with another style of construction.












A nice old house, like many in this area.  Some dating back to the early 1900s.

A logging business/land clearing business right at the edge of the highway.  Convenient for getting the logs to the mill.









Speaking about building near the road, this took it almost to building "in the road".











Road scenes along the way.








From sweepers through the farms to riding along side the rails and river.  Still scenic each in its own way.   




Riding in the valleys and through the mountain gaps, each its own picture postcard view of the country side.




Always looking in old barns hoping to spot that treasure of an old vehicle hidden away for years.  Not all old barns contain old stashed cars and trucks.  Just stashed old trash.









Old roadways and old buildings, this one used up and forgotten.






Sunshine, blossoms and country beauty, all rolled into one picture.












The house on top of the hill is old and well run down.  But I guess you can refer to it as the house on the hill.  From here we just made miles heading back toward the house.









I know this article included a lot of pictures and believe me, these were not all that was shot along the route.  It is just not possible to take a couple of pictures and say "This is North Carolina".  So I apologize for so many and I know some are quite alike.  A picture is in the eye of the beholder.  I guess my eye just has a lot of beholding.

Anyway, it was a great day of riding with three great friends.  Riding, stopping, talking and laughing, that's what life should contain rather than a lot of gossip, tales and fighting.  We enjoyed the journey and I hope you have enjoyed some of it with me.  Door to door today for me was 253 miles and Redbug performed perfectly.  And I don't want to embarrass you with the excellent gas mileage.  Oh, the heck I won't, I got 78.4 miles to the gallon.

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, may you all have a load of fun, with miles of laughter, and tons of togetherness.  And may the Good Lord watch over each of you.