Maynardville, Norris and Corryton, 8-21-19

Wednesday, August 21, 2019, a cool summer morning.  Biker friend Paul and I were to meet up at UShop on Boyds Creek around 7:30.  I arrived a bit early so that I could top off my gas tank before Redbug made another excursion into the backroads of East Tennessee.  Paul arrived early so at 7:15 a.m. we headed out for some backroads leading to Maynardville and beyond.  Approaching weather and tired of same old roads helped us to change directions.

It was a gorgeous sunrise this morning even with the power lines in the picture.  Temps were in the upper 60s so it was a good start.  Trying to be back home around 1:00 p.m. before it gets so hot.

My old Island View School House still standing.  The owner does a little work on it every so often to keep it in shape.

We crossed over I-40 and across Dumpling Valley Rd. to hit Hwy. 25.  A nice little ride between the two highways.

Horse farms along this route and a lot of white fences.

 Crossing the Holston River.  This bridge is a bit unusual in its design.  It is all steel reinforced concrete.

 Right after you cross the bridge you start into Kudzu Valley, or at least that's what I refer to it as.  It's everywhere.

The trees are draped in Kudzu vines.  If you stop for a bit the vines start winding their way toward you.  A touch of Sci-Fi here.

Nice little curvy road with some very expensive houses every so often.

Then we turned onto one of Paul's roads with Character.  That means it has no center line, it's about one lane wide and tunnels its way through the greenery.

Rolls of recently rolled hay.  Farmers are getting ready for winter.  Hay is a big commodity in this area.

I love old barns as you can probably tell from past stories.  That imprint on the side is referred to as a Barn Blanket.  Some people travel around asking if they can paint these on barns or storage buildings.  They are pretty neat and many varying designs.

A little morning mist seen above the tops of the trees looking toward the sun.  It will soon burn off and increase the humidity for the rest of the day.

Nice curves, mostly can be taken at the posted speed limit without slowing down.  Easy riding.

I love pictures and views of the morning mist laying in the low spots between the hills or mountains. 

Our journey will take us to Maynardville and a Hardee's for a Big Breakfast.  Paul, the Koupon Kid, has coupons for us this morning.  I mainly want a cup of coffee as I started out this morning without one.

Some of these back roads keep you guessing.  Notice there's no center lane stripe and you really don't know what's over that hill.

Then you get to take a nice slow ride through the trees and fenced yards and fields.

And finally at the end of that stretch you get to make a curve, first downhill and then back uphill.

The nice thing about these roads is the stark natural beauty.  But keep in mind, this is a two way traffic roadway.

Onto a larger road this time heading toward Norris.  The original town of Norris was bought out by TVA in order to build the Norris Dam generating facility.

The breakfast was filling and afterward we headed onward to Norris and then make a stop at Corryton, TN at one of our usual stopping places.

Some type vine, not Kudzu, is slowly overtaking that large tree.  Nature is definitely alive.

On our way we traveled to a place that I had never been.  It was the Loyston State Park, built on the banks of Norris Lake.  A very quiet and peaceful place.

The water is green here and notice some of the vegetation starting to change in color.  I told a friend the other day that I believe we are going to have an early Fall as a lot of trees are starting to get that dull green look and some are dropping leaves.

A beautiful view looking up one of the legs of the Norris Lake.

Across the way were some campers enjoying the area.

Back toward the main road we traveled.  We ran into several dead-ends just exploring the roads here.

We never get lost.  We just find some new routes from time to time.  You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going.  Right?

 Going through the Town of Norris is somewhat going back in time.  Lots of old type street markings and signs, etc.

Then we pass by some of the more expensive houses in the area.

 Picture quality isn't good but I shot this one over my shoulder.  Just seemed a bit odd in its design.

A lone cell phone tower.  If it wasn't here you would be using homing pigeons to do messaging.

Downhill run, a little braking and a nice sharp curve.  This will certainly wake you up if you're riding along semi-dazed.

A nice long straight run through some woods.  I keep one eye out for Big Foot and my ears alert for Little Red Riding Hood.

We're riding through horse country.  There's some very nice looking horses in the area.

We crossed another bridge and below was a quiet scene with a boat with some men fishing.  The water was mirror smooth this morning.

A very nice log home on the bank of the river.

We're now heading to Corryton which is on I-75 north of Knoxville.  We will be stopping for a snack for lunch.  Actually we will split a pancake and have a cup of coffee each.  The pancake is about one inch thick and about eight or so inches in diameter.  And the waitress/cook/? is very loud.

After our lunch snack we hit the interstate back toward the house.

We will run it to Knoxville, take the James White Freeway for a bit and then run the Lizard over toward the house.

This was a great ride.  Cool start with a warm finish.  And best of all, safe.  We rode a few new roads and a bunch of old roads but riding a motorcycle it doesn't matter, just ride.  And riding with a friend(s) just makes it better.

Today's ride was 158 miles door to door.  Spent about four or so hours in the saddle and about an hour for the two meals.  Not a bad day at all.



So, until the next Valkyrie Adventure, go someplace you haven't been or take a route you've never traveled just for the heck of it.  Life is short my friends and waiting until tomorrow may be a day late in making that decision.  God has been good to me and I hope He has been the same for you.  Ride/drive safe.