"No Plans To Escape" - Final Chapter

(Continuation of "Trapped in Paradise")....

The crew riding some nice curves.

Sunday began with a hearty breakfast at Joeys Pancake House. The food was excellent and the service was top notch. This pic was taken when we first arrived. By the time we left the parking lot was packed and people were standing outside waiting their turn at attacking the delicious breakfast served at this restaurant.

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Tammy took this picture as we were exploring the Fontana Dam. There is a nice gift shop here. It is always worth the time to stop and stroll around on the dam, reading the plaques and just enjoying the views.

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Sunday afternoon found us pulling in to Deals Gap....home of The Tail of the Dragon. Any self-respecting motorcyclist MUST ride The Dragon if they're within 50 miles of this area. 310 turns in 11 miles allows them to bill it as the "curviest road in America" and frankly after having scraped my pegs hundreds of times while riding it....I believe them!

This is a pic of my parents at the famous Deals Gap sign. There are no telling how many motorcyclists have a similar picture to this!

I always have to take this shot! About midway down the Tail of the Dragon.

The four ugly halves taking a break while riding the dragon.

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We stopped to do a little shopping at Cherokee, NC. You really have to watch out for the wildlife on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, they claim there's bear in the area!

We finished out the day with more riding before pulling back in to Maggie Valley and eating dinner at "The Bear's Den". We were so tired and it felt great to sit and stretch our legs at the table. Riding makes you hungry and the spaghetti plate that most of us ordered was just what the doctor ordered. The Hog Rally had ended and most of the Harleys were gone...the town felt eerily quiet that evening.

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Monday was going home day. Before heading south my dad took us down to a place called "Bald River Falls". He claimed it was a "great photo opportunity". I've posted a few pics of the bikes in front of the falls.....you be the judge.

Dad's Honda Shadow Aero

Our Honda Gold Wing

Kevin on his Honda Shadow ACE

As I sit here typing this.....reminiscing and looking back at the photos, I just shake my head in wonder at how much opportunity for enjoyment there is on a ride like this. You get an opportunity to breakaway from the everyday grind. You got the opportunity to ride amazing machines, to learn to trust them and yourself out on the road. You get the opportunity to spend time.... REAL time with people you love. Be they friends or family. You get the opportunity to experience nature in a first hand way. I know that many have found their own way to obtain these opportunities and I am thankful for that. If you don't currently have one of your own, won't you consider going on a search to find yours?

Trapped in Paradise - 3 days in Heaven.

Two extremely satisfied motorcycle riders

I begin this post with this picture because it so perfectly represents the enjoyment we experienced on our 4 day ride taken the last weekend of April. During this period we travelled through Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. From pulling out of our driveway on Friday morning to pulling the bug covered Wing back in the garage on Monday evening we put another 1200 miles on the bikes' odometer. And wow what a great 1200 miles it was!

A note on this pics heritage: Tammy took this picture just as me and my brother-in-law (Kevin) plopped down to rest from riding the Cheraholla Skyway. The temperature was just right. I have never seen the view from those mountains as clear as what we experienced on that day. The nice cool temperature, the bright Spring sun and the sweeping curves of the Cheraholla combined to lure us in to riding ever faster. Before you knew it we were pushing the bikes closer and closer to the "envelope". That special place where the rider's skill and the bikes ability to maintain traction converge. You know you are doing what the machine you are riding is designed to do. Those crazy engineers back in their drawing rooms at Honda Manufacturing seem to know what they are doing. I give them props and thank them for creating a mode of transportation that gives us so much enjoyment. Kevin, although fairly new to motorcycling had no problem keeping his Honda Shadow ACE in step with Tammy and I on the Goldwing. That man can ride.

