(Best Viewed in 800 x 600 Format)

The five of us met at 6:30am on Tuesday morning at the service plaza between the Downingtown and Morgantown exits on the westbound side of the PA Turnpike to begin our adventure.  Our destination was Hiawassee, GA where the annual BMW Georgia Mountain Rally was being held on the coming weekend.

After much prior planning during the winter the plan was to take three days for the trip down to Hiawassee where we had rented a place on Lake Chatuge about five miles from the rally site.  Then leave Sunday morning for a two day trip back.  Although the sunrise looked promising the forecast was for scattered showers in the afternoon.  No big deal.

Off we went with Buzz in the lead as he had been unanimously elected Road Captain for the trip.  We exited the TP at Gettysburg and took Rt 15 south to Thurmont, MD and then 77 west over the Catocton Mountains to Hagerstown.  Shortly after we had left the service plaza the sky turned overcast and, by the time we reached Hagerstown, we were riding in light to moderate steady rain.  So much for the forecast.

From Hagerstown we headed southwest into WV on a series of mountain roads where we stopped at a local restaurant for a late breakfast just as the sun started to come out.  Off again where we spent most of the afternoon exploring more of the WV back roads ending up at Warm Springs, VA for the night at the Roseloe Motel.

The Roseloe is owned by a guy named Dave who is very biker friendly and even gave us soap, bucket, and rags to clean up our bikes with.	Rich laments his dirty bike
George wipes off some grime	Paul, Rich, and Gerry

Warm Springs is known for it's famous Jefferson Baths where, for a moderate fee, one can relax in the warm mineral waters.  The men's bathhouse was built in the 1700's and was visited by Thomas Jefferson.  The ladies bathhouse was later constructed in the mid-1800's.  Ask Paul and Buzz how their "soak" was.

 Wednesday morning we were off again.  Skies were partly cloudy with a chance of afternoon thundershowers.  South on Rt 220 through Hot Springs, home to the Homestead Resort, continuing on to Gala, VA where we picked up Rt 43 to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Buchanan, about half way between Lexington and Roanoke.

Breakfast stop in a little town on Rt 43. The food was good and the waitress was very friendly.

L to R:  Buzz, Rich, Gerry, Paul, George

On to the BRP where we quickly settled into the smooth, up and down, rhythmic curves for which the scenic Parkway is famous.  The traffic was light and the temps about 70 making for a perfect riding day.

After about 100 miles we were getting a bit short of gas and dropped back off the Parkway at the town of Floyd, VA to gas up.  Well, Floyd must not be known for it's gas stations since it took us riding around the town a bit before finding what I think was it's only gas station.

Back up the mountain to the Parkway where we continued winding our way southwest towards Little Switzerland and the Mountainview Motel which was our destination for the night.

Once we crossed into North Carolina the skies began looking a little ominous with dark clouds hanging among the mountain peaks.  As we pressed on the rumblings of thunder were heard in the distance and became louder and closer the further we went.  Of course, being eternal optimists, we thought maybe it would just blow over.  Fat chance! 

Upon rounding a curve we felt the first splats of rain which quickly became a torrential downpour mixed with hail and accompanied by numerous lightning flashes and claps of thunder.  Visibility quickly deteriorated and I dropped my speed to about 25 mph and turned on my 4 way flashers.  After about 10 miles of slogging through this stuff we pulled into one of the few gas stops on the BRP, gassed and parked the bikes, and stood under shelter, waiting for the storm to ease up.  After about 20 minutes the skies brightened a little and the rain lightened a bit.  We still had about 100 miles to go to reach our night's destination at Little Switzerland.

Buzz elected to take off and, after pondering the situation for a minute or two, I decided to follow leaving the other three guys who were still assessing the situation.  The rain was light and visibility reasonably good so things were looking up for the moment.  But, within about 5 miles, I was back in the next storm which was as bad, or worse than the previous one.  Back down to 25 mph with the flashers on and hoping no stupid motorist would climb up my back end.  No sign of Buzz to my front and no sign of the other guys to my rear, I just kept slogging on.  Periodically, the rain would ease and the sky lighten but, just as quickly, I would be into the next storm. 

