Ride From Seymour to Erwin, TN

Biker friend Paul and I decided since the weather was suppose, I did say suppose, to turn nasty we decided to ride Wednesday instead.  It's Wednesday, February 4, 2015, left the house a little early so I could go gas up.  Since I was early I met with some of the local "elderlies" for a quick coffee before hitting the road.  It was about 32 degrees.  After coffee I mounted up and rode back up Boyds Creek Hwy. to the Exxon Station where we were to meet up.  Going Northeast today so no MickyDs for meet up.  I was in the parking lot aimed outward and spotted him coming up the road.  Gave the old wave and I pulled out behind him, GoPro Camera rolling to capture the ride.  Third time to use it so still in the learning process.

Frost everywhere this morning and by now it was about 35 degrees.  Sun was brightly shining, a chilly but great day to ride.  We were going to do about a 2 hour ride before a break for lunch in Greenville, TN.  As we normally do, most of the ride is backroads.  On our way back we did do about 10 miles of I-40 and took the U.S. 411 South to Seymour.

This is sort of the route taken today.  Just add in a few more squiggly lines here and there but this will give you an idea.  This route took us through some of the richest farm land in East TN.  Grainger County is known for its tomatoes and corn.  But there are some very large cattle farms in this area and several dairies.

The nice thing about the lesser traveled roads is the scenery, follows the contour of the land mostly and less traffic to deal with.

For some unknown reason I started looking at the number of red barns.  They must have a special price on red paint for barn painting.  In one area we rode through you could see three barns scattered on each side of the road and they all were painted red.

By this time we were starting to get more into the mountain side roads.  Lucky to have a guard rail on one side and a nice stone wall on the other.  Regardless which side of the highway you run off it's going to hurt.

Unfortunately, this barn, like a number in this area, did not receive a coat of red paint nor any other color paint.  Just gray weathered boards at this stage of its life.

This was a very nice farm and alas, another red barn.

I missed the shot where a number of horses were gathered but this was just one lone horse out in the pasture.  Lots of horse farms in this locale also.

Nothing like riding through an under pass, this one ran under the railroad.  With the cold temperatures, any moisture inside becomes black ice so you enter very carefully with a keen eye for damp spots.

I wrote a paper many years ago titled "Barns - A Backyard Architecture".  Having been partially raised on a farm with both grandparents being farmers, barns have always interested me.  This barn has a high peak referred to as a Crow's Beak where stuff is lifted and stored in the loft.  The roof design is referred to as a Dutch Gambrel roof.

Just one of several beautiful old farm houses along our route today.  It's stark red metal roof could be seen at a considerable distance.

Ahh, the silence of country roads.  The sentinel tall slender trees lining the sides and the multi-colored brown of the leaves made it a very peaceful place.

Along our route today we passed over some of the fingers of Cherokee Lake, back water for the Cherokee Dam Hydro Plant.  You can see how much the lake water has been drawn down.  By Spring it will be even lower.  So before you buy waterfront property, check around to see if it has water year around or is it sometimes just property near where water use to be.

This old farm house looked rather lonesome sitting atop this knoll with
its one large tree trying to hold on for
another year.  Age was slowly taking it away.

Just south of Greenville, TN we came to this tunnel which ran under another highway.  Paul stopped about a half mile away and asked me if I had a problem with wading a little water in a tunnel.  I said "No", just kind of thinking what kind of road were we taking.  I was a little apprehensive about ice.




Then we got there, sure enough, there was water "running" through this side of the tunnel.  It seems there's a little stream just outside and to the right of this entrance and the water runs to the highway, through the tunnel and across to the other side into the landscape.  Only in Tennessee.

This was an emergency pit stop for Paul and it gave me an opportunity to get a cup of coffee.  Went to pay for it and they said the coffee is complimentary.  Don't find that to often.  However, this store was a kid's heaven and a dentist's delight.  They make and sell just about any kind of candy, pretzels, snack crackers, dried fruit, etc., that you cold ever want.  And you can order a sandwich from their deli as well.  Rows of candy.

I have passed this house many times and have always wanted to take a picture of it.  However, every time I passed it always had about a dozen vehicles parked in front.  Today was my day.  It is an old very large farm house sitting on a great piece of property with a wonderful view of the foothills.

Due to the supposed to be bad weather the TN DOT crews were out brining the roadways.  The vehicle in this photo is just one of several we came across.  Good for us that it was coming toward us.  However, we have been on roads today that had just been brined, and at one time followed a brine truck for a ways until we could pass it.  When it dries it leaves a fine white power which can be slippery but it gets all over your vehicle also.

I just loved this view.  A single old hardwood tree standing alone along side of a lone highway with a beautiful blue sky behind it.  I think of it as Longevity.

