Happy Hoosiers Royal Blue Ride 2024

 October 5, 2024...Day 3

Gonna get everybody a Hearty Breakfast Today........

Been slicing potatoes and onions since 5 a.m.         Rocky's on Bacon Patrol

Gettin' them eggs ready

Kevin wasting no time....

Alright, breakfast is over.....

Load em' up.

Well if your waiting on us...

You're backin' up

Where's Dad???

Just hold your horses..I gotta clean this windshield.

I want to see what we're  going to hit.....

And just like that, we are above the Foggy Bottoms..

Making our way over to LaFollette, Tennessee for Lunch.

Stopped by the old Utility Dam on the way to LaFollette.

Huge outlet pipes down there that look like they diverted water towards the Water Plant downstream..

Not a fact...Just a guess!

Somewhere along the way...Not sure what these gals were shooting......

Well we all made it in One Piece...

LaFollette is ATV friendly....

Us rednecks bring a lot of revenue to this town.

The Mayor stopped by our table and welcomed us. If he wasn't the Mayor he should be.

If you are ever in LaFollette stop and have Lunch.

The service and food was great.

A hungry bunch of Hoosiers and one Hillbilly taking pictures.

This display was in the corner of the cafe.

My kind of folks down here in LaFollette.

And this crew really liked that Banana Split.

Happy Hoosiers Royal Blue Ride 2024

 October 4, 2024..... DAY TWO

Lining up for a long day of riding...

Heading over to Tackett Creek Area today.

Things can get Rowdy over at Tackett..

Hang on....

Who are we waiting for.....

Looks like a meeting of the minds.

The boys are ready and waiting.....

They all seem to find something to do no matter where we are...

These boys are a HOOT....love to watch'em

Ok....got these two in.

Now where are the other two??

Alright....I think I found'em..

Helmets on, harnesses on, goggles on......

Hey, where's our driver.....

MOM....call dad. Get him over here. We gotta go.

Well, we are on the road now...

Looks like we ended up with eight muddy buggies for todays adventure.

Lots to see today..

And we start with the Old Cabin...video below

When Mama's happy ........

       Everybody is happy.

This is called sittin' on the Back Porch.......

...Country Style

I told you the view was awesome...

Also stopped off at McLeans Overlook...

Nice bench here, placed in Honor of a rider known by many in this area.

I don't know the whole story but the old bench was destroyed or taken so a new bench was recently re-dedicated.

Playing on the edge....

And the view from here is absolutely Awesome.

The bench is right in front of this group of Hoosiers...

And what a great bunch they are.

Three Amigos on a Mountain..

Discussing what makes the World go around..

The Man on the Mountain ....

Rocky looks serious ...

I think he is thinking about climbing Slate Rock..

Out next stop

OFF TO THE SAND CAVE NOW

Nothing like a little challenge to get you going...

How often do you get to play in the sand under a Natural Waterfall?

These memories will last......

CAVE EXPLORERS...............Or 

            Future Movie Producers

Rocky spotted this grouse along the way.

I was about 4 feet away and she paid no attention to me.

Enlarge picture to find her.

Now that we have made it down to the Sand Cave it's time to see if we can get out of this Holler.  The further we go, the worse the trails get. And it's uphill from here.

Ands now it's starting to rain.....The video says it all. What a surprise, no chance of rain today and here we are at the Bottom of Sand Cave Holler. The creeks are already up a bit.All we need is more rain....UGH.

Heading back to Camp....That's going to be a long wet ride.....

This stuff ain't for the faint of heart....If these little fellers can do it...you can too.

Happy Hoosier Ride at Royal Blue 2024

 October 3, 2024....DAY ONE

Well......This hurricane didn't seem to care one damn bit  that we had this ride scheduled for months........

Maybe it will stay East of us, cause we are going to the mountains anyway.....

I called the campground and they said Stinking Creek was up a little but most of the hurricane missed them.

Looks to me like it might hit Old Stinking Creek anyway.

Oh, what the hell. Let's go see for ourselves.

What could possibly go wrong!

Loaded and Ready.....

Firewood and all.....

MAMA and ANNIE said no thanks....maybe next time.

Made it down to Pioneer, Tenn. and looks good.

Got'er backed into a really cool spot with Stinking Creek behind me. And no, the creek don't stink.

Quite a story goes along with that name. Google it sometime.

View from behind the coach.

Campfire ring already set up in the woods by the creek.

Nice place to kick back and sip on a Jack Daniels Slurpy.

One of many creeks we will be crossing on today's ride.

Heading over to the Bologna Store.

And some of the caves, overhangs, ledges, overlooks, etc. we will be passing by today.

So many picture perfect opportunities, too many to capture. Use your imagination....

Speaking of overhangs.....Here is one of our favorites over in the Royal Blue Section of trails.

Great opportunity to stretch our legs and let the boys out to play.

And Rocky (Pappy) took this one up to the ledge.

These boys had a big time out here in the woods.

More Boy action coming....

Time to get going....got a lot of miles to cover before we get our Bologna Sandwich.....

Old coal train bridge and another creek crossing..

Lots of remnants of the coal industry in the hills.

Some interesting stuff is found while walking off-trail. 

This spot of trail held us up for several minutes..

Looks like any other dirt road but it is off-camber to the point of turning over if your tires slid over the bank.

This wash out is over 4 feet deep...

Video to follow...hopefully

But once past the wash out the views are breath taking.

Beautiful day to boot....

And occasionally we stop to take a few more pictures.

Another scheduled pee-stop...

It' about to get a bit swampy...

Will we ever get that Bologna Sandwich????

Lots of water from the recent storms from Hurricane Helene....about 80 miles East of here.

We finally made it to the Bologna Store...

yum...yum...

Thick sliced, warmed in a mini-oven....Slap on a big slice of tomato....little pepper....cheese...and you have a Tennessee Country Steak Sandwich.

And a huge variety of ice cream in the chest freezer to choose from for desert.

And when the kids are happy....

Mama's happy..

Hanson even found an airplane to ride while he was here.

How many country stores have a supply of toys and a tv playing old Andy Griffin movies for the kids.???

That's country living in Tennessee

That's about it for today...arriving back at camp for steaks on the grill and Jack Daniels by the fire.

Does it get any better than this?

STAY TUNED FOR ............................

DAY TWO AND THREE COMING SOON........LOTS MORE "LITTLE BOY" ACTION