Saturday, September 13, 2008

....across the room for the tail of the dragon....


Every year we spend a few consecutive weeks riding our motorbikes through a somewhat predetermined, hopefully foreign (to us) area in Canada or the USA.  Every year when we arrive back home we say the same thing "That was our best trip so far", and this year was no exception.
Crossing into the USA through Manitoba we headed east until we reached the Straits of Michilimackinac which divides Lake Michigan from Lake Huron.  We pointed our bikes southward and continued through Michigan, Ohio, and down to Kentucky.  Our best roads had to be through Kentucky and Tennessee and the picture you see here is at the end of a stretch of road known as "Tail Of The Dragon".  If we look a little worn out it's because this eleven mile road sports 318 curves, not to mention the hills and switch backs!  Definitely the most challenging ride I have ever done.  I'm surprised I have any footboards left on my bike for all the blacktop they had to scrape!
Whether riding the Smokey mountains, Kingdom Come Parkway, Cumberland Gap, through Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas,  or crossing the mighty Mississippi, wherever we rode the roads and scenery were unlike anything we had ever seen.  To top it off we were blessed with people like the lady fueling her truck while we were having a snack beside our bikes.  She stretched our her arm to us and hollered "I just prayed God's protection on y'all!"  Music to our ears!
Four weeks of pure bliss with the sun shining down on us almost every single day may be hard to beat next year but I can hardly wait to see what else is out there for us to enjoy!
PS...the other picture was taken in my favourite hotel bathroom, from the throne!!  A lake view is always nice but you just don't ever expect to see it from the bathroom!


2 comments:

Jobina said...

During your trip Michele called me and told me about you guys riding this road. I told her, I could just picture Dad (just like in BC) with a huge grin on his face! I could almost feel the freedom and awe that you must have felt. Isn't it amazing that you can ride and ride and ride and always find somewhere new and something different to see!?

Michele said...

Honestly Mom, you should be writing travel books for bikers! I'm just glad you told me about Tail of the Dragon AFTER you did it! I think it's so cool that a lady prayed for you and told you about it without knowing who you were! How wonderful to meet these brothers and sisters in Christ while we're still down here on earth...one more person you'll recognize in Heaven one day! I for one am really glad your home, but I love what these trips do for the two of you. You always come back looking so refreshed and relaxed. That's wonderful to see!