Memorial Ride 3rd & 4th Day

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Everyone is watching the weather closely and trying to decide how to dress for today's ride.

Looks pretty nasty to the West and South. Doubt if we will be able to dodge the rain today.

We have had two perfect days so far so time will tell.
Kinda cool up here on the Mountain, 57 degrees this morning.

Well the weather turned out to be in our favor, or in Jimmy's favor.
We have a dry morning so we headed over to Lynnville Falls.

After a short 1/2 mile trek thru the woods and over the hill we found the falls.

It took longer to find the bathrooms though because the ones at the Ranger station were out of order.
We took a long break to get that chore completed.

Several people and twice as many dogs were at the falls, after all it is Memorial Weekend and lots of folks visit this area.

The river was really flowing due to the rain we had last night.

We are at the top of the falls as the water rushed over.

It was a long ride on a gravel road to get to the lower side of the falls.

Good shot of our Road Captain and his dad...

We had such a good time on this ride, it has been great. Hopefully we can do several of these this summer.

A placard with some history of this area and the falls.

Click on the picture to enlarge...it you care to read the fine print.

Some of the guys just hanging out at the falls watching people..

I think they are trying to figure out how to get the energy to climb that hill back to the parking lot.

Next stop on the agenda was lunch at  Woodlands Bar-B-Q in  Blowing Rock, North Carolina..                


Jimmy knows how to pick the eating places...The food was delicious.

We arrived just before the crowd, it was packed.

Waiting in the parking lot for the second group to finish lunch so we can finish the ride together.

Everyone is together and it's time to head out again.












Twiggy Holmes taking one of his New Found Buddies for a Trike ride at Little Switzerland.

Back at the Lodge waiting for the Dinner Bell to ring.

Someone had the bright idea to form a Runway on the sidewalk so the girls could do their runway walk..

Well that turned into all the girls chanting the guys names until they did a runway walk...well, you just had to be there.

I promised Jimmy I wouldn't post this video on Facebook so I shrunk it down and put it on the Blog

But if you must see it just go to the video link below...
Jimmy won again, he got $7 for his show...I only got $5 for mine.

The temptation was too great, I had to do it Jimmy.....

So the next chant was Alison,Alison, Alison until Jimmy talked her into the Runway Dance together.

We had soooooo much fun with these two.
And the "hard to believe" part was everyone was sober...this was before dinner.

Well, you might have noticed the wording is a little short on this post.

That's because after dinner I found a quiet room off the dining hall to work on posting today's pictures on the Blog, using the Lodge WiFi.
And within minutes the room is full of these yea-hoos taking turns playing the piano.
So much for Blog Posting.
After teaching Jimmy a few key stokes...Jimmy and I ended up playing a duo on the piano of "The Tennessee Waltz"..You just needed to be there to get the full benefit...More fun.

May 29,2017

Looks like Jimmy and Alison are discussing today's ride.

They are looking for a different route back to Bowling Green with Gas Stops and Lunch along the way.

Several members have already left, going to other destinations before returning home.

Just sitting on a bench in front of the cabins taking in one more of these "Morning Views" at some of the most beautiful countryside you can imagine.

Everyone should experience the Blue Ridge Mountains at least once, especially on a motorcycle. This ranks right up there with waking up anchored off some remote island on a boat, or soaring over the clouds as the sun rises.

It is such a blessing to watch the sunrise in so many awesome places.

Well, everyone saying there goodbyes as several prepare to head back to Bowling Green or other parts unknown.

Over 40 motorcycles participated in this Memorial Weekend ride and what a success it was.

Thank you Jimmy Chafton for all the hard work you and Alison put into this Adventure.

After Lunch at Cracker Barrel in Middlesboro, Ky. it was off to "Wildcat Harley Davidson" in London, Ky for a short break on the way back.

Stats for todays ride.....
Trip distance.....352.2 miles
Moving average....52.9 mph
Max speed.......75.7 mph
Trip time......10.18 hrs

TOTAL FOR MEMORIAL RIDE

         1098 MILES

Memorial Ride...Big Lynn

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Neat bit of History about the area around the Big Lynn Lodge.

This sign hangs on the front of the building.

We will be in the Little Switzerland area today as we ride through these beautiful mountains of North Carolina.

If the rain holds off we will climb up Roan Mountain.....



Click on any picture to enlarge....









Click on link below for trip tracks:


https://share.garmin.com/jerrychafton

Some of us "Early Birds" having coffee while the staff prepares our Breakfast.

Great service and food at this lodge, not to mention the view in the background.

Everyone is looking forward to todays ride.

The girls doing their "ChitChat" thing during breakfast.

