Mel & Trinity

The mountains were calling and I had to go. I can’t stop smiling as a result!

Friday morning started with a conversation with Bobby at reception of the Country Inn & Suits in Greenville, which already had me in high spirits. The day just kept getting better!

My rough plan was to go and ride the Tail of the Dragon (Highway 129) which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee, with the hope of spending the evening in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and then meeting my friend Amanda around lunchtime on Saturday.

Everything was going to plan until I reached Maggie Valley and passed a sign saying Motorcycle Museum. That could be fun I thought, so I turned around and went in.

OMG…that was the best decision ever. I absolutely LOVE the museum! It was like walking through time from the early 1900’s. Every motorcycle still runs and they are happy to start them up if you fancy it. Even Evil Knievel’s motorbike was there! It was an absolute work of art and I couldn’t stop thinking that my dad would love this place the whole time that I was there.

I mentioned I was from the UK when I entered and the lady at reception told me I had to meet Andy. Andy is also from the UK and as I found out after talking to him – he has cycled through 76 counties, including my native South Africa. How bloody awesome!

Andy had seen me riding in and saw my British number plate, as well as the stickers on the my panniers showing my current trip and my 10 year plan. I’m not sure who was more excited him or me!

Andy is AMAZING! I felt like royalty walking through the museum. He kept introducing me to everyone, gave me some free stuff (the signed cap I’m planning on framing and keeping) and then organised with the photographer in the wall of death to take a photo of the rider taking money out of my hand. He even made me a cup of tea! He was incredible and it completely made my day.

Meet Andy.

Please visit my Facebook page for photos of Dales Ride Through Time Museum.

Below is the wall of death.

I was struggling to wipe the smile off my face when I left the museum. I would have loved to have ridden the trails Andy told me about but I also really wanted to head into the park. The park won.

I absolutely love the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. As with the Congaree National Park I went to the information centre ready to pay my money to enter the park (I was actually trying to purchase my annual pass which costs $85) but both parks are free to enter. Seriously, WOW!

The park cuts across North Carolina and Tennessee and it is absolutely incredible! The only thing to watch out for is that there is no mobile (cell phone) reception. As long as you are prepared for that, all is good!

It was about 5pm when I arrived in the park so I didn’t have too much time to ride around before it got dark but I made the most of it. Around 7pm I started looking for a place to sleep. There were two campsites in the park that worked for me. The first was full, so I headed west toward Townsend where there was another campsite. When I arrived there was a sign up to say they were full too. Damn!

It was not looking good. I was wandering about trying to figure out my next move when I spotted a Greek God of a man walking up the road towards me. As he passed he started speaking to me. He used to ride and loved Trinity. After a few minutes I mentioned I was hoping to spend the night in the park but the campsite was full. He offered that I stayed with him and his two friends. They had a campsite and I could pitch my tent there. ‘Sounds great’, I said, so off we went.

Race and his friends are law students from Florida. What amazing people! If they are the future of America then the US has a lot to look forward to. We spent the evening chatting and eating – they fed me as I had nothing but some snacks and a bottle of water with me and they wouldn’t accept any money from me. I got the, ‘you’re our guest’, which I have heard so many times before in the US.

Meet the future of America.

I had been surround by fantastic people all day – the day could really not have been any more perfect!

Race and his friends had to leave at 7.15am so it was an early start. I hung around for a little longer before hitting the road. The road I had hoped to take towards the Tail of the Dragon has apparently been closed for years, so that Put a slight spanner in the works. I didn’t have time to ride around the mountain and still get to Knoxville by lunchtime so I decided to head to Gatlinburg instead on the way to Knoxville.

Gatlinburg is very cute but touristy. I moved away from the high street hoping it would be easier to find somewhere to eat, which is when I noticed the Pancake House. I nearly left due to the queue to get inside but Amanda told me that it was the best place for pancakes so I stayed. I’m glad I did.

I had pancakes with Blueberries and Pecan nuts which was fantastic. I skipped the syrup and the pancakes were perfect – moist and fluffy! Yum!

After breakfast I was back on the road to Knoxville which took about an hour.

I had a warm welcome from Amanda and her boyfriend, Dustin, who I had not met before. Over the course of the weekend I grew to absolutely adore him. What an amazing guy! An ex-cop with a heart of gold.

