Set your video quality as high as allowable with your service....1080p is recommended.
Island Hopping is the name of the song, and it fits with our journey down this creek.
KEEPING TRACK
WHERE ARE YOU GUYS NOW?
Monday, August 28, 2017
Trail Riding Videos
A 3 minute video of Sasquatch Trail....turn up the volume and enjoy.
Set your video quality as high as allowable with your service....1080p is recommended.
More to come as I edit the videos and work thru the worlds worst internet service. We had better service in the hills of Eastern Ky than here in Bowling Green...go figure.
Set your video quality as high as allowable with your service....1080p is recommended.
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Eastern Kentucky Rides 2
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Well, we broke camp at Wildcat this morning and loaded up our toys and headed over to "Mine-Made Adventure Park" in Knott County Kentucky.
We are camped on top of an old strip mine that has been reclaimed about 30 miles from Hazard, Ky. The trail system was developed by the County to promote tourism.
Looks like great weather again for this part of our Eastern Ky. tour.
Mama says she feels like she is camped on a prairie out West somewhere.
Her and Annie are enjoying the peace and quiet. Not many people here this weekend but over 400 campers expected for Labor Day Weekend. That's why we are here this weekend.
Very friendly and rustic area. We weren't here 15 minutes and was invited to a Country Wedding on the premises.
A not so good picture of some of the trails up here on the mountain top.
The campground is far left in the photo. Should be an interesting venture.
We will head out tomorrow for a full day of exploring and charting the trails on our Ride Command GPS.
These trails are also used for horseback riding when the ATV's aren't here. They hold some huge events during the fall season.
Got an early start tis morning and what a morning it is. You can see for "Miles and Miles" as the song says.
We are on top of a knob looking over the Knott County Recreation Area. Free camping anywhere you choose but no facilities.
One lonely camper down there but they are waiting for the group to arrive. We met them later on the trail and there were about 10 vehicles.
Christine and Annie are getting that "Open Prairie" feeling high up here on top of what was once a mountain top, now just a reclaimed knob.
Heading down to the woods trails from here to see what today brings.
One of the first interesting sites we came cross was this early, early 1800"s cemetery way back in the mountains off a dirt road.
We noticed lots of flowers on the markers so we stopped. Most of the headstones were hand carved from sandstone rock from the area and the names were weather too bad to read.
However, the ones we could make out were from deaths around 1802 to 1910. The latter were on marble and easier to read. Seems most of the 1800 markers were children that only lived one or two years.
So sad to think how tough it must have been to live in these hills at that time. Evidently there must have been a community back here for many years before the coal companies bought them out. The cemetery is well preserved and taken care off as well as could be. Just think the parents of these children were born in the 1700"s.
We spent miles in and out of this beautiful creek so we stopped on a gravel bar and had lunch.
No one around for miles, quiet and very enjoyable.
Notice the clean wheels, lots of creek running.......
And about the time I said "no one around" we came across this group of 10 units on the same creek trail.
We had just went thru a "Very Deep" section of the creek and on the other side was a Honda Pioneer that didn't make it thru. It died in the creek and was towed to the other side with a locked up engine.
They had removed the spark plugs, the air filter, the starter, etc. but the engine would not turn over even using a screwdriver to turn the flywheel. It was toast.......
They didn't want to hear it when I told them they probably hydro-locked the engine and bent a rod. So we just quietly left. They had plenty of push power anyway.
Another site was this spring falls that looked like it might have been an old water stop.
It was right on the dirt road that the cemetery was on. People used these springs back in that era to fill their water cans from a horse and wagon.
The old piece of pipe stuck in the ground was the giveaway.
And another great sunset to end the day.
Gotta head home in the morning....so much to do, so little time.
Well, we broke camp at Wildcat this morning and loaded up our toys and headed over to "Mine-Made Adventure Park" in Knott County Kentucky.
We are camped on top of an old strip mine that has been reclaimed about 30 miles from Hazard, Ky. The trail system was developed by the County to promote tourism.
Looks like great weather again for this part of our Eastern Ky. tour.
Her and Annie are enjoying the peace and quiet. Not many people here this weekend but over 400 campers expected for Labor Day Weekend. That's why we are here this weekend.
Very friendly and rustic area. We weren't here 15 minutes and was invited to a Country Wedding on the premises.
A not so good picture of some of the trails up here on the mountain top.
The campground is far left in the photo. Should be an interesting venture.
We will head out tomorrow for a full day of exploring and charting the trails on our Ride Command GPS.
These trails are also used for horseback riding when the ATV's aren't here. They hold some huge events during the fall season.
Got an early start tis morning and what a morning it is. You can see for "Miles and Miles" as the song says.
We are on top of a knob looking over the Knott County Recreation Area. Free camping anywhere you choose but no facilities.
One lonely camper down there but they are waiting for the group to arrive. We met them later on the trail and there were about 10 vehicles.
Christine and Annie are getting that "Open Prairie" feeling high up here on top of what was once a mountain top, now just a reclaimed knob.
Heading down to the woods trails from here to see what today brings.
We noticed lots of flowers on the markers so we stopped. Most of the headstones were hand carved from sandstone rock from the area and the names were weather too bad to read.
