Back Roads to Marshall, NC and Back

June 12, 2019, a nice cool early morning in East TN.  Rider friend, Paul, and I made arrangements to meet up at the UShop convenience store on Boyds Creek Hwy.  This was good for me as we were riding in that direction and it is only a mile from the house.  The idea was to ride early while it was cool and get back home before the afternoon rains began.  I was taking Redbug on this trip.  With all the other stuff going on getting a chance to ride has been placed way down on the list.  Today was the play day.

Temperatue was in the low 60s.  I was wearing my summer riding gear but later wished that I had put on a long sleeve shirt as it was a bit cool while riding.

There's not much more beautiful that looking at these smoky hazy mountains in the early morning.  This was the view from the street in front of the house.

We pulled out from our meet up just before 7:00 a.m. heading East.  Plan was to maybe go to Marshall but had to keep an eye out for the weather.  The sun is just starting to peak out from behind the clouds.

As this is farming country one expects to see a variety of crops growing along with pasture land for the animals.  This was an unusual crop.  It appears they are growing large marshmellows to make humongus smores.

I love to catch the glow of the sun as it rises.  The colors vary according to the clouds and the particular time of the sun's rising.

At this point we are riding away from Sevierville toward Dandridge, watching the sun peak over the hill in front of us.  Paul is that little speck in the picture just before the hill starts.

Whipped cream for clouds, blue sky for a backdrop and a beautiful orangish color of the sun shining through a small opening in the clouds.  And lots of green green grass.

A small barn, compared to a lot of them that we see, standing in the middle of a soy bean field.

With all of the rain we have been having everything is lush and green.  Paul likes the winter when all of the leaves are gone.  That way he can see beyond the growth along the roadway.

Lots of small vegetable gardens along the route when the land is flat enough to make a patch.

In the direction we are heading we go through a major tomato growing area.  Green County, TN is known for its tomatoes.  This is just a pic of a family garden.

This is a pretty old farm house.  The house itself is not that old but the style is.

 And lots of barns, some very old and still in use.  Often they are left to collapse.

 Seems the clouds are becoming heavier instead of moving away.  Weatherman Paul is in charge, he thinks, so we pursue onward.

You can barely see a bit of sun ray peaking through the clouds.  I wonder if I packed my rain gear.  Kind of a bad time to start thinking about that.  May get my Saturday bath a day early.

Great biking roads.  Today there's hardly any traffic but you can never really relax as around the next bend may be a large John Deere pulling a piece of farm equipment just waiting to snatch you off that bike.

The mountains are starting to come into view.  Today we will cross several of them on our trek to Marshall for an apple fritter and cup of coffee.

Lots of cows in large pastures.  Farmers have to be glad of the nice green grass available for their animals.  And they have already had two cuttings of hay.  Time now left to have a third cutting before winter.

Here we enter the unincorporated area of Chestnut Hill, home of Bush's Beans.  That building of red brick is the General Store.  Make a left and we continue our travels.

The home of the founder of Bush's Beans.  Quite a large operation.  They have a cafeteria and a tour for anyone interested.

We catch US 25 and travel it to Newport, TN.  Nice 4-lane so you can throttle up a bit.  Helps to clear the injectors.

Still not very bright outside and we have been traveling about an hour.

Leaving Newport we cross a bridge over the railroad.  They decorate both sides of the bridge with flowers during the warm months.  Makes a drab view more likeable.

An old barn with an old silo missing its top.

Corn, lots of corn.  Between the making of canned and frozen vegetables to ethanol, the corn crops are plentiful.

And lots and lots of tomatoes.  Tomatoes with veggies, tomato sandwiches, sliced tomatoes with salt, pepper and a drop or three of Tobasco, hmmmm, good eating.

And more corn, just forming ears.

Love this area of the state.  Curvy roads and nice hills along with plenty of agriculture scenery.

Mountains on the horizon.

A small stretch of gravel on this particular road.  Tends to make my pictures slightly blurry.

Riding the straight and narrow.  Beats sitting at the house by a long shot.

We passed this particular pasture which has the ugliest cow I think I have ever seen.

Finally we arrive at The Slab, a little country restaurant East of Newport.  A one Lady operation now.  They were bought out a while back when two Ladies ran the place.  That ugly old man standing behind the white bike is Mr. Paul "Catfish" Medley, my riding buddy.  He is better known as the Back Road King of TN.

Here we are getting ready to go in and have breakfast.  A kind gentlemen took our picture.  Between us there is more than a Century and a half of knowledge running around in those two old craniums.  Most of the information is worthless but there's lots of information in there.

After a good meal we head out again, deciding to continue on to Marshall.  Weather thought to not be threatening at this time.

Lane and a half roads like this are plentiful.  Just have to remember that it is two way traffic.











 Decisions, decisions, at the fork of the road make the decision soon or you cold find yourself in the barn.

Old, well used and probably abused, yet it still stands as a symbol of an active farm.

Speaking of patch work, this roof could be a design for a new quilt.

And when this house was built, it wasn't meant to be for a family with a dozen kids.

Farm land, barns and mountains.  All blending together in the countryside.

Couldn't figure out what the building was closest to the highway but it has enough advertisement to hold it up even when the roof collapses.  A nice old farmhouse with out buildings behind it.

Going up into the mountains and getting closer to the NC State Line.

And yes, we are now entering the State of North Carolina.

Viola, We have arrived.  This store was made for apple fritters.  Yes, need three for that price and I can one home to the wife.

Old downtown Marshall has some interesting buildings.

And not to far away we cross the French Broad River.

After the fritters the ride continues heading back to the house.

This barn building may be small but apparently handled what it was built for.

Beautiful scenery.  Postcard pics in many places.

Smoke signals?  Nah, just some big puffy clouds drifting by.

A very nice home nestled among the hillside.

The land here is more hilly and less used for farming.

Give me a mountain view anytime.  I have never been a surf and sand man.  My past must have been some trapper that lived most of his life in the mountains.

Crossing more mountains heading back toward Newport, TN.

Lovely is the countryside, especially with the blue sky and scattered puffy clouds.

We hit I-40 heading back to Newport.  Paul doesn't use the Interstate Highways very often.











Lots of rock to drill through to make this highway in this location.

Zipping along until we came up the construction area, then had to throttle down and get into one lane.

Rough looking rock along the sides of the highway.  Often have rock slides in this area, especially after a long rainy period.

Paul and I split in Newport.  He needed to gas up so I told him that I was going to stay on I-40 to the 407 exit and go on home.  I was able to clean out the injectors for a good ride down the interstate.

Then I get to take a pic of my favorite old school house sitting all alone out in that pasture.  Eventually the road leads home.



It was a great ride with a good friend.  We had a good meal, met some nice people, and saw some beautiful scenery.  Not to mention the Apple Fritter snack.  It was 209 miles door to door for me.  Another great day in the saddle.  So until he next Valkyrie Adventure, stay safe, stay informed and stay relaxed.