Absolute dread...

 

Leaving North Carolina?  No, we had a good time here, but we are looking forward to more riding as we make our way west.  Some loose plans.

This feeling of dread is for my aching back and shoulders: today is the day that we are going to clean the slime and grub off this motorhome.  It really is awful - in all our travels, I've never seen the Aspect look this dirty.  We knew we were going to need something to cut through the slime that came from the big tree over our site - the hope is all that crap stuck to every surface of the motorhome hasn't stained our pretty paint.  Joan ordered some Meguiars Automotive Cleaner and another container of Meguiars Wax... the cleaner is supposed to cut through grime while conditioning the paint.  It may be hype, but I'm willing to give it a try.

The plan of attack: Joan is going to help me.  I usually do all the exterior cleaning except the windows, which she does.  I haven't been up to look at the roof, but looking at the surfaces you can see, it makes my heart hurt.

We got our extending ladder out, set it up, and...

It is even worse than I thought.  That is not a clean area in the photo above, that is a reflection from the wet roof.  Joan handed me up the bucket with the cleaner, a scrub brush, and the hose.  It is far too slippery for this old guy to get up on the roof, so I will have to clean it from the ladder... which means achy neck, shoulders, and back.  Does the Meguiars Cleaner work?

The results from the first bit of heavy scrubbing... it is coming off.  But, it is going to take a lot of scrubbing (you can see the foam from the Meguiars in the lower left).  The roof is supposed to be cream colored; fiberglass.  The full-body paint goes up to the roof and wraps just over the top.  The only way to get this done from the ladder is to take it "a bite at a time."

While I was doing the roof, Joan was scrubbing on the cab/front cap, the sides, and the rear cap.  She was also handing me up fresh buckets with cleaner in them and helping me move the ladder and hose (saving me from going up and down the ladder so many times.  Now, if you ask her, she will tell you that she cleaned at least 75% of the coach, while I did the remaining 25%.  And, in terms of square footage, this is true.  But, in terms of effort expended, the roof was the hardest part of this job, with that horizontal surface sitting right under that tree.  (And people wonder why I don't like "camping" in the trees?  We are RVers, not "campers.")

I tried to stay ahead of where she was cleaning so all that nasty stuff running off the roof didn't grub up what she had cleaned.  In the end, we worked together well and got the job done...

The coach looks great.  The large opening skylite in the forward part of the motorhome was absolutely opaque with slime - it is clear again!  Same with the skylite over the shower.  And the roof vents.  And the pretty paint on the rest of the coach is sparkling!  (see the photo above)

The roof...

No, the roof is not splotchy - that is the sun/shade filtering through the trees; it is all that lovely cream color once again.  The smart thing to do would be hurry up and pack up and get the Hell out of here before it rains again... but, we are booked in here until Monday.  And there is a good possibility that we may get to see friends Herb and Wilma who will be traveling in the area - tomorrow... if Mother Nature doesn't ruin that plan.  They will be about 80 miles away from where we are, so we'll try to meet in the middle.  But, yes, the remnants of Hurricane Debby are making their way into North Carolina; it remains to be seen if the wind and rain will get this far west.  The weather weasels are calling for that, but I do not trust them (Can you blame me?).

Right now, the sun is shining... it would have been a lovely day for a ride.  With both of us working on this project, we spent on the far side of 4 hours hard at it to get the coach done.  No breaks.  Actual manual labor.  Yeah, we are too old for this crap.  When we finished, Joan said she was in need of something to eat... I misunderstood her, thinking she wanted to go out to eat and said, "I do not have the strength to get those bikes out, much less safely ride 'em."  Fortunately, she was in 100% agreement with me.  After we have a chance to re-hydrate and sit for a bit, I will get the griddle going and get us some burgers.  Assuming my achy hands can hold a spatula.

My Honey is a champ - our usual division of labor (you do the inside stuff, I do the outside stuff) got put aside to get this done.  The way the weather has been going, I have no doubt we'll get rained on a couple more times before Monday.  We'll get it cleaned up again... at some point.  But, for now - we be lookin' good!

