954 Turns

I've been hanging out in and around Asheville, NC for a little while.  In my earlier travels the city often came up a a place to check out.  The timing worked out and it's been a great time of year to be here.  The fall colors are making their way through the surrounding hills.  The temperature has been in the 70"s during the day and 40-50's at night with lots of sunshine.

The area is in the crossroads of some great motorcycle rides.  Probably one of the most noted is the "Dragons Tail".  It is a section of US  Route 129 that winds through the lower Smoky Mountains with 318 curves in 11 miles.  Needless to say it was a very fun road.  And the best part was I did it THREE times.  Down and back on the motorcycle and once through with the RV.  There were professional photographers taking shots of everyone going by.  The pictures below are from www.129slayer.com if you want to see who else was on the road.  I didn't see to many other RV's taking the challenge.

Miles:  33

Curves:  954

Crossed the yellow line:  0

Drivers delayed behind RV:  0

"It's the Water" and "No Water"

I'm continuing my way across Tennessee and stopped for a tour of the Jack Daniels Distillery. It's the oldest registered distillery in the US. I can't say I've ever drank much JD but after learning about it I make have to try it. The distillery is located in a "dry" county so you are not able to but it anywhere near where it's made. (strike one) Recently they got permission to have "tastings" but only Monday thru Saturday. (strike two). They are allowed to sell commemorative "bottles" that just happen to have whiskey in them but nowhere in the state on Sundays. (strike three - no JD for me). Anyway all the Jack Daniels in the world is made here and the water comes from one spring that flows from the mountain on the property. "It's in the water". Jack Daniels was a real person who learned to make whiskey, bought the land around the spring and started the business. It is no longer family owned but it's the same recipe and facility. They make their own sugar-maple charcoal on site to filter the whiskey. The wood come from local tree farms and they poor some of their 140 proof alcohol on the wood to start the fires. The make their own white American oak barrels (in Kentucky) and only use them once. The whiskey sits in the barrels for 4-7 years. The first weekend of every month every employee gets a free bottle and they call it "Good Friday". Today was dry Sunday.

Cave and spring at Jack Daniels Distillery

To keep up with the wine industry and all the single malt scotch whiskey you can now buy your own barrel of JD. For approximately $10,000 ( depending on your state tax ) you can do a barrel tasting and select a barrel which they bottle and ship to you. You also get to keep the empty barrel and a special labels is attached to each bottle. Each barrel produces about 240 bottles. That's about $42 a bottle.

Old whiskey barrel Adirondack chairs.

EPA approved outdoor vent hoods for making charcoal.

An original 1930's Reo Speed Wagon (pronounced ree-oh) fire truck once used on site in case of fires.

Along my way I came across the Ocoee Whitewater Center. It was a site of the 1996 Olympics for whitewater sports. They remade part of a natural river with cemented boulders and features. It looks like it would be fun to run the course but there's not enough water. I asked one of the rangers about it and he said there hasn't been a race since the Olympics. The Tennessee Valley Authority that controls the water flow from the damn wants $10,000 a day to release enough water to make it usable. Nobody can afford to put on an event. Does rebuilding the Olympics every four years really make sense? It's now a National Park we pay to keep open that can't be used.

The no water whitewater.

So I'm taking up a collection for one or both. A thousand people with $10. A hundred people with $100. Maybe I can get Jack Daniels to sponsor a race. Winner gets a barrel of whiskey.

Trace re-Trace

So the current theme seems to be revisiting places but in a different way. This time I'm making my way through Arkansas and Tennessee but traveling along US Route 64. It's been easy driving on nice roads and I'm glad to be off the Interstate. I found the Natchez Trace on my visit in Nashville back in June. This time I'm about 65 miles south on the trail.

Early fall on the Natchez Trace at about mile 416.

Today was a perfect day for a motorcycle ride and I re-traced my way on a different section up to where I had ridden before. About 70°, partly sunny, light breeze, little traffic and the fall colors getting started. Easy cruising. Flocks of wild turkeys along the road. I stopped for lunch at a cafe I had found before. But instead of the granola this time I had the pulled pork BBQ. (Yum. Go Paleo!) Made an about face and headed back south to stop at sights along the way. The Trace in an old route used by buffalo, Indians , early settlers, wagon trains and traders for 400 miles from Natchez Mississippi to Nashville Tennessee. It's now a paved road and National Park. There are still sections of the original trail you can hike and drive on.