The orange t-shirt I am wearing was the inspiration for the title of this post. It was bought at a gift store at the Fontana Dam. I bought it because I had expected cooler temps and had packed warm gear. It turned out that the temps were cool in the morning (50's) and then would close in on the 80's during the afternoon - perfect riding temperatures! I didn't want to swelter in my long sleeves so bought this shirt to avoid that dreaded fate. At least that's my excuse. The real reason is probably because I like the slogan that is printed on it...."Trapped in Paradise with No Plans to Escape". That perfectly fit my mentality of the moment. More later on the guy I'm sitting next to there....what a great riding partner!

Our riding group - Four bikes and seven people. The fellow in the red cap was our Road Captain for the weekend.

We started our trip to paradise by meeting at the Jacks restaurant in Odenville, Alabama for some breakfast and a quick rundown of the ride plans by our Road Captain. Road Captain is a fancy title for "The person saddled with the responsibility of mapping out 4 days worth of riding, not letting the rest of us get lost, making sure we keep gas in our tanks and food in our belly, and generally handling all the stressful work while the rest of us enjoy just following his lead while making wise acre comments during rest breaks." Our Road Captain just happens to be my dad, and I gotta say he does an excellent job of it. He somehow manages to find the most scenic routes, get us to the gas station before the fumes run out and have us pulling into fantastic eating establishments just as we are starting to think "Man I'm getting hungry!". We all owe him a debt of gratitude. I remember the three things he said he wanted to accomplish just before we set off on our ride: 1 -Honor God with our thoughts and actions / 2 -Have an inordinate amount of fun / 3 - Get there and back safely. Goals accomplished Dad.

Day one on most rides is pretty much about "getting there". The act of getting there included riding 420 miles with well spaced stops for gasoline and the occasional "rear end" break. Our group understood the beauty of not getting in a hurry and just enjoying the ride. When you're not in a rush it allows you to take a break just because you want to. That allowed us to enjoy the folks in our riding party including those in the chase van.

My very own Biker Babe taking a break next to the Ocoee River in Georgia. She is as pretty as the scenery.

On our ride from Birmingham, Alabama to Maggie Valley, North Carolina we knew we were getting closer to the good stuff when we found ourselves scooting along the banks of the beautiful Ocoee river. The Ocoee is the only designated "Olympic Whitewater Course" in the United States. With all the white water rafting, canoeing/kayaking, camping and hiking available it makes for a colorful sight as you ride along the river banks if it is tourist season. This particular ride was timed just before all the outdoor enthusiasts arrive so it was just us and the beautiful river for the most part.

A hungry group of travellers sate their appetites.

Our diligent riding paid off as nearing the end of our long trek, Dad slowed as we entered Dillard, Georgia and made the turn into the Dillard House Restaurant and Resort parking lot. I have had the good fortune to eat here several times in the past, but it was a first for Tammy and several others in our group. It was fun watching their faces as the famished riders feasted on the delicious home cooking served up at this unique restaurant. You don't order food here. You sit down, the friendly serving staff starts bringing drinks and bowls and platters of food, and it just keeps coming until you start to wonder how the table will hold under the weight of all this fine cuisine. If your party dares to find the bottom of a serving bowl the watchful serving staff pounces upon the empty bowl and replaces it with a fresh offering. Now telling everyone to save room for desert was a waste of breath. I tried, but never thought my advice would be heeded. Heck, I didn't even follow my own advice, but that certainly didn't stop me from stuffing down a delicious bowl of blackberry cobbler a-la-mode before finally pushing away from the table.

Tammy at a rest stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Saturday morning found us all gathered in the breakfast area of the Comfort Inn at Maggie Valley. The fresh made waffles, cereal, muffins and coffee was a great start to a day of riding the beautiful and well-paved Blue Ridge Parkway. The BRP is one of my favorite rides. It includes pleasant forested curves, lots of tunnels (we all connected with our hidden child and blew our horns each time we rode through these of course), beautiful rock faces, and some of the prettiest views of the Western North Carolina peaks and valleys.

