Blue Ridge Parkway
July 4 - 8th, 2001

Left Acworth GA,  Wednesday morning,  July 4th  and headed up GA 575/515/76 and then cut across to US 64 and headed East through Highlands, Cashiers and Brevard, up NC 280 to NC 191 in to Asheville NC. Stayed at Country Inn and Suite on 191 Wednesday Night, then off to Chimney Rock Thursday morning around 9:00.   Spent about 3 hours on the Rock, then stopped in town for BBQ, then hit BRP around 1:00PM .. Stopped at Linville Falls and Caverns for a worn out walk through the woods, then up to Little Switzerland Inn where we stayed over. Back on the road Friday morning, up to Grandfather Mountain for several hours (typical tourist hikes) then on up to Blowing Rock NC and Boone NC. Spent the night at Boone then back down to Blowing Rock Sat morning and a very chilly ride back down the BRP, stopping at a lot of the overlooks for piccy taking, but there was a lot of low hanging clouds so a lot of the planned pictures did not come out very well. Proceeded in to Asheville late Saturday evening just ahead of a storm front... Sunday morning headed back down to US 64 same way we came and finally got home Sunday Jul 8th around 4:00PM .. Was a good ride .. Deb did great on her Vulcan except for Grandfather Mountain. That is one heck of a access road going up and then coming down, but she survived the twisties in great form.. Got a survival pin which she says she will wear with pride.

Good trip, sorry we missed ya .. 800+ miles total.

   Honda Hoot 2001
June 20-24, 2001

Debbie and I left Acworth GA early morning, June 20th. With me loaded down on the Venture and Debbie riding her Vulcan off we went. Since this was Debs first trip on her own, we decided back roads were in order, so we decided on US 411 to Marysville TN and then up US 129 to I-40. The trip was perfect, with good weather and arrived at our hotel, Country Inns & Suite in Knoxville around 12:00PM. After our checkin and unpacking the RSV, we rode to the Hoot Headquarters at Chilhowee Park to complete our registration. On this first open day of the Hoot, the parking lot was filled with many THOUSANDS of bikes. Have never seen so many bikes in one place ... Awesome sight. After getting our registration completed, walked around the Hoot for an hour or so. Over 300 vendors, all the major manufacturers with the Demo area. This is gonna take a few days to see it all. So, we decided the best thing to do was head back to the Hotel and wait for the other Venturers to come in.

Great Smokey Mountain Ride
May 2001

The following pictures were taken by Curt Whitehead and myself during our 2nd Annual Great Smokey Mountain Ride. We left Acworth on a beautiful Thursday morning and after our normal run up GA 515, a quick breakfast in Tate Ga, headed up to Telico Plains, gassed up and started our trek across the Cherohala Parkway. After a very beautiful ride it was up toward NC 129 and the famous Deals Gap. Arrived in Deals Gap, took a short lunch and coolness break and with Curt leading the way, we made our first of three passes on the "The Dragon". Curt needed some grin time and I needed to figure out how "DreamKatcher" was going to take the Gap, so followed up the rear. Well, DK did just fine. Stopped at the DG summit, took some more piccys of the many bikes there then started our second run back through. This was not as bad as the first run, because I had learned what DK could and couldn't do. It was a bit faster run on the second attempt. After a real quick breather at the Deals Gap store, we started our third and final run. This one was really quick and went very smooth and quick. After our successful runs on "The Dragon", slipped over and ran the Foothills Parkway. From the Foothills Parkway, headed up to Townsend TN for the night, but decided to go on to Pigeon Forge. After a restful night cruising Pigeon Forge and a great BBQ din din, turned in for the evening. Next morning, we were up early and headed to Cherokee NC where we stopped for breakfast and then headed East on the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Asheville NC. We found a new road that we hadn't traveled about 50 miles into the BRP and needed to cut down to NC 64, so we took NC 213 .. Well, this new road was almost as challenging as Deals Gap and is highly recommened as a cut through from the BRP to NC 64. Got to NC 64 after our fun run and headed back West, through Cashiers and Highlands NC to Blue Ridge GA, where the rain finally caught up with us. Stopped for a short break and gas fill up at the Citgo in Tate and broke out the rain gear. Of course, shortly after we got back on the road, the rain stopped, so we kept on anyway back home .. Was a great ride covering 600 miles in two days ... Thanks Curt for the memories ...