Group Ride...

 

Out on a group ride today.  When we looked at the intended destination, it was about 51 miles away... we apparently took the scenic route, covering about 140 miles.

It started with people breaking off into different groups, starting at the motel where most are staying...

 We broke off into a half dozen groups with at least 3 of us going to the same "destination" (lunch stop), but taking different routes to get there.

Here's one shot from the ride, there will be a video coming at some point...

Lunch was at a shop that had all kinds of fresh fruit and baked goods, as well as BBQ.  We sat at picnic tables with some of the people on our ride... interesting getting to meet people that we only know through the scooter forum.  Getting ready to head out after lunch...

The ride took us on all kinds of 2-lane twisty roads that were not apparent on the riding map we have.  To be fair, not apparent on many maps... one of the nice thing about riding with this group is getting an introduction to rides that are definitely "off the beaten path."  Not dirt or gravel riding, just fun 2-lanes; many of which were like a canopy with the tall trees overhead.

We stopped for a break after lunch at a park off one of those roads, and were soon joined by another one of the groups, making for a bunch of scoots parked there...

No, it is not "Sturgis kinda parking," but it was fun seeing all the different scoots people are riding.

Rolling once again, more twisty roads... these people are wearing us out.  We thought this might be a 2-hour ride, but it turned into nearly 5 hours.  We stopped one more time to take in a waterfall that most of our group missed, because it is right at a tight curve...

We broke off from the group about 10 miles from the motel starting point so Joan and I could go to the grocery store.  She had filled a small grocery cart with what we need - I wasn't sure we were going to get everything into the underseat storage on our scoots, but... yep, it all fit; no need to strap anything to the seats.

Back to the campground for us.  Joan was notified that she had an Amazon package waiting in the office - I went into pick that up while she went on to our motorhome... just as the sprinkles started.  Sure beats riding in the rain that was predicted.  And more of that rain predicted the rest of the week, with percentages increasing each day.  We'll see how that plays out... we do not like riding in the rain.

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Video...

Trying something different with the video today: wanting to keep it simple, I mounted the DJI Osmo Action 4 camera on top of my Nolan helmet.  The perspective is good, keeping the view higher than when I use the chin mount on my Schuberth helmet.  But, without using a second camera (like one of the 360 cameras), it makes for just one point of view.

The Rattler...

 

We did not watch any TV last night - when I got up this morning, the Sunday news shows were full of the assassination attempt on Trump.  I don't get political here and can be friends with those on either side.  This is horrible - it makes me sad for the state of our country.  While I have said that I would be inclined to vote for "None of the Above," this is only going to create more rancor.  That's all I have to say on that.

Another day, another ride.  There is no "Schedule of Events" with this gathering... seems to be 50 people going 20 different directions.  It's not like we need someone to guide us around - we do fine on our own.  But, being in an RV park 5 miles away from the motel where most of the people here for this gathering are staying, puts us out of the loop.  There are some scheduled rides, but from what I've seen, it is a lot of, "We're going this way..." kinda riding.  As such, Joan and I took off on our own today to ride "The Rattler."  Sounds ominous.  On the riding map we got at the Visitors Center, this ride was said to be... "difficult."

Other than the fact that my Apple Maps didn't want to hold onto the routing I put in, the riding was mostly pleasant.  A couple places where the road surface wasn't good, but 98% of the ride was fun twisties.  I've heard some people say this is a better ride than Tail of the Dragon... mostly because the traffic is light, I think.  At some point while we're here, we will ride the 80 miles to get to the Tail of the Dragon, then ride it back and return to the motorhome,

I did shoot some video, but the shooting situation isn't as easy as when I'm riding solo.  When Joan and I ride together, I wear a different helmet - one with a communication system in it so Joan and I can talk.  When I ride solo, I wear a helmet that I've set up for shooting video, with a chin mount for a camera and a place to clip a microphone.  The last thing Joan needs to hear while we're riding is me blathering on to narrate a video.  So, at some point, I'll record a voice-over audio track on some of the video I shot today.

That said, the riding was good.  We're both tired.  When we got home, I made burgers on our electric Blackstone griddle - first chance we've had to use it since we left home.  And after that late lunch (we didn't get home until 1:30 in the afternoon), I did a fairly quick rough edit on the video portion of what I shot today.  It's still "cooking" - it takes a while to work, process, and export the 360 video.

I'm thinking there will be a group ride this evening for a photo at sunset.  We'll see how that plays out.