Further down the road there were some particularly close lightning flashes followed by tremendous crashes of thunder.  Within several miles I came across the result.  A large pine tree had been struck by the lightning.  The air was filled with the pungent scent of pine resin and it appeared that a portion of the tree had actually exploded showering the roadway with wood fragments.and toppling what was left by the side of the road.  About a mile further there was another tree in about the same condition.  This is not good!  I started wondering where Buzz might have been during the lightning strikes since he still had to be somewhere out in front of me.

With about 25 miles to go the rain slowed down and actually stopped and the sky lightened up.  The roads partially dried and life was good again.  I saw a bike coming up from behind and I waved him on by.  It was Paul probably trying to chase down Buzz. 

About 10 miles to go to our exit and the storm gods just had to have one more go at me.  Back into the rain, hail, thunder, and lightning with the flashers on.  I had my face shield cracked open one notch to keep it from fogging and the driving rain leaked in from the top and beaded on the inside of the shield further reducing my visibility.  Boy, I was really counting down the miles at this point!

Ah!  Finally the sign for the Little Switzerland exit!  The rain was coming in torrents as I exited.  Left on the main road and then another left to the motel.  Ooops!  With the impaired visibility I missed the second turn and pulled off under a partial overhang of a building by the side of the road about 100 yards passed my missed turn.  I got the bike out of the rain as much as possible and stood under the overhang as the rain poured down.  I could see our motel about a quarter of a mile away, but just couldn't fight the rain to get there.  So near and, yet, so far!

View from motel to where I was standing.

After about 20 minutes the rain slackened to a heavy drizzle.  Back on the bike and over to the motel.  Hmm, only three bikes in the parking lot.  Where was Buzz?  No one else had seen him either and we were getting concerned.  I called his cell phone, but got his voice mail and left a message that the rest of us were at the Mountainview.  The time was about 6:15 at this point.  I registered and unpacked my bike so some of my stuff could dry out a little in the motel room.

We had planned to have dinner at the little motel restaurant there, but another curve got thrown at us.  Cindy, the motel clerk, informed us the restaurant was still closed from the winter season and wouldn't be reopening until the next day.  Bummer!  What to do for dinner?  Last thing we wanted to do was get back on the wet bikes and ride some more in the rain.  Cindy comes to the rescue and offers to pick us up some sandwiches at the local Subway Shop and bring them back to us at the motel after she got off work at 7pm.  Apparently she was an old biker chick herself and could relate to our situation and we readily took her up on her offer.  Biker friendly motels are cool!

Just as Cindy was getting ready to leave Buzz comes rolling into the parking lot and was able to get his sandwich order in.  According to Buzz, he was slogging down the Parkway when the lightning bolt hit the tree about 100 feet in front of him.  After almost peeing in his pants he came across some sort of Park Ranger building and pulled in to get out of the weather and regain his composure.  Apparently, the rest of us had then ridden by without him seeing us.  Then, thinking the rest of us were still back at the gas stop, he back tracked only to find no one was there.  Turned around again and headed for Little Switzerland.  I guess he just needed to add a little more excitement to the trip.

Observations on the trip so far:
Riding in thunderstorms in the mountains is not a wise thing to do.
Biker friendly motels are cool.
Rich had never ridden on a long trip, nor in the rain, nor on the BRP before.  But he did good!

Thursday dawned cloudy and misty, but no rain, and the roads were finally dry.  After the previous day's adventure we decided to sleep in and got underway about 9am since we had only about 150 miles left to Hiawassee.  Gerry and I elected to get down out of the mountains and took Rt 221 south to 40 around Asheville and then 74 west to 23 south to Hiawassee.  Buzz, Paul and Rich elected to continue on the BRP to its terminus at Asheville and then a more circuitous route to Hiawassee.

Overlook in the Mountains on Rt 23

 At about 2pm we arrived at Hiawassee and stopped for gas on Rt 15 and to ask directions to our rented place at Serenety Cove.  No problem on the gas, but no luck on the directions.  After several trips up and down the road and a call to the owner we finally arrived at our home for the next several days.

The property consisted of a 3 BR single story house and four 2 BR cabins, a dock on the lake with two pontoon boats, and a hot tub.  There was also a 2 story house at the end of the 3 BR house where Mel, the owner, and his family lived.  Buzz, Rich, and I had the house, and Paul and Gerry opted for a cabin for snore containment purposes.