My dad leading the group up the BRP

Your humble author and his trusty steed posing on the Blue Ridge Parkway

My folks - the world's best parents. My mom rode with a friend in the chase van this trip but she usually rides co-pilot with my dad.

The four bikes and chase van making up our party.

The deck at the Pisgah Inn - a good place to cool your heals and enjoy the view while you wait on your table.

And of course, the BRP has the Pisgah Inn - a restaurant and motel situated right on the mountainside at 5000 feet elevation. The food there is not bad and the view from the dining room is incredible.

The road taking its toll on Kevin....err..."Crow"

A few words about the character hamming it up in the pic above....

This is Kevin. He became a member of our family less than two years ago when he married my sister. I was truly looking forward to experiencing a multi-day ride with this rascal. His upbeat personality and positive outlook on life makes him a pleasure to ride and spend time with. Hanging around him is to laugh and just love life. He has that affect on all those around him. Things just seem more fun when he is around. Oh yeah, and MAN can this guy eat!

Posing for the camera on the Cheraholla Skyway - hope this is just the first of many rides with Kevin.

Saturdays' adventures started to wind down as Dad led us back down into our temporary home base in Maggie Valley around supper time. There was a Harley Davidson Hog rally of some sort going on, and wow you should have seen and heard all the Harleys riding around town.

One of the hundreds and hundreds of Harleys riding around Maggie Valley that weekend

We ate dinner at Guyaritos, a Mexican food restaraunt within walking distance of our Comfort Inn. After gorging ourselves with the delicious Mexican food we strolled back towards our Comfort Inn, stopping for a while to sit and watch hundreds of Harleys pass as they made their way to the Hog rally that was being held in Maggie Valley that weekend. There were some unique characters riding those machines.

Ok, I'm going to take a break here as this post is getting a bit long. I'll post on the remaining days events a little later.

Thanks for stopping by to read Sarch's Blog!

I'm here....but too tired to blog!

I'm sitting here, it's almost midnight and I'm a little frustrated that I'm so tired. It has been a great Saturday. Spent it doing mostly things I love. Spent time with my wife, did some chores, helped my dad with a computer bulletin board issue he was dealing with, went to see the new X-Men movie, balanced the checkbook....ok, strike the balance the checkbook from the "doing things I love" line. Oh yeah, we also had time to stroll through Books-A-Million and I picked up "Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz. You ever get the feeling you're about to embark upon a pleasant journey when you pick up a book? I'm kind of experiencing the phenomenon with this one - I hope so any way. OK, back to my original point. I'm feeling a little frustrated because I've got a blog post in me just waiting to get out. I need to share about our last ride up to the mountains with my blog friends. But it will have to wait on a fresher Sarch. So off to bed!

I'm looking forward to heading to church for worship tomorrow. Hope my blog friends are having and enjoyable and restfull weekend.

Last Saturday's ride.

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting here playing around on the laptop. Left a video message for a buddy of mine who is taking off on vacation this weekend. Also starting to figure out this Tweeter thing. Heck I'm even on Facebook and learning how the two can intermingle. Sarch turning into a tech dweeb? Hardly!

It is nice to see the riding season kick back in. Last weekend the weather cooperated enough to allow my wife and I to hook up with my parents, my best bud and a new friend of ours named Larry for a day ride. Larry is the big guy in overalls. I'm pleased to have met this fellow several months ago. He is a salt of the earth, what you see is what you get fella from the flat plains of Kansas. I think he has truly fallen in love with our plush forests and hills here in Alabama. I consider it a privilege to add him to my list of riding buddies.
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We all met at our local motorcycle resort 29 Dreams. My folks and Larry showed up first followed by me and Tammy and then eventually Clem came rolling in on his beautiful Ducati.
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That was my first opportunity to see Larry's "new to him" Suzuki Boulevard. The last time I rode with him he was on a scooter. Picture if you will this big 'ol Kansan in his overalls riding his scooter. What a hoot! You gotta love a guy like that. I really like the black and blue paint scheme of his new ride.
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The weather was nice for the most part. There were moments when it was a little cool, but not enough to get my co-rider complaining at me....so all was well in Sarch's world!