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Here's how it played out...

 And, looking the other way at what would have been the sunset...

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After over 2 hours of slow uploading to YouTube, here's an edited video of our ride today...

A shot of Candace and Win at that sunset gathering.

Yeah, yeah... riding... scooters... blah, blah...

 

Where's the Murphy content?

Right here.  This morning, the furry boy was in the wardrobe (that's RV talk for: closet)...

 If you open a door or a drawer, the boy is fast... like teleporting kinda fast.  If I hadn't seen him go in there, it would have been easy to close the closet door and accidentally lock him in.  But we do make it a point to see where he is before we head out the door.

I may have mentioned it before, but he is a LONG boy, too...

And sweet.

A Preview...

 

I shot some video yesterday while out on the scoots with friends Dan and Candace.  We had a nice ride in the afternoon, stopped for lunch in Bryson City, then got out on the Blue Ridge Parkway to ride a section of that.

Back in Maggie Valley, we parted company and headed back to the motorhome.  Later, Dan and Candace picked us up in their car for a tour of Waynesville, the closest city where we'll be doing our shopping, and another meal out.  That "tour" included an excursion up a twisty road that got narrower as we climbed... and eventually came to a gate across the road to a private residence.  We were only a little lost.  Nice couple, good company.

My Verizon/Visible connection here is on the slow side of what we usually get, so I let the AI do a very short video for a preview of what our rides will be over the next month while we're here...

The Beat the Heat gathering of scooter riders will be Monday through Thursday next week; we're here for a month.  This preview is from a short piece of the 469 mile long Blue Ridge Parkway.

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Joan and I got out riding for a few hours today, enjoying more of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  What an easy-going, delightful ride: speed limits of 25 to 45 mph, nice sweeping curves, great road surface, and gorgeous views.  I did not take a video camera; just busted out the Nikon for a few still images...

The riding was relaxed and about 20º cooler than down in Maggie Valley.  At one view turn out, there was a guy on a bicycle.  He said to us, "This is what I saw around the next curve in the direction you're heading"... it was a photo of a bear standing by the side of the road.  No, we did not see the bear as we drove past.

The silhouettes of the mountains in the distance goes on and on.  It is very lush here with the trees and vegetation, and the roadway and area around it is kept up nicely.

Another good "tune-up" day of riding.

Ch-ch-ch-Changes...

 

If you said, "David Bowie, 1971, from the album Hunky Dory," you get 20 bonus points.  Partial credit given if you just knew David Bowie.

Our first night in the campground at our destination.  I think I slept good... thought I heard the start of sprinkles on the roof, but it was a bird.  When I got up at 7:00 this morning (that is sleeping-in for me), it was 59º outside.  59º... I haven't seen 59º since last winter.

When Joan got up, it was still 59ª - she said, "I should have brought a vest to wear under my motorcycle jacket."  When it is 110º, it is hard to think about layering.  ;-)  We both brought jackets with and without liners, so I think we're good.  But... 59º.

Joan opened the door so Murphy could look out through the screen.  That seems to be his new favorite place in the coach.

It felt a bit ch-ch-ch-chilly. 

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Out for an afternoon of riding with Dan and Candace today...

I'll post a short video later - heading out for supper with Dan and Candace (we spent time riding with them in the Black Hills a few years ago).

We are down...

 

"As in: Getting jiggy wit it?" 

No.  I am not now, nor have I ever been... jiggy.  After that 2,000 mile drive... through the heat... and some crappy roads... we are in the campground at our destination for the next month.

We were in no hurry to get out of the RV park we were in the last two nights.  Not because it was so good (more: meh), but because we only had 80 miles or so to do today.  After leaving the park, we drove a couple miles to get to...

Yep, visiting the Beav.  Gas was 20¢ a gallon less than any stations nearby.  We did not go in.  (Gasp!)  With so few miles to get to our site for the next month, we wanted to go in with our gas tank mostly full.  Less than 50 miles down the road...

Even from the highway, the views were lush (especially after coming from the desert)...

We stopped at the North Carolina Visitors Center...

As we came in, a gentleman asked if he could help us; I said we were going to be in the area for a month, mostly here to ride some of these great roads.  He is also a motorcycle rider, so he fixed us up with maps and brochures that should keep us busy for a while.