I happened to notice the side of this hill along side the river we were crossing.  It looked as if it had been cut with a meat clever.  Sheer rock from the top down to the water line.

After our lunch in Greenville at Tipton's Cafe, a place that is about 12 feet wide, counter with stools and two small 2-person tables right smack dab in the middle of town.  They serve a great stew on Thursday but today's special was their own homemade chili.  They also have for dessert, a fried donut served with molasses poured where the hole is.  Pretty dang good if I do say so.

Greenville, TN is the home of Andrew Johnson, President of the U.S.A.  They have a very nice museum and the main street buildings and a lot of the homes here date back to the 1800s.  The picture to the left is outside of Greenville on our way to Erwin.  It is a stone church.  Most churches as old as this one are constructed of wood.

On the road again headed back toward the house.  This road runs through the edge of a national forest.  You have to keep an eye out for deer.  They don't always stop before crossing the highway.

Paul sneaked in another one of those narrow backroads.  These barely have 8' wide lanes and a little further down the road we turned onto one that only had one lane.  Two direction traffic but only one paved lane.  That will make you tighten up a bit when you round a curve and face a pickup truck.

Decisions, decisions.  Do I take the left or take the right.  Answer had better come quickly or you will be kissing that big maple tree in the forks of the road.

Just easing through the back country.  No big trucks, no armada of autos, no street cars, no pedestrian walkways, just sweeping curves and changing sites.

This farm house is one of those dated in the late 1800s.  They usually have two or three chimneys and fire places on both the upstairs and downstairs living levels.

As we start getting closer to the end of the ride the mountains start appearing closer on the horizon.  Love those smoky humps in the background.

Just one of many churches we passed today.  This one has grave markers right up beside the building.  I guess they didn't want to waste any of the land.  Another one that needs a fence around it.

Burning the asphalt at this point.  The ride is getting like the day, shorter by the minute and the mile.  Still another 40 minutes to ride.

One last look over at the mountains before heading into Sevierville and onward to Seymour.  Temp got up to about 50 today but now the clouds are moving in for tonight's weather.  Strange thing, when I woke up the next morning there was some heavy clouds but it didn't rain, snow, sleet, just got cold and froze.  Turned out to be another nice day, just a little icy with the breeze.


Some new sites, new challenges but a heck of a ride.  Total mileage door to door today was 235 miles.  Total amount of fun, to much to mention.  so until the next adventure, check out some of the rides by going to www.youtube.com/valkyrieadventure: Ride to Fontana,NC or Ride To Cold Coal Mountain or Ride From Seymour to Erwin, TN.  Makes you feel you're riding with me but never leaving your chair.  Enjoy life, my friends, it only comes around once here on earth.

Ride to Hiwassee Overlook

The day was Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015.  The time to start was 9:00 a.m.  The temperature was 28* and frosty.  The meet-up was MickyDs in Downtown Seymour, TN.  The act was crazy and involved two (2) crazy old men dressed to appear to be some resemblance of the Michelein Tire Man.  Or the Popping Dough Boy.  Anyway, after a sausage/egg burrito and a cup of coffee we pulled out for a southerly ride today as there was a threat of rain coming our way.  Just prior to leaving, friend Paul checked his intelligent phone looking at the weather and yes, we might get a dab wet, damp even.  But what the heck, it was going to be above freezing in an hour or so thus no need to worry about ice conditions.

But before I get started with this adventure tale, I would like to bring you up to speed on my biker friend Paul.  He's not from TN and has lived here only about 7 years.  He's traveled extensively with the work he did, electronic guidance systems, as well as living on the road with his lovely wife in a motorhome.  Paul is about 4 years older than I and is in good shape.  He works out at a local gym three days a week for several hours, rides his bikes and hikes up trails every so often.  He's a tough old bird.  In fact, my grandma would have him in a pressure cooker for days, not hours, days just to get him tender enough to cut with an axe.  He's a good rider and will tackle any maintenance object with an objective of fixing it.

I started taking pictures just before we hit the Foothills Parkway since the ride to Fontana, NC took us pretty much over the same route.  At the end of the Foothills Parkway is Calderwood Lake.  From there we ran U.S.29 to the right instead of to the left which would have taken us over The Dragon.

About 54 miles from Seymour is the town of Tellico Plains, TN.  It's a small town in a valley with the famous Cherohala Skyway starting there.  It's a good place to top off the gas tank, grab a bite to eat and today, take in a cup of hot coffee to warm the "innards".  This is the town that has a small sawmill just up the road from this building shown above.



