Rambling RV Rat: Tail of the Dragon/Cherohala Skyway - Motorcycling in the Great Smoky Mountains

We left Ashville on a gorgeous, cooler-by-East-Texas-standards (66F degrees) morning, heading to Tennessee. The leaves were just starting to change their color palette.

While passing through Sevierville, Tennessee, we stopped at Buc-ees. Once a Texas exclusive, Buc-ees has expanded widely throughout the South, and this store is ginormous, bigger than any other Buc-ees location (that is until the Luling, Texas one opened a few months after our Sevierville visit).

My buddy Buc-ee is offering big buckaroos to attract employees!

We arrived at our Harvest Hosts, The Bass Pond, a small RV Park in Sweetwater, Tennessee. It offers multiple day stays and full hook-ups (electric/water/sewer) for $35/night. We were greeted warmly by our hosts, including Tucker, head of the canine welcoming committee. We were assigned to one of their few pull-through sites, which was big and level. Hence, it was one of our easiest set-ups EVER!

Tucker looked a bit tuckered out after his enthusiastic welcome to us.

This site was so wide and long, we could have fit a second set-up within it!

In the Chinese Calendar, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. Therefore, it was apropos for us to take Maximus the Trike on the Tail of the Dragon, an 11-mile ride with 319 curves along US-129 near the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. We had an overcast day with light rain showers, so it was a wee bit chilly, especially since we left the RV park at 7:15 a.m. to begin our adventure before many of the daredevils arrived. We came in from TN-72 in Venore, the opposite direction from when we last came to the area to motorcycle. We had a fun and safe ride on the Dragon, and stopped at Deal's Gap to stretch and make some T-shirt and accessory purchases. Admittedly, all the hydroelectric lines along the route did not provide the best scenery.

I wish Mom wasn't a wuss and would have ridden her own motorcycle, Yellow Jacket, 'cause she took my seat behind Dad and I was relegated to sitting on top of the trunk!

A photo we purchased from Kilroy as we negotiated the Dragon.

Mom taking a pic of the photographer from 129photos, from whom we purchased this shot.

We negotiated the Dragon safely and arrived at Deal's Gap.

The dragon...

...and its tail.

Fortunately, our ride after the Tail of the Dragon along Cherohala Skyway (which is within Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests) provided gorgeous views—after the thick layer of fog dissipated.

Tubing along the Tellico River.

First I was amused, then a bit perturbed to learn that various state and federal government entities spent hard-earned taxpayer money installing poles to assist an endangered species of flying squirrels in their “commute”. Apparently, these Carolina squirrels, unique to the high elevations of the Appalachian Mountains, do not actually fly, they glide from tree to tree. Well, these poles act as launch/landing pads, giving the squirrels faux trees between which they can glide across the Skyway.

Hey, I love my fellow rodentia. But I can't help but wonder how much cheese money was spent to install these poles for the "flying" squirrels!

We stopped at the Charles Hall Museum and Heritage Center in Tellico Plains. This small museum has a wonderful collection of historic guns, American Indian pottery, and some "antique" electronics. Just down the road from the Museum and Heritage Center was a collection of unique topiary art. Some folks are so creative and talented.

A sampling of "antique" electronics, a few of which are familiar to this youthful Rambling RV Rat (oh, my, I'm getting old).

Colorful ceramic tiles of hummingbirds adorn this bench.

Unique topiary art.

How cool is the topiary lamp from Christmas Story!

We took a day of rest, opting to stay “home” at the Bass Pond RV Park and clocking our 5-miles walking along local country roads. We were fascinated as we watched the harvesting of nearby corn fields. What an interesting process.

Just one of the lovely views from our walk along country roads.

We left Sweetwater, Tennessee, on a spectacular morning with crisp temperatures and bright sunshine, arriving at Natural Bridge Resort State Park in Slade, Kentucky. It was a mighty tight squeeze, but we managed to fit on the site without unhitching Suite Retreat from Big Boomer for our overnight stay. This is a small RV parking area within the Red River Gorge Geographical Area. We were surrounded by woods, creeks, mountains, and natural wonders. If bears are in the area like several signs warned, they steered clear of us. We hiked to the Park’s Natural Bridge along the Original Trail blazed by the L & E Railroad. We had hoped to hike the return trip via the Balance Rock Trail, but that trail was closed due to damage incurred from recent wildfires.

I wished we had more time to explore this beautiful area, but we were off the next day to the Landing Strip in Moorhead, Kentucky. This RV Park is built on an old airport runway. Thus, we expected to find long pull through sites. Nope. Instead, it has short back-ins that required us to encroach on the site behind us to fit without disconnecting. Fortunately, the site behind us was vacant, and we were only here for 2 nights to facilitate a visit with former full-time RVing friends, Jim/Brenda, who last visited with us in 2020 while we were in Quartzsite, AZ. They now own a little slice of heaven--16 rolling acres of countryside with spectacular views. We just loved touring their property, learning about their beekeeping endeavors, and admiring their vegetable and flower gardens. We enjoyed some local fare with them at Pop’s BBQ and Elliott’s Pizza and we all relaxed at Cave Run, taking in the panoramic views and the many houseboats docked here. What a perfect way to end our visit with these wonderful folks.