On the Saturday night we went into town and first had dinner with one of Dustin’s oldest friends before heading to a music festival. Outside of the funky music I had me some Moonshine and some Yee Haw (a brand of beer), before hitting the local ice cream parlour. It was an absolute blast!

Below are a few photos of the evening.

Of course the next morning I felt the aftermath of the night before. Slightly hungover, Amanda and I took the dogs for a walk while Dustin helped a friend move house. The park was fantastic!

Maggie, Amanda’s Beagle, was pulling me along the trails so I let her run and I followed suit. It was great except for the headache that followed. That Moonshine was talking back to me now. Luckily it disappeared quickly. 😂

In the afternoon we headed to the local river to do some canoeing. We dropped the canoes off with one car and left the other car downstream. It was all worked out.

The canoeing was great fun but incredibly hard work when we hit the main river due to the strong winds. It definitely felt like we were padding upstream. It was hard work but well worth it. I also discovered that paddling backwards is pretty cool and it gave my shoulders a rest. Bonus!

That night we ordered take out (my weakness – pizza) and waited for the final Episode of Game of Thrones. I got about half way though and fell asleep – I was exhausted! At least it didn’t ruin the ending for me as I stopped watching GOTs after Season 4.

What a fantastic weekend and amazing company!

The next morning I spoke to my parents before hitting the road. After seeing a message from my friend Duncan I realised I couldn’t miss the Tail of the Dragon, so I headed back west to complete the famous ride.

The Tail of the Dragon was loads of fun! I took a photo when I got to Deals Gap – one for Duncan – and then had some food in the cafe before hitting the road again.

I spoke to one of the Harley riders and he told me to get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, which is what I did. The Harley riders can look scary but most of them are sweethearts. 

The Blue Ridge Park Way is incredible! I stopped at a few of the lookout points and eventually took a break when I hit the peak. There was a short hike to the top of mountain which I couldn’t resist exploring, so I hit the trail, motorcycle boots and all. Man it was steep! The view from the top was worth it though.

On the way down the hiking trail I saw a set of keys in the path and thought some poor bugger had lost their keys until I realised they were my keys. Some how they had fallen out of my jeans pocket without me realising it. This cat has now used three out of my nine lives on this trip!

I arrived in Asheville about 6pm. I had booked into the Princess Anne hotel which was a short Uber ride from the Breweries. I stopped off at Hi-wire Brewer for what was going to be one drink and then dinner but I got talking to Will – a gaming software developer. I thought about my nephew, Steven, who’s dream is to be a gaming developer. He’d be so excited!

It was serendipity meeting Will. As it turns out Will was a heroine addict and was homeless for 10 years before turning his life around. My eldest nephew, Andrew, had contacted me for money earlier in the day and I had been feeling torn about what to do. Andrew started taking drugs when he was 12 and was a heroine addict by the time he was 15. He turned 25 the day I landed in Miami. It was a bitter-sweet day for me.

Andy has been in and out of rehab and on and off the streets for years. His drug of choice these days is Chrystal Meth. The last 6 months were particularly tough as he went off the rails and after getting violent with my sister, she had to kick him out of the house. I don’t know how she copes. He was living in a park since December. 10 weeks ago a guy whose ex-wife was an addict offered him a job and is allowing him to sleep on the shop floor, so at least he has a roof over his head.

There is nothing more painful then watching someone you love self-destruct. At times I feel completely helpless and other times wrapped in guilt that all the ‘help’ I have been giving may have been perpetrating the situation i.e. enabling his addiction. It is at time pure torture! I would do anything to save my nephew but I know you can’t save someone – that’s a journey they have to make on their own. 

All I can do is prepare myself mentally and emotionally for the next storm. I have learned to expect storms.

I spoke to Will about how I was feeling before we moved onto other life conversations – ending the causes to homelessness being one of them. It was just what I needed and it gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe one day Andy will be okay. Nothing would make me happier!

I sent Andy a message when I got back to the hotel telling him how much I love him and that I would always be by his side but that he had to learn to stand on his own two feet, so I wasn’t going to give him money. It was a tough decision.

I was feeling uneasy about my decision  yesterday morning – scared about the potential consequence – so instead of exploring Asheville I hit the road. I needed to keep moving and get out of my head and back to my heart. The mountains were calling and I answered. I always find peace in the mountains. They didn’t fail me!