However, the ones we could make out were from deaths around 1802 to 1910. The latter were on marble and easier to read. Seems most of the 1800 markers were children that only lived one or two years.
So sad to think how tough it must have been to live in these hills at that time. Evidently there must have been a community back here for many years before the coal companies bought them out. The cemetery is well preserved and taken care off as well as could be. Just think the parents of these children were born in the 1700"s.
We spent miles in and out of this beautiful creek so we stopped on a gravel bar and had lunch.
No one around for miles, quiet and very enjoyable.
Notice the clean wheels, lots of creek running.......
And about the time I said "no one around" we came across this group of 10 units on the same creek trail.
We had just went thru a "Very Deep" section of the creek and on the other side was a Honda Pioneer that didn't make it thru. It died in the creek and was towed to the other side with a locked up engine.
They had removed the spark plugs, the air filter, the starter, etc. but the engine would not turn over even using a screwdriver to turn the flywheel. It was toast.......
They didn't want to hear it when I told them they probably hydro-locked the engine and bent a rod. So we just quietly left. They had plenty of push power anyway.
Another site was this spring falls that looked like it might have been an old water stop.
It was right on the dirt road that the cemetery was on. People used these springs back in that era to fill their water cans from a horse and wagon.
The old piece of pipe stuck in the ground was the giveaway.
And another great sunset to end the day.
Gotta head home in the morning....so much to do, so little time.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
EASTERN KENTUCKY TRAIL RIDES...2017
August 23 thru 30
Arrived and checked in on a gorgeous day, mid-week so hardly anyone else in the campground until Friday.
Everything unloaded and setting up the toy-hauler for a three day stay here at Wildcat Park near London, Kentucky.
Looking forward to a week or so of camping and riding. Just Me, Momma, and Annie.
Day 2
... we meet our only campground neighbors and hook up for a joint trail ride on Thursday. They have two dogs that never ride with them but when they met Annie it was "get in kids, we're going trail riding. Their dogs were loving it.
Annie says "come on guys, I'll show you how it's done out on the trail.
These three dogs had a ball running and playing everytime we stopped.
The little one is bringing up the rear and hard to see.
Buster and Skeeter are their names.
Eastern Kentucky has some of the best rock formations in the East.
Here Danny and Vicky are checking the map to see what's next.
Christine is logging the trails on our Ride Command GPS and placing waypoints at trails to match the map.
We have been here once before but riding trails this time we have never been on.
A group shot taken by Danny. We usually don't get in the same picture very often.
So many different "Photo Ops" of the rock formations we got tired of stopping so much.
This one was a little close but we managed to get the "General" thru the Sasquatch Gap....
So far the new unit is performing great. All upgrades have been worth the trouble, especially the suspension and fender flairs.
Nice soft ride and staying clean inside.
We got this shot as we were squeezing thru the Gap.
Looking straight up.
This Gal never ceases to amaze me. She has hung in there with just about every crazy thing I have ever done.
Sometimes I think she likes this "Trail Riding" as much as I do.
She had a big hand in outfitting this new unit to her liking. And Annie's.
Including Annie's custom designed, hand made, over engineered doggie seat.
Danny, Vickie, Buster, and Skeeter squeeze their 800S RZR thru Sasquatch Gap and down the other side. Lots of fun riding with these "new found friends" this weekend.
OH LOOK....
ANOTHER ROCK.
OH THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST ONE YET.....
Let's go in and see where this one takes us.
More to come tomorrow....
Friday, Aug. 25th
Annie says, I think I'm ready for another day of riding mom.
She is loving her new doggie seat, she can lay down, sit up, stand up, or give mom lovin'...
Not many pictures today, spent most of our time with the GoPro making videos but we did run across this poor guy trying to get his 4-wheeler out of the rut.
We offered to winch him out but he was waiting for his riding partner to turn around and come back We stayed and helping them muscle this machine back onto the trail without turning over.
After we finished our ride we headed down Highway 25 for a couple miles and took a little side trip back a gravel road for 3 miles to see the Camp Wildcat Civil War Battlefield Memorial. Quite a story, seems this was one of the very first battles fought in the Civil War.......after both Leaders said they would honor Kentucky's Neutral Position in the War.
A beautifully manicured little piece of history sits back in these hills and I doubt if it gets 50 visitors a year.
No one on site to ask, just lots of markers and placards.
Just couldn't resist a picture with this old Civil War cannon.
With all that's going on in this country today it's a damn wonder the protesters aren't here to remove this piece of History.
It's hard to believe these snow flakes won't take the time to read and learn the true reason for the Civil War. It was all about States rights and later became a slavery issue.
Hopefully we can get some GoPro clips on here when we get better internet service. It's not easy posting a blog from the hills of Kentucky.......
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Rainy July 4th Weekend at Windrock
July 1, 2017
The Chafton's arrived a day early and set up camp for a quiet evening in the Cumberland Mountains.
Built a little fire, mixed a little drink, after taking a little ride up the hill to check out the Coal Creek Windrock Campground.