A part of the "Old Trace"

One significant sight is where Meriwether Lewis died (203 years and 2 days ago) on his way to Washington DC. He's buried there and a monument marks his grave. Last spring I was at Cape Disappointment on the Washington coast where Lewis and Clark camped on the coast before turning around.



I've seen lots of soy bean and cotton fields ready for picking. Also a prison chain gang with guards working in a ditch along a fence. This is Sheriff Buford Pussor territory. ("Walking Tall" movie)

I stopped at Shiloh National Military Park a few days ago. It's the site of an important (and horrific) two day battle during the civil war. The total casualties from both sides was over 23,000 (in two days!). There are fields and monuments at locations where the troops camped and fought. The whole place felt like a cemetery.

Some graves at Shiloh overlooking the Tennessee River.

I had taken a picture of my shadow while I was out on a bicycle ride. Lately it feels like I'm looking at shadows of the past. American History and thinking about my own history. Wondering what new history will be in the next few months.

Table Rock Lake Rewind

I left Lake of the Ozarks a few days ago and have been hopping around southern Missouri/ Branson. I came through this way back in June. I spent yesterday walking around Silver Dollar City. It's a western theme park and they are having a fall festival. Cold and a little rain but lots to see.

Today I'm back at Table Rock State Park and spending the night. The campground has a trail that leads overs to the bike trails I found before. Some of them are closed for hunting season so I did the same Red trail but in the opposite direction. Same but different and just as much fun.

I also finally got a chance to try out the new addition; my long board (skate board) and big Kahuna stick. It's like stand up paddle boarding on land. I started to get the hang of it but will take more practice. So make that RV, motorcycle, bicycle, kayak, paddle board, long board and Five Fingers. I also just went for a walk today :-)

The Orb

I'm back on the road now after spending almost 4 weeks visiting my best friends at their house in Missouri.  They are overseas working in China and only get back a few times a year.  When they do there's lots of projects and fun to had.  It was good for me to be in one place for awhile and their place is my "home base" while I'm out traveling.  It has been a good transition into what seems like a new period in my journey.  The first four months was about visiting home, friends and family and touring around New England.  I've crossed over 10,000 miles of driving!  The next few months I'm planning on less traveling and more just taking it easy and heading south for the winter for warmer weather.  Looking for places to stay put a little longer.  I still want to make it out to the Florida Keys.  Not to many mountains to climb in Florida but lots of beaches and water.

Here is what I was up to for the last few weeks (best told in pictures):

Their place has been named Camp Engelwood.  It's like being at summer camp for adults:  wine tasting, archery, target shooting, paddle boarding, construction projects, cooking.

Home Base: Spaceship Orb.  This is the new deck (600 sq ft) we built in the spring.  On this trip we installed the aluminum and steel cable railing.

And of course what deck wouldn't be complete without a couple of adirondack chairs.  These are a couple I built from Norm Abrams (New Yankee Workshop) plans out of cedar.  Unfinished here but I covered them with spar varnish and they will last a long time.  It is the most comfortable adirondack chair.

Mike took his mother and sister in law on a surprise helicopter tour over the lake and dome. 

Here is the view from the copter.  (I'm standing on the wall to the upper left.)

Most evening spent relaxing, eating and drinking.  A view of the Mars wall.

What camp would be without a nature trail.  I started clearing a path through their woods and started the hiking / mountain biking / running loop around the property.

Another project was cleaning up the beach and boat dock area.  Looks a lot better now.  I also built the picnic table (my own design.)

This was my big project for the trip.  Mike has always wanted a way to access the upper area to the lower area and with the new deck it made it even more so.  This is a planning photo from the spring.

Finished stairs.  The first three rock steps (coming down) where from a pile of rocks left on site by the original owner.  The steps are composite decking similar to the main deck.

A view from the top.

Kind of puts it all together.  The deck, new railing, adirondack chairs and the new stairs.

The dart board has been there but I installed a new spot light.  Lots of fun games to be had.

Got a few motorcycle rides in.

And a few morning bicycle rides.

We had an early Thanksgiving feast and I made a pumpkin pie (from scratch).