After some hand shaking and a little catching up conversation we loaded up and followed my folks to Indian Hills Motorcycle Resort. We had never been there before. The resort is located just south of Sylacauga in the little town of Rockford, Alabama. It wasn't a bad place. There has obviously been a lot of work invested in trying to make this a good stop off location for the Alabama riding crowd. I will say it is a little rougher around the edges than 29 Dreams. We stopped there for lunch. I ordered a burger and fries (not great...actually not good). The server was friendly enough but there was no question we were in a biker bar, not just a restaurant. Even my razor sharp observation skills figured this out when I saw how the workers were dressed...oh yeah, and the dozens of bras hanging from the ceiling. My mom and wife were there and I found myself not sure where to look when the waitress came to the table and bent over to write down our order - LOL! The leather-clad, chaps wearing, bar brawling biker dude I am not, nor were the others riding with me that day. So there was definitely a bit of the fish out of water feel to the experience. Frankly that made it all the more fun. Riding is about EXPERIENCES....and it affords you plenty of opportunities to break out of your usual rut. Just one of the reasons I love riding so much.

We stopped in at the store there to see if there was any biker gear we couldn't live without, then saddled up and headed a casual relaxed route back home. The weather had warmed a bit more and man was it ever pleasant to be riding my Goldwing with my wife on the back. We were in no particular hurry so we could enjoy watching the world around us as we cycled through the hills and valleys. As we came up on one small town there was a glider plane slowly circling above us. I couldn't take my eyes off of the beautiful white craft. It literally glowed in the afternoon sun. It was so big, and so low that I could actually see the wings bend and bow as the pilot made his adjustments and rode the updrafts. Finally the thought occurred to me that I should probably have my eyes on the road rather than up in the sky. With an effort I returned my attention back to earth and the more immediate issues of piloting our two wheeler.

Lord willing this time next Friday morning we will be exiting the Jacks restaurant in Odenville, Alabama and donning our riding jackets to protect us as we head up to the North Carolina mountains for our annual Smokey Mountain ride. Think sunshine....no rain....warm temps. Come on Mother Nature, down let me down now!

Wow...been a long time.

Just realized how long it has been since my last post. No time right now for a proper post as it is time to head to work, but I wanted to say "hi" and hope all is well with my Blogger friends.

We've got a ride to North Carolina coming up the last weekend of April. That should generate some pictures and a tale or two for a blog post.

Have a great week and God bless.

Blizzard of 2009

"I am Norman. I come to announce the Great Birmingham Blizzard of 2009.....FEAR ME!"

Now if any of you remember my post from the great blizzard of 2008, you might say "What's the difference Sarch? Looks the same to me."

Well let me tell you the difference oh sarcastic reader.....this is 2009 snow, not 2008.

I like how even leafless winter trees become beautiful with a dusting of snow. We just don't see much of this in Birmingham, Alabama.

My thoughts are that now that it has gotten this snow thing out of its system, the weather should now warm up to the 70's or above and create a motorcycle riding Nirvana for us two wheeler fans.

It sounds reasonable enough to me anyway.

It's a taxing issue.

I'm doing our taxes today. Something is amiss. I went from getting a decent tax return over the last 10 years to owing money to the government. Can't seem to figure out what I've done wrong. Wow this is fun. Time to step back and take a breather...regroup and attack the problem again.

How 'bout a little James Taylor to smooth the way? Man this guy can sing! I've got an older brother that James reminds me so much of. They've both got that effortless cool about them and they even kind of look alike - although my brother does have more hair ;-)

Hope ya'll can sit back and relax for about 6 minutes and let James' mellow vocals and guitar just wash over you.