The rest of the guys arrived about 4pm and a command decision was made to have spaghetti and meatballs, a salad, and garlic bread for dinner.  Riders were dispatched to the local grocery store and package goods store to acquire the needed provisions for both dinner and breakfast the following morning.

Friday morning started with heavy fog, but a promising forecast of mostly sunny with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms (so what else is new).  A breakfast was prepared of massive quantities of eggs, bacon, sausage, and coffee and the discussion centered on plans for the day once the fog lifted.

Gerry, Rich, and Paul study the map

Buzz and Paul decide to ride back up in the mountains and do Deal's Gap and Cherohala Skyway along with assorted other twisties.  Gerry and I opt to visit the rally site and then check out the Hiawassee Dam.  After some indecision Rich chose to follow along with Buzz and Paul and forego the rally.

The Rally Site

After spending about an hour at the rally thunder clouds started gathering to the north.  Having had enough of rain riding we decided to forego the trip to the dam and head back to the house.  That was the extent of our group's visit to the Georgia Mountain Rally in 2003.  A short while after we returned to the house the rain started and it was time for an afternoon nap.

About 5:30 the others finally returned after a longer ride than originally planned.  And, guess what?  They had the pleasure of more riding in thunderstorms in the mountains.  Buzz was originally planning to make his famous pot roast for dinner.  Due to their late return we ended up with pizza and meatball sandwiches from the meatballs left over from the previous night's dinner.

During the afternoon two of Buzz's friends from high school arrived from Atlanta as they had rented one of the other cabins for the weekend.  Many stories were told and adult beverages were enjoyed well into the evening.

Saturday morning again started with fog, but quickly burned off to bright sunshine.  Breakfast was made and enjoyed, and the kitchen cleaned up.  A shopping crew was dispatched to the local food emporium to gather the ingredients for the evening's pot roast dinner.  Others chose to take the opportunity to wash their bikes which had become quite filthy from the trip.

By this time Mel, the property owner, decided we were a pretty cool bunch of bikers and had us line up our bikes and pose for a photo op so he could put it on his web site for Serenity Cove.  I even think he will make a reference to the Mac-Pac with the photo.

Paul peels the carrots for dinner	Waiting for dinner	After dinner
	Turns in the hot tub capped off the evening

Up early on Sunday for a 6:30am departure.  And it was clear and dry!  Our destination was the Hessian House motel off I-81 in Greenville, VA.  Paul, Buzz, and Rich would pick up the BRP at Asheville and transfer to I-77 / I-81 at Fancy Gap.  Gerry and I would take Rt 23 north from Asheville and get on I-81 there.

The Sunday morning traffic was light and we were making good time.   While on Rt 40 approaching Asheville I spotted a law enforcement vehicle with his red lights on in my mirror.  I slowed down from my 80 mph so he could pass and continue on his way to wherever he was going.  Oops, he slowed down too and stayed right behind me so I thought it best to pull over and stop.  "Good morning, sir.  Can you tell me why you were traveling at such an excessive rate of speed?"  Yes sir, I was trying to catch up with my buddies who had our directions."  "May I see your license", he asks.  "Yes sir."  "Where are you boys headed?"  "Back to Pennsylvania", I reply.  "Well, Mr Wright,  it's very dangerous to be traveling at such a high rate of speed through here and I want you to be keeping to our speed limits."  Handing back my license he then says "You have a nice day."  "Yes sir, and you do the same."  Whew!!

Some views of the Smokies on Rt 23 in Tennesee

Further north into Virginia the skies turned overcast and the temperature dropped enough we donned our electric vests at a gas stop.  We pulled in to the Hessian House about 3pm and the other guys arrived about an hour later.  Dinner at the Edelweiss Restaurant next door for good German food and beer, and in bed by 10pm.

Up early on Monday for a 6:30 departure.  As the skies lightened from night to day a light drizzle started as we packed the bikes.  Our route for the last leg of our trip would be north on Rt 340 to Fredrick, MD and then north on Rt 15 past Thurmont and Gettysburg to the PA Turnpike and home.  No sooner had we gotten underway the drizzle changed to a steady rain that lasted all the way home.  A fitting end to our trip, I suppose.

Back to Home Page                                                                                                         Copywrite 2003 George I. Wright