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Some ibuprofen and a nice shower.  It's now 9:55 pm. The weather weasels were predicting a clear night. The rain just started and it's pounding. Of course. 10:03 and the rain is easing up a bit... um, no it's not. Pulled up weather radar - yep, a cell moving right over the top of us.  Joan said, "Don't sweat it."

I said, "Can you rub some pain cream on my shoulders?"

The rain is heavy enough that the cable TV went out again (still watching some of the Olympics).  The TV came back on, but with the heavy rain pounding on the roof, we can't hear it.

The Family Truckster...

 

If you said, "The Wagon Queen Family Truckster, from the National Lampoon movie Family Vacation, 1983," you get 20 bonus points.  10 additional bonus points if you said, "That wagon was made by famous customizer George Barris,  from a heavily-modified 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon," and 15 more bonus points if you can state in the next 3 seconds (no fair looking it up) how many headlights that wagon had.  (8 is the correct answer)

What does that trivia have to do with anything, Jim?  Thanks for asking.  Joan has the factory Yamaha top case (also known as a trunk) for her Xmax.  She does not like it.  Not even a little.  According to her, it spoils the looks and aerodynamics of the bike.

But today, after going out for breakfast, we needed to make a grocery run to Wally World.  No, not the Wally World from NL Vacation, but thanks for making the connection.  I don't have a top case for the Burgman, so Joan gets to pilot the Family Truckster (AKA the Yamaha Xmax with the top case)...

Joan was putting leftovers from breakfast into her bike (above).  My Burgman in the foreground is still more of a "fat bottom girl."  We bought $82 worth of groceries and fit them in her bike, my bike, and the top case... with room left over.  On the way back, I stopped at the office at the campground to pick up two Amazon packages that Joan had ordered.  Yeah, they fit, too.  I paid the nice lady at the counter the $5 fee for vehicle washing... no, they do not wash your vehicle for that.  I assume it is for the extra water you will use.  That will happen in the next few days.

There was one more "side trip" I made on the way back to the campground: Joan said, "Your scarf just blew off!"  My new scarf (with cooling ability) that Joan ordered for me since we've been here?  Damn!  I told her I was going back for it, she continued on to the campground (that right there is worth the price of admission for the helmet communicators we've had for years).  There are cross-overs every once in a while on this divided 4 lane, and I slowed down near where I thought she said it was... right there, about 30 feet down from the cross-over.  And then, 5 cars (well, 2 cars and 3 pickup trucks) came down the road, passing over my helpless scarf... and carrying it past me and further down the road.  When there was a break in the traffic, I had to run about 50 yards to retrieve my scarf - got it!  And, I did not get run down in the process.  I would say I ran back to my bike, but I have been watching the Olympics and what I did to get the scarf does not qualify in any manner as running.  The take-away here is: I got my scarf back.  Joan will wash it before I wear it again.  And only a few tire marks on it.

Back to the coach, I took my share of the groceries in, along with the Amazon packages, and put the bikes away.  Here's another look at the bikes from the rear, with the top case on the Yamaha...

I don't think it looks bad, but it certainly makes her Xmax look a lot bigger than my Burgman 200.

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I spent some time this evening editing video, most the 360 footage from yesterday's ride on the Tail of the Dragon... goodness; these new cameras have more resolution, which means bigger files, which means it takes more memory, which means everything on my laptop an iPad moves slower than I'm used to.  I'll work on the video as time (and patience) allows... reminding myself that I'm doing this "for the fun of it."  ;-)

We "slayed" the Dragon...

 

This was our day.  Joan made sandwiches last night and put them in the freezer.  The plan: if Mother Nature did what was predicted, get on the road around 9:00 am.  The reality: it was a foggy start to the day, but predicted to be sunny.  I got the bikes out and we started getting them ready.  At 9:15, the sun was burning off the fog, and we rolled.

Joan had mapped us out a route, but it was similar to what we did in the car a couple weeks ago.  The temperature was a glorious 71º (and sunny) when we got on the road.  With close to 200 miles there and back, we figured it would be about 6 hours, with another stop at Deal's Gap to have a bite to eat and pick up more Tail of the Dragon stuff (a couple t-shirts and a road sign for the garage).

