Starting home 2025-04-29

Packed up our tents, payed the bill and left Iron Horse Lodge. On the road again by 0930. We headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) section we had not yet traveled, southeast from Magie Valley. Catching a McDonalds breakfast on our way through Cherokee. We rode the BRP upto it's southern most point, below the Pisgah Forest. From that point to Ashville the BRP was a collection of closed roads. The GPS and Apps showed that the Lake Logan Road, heading north through Pisgah, as closed. Our initial plan was to exit south toward Balsam Grove. But with no closed signs visible, we gave north on Lake Logan Road a shot. We saw very recently cleared trees along the route, but it was in fact open. Nice road and in the direction of home.

We grabbed a small lunch in one of the towns we passed through on our way to Rt40. Temperatures climbed as we left NC and crossed into TN. My bike claimed 87F for most of the time we spent off the BRP. At lunch I turned on my AC (wet neckerchief). Route 40 had light traffic but many construction sites along our path. Eventually we opted to jump off Rt40 and onto Rt25E, a secondary road along a river backwater. Far more pleasent riding, prettier and a tiny bit cooler. Upon reaching Rt81 we decided to head northeast and stop for a motel bed off Rt81 at exit 59 in Kingsport TN.

Jim was sore from riding and tenting. He really wanted a bed, that didn't have to be crawled to. He was not a fan of his new tent, wanting to leave it behind fully setup at Iron Horse. I took it down and packed it on my bike. Perhaps he'll change his mind, or someone else will want the tent that Nate loves. As I type Jim, freshly showered, is snoring on his bed in the AC. This Motel 6 tenting is something even Tucker would like. Although Tucker would pack the solo Motel 6 and not the two person variant in which we now inhabit.

The steakhouse across the main road from us is tempting, but the lady at checkin said playing frogger had just recently proved to be fatal for someone. So we stayed on our side of the track and had Mexican food a few doors down at La Carreta Restaurant. Seemed odd to be at our destination well before dark, and even finish dinner before dark. But I will admit the AC does feel really nice!