Looks like Andrea got a good dose of sunshine yesterday.

I know Alison is looking forward to getting back on that new Harley she recently acquired. It's a Beauty.....
This girl is amazing.

The riders are gathering over at the tree for the Riders Meeting.

Jimmy Chafton will be ride captain today and everyone will follow his instructions during the day.
The CB radios make this much safer than it was in the past. He can monitor the 40+ riders by talking with others along the line.

We told him he looked like a preacher at the pulpit during his Riders Meeting.

Or maybe a Politician on the stump.

Either way, he got the message across.

Even the dogs are ready to ride. This little feller has his own set of goggles and a neat little tour pack as his dog house.

This one rides with Jeff.....

The other dog rides with Anita on her Harley.

They go everywhere the Merris couple go.....

I couldn't let one dog out do the other so I took a picture of each.

These cuties get lots of photo ops.

Lots of stops along the way....

Some for gas, some to pee, some to eat...seems we do a lot of this on a full day ride.

Jimmy, Alison, and I at on of the gas stops.

So much fun to ride with these two.

Another unplanned stop just to let everyone gather up again.

Stop lights and traffic get us separated sometimes so Jimmy pulls over to regroup.

It"s kinda like "Herding Cats" when you get this many together.
He said it was the largest group they have ever had at one time on a ride.

Sturgis, South Dakota was close in 2014 but not quite this many.

Everyone is filing in to the "Old Barn Rest" for a scheduled lunch.

Good place, they have done wonders with this old barn. Stripped it down to the skeleton and totally refurbished it into a restaurant.

Next stop was for a 15 minute break at "Smith Brothers Harley Davidson" in Johnson City, Tennessee..

Just a little parking lot chatter going on here.

A few more "Chewing the Fat" before we head up to Roan Mountain.

We climbed to an elevation of 6,285 feet on Roan Mountain. The ride up and down is an awesome motorcycle ride.

Hopefully, I will have some good GoPro video to add when I get time to edit it.

Some of the gang after dinner just hanging out by the Mess Hall.

Of course, John is about to tell them what he thinks they should be doing.

But the gang knows it's almost "BeerThirty" so whatever John says doesn't matter.

OK, next step...bring the chairs off the porches....build fire....Jerry's got Steve's cooler full of beer and other treats ready for the night.

Probably discussing todays ride.....

Here are the stats...

Moving average speed....35.8 mph
Max speed today.......69.5 mph
Trip time...8 hrs   47.06 minutes
Trip distance....166.1 miles
time moving....4 hrs   51.55 minutes

And as the night progress's we see the gang with bottles in hand but the night is young and very calm so far.

The owner of the Lodge came by and said ....If you need anything just let me know and I will get it for you.

He is quite the host....allowing Cathy Key to claim "Squatters Rights" in the middle of the driveway. Said just move the chairs out of the driveway when finished and he will put them away tomorrow.

And the crowd gets a little more "Rowdy" as the night wears on thanks to some Peach Stew and Cherry Juice.

Everyone seems to be having a good time.

The "Cave Country HOG Chapter" is a great bunch of folks.
They seem to enjoy whatever is presented to them....Proud to be a part of such a neat group of people.

And especially proud of Jimmy for the great job he does with leading and layout of the rides.

This is a good example of what a few beers, lots of Cherry and Peach Juice will do to a bunch of fun loving girls.


They demanded I take a picture of them before we called it a night.

They also had some other little secrets they were spreading but you will just have to ask them what that was about....some kind of party they are planning I think.

Memorial Day Ride 2017

May 25, 2107

"Ye Ol' Road King" is loaded and ready for the Memorial Day Ride to North Carolina with the Cave Country HOG Group. Jimmy and Alison will be leading 40-50 riders tomorrow to an area called Little Switzerland. The entire group will "Take Over" the Big Lynn Lodge for the weekend and ride the mountains every day, rain or shine..
We will be flying the Flag to Honor our fallen heroes. Everyone needs to  remember what this weekend is all about and never forget those that served our country so valiantly.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Early morning gathering of the HOG members for a ride to the mountains.

Jimmy says "Kick Stands Up at 7:30" and he don't mess around. Be ready or be left.

Several members left at 6:30 and a hand full left yesterday for Gatlinburg. They will meet us at the Lodge.

Click on the link to Follow our Tracks

https://share.garmin.com/jerrychafton

Lunch stop at Pine Mountain State Park Lodge in Pineville, Kentucky.

What a beautiful day God has provided for us. The weather is perfect, kinda cool so the leathers felt good.

About 15 bikes here now and the earlier group just finished lunch. This was done to break up the large group for easier travel and services.