The ride there was delightfully unbusy (I looked it up - it's a word); some twisty roads, some highway, and more twisty roads.  It was a good warm-up for riding the Dragon.

 

 

It seems like this has been a long time coming.  Before we ever decided to go to North Carolina, Joan had said that riding The Tail of the Dragon was on her bucket list.  The way the weather has been, I was wondering if that was going to happen.  It happened.  For anyone not aware, Hurricane Debby is moving into Florida, north of Tampa, and it is very likely that here in North Carolina, we may start seeing some of the effects of that as early as tomorrow.  Today pretty much needed to be the day.

The synopsis: it was a great ride.  The weather was perfect.  I haven't checked to be certain, but I think I have some video.  On the return ride of the Dragon, we came across a Miata that had run off the road and crashed nose down into some trees... there was a guy in the road waving his arms, and two cars had stopped.  My first thought: at least two people there not involved in the crash, if we stop, it just adds more vehicles on the road (no place to get off the road).  Joan said, "We need to see if anyone needs help - you go check on the car, I'll call 911."  We stopped.  My helmet camera was running, so there may be footage of that.

When I get done with editing the video, I will post something here and probably edit this post.  But, the young guy in the Miata was OK and he had called to get a wrecker.  Nothing more we could do, so we got back on the bikes and got out of the way of oncoming traffic.

On Edit: there is a LOT of video, so that may be a few days before I get to it.  In the meantime, here are some stills of the ride: leaving Deal's Gap and onto the Dragon...

This sign, portend of things to come...

We turned around to run it back the other way - not just for the fun of it, but because that is how you get back (unless you go way around and through The Great Smoky Mountain National Park).

Then, coming around a curve, we came upon this...

That blue thing on the right side is a Miata that has crashed into the trees; if not for the trees, that car would have gone a long ways down into a ravine.  We pulled off the road, taking a moment to slow down on-coming traffic...

I went to the car to see if anyone was in it...

This guy was hollering, "I think they're trapped inside!"  I slithered alongside the car to get a look inside...

I assured the guy that there was no one inside and no way anyone could have been toss from the car (the windshield was intact, and the side windows are too small for anyone to go through that opening.  Shortly after that, the guy who had been in the car came back to the scene - he stepped away to get a phone signal to call a wrecker.  About that time, a truck with red flashing lights across the top stopped; I could see there was nothing more we could do, and decided it would be best to get us and the bikes out of the scene...

Rolling back towards Deal's Gap...

We stopped at the same shop again, picked up a "road sign" for the garage, and pointed the bikes towards "home" (well, home away from home).

The ride home seemed longer than the ride there.  But, to celebrate "slaying the Dragon," we stopped for ice cream in Maggie Valley.  It was a good day.  (Check back to see edited video here.)
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Some random thoughts about the Tail of the Dragon...The road had been resurfaced in May and June of this year, so the road surface was in perfect condition - a delight to ride!  There are lots of tight curves and a couple decreasing radius curves - it can be challenging to ride it fast, but it is not a difficult road... the speed limit is 30 mph, with slower speeds recommended in some of those 318 curves in 11 miles.  There are pull-outs where you can let faster traffic get by.  It has gained its reputation because of stupid people: there were a total of 165 crashes in 2020 and 2021, 123 of which involved motorcycles, including nine fatalities – all motorcyclists... people over-riding the road or over-estimating their skill.

Joan and I have nothing to prove.  We enjoy a challenging ride, but we don't take chances - we ride within our abilities and we keep a close watch on the road ahead to avoid traffic coming at us that may be over that center line (and that happens).  Our bikes and gear are in good shape.

