At the Mythical Misty Mountain Motorcycle Campground

We'll I found what I was looking for and more at Ironhorse Mc Campground in Stecoah, NC. I'm blogging as I look out at misty mountain tops. Home cooked spaghetti smells are competing with mountain honeysuckle as I listen to the babbling trout stream 20 yards in front of me. In the background I hear road-weary riders regaling each other with tales of great routes, fine machines, and near spills.

I road in yesterday through Hwy 129 a.k.a. The Tail of the Dragon (318 curves in 11 miles!) at Deal's Gap in the heart of the Smokie Mountains. I followed behind an east-bound storm system most of the way from Louisville and caught it just before nightfall south of Knoxville. So I rode the dragon s-l-o-w and my rear wheel still drifted on some mossy curves. My ass hurts and my hands are stained black from the leather die in my rain-soaked gloves (note: don't forget rain gloves when packing rain gear next time).

Today I slept late and then took Hwy 28 to the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Cherokee, NC, the ancestral home of some of my wife's family. I visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, ran by the Eastern Band of Cherokees. This reservation was nothing like the poverty stricken hell holes that our government created for many of the plains and warrior-horse cultures out west. It was good to see that there is a thriving community of Native Americans, living in their stunning ancestral home.

OK, I'm off to do some more research for school. I'm hitting the Blue Ridge Parkway tomorrow.