I didn't inset a map of our route today as it would resemble a small child with a pencil being asked to draw their favorite picture.  In other words, similar to a chicken scratching on the ground.  Lots of loops, circles, deadends and some open roads.  It was sort of a go to a destination but check out some of the roads that haven't been ridden before and possibly some new ones to ride next.

 And with the looming storm clouds, we were trying to do it knowing at any time we could get wet.  Yep, we got wet.  About an hour into the ride it started sprinkling rain and drizzled for about another two hours before it finally passed over us.  We were dressed in our raingear so the only thing we had to deal with was the wet roads.  Which in a way was good as you have the tendency to ride a bit faster when the surface is dry.

The above picture is a wood structure church stained a dark brown.  A bit unusual but the building serves the same purpose.

I put my camera away so as to not ruin it with the rain so the pics between start off and finish are missing a bunch.  As you can see from this picture, the weather cleared and the day became beautiful.




In the summer you would see almost nothing but if you peer hard left about midway the pic you can see the structure of a dam.  The highway was running alongside the river in this area.







On the upper side of the dam is the lake and you can see the bouy markers trying to keep you away from the water in-take structure.

The river is beautiful here.  This is downstream from the dam.  This water is cold in the summer and with the temperature this afternoon I'm sure it hasn't warmed up.  No skinny dipping today.  In fact, tomorrow either.

As we rode the sky kept getting darker and shortly afterward the rain came.  But until that point, ride Cowboy ride.

Country roads have some of the best scenery.  It often is like looking back in history, wondering how things were before all of the modern facilities came into the picture.  I had a taste of some of this in my youth along with my brother while staying at one of our Grandparents during the summer.  No electricity, no heat or cooking except with wood, no TV, etc.

You can tell many of the homes started out simple and as the family grew so did the size of the house.  In some areas there wasn't sufficient room to grow much as you would have a river on one side and the mountain just outside of the back door.

This is one of the better back roads we traveled on this ride.

We finally arrived at the Hiwassee River Overlook.  The river is wide and is not all that deep at this point.  You can see a lot of the rock bottom now that the water is shallow.

An elegant picture, Sweet Thang and the White Rat, at rest.

One of the views, looking down stream, of the Hiwassee River.  Just across the river is a railroad track and a train runs this route with tourists.

Looking upstream from the Overlook.

Now the ride back towards the house after a number of loops, side runs, etc.  The road is damp so the riding is slower.

A few near 180* turns.  The view would not be this open in the summer.  Thus, you have to stay tuned to accept the road as it weaves and turns its way up and down the mountains.

Great run, and it has guard rails such that if you hit them with a motorcycle your bike possibly stops and you, the rider, go flying through the air unlike Superman.  He has a cape, you, not much.

Often we will take a side road just to see where it leads.  Sometimes there are signs telling you what's down the road and sometimes you can actually find it.  We had one of those situations on this ride.  We were looking for a mill but it hid from us.

Either the road is very high or the house is very low.  Makes you wonder if they ever have any guests DROP in.

The Hiwassee has a rather large flood plain as this house indicates.  It is built in the same style as houses in South Louisiana where flooding occurs.  Some of these were even along the Mississippi where the living quarters is on the second floor and work areas are on the ground floor due to flooding, maybe every year or every so many years.  Mother Nature is rather unpredictable.

This old house was elegant in it's prime but today it is rather run down and unkempt.  I hate to see these old buildings go to the wayside but then, it costs a lot to maintain them.

Another great back road having a good surface and good views.

When you see those yellow signs with the wiggle on them, take heed, they're usually right.  They just don't tell you how tight the turns will be but at least you've been notified.  Ahead of time.

One of the routes we were going to take back as a short cut we found out from a local, that it turned to gravel just a short way down the road.  So we went the long way and when we got to where it would have come out we turned down it to see how far it was before it turned to gravel.  About a mile or so it did just that, turned from asphalt to gravel.  So, while Paul rode about a mile or so down it to check it out, I waited here.

After a brief stop at the same pace we stopped that morning in Tellico Plains, we headed back to Seymour via TN 360.  Love that road and it brought us out by Fort Loudon State Park.  After a few more back roads we pulled into the convenience store next door to where we started from.  Gassed up our bikes, swapped mileage and then departed for the house.



My door to door mileage today was a damp, chilly, sunny, enjoyable 206 miles.  Tomorrow, being Friday, I'll clean my bike to get it ready for the next ride.  Good times today, some new roads, some old roads and some almost no road at all.  But the time seeing creations and enjoying friendship was worth every bit of any inconvenience.  Wait, there really wasn't any real inconvenience.  Just a little disturbance.  So, until the next adventure, love your family, enjoy your friends, and take life for what it is.  Short in the span of time.