We both give this road two thumbs up.  But, there are other good riding roads in this area.  So many, in fact, the we couldn't cover 'em all in a month, even if Mother Nature had been cooperative.  Western North Carolina vs the Black Hills?  I would pick the Black Hills... there are more twisty roads in NC, but they are almost all heavily forested - your view is mostly trees.  There are places where the vistas open up a bit, and you may see a lake or layers of hills and mountains in the distance.  The Black Hills is not as heavily forested, and the views open up to Mt Rushmore, Needles Highway, a variety of wildlife in Custer State Park, Crazy Horse carving, the view of Rapid City as you ride north on Hwy 16.  Both areas have touristy things to do besides riding; plenty of restaurant options.  The campground we are in here is more "rustic" than the well-manicured, double-wide paved pads of our membership resort, Hart Ranch.  Yes, there are other RV park options around here - this just happens to be what we picked based on proximity to Maggie Valley and recommendations (heck, there are other much better options right in Maggie Valley).  And, the weather... "Hey, Jim, didn't you get pounded more than once by hail in the Black Hills?"  Yes, we did.  We had large insurance claims twice.  That is not the norm.  I am told that the amount and frequency of the rain we've experienced here in the Maggie Valley area is not the norm, either.  You pay your money, you take your chances.

Am I disappointed in our time here in North Carolina and Tennessee?  Not at all.  It is a long way from Arizona (about twice as far as going to the Black Hills).  Glad we made the trip.

What the Hell??!!

 

Joan and I got out for a ride today - another nice loop with some twisty roads and time on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I mounted the DJI Action 4 camera on top of my helmet, shooting some "short clips"... I didn't realize how short until we got home...

Yep - I shot it all in Hyperlapse.  No, I didn't mean to.  On the bright side: there was almost no editing.  Really - just added a couple sound effects.

We were riding at a pretty good clip - not this good.  And, no rain!  Although the sky did gray up a bit - it probably went by too fast to see it.

Oops.  

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This evening, Murph and I sat outside for a while.  It was supposed to be a walk, but one of us (and it wasn't me) didn't feel much like walking... it's a nice early evening, so there are plenty of people out and about, some walking dogs.  I get it.  But, he sat in Joan's chair and watched people and dogs go by...

The last rays of sunlight were lighting up that cute face.

A day off...

 

Well, we know you aren't "working."  Yep.  But, we did take Saturday as a chill day.  Even though it was a no-rain day (one in a row!).  Late Friday afternoon, I was feeling wiped - I laid down for a nap.  When I got up, the room was slowly spinning... well, the room was stable, but my equilibrium was not.  It was making me feel nauseous.

I thought that maybe is was something I ate at the Italian cafe, but Joan and I ate the same things and she was fine.  Not a good situation when two-wheel conveyances are your only option.  I had a few crackers for supper and was feeling a little better (but certainly not normal, although that is not a descriptor most would use for me) when we went to bed, but I made it a point to not put my head down.

Saturday morning, I was feeling better: I called it "90%."  It was a mutual decision to take the day off from any riding.  We had the Italian leftovers for lunch, and no ill effects.  Murphy got a couple walks in with his Dad, and spent time with Joan outside while in his catio.  Joan and I went for a walk around the campground at dusk.  And spent some time watching the Olympics.

At one point in the afternoon, we walked around the coach to see what all needs to be done before we hit the road: besides the fact that this is as grubby as it has ever been (we're thinking it will be a 2-day job to scrub the green slime off), there is one piece of rubber on one of the slides that is going to need some attention.  Yes, 8 days before we hit the road again, and we're planning for that departure.

For something completely different: the weather forecast for the next 3 days looks hopeful for some sunshine.

Scenarios...

 

This is what happens when you can't get out as much as you'd like (due to Mother Nature): you look out the windows and ponder.  Or, maybe observe.  And through those observations, you create scenarios.

Wednesday, Joan said to me, "Have you noticed that the RV across the street from us is never occupied overnight?  Everyday, around 4:00, the guy shows up, makes a call, and then about 15 minutes later, a woman shows up.  They are there for about an hour to an hour and a half, then they both leave in their separate cars."

My interest was piqued.  Sure enough, the guy showed up around 4:00 yesterday, and the scenario played out just like she said.  A clandestine extra-marital affair in the RV park?  Now, I want to know more.  It will be raining this afternoon (if you can believe the forecast), so I'll watch again to see if it truly plays out like that each day...

No patio mat, no chairs, just the unoccupied RV.
 