Inside the Lodge.....a gorgeous old State Park Lodge in the Eastern Hills of Kentucky.

Come sit a spell.......

Another shot of the Interior of this Old Lodge.


I was in awe of the woodwork.....beautiful!!!

Just could"t resist this picture of the Exterior..

If ever in the area, you should visit this Park.

Arrived at "Big Lynn Lodge" in Little Switzerland, North Carolina just in time to check in and make it to the Dining Room for a great dinner.

This is the view from my room facing East.

Looking forward to watching the sunrise tomorrow while sitting in the rocking chair and drinking my coffee on the porch.

Looks like I might be late for dinner. The earlier group are already "chowing down"...

Looks like someone played a trick on our "Fearless Leader El Presidente" John.

Our seats are assigned by the room number so we put a baby's high chair at his place.
He is always joking around with the members and this time the joke was on him.

John's a cool dude and does a great job of keeping the Chapter moving along.

Jimmy and Alison will be leading the ride all weekend and John is riding Tailgunner.

One of several "Gas Stops" along the way.


Some interesting data from our ride today compliments of my InReach Satellite Comm.

Total miles.......363.3
Moving average.......53.5 mph
Max speed.........79.2 mph
Trip time.........11.11 hrs 58 seconds
Time moving.....7.03 hrs 03 seconds

Christine's Birthday Cruise

May 3, 2017

Beautiful day for a short cruise before heading North for the summer. Had to cancel our Bahama plans this year due to health issues but there is always next season.

Mystic Lady and crew need a few days on the water and it looks like a good time to take off.

Gotta get back to Kentucky before our Memorial Day Harley Ride with Jimmy, Alison, and the whole Harley Group.

Once we were all settled in at Fort Myers Beach we unloaded the tender and took a long ride with Annie. She loves to ride in the tender.
A nice day for a water outing but storms are coming in tomorrow tonight and rain for tomorrow so we get'r'done today.

Annie says Thank You, Thank You.

Good shot of Mystic Lady as she sits on a Mooring Ball in the bay behind Ft Myers Beach.

Gotta get moved over to the "Pink Shell" Resort/Marina before the storms move in.

Gonna play the "Tourist Game" for a few days. Beach sittin' while the sun shines and a nice dinner for Christine's birthday.

May 4, 2017

Lunch at poolside.

This Resort is one of the finest in the area. The place is gorgeous, looks a lot like a Disney development but it isn't.

Service is excellent and the marina is super. Harbormaster Dave O'Connor is stop shelf.

A little Beach Time before the storms move in. The wind is whipping pretty good now.

Only a few die-hards are still in the water. We watched a couple try to take a kayak out but never got past the waves.

Several jet-skiers were still out.

We had a beautiful Birthday Dinner at "Jacks", an upscale restaurant at Pink Shell.

We only mentioned once at the Marina sign-in that it was Christine's birthday.
That message must have made it to the chef because they presented us with this complimentary dessert after dinner.
Like I said the Dockmaster is top-shelf.

May 5, 2017
"Cinco De Mayo"

Five dollar Margarita's and Two dollar Tacos was our bargain lunch today at the Pier Walk on Ft. Myers Beach. Complete with live music...Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Johnny Cash all wrapped up in one guy.

Topped that off with Brown Derby's from Dairy Queen. Does anybody know what a Brown Derby is?

Another great day with two of my favorite girls.

Saturday May 6, 2017

Just another day in Paradise.....

Watching the Pirate Ship go by Ft. Myers Beach...

Beautiful (but windy) day on the beach.

My little "Chick Magnet" Annie is up to her old tricks again.

This time she reeled in three beauties from Chicago.

Man, I love this dog.







MAY 7, 2017

An 8:00 am walk on the beach, what a beautiful day. The storms passed thru and left us with dry air, warm temps, and finally the wind calmed down.

Ft. Myers beach is great. The Pink Shell Resort/Marina is perfect for us.

Heading back to Ft. Myers today so gotta go check out and cruise back up the river.
Christine said she had a wonderful birthday weekend.

Christine pulling in the dock lines as we leave Pink Shell. Lots of traffic today, perfect boating day.

This is as we round Bowditch Point at Ft. Myers Beach.

Fishing fleet coming in after all night fishing.

Now she gets in a little "Captain time" as I go down below to test the water maker and other systems before we put Mystic Lady up for the summer.

This has been a good sea trial for the boat since we didn't do a lot of cruising this year. Seems our doctors had other plans for us this season.

I don't think we have ever seen this much traffic before.

Looks like everybody with a boat decided to take advantage of this beautiful day.

Click on the picture to enlarge it and get a better idea of the number of boats....Unbelievable