Only 13 miles to go to the campground, and it was still early (before noon).  Joan made us sandwiches and I got Murphy an early lunch.  We are in a site made for RVs at the Visitors Center/Rest Stop, and we aren't keeping anyone from getting a site.  Also, it wasn't blazing hot for once (in the 70s), so we didn't have to run the a/c.  I am getting excited for the new riding experiences.

Only 3 miles off the Interstate, on the way to Maggie Valley, we pulled into the campground.  Easy check-in and a young man escorted us to our site.  The site we reserved is a back-in, he took us to a pull-through.  I asked about that and he said, "This is where they told me to put you."

"For the next month, right?" I asked.

"Yes, sir."

It isn't fancy, and there is a big tree that will keep us from getting our awning fully out, but we can make this work.  With the extra length (and not having to push the cargo trailer around), we unhooked the cargo trailer and positioned the coach where we thought it would be most level...

Our site is right along one of the interior campground roads, so not much in the way of privacy.  But, we only have a neighbor on the other side of us - I met them while I was hooking up utilities and they seem nice and friendly.  While I was getting us hooked up, Joan was setting up the patio area (using that term a bit loosely)... a patio mat, griddle table, our chairs (Murphy doesn't know that he has his own chair)

I got the scoots out of the trailer so we could take the chocks out and get it set up as their "garage."  Looks like they made the ride just fine, although I will need to spruce them up a bit, check tires (lots of elevation changes), and give them a closer look before we do any riding (not today).

This is a family-type campground, so lots of people walking by... walking dogs (on a leash)... kids on kick scooters and bicycles.  These are all things that Murphy considers "cat-killers."  We'll let him get used to things on his own time.  I think it is important that he gets a chance to sit by the door and just watch stuff go by (fairly close, as the road is maybe 15' from our door)...

All in good time, my pretty... er, handsome boy.  This is very different from his expansive yard with the 6' walls all around it at home.  The boy has had a lot of new stuff thrown at him on this trip.  After sitting at the door for a while, he moved to the dash...

He is a long boy.  Then back to the door, where he could check things out from the safety of the screen door once again.  Joan thought he might like to try some time on the patio...

First, some lap time (above); then trying out his own chair (below)...

"This is a lot, Dad."

"Yes, buddy, but we're down for a while.  No more driving for you, for a while."  (To be clear, Murphy hasn't helped with the driving, but he is good at sitting on the driver's lap and providing stress relief.)

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We know where you are...

My Visible data service was slower than I thought it should be.  You can only contact Visible via on-line chat.  I got on the chat and visited with a woman named Mariam.  She was not helpful.  I signed off the chat and immediately, my phone and data service... went away.  As in: I couldn't call out, couldn't receive a call, and had no data?

Coincidence?  I don't think so.  I think Mariam did something to zap my account.

I signed on to the campground wifi (painfully slow) and got back on the chat.  The guy who handled my case (yeah, I got a case number) assured me he would get it resolved.  It took about an hour and a half... but, it seems to be back.  Let this be a lesson: don't complain to Visible... "We know where your phone service is - it would be a damn shame for your phone service to have... an accident."  (You need to read that last line with a Jersey accent.) ;-)

Been a while since we've done that...

 

No, I am not going to over-share.

We are down for another day in the same campground; I can't really call this an RV park, even though it has full hook-ups.  It was obviously conceived by someone who has no idea what RVs need - there are 10 sites that are kinda level, and another 30 sites or so that no RV could possibly get level on...

We are in one of the mostly level sites (above).

It is on what used to be a farm.  It's a pretty setting, but any of those sites that you see in the middle image above are completely unusable for an RV (even though they have power and water run to the sites).

Today, we got one of the scoots out of the cargo trailer so we could do some running.  My choice, so I got out the Burgman.  Joan wasn't sure it would hold us both, but it was plenty roomy and had enough power.  We haven't ridden together on the same bike in years.

We went out for breakfast to a nearby Cracker Barrel.  Then over to a Bass Pro to see if we could find Frogg Toggs neck coolers that Joan had seen on-line.  Nope, but we had a nice walk all around the store.  From there, it was off to a hardware store to find some screws to tighten down a piece of trim on the motorhome interior that took a beating from the crappy roads.  And then, a stop at Camping World to do some "research."

Back to the coach to get Murphy some lunch and strap the Burgman back down in the cargo trailer for the last 88 miles tomorrow to our destination campground.

Speaking of Murphy, he did get some leash time this morning.  It is not his favorite thing, but he doesn't get much exercise in the motorhome.