Day 3 - Hazard, KY to Harriman, TN (280 miles)

Wow! Well done, Smoky Mountains....you kicked our butt with the twisties today! Steve had planned our route with curves in mind, but there was no way to know how curvy the roads would actually be. We started off around 9am today and didn't waste any time getting up in those hills. In fact, we spent the first five hours of the day navigating our way through back country mountain roads which turned out to be quite an adventure.

First off, we had to share these small back roads with huge semi-trucks that were hauling big loads of rock or coal. It was obvious that the drivers take these roads back and forth every day because they were hauling ass around the corners and down the hills with frightening speed. Of course, we did get stuck behind them going up hills too, which was slooooooowwww going. The drivers were kind, however, and waved us around when the road was clear to do so. We caught whiffs of burning truck brakes several times on the down slopes and then sucked in lots of nasty black exhaust as they tried hauling their loads up the hill. A couple of times we met them head on, half way in to our lane as we rounded blind corners. Scary, big trucks.....but....

The roads were amazing! They were extremely challenging to ride, requiring all of my concentration through sharp turns, switchbacks and hairpin turns winding both up and down the mountains. We wound in and out of heavily wooded areas, sunny little valleys, small little communities and then back up in to the woods again. It was fabulous riding....a motorcyclists dream, I'd say. However, we weren't really racking up the miles very quickly and the hours were rolling by. After a stop in Big Stone Gap, VA for lunch, we continued on to make our way in to Middlesborough, KY (the home of Lee Majors!). At this point the roads straightened out a little and we finally put some miles under our belts and zipped through the Cumberland Gap tunnel and in to Tennessee. This was where we planned to end our day by doing the Devil's Triangle, another challenging motorcycle road requiring lots of focus and technical skills. During our rest break at the Norris Dam, we all decided we were getting tired and had had enough of those roads for the day. We had Sally re-route us to a straigher and quicker path to our stopping point for the night.

We rolled in to Harriman, TN around 7pm and checked in to our hotel. We then called our cousing Kerrie, who lives about an hour west and she and our Aunt Frankie came and met us for dinner. What a treat! I hadn't seen them in about 5 years so it was wonderful to see them and catch up a little. Steve had seen them on Mother's Day, so he got an extra visit in this year. Lucky duck! Dad hadn't seen them since 1979, so that was a bit of a reunion :)

Now we're done with another day. Tomorrow is the Tail of the Dragon, the Cherahola Skyway and then in to Bryson City, NC. Should be more fun :)

Click here for today's pictures. Oh yeah, and you'll see one in there of Chief Hootiemunja, who Dad quickly made up when Steve pointed out a formation that looked like a statue covered in ivy. I'm riding with a couple of dorks.

Oh, and we are having technical difficulties with the movies so be patient. Our cameras are putting them in the wrong format and we're struggling to convert them....we'll keep trying.