Another scenario comes from the 5th wheel that took the place of the motorhome that the quiet older couple was in next to us.  This 5th wheel pulled in a couple days ago, completely filling the site.  Instead of backing into this back-in site, they drove through the neighbor's yard, making it a pull-thru.  That's not how it is supposed to work.  It is tight - I have no idea how they're going to get out of there.  The couple in the 5th wheel have 2 small children, both with a pony tail - Joan thinks one is a boy, the other a girl.  That's not the unusual part that makes you create a scenario in your head... every window in the 5th wheel is covered with silver insulation... it has to be like a cave in there.  Joan thinks one of them may have a disorder that they can't be exposed to sunlight.  I can't say - they were all outside for the time it took them to get set up.  With all the rain, the kids haven't been outside to play.  But, we do hear a regular "thump, thump, thump, thump..." coming from the 5th wheel.  We heard that sound a year and a half ago when we were in Buckeye and a couple with a 5th wheel and a hyper-active child pulled in next door... and the parents would holler to the kid, "Stop stomping!"  It didn't help.  Kids have to get some activity, and if stomping the length of the 5th wheel is all they have... well, I'm happy to be outside, maybe 20 feet away, 'cause it certainly has to be louder in there.

The windows...

Maybe they're cooking meth in there?  Raising mushrooms?  Make up your own scenario.

No doubt, the neighbors are making up their own scenarios about us: "Did you see that guy walking a cat?"  I've heard that a time or 12 since we've been here... honestly, with all the rain, Murphy hasn't gotten out as much as he'd like.  We have chairs, a griddle table, and a catio that are set up outside, but rarely put to use thanks to the weather.  Because of the way we sit on this site, people walking by can (and do) look in our screen door, if the door is open... "There's those weird cat people who leave their door open with the air conditioner running all the time."  It's true - we do that.  We pay our own electricity here, so it isn't like we're wasting the park's power.  Joan thinks it keeps the humidity down in the coach if we run the a/c... and then the humidity comes back in through the open door... and I sit inside wearing shorts and a long sleeve flannel shirt because of the cold a/c.  "Those people are weird."

Make up your own scenario.  ;-)

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Before we went to bed last night, the weather here was predicted to be clear in the morning, until around noon.  I suggested to Joan that maybe we should take the scoots for a breakfast outing.  When we got up... yeah, it was raining.  I was up early, thanks to the raindrops on the roof.

My butt was dragging, so around 10:00 (still a mist in the air) I went to the bedroom to lay down.  When I got up (an hour or so later) Joan said to me, "The weather radar is now showing it should be clear here until around 2:00 - do you want to go for a ride?"

"Have you ever known me to say 'no' to a ride?"

She said, "It looks better west of us, so how 'bout we do a loop that direction?"

"I'm in!"

Murphy got an early lunch (he had an early breakfast, following me out to the dinette shortly after 5:00 am).  I got the bikes out, we geared up, and headed out.  Joan said, "Maybe we could get a calzone to bring home?"  She gets me.

The loop we planned was about 80 or so miles.  Both of us were feeling "anything to get out and about."  Less than 20 miles into it, the rain started.  Joan said, "I'm tired of trying to outguess the rain - let's just ride and enjoy the time out."  Really, she gets me.

We took the Parkway to Cherokee, then Hwy 19 to Bryson City.  In the rain.  It wasn't pounding.  We had talked about completing a "circle tour" from Bryson City.  I was focused on a calzone (priorities).  We checked weather - it had moved on from where we were, to where we were planning to go.  We decided to turn back east and maybe avoid the worst of it.  We agreed: we're going to enjoy the ride, damn the weather.  Maybe Mother Nature would quit messing with us if she could see we were getting out, regardless?

We had a great ride.  It mostly stopped raining by the time we got back to the Parkway.  Joan suggested we stop for a photo-op (I didn't bring any video gear along today)...

Yes, that is actual sunshine where we stopped.  We agreed on stopping for a late lunch (yes, a calzone).  I asked, "Do you want to get it to go?"

Joan said, "Let's just enjoy the meal at the restaurant... and if it is raining when we're done, it's only 7 miles back to the coach."  Good attitude.

The meal was great!  Yes, I had a calzone, Joan ordered pasta, and we did some swapping.  And still have enough left over for another full meal.  And it wasn't raining when we came out of the restaurant.  :-)

In fact, while I am writing this, Joan and Murphy are outside enjoying the afternoon.

The bikes are grubby from riding in the rain - I won't be in a big hurry to get them cleaned up, since the weasels are predicting more rain for the next 3 days.

Carless...

 

In case you read that quickly, it is CAR-less, not CARE-less.

I edited the living daylights out of the video I shot yesterday, getting it from 100 gigabytes of data to less than 1 gb.  Yeah, I left out a lot.  But, I was excited about capturing something with the DJI and Insta equipment.  I won't do that again.  Probably not.  What can I say: I get excited when I'm riding fun roads... and I like to share.

That said, here's the video...

 I titled it "A Rambling Solo Ride," because it is mostly just talking while I'm enjoying the ride.  For some perspective, there was over an hour of the basic video, before adding in the 360 footage,  This is about 5 minutes.  And... some blue sky!  Until there wasn't.  As I mentioned yesterday, I rode in the rain the last half hour or so.

Today, it rained this morning.  Not a lot; just enough to wet down everything.  Joan made us a nice breakfast (too wet to cook out on the Blackstone) while I chopped away fun scooting footage.  We worked for a while to try to get a metal stake out of the gravel that Joan pounded in with a sledgehammer on day one.  It is in there tighter than The Sword In The Stone.  She pulled, I pulled, we pulled.  Using some physics, I suggested we try wrapping a line around it and both pull up.  Nope.  We put Robo-Grips on it.  Wouldn't budge.  Every other stake she put in can be easily pulled out by hand thanks to all the rain; I am thinking she pounded this one into granite.  Or, possibly a water line and if/when we do get it out, there will be a geyser.  I pounded it from side to side with the sledgehammer.  Nothing.  Joan pounded it from side to side with the sledgehammer.  More nothing.

And then Joan said, "The sky is looking pretty gray - the hourly forecast is calling for rain by 2:00; we need to think about getting the car back.  (Today is the last day of our 2 week rental.)  We decided to take her bike.  I geared up to ride a scoot to the Enterprise Car Rental place, and then I was told that Joan would be riding there and I should drive the car so I can put "the right amount" of gas in it... at Enterprise, you don't bring it back full, you bring it back with the same amount of gas it had in it when you picked it up.  Which in this case was about a half tank.

I had my helmet and jacket in the car.  I got to Enterprise before Joan did.  The check-in process was fast and easy: the guy walked out to the car, did a once around, then checked the fuel level.  When he came in, he said, "Thanks for taking good care of our car.  Any problems with it?"

"Nope, it's a nice car."  A Chevy TrailBlazer - I liked it, Joan didn't think it was as nice as our Equinox.  Different vehicles.  It served a purpose, getting us out and about during the last two weeks of rain, rain, rain.

Joan pulled in, I went out to the bike and asked, "Who's driving?"

"You can."  I put on my helmet and jacket, she popped out the passenger pegs and got on.  When I got to the edge of the driveway, it started to rain.  Yes, I am serious.  Not heavy - we didn't put on rain gear... just enough for us to be reminded that Mother Nature is always in charge.

Back to the coach; I got out of my gear and put the Xmax away.  Still sprinkling.  It is coming.

Our holding tanks are nearly full, so I went out to dump black and gray tanks now so I don't have to do it in the middle of a thunderstorm.  I could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.  It felt good to get back inside to the air conditioning... it is 83º and seriously humid.

The cloud cover is heavy enough that the cable TV (based on Dish satellite) is going in and out.  It has the potential to be a long afternoon.  Joan is cooking: making salmon for her and taverns for me.  Without the car, it isn't going to be as carefree to go out for a meal.  Good thing we are stocked up on groceries.

2:30 in the afternoon, a hard rain.  The cable TV is back on; we are watching the Olympics.  The sky is so dark we have to have the lights on in the kitchen and over the dinette to see what we are eating.