We like this one better, very small and quiet. Only 30 or so sites but booked up for this weekend. The new owners are super people. They sold everything they had in Baton Rouge to move here and follow their dream of living in the Tennessee Hills.
This little creek borders the campground so we took a stroll down to let Annie play in the water.
The rains haven"t started yet so it was an easy crossing. Weather is forecast to move in tonight and tomorrow.
Should make for some interesting off-roading.
Looks like Annie and her mom have found their "Happy Place" while we wait for the rest of the crew to arrive.
Fixin' to cook up some pork chops and settle in for the night.
The view from the road up to the trailhead. Looks like it won't be long before the showers move in.
Jimmy, Steve and Cathy are here but Alison didn't feel like she could handle the trails just yet.
Hope to get some good video this weekend and add it to the blog after editing.
So the forecast was right on the money. It started raining last night but ended early so we headed up into the mountains.
And boy did we see some neat waterfalls. Every gully and creek was running strong.
This is probably just a wet weather waterfall but the smooth rock face made for a nice picture.
The girls are taking a break, somewhere in the quiet hills of the North Cumberland Mountains.
Peace and quiet away from the crowds and fireworks normally associated with the 4th of July.
Being at peace with Mother Nature is far more relaxing.
Steve Key and Jimmy Chafton standing on one of the many Overlooks that can be found within the 72,000 acres of Windrock ATV Park.
Jimmy is exploring some of the cracks and crevices that make up the unusual rock formations found in these hills.
Several different soil and rock types are also found in this area making for some diverse terrain. The property is owned by Coal Creek Mining Company.
After the heavy rains of this weekend the water was pouring out of every rock and crevice.
This made for some beautiful scenes as we made our way along the trails. Looks like we will exceed the 100 mile mark this weekend.
That's a lot of bouncing, smashing, wading and wallowing.
After riding with Jimmy most of the weekend Christine says she wants a buggy with a smoother ride.
Jimmy has more ground clearance with his upgraded tires, suspension, springs and more comfortable seats.
Alison, you have a nice ride.......
Four days of Trail Riding condensed into a 9 minute video...hope you enjoy.
select 1080p if available to you...turn sound up
Built a little fire, mixed a little drink, after taking a little ride up the hill to check out the Coal Creek Windrock Campground.
We like this one better, very small and quiet. Only 30 or so sites but booked up for this weekend. The new owners are super people. They sold everything they had in Baton Rouge to move here and follow their dream of living in the Tennessee Hills.
This little creek borders the campground so we took a stroll down to let Annie play in the water.
The rains haven"t started yet so it was an easy crossing. Weather is forecast to move in tonight and tomorrow.
Should make for some interesting off-roading.
Looks like Annie and her mom have found their "Happy Place" while we wait for the rest of the crew to arrive.
Fixin' to cook up some pork chops and settle in for the night.
The view from the road up to the trailhead. Looks like it won't be long before the showers move in.
Jimmy, Steve and Cathy are here but Alison didn't feel like she could handle the trails just yet.
Hope to get some good video this weekend and add it to the blog after editing.
So the forecast was right on the money. It started raining last night but ended early so we headed up into the mountains.
And boy did we see some neat waterfalls. Every gully and creek was running strong.
This is probably just a wet weather waterfall but the smooth rock face made for a nice picture.
The girls are taking a break, somewhere in the quiet hills of the North Cumberland Mountains.
Peace and quiet away from the crowds and fireworks normally associated with the 4th of July.
Being at peace with Mother Nature is far more relaxing.
Steve Key and Jimmy Chafton standing on one of the many Overlooks that can be found within the 72,000 acres of Windrock ATV Park.
Jimmy is exploring some of the cracks and crevices that make up the unusual rock formations found in these hills.
Several different soil and rock types are also found in this area making for some diverse terrain. The property is owned by Coal Creek Mining Company.
After the heavy rains of this weekend the water was pouring out of every rock and crevice.
This made for some beautiful scenes as we made our way along the trails. Looks like we will exceed the 100 mile mark this weekend.
That's a lot of bouncing, smashing, wading and wallowing.
After riding with Jimmy most of the weekend Christine says she wants a buggy with a smoother ride.
Jimmy has more ground clearance with his upgraded tires, suspension, springs and more comfortable seats.
Alison, you have a nice ride.......
Four days of Trail Riding condensed into a 9 minute video...hope you enjoy.
Friday, June 23, 2017
Rough River RZR video
GoPro clip of our RZR ride at Rough River Kentucky...June 2017
Chasing Jimmy and Alison through the trails at Rough River ATv Park...
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Test Videos from HOG ride..in progress
2017 Cave Country HOG ride to North Carolina Hills
SlideShow and Videos are a work in progress.....so here goes. They should be viewed in 1080p or 720 for maximum clarity. Click on "gear icon" in lower right of full view screen..click on quality and choose from there 1080p or 720.
Turn your volume up too...
Had to remove this version due to Copyright Laws regarding the song I chose. Sorry bout that.
Same Slideshow but without the Music..
This video was compiled by the GoPro App called Quik...I added only music and text, some of same footage is in the 3 minute version below.
Videos must be viewed in 720 or 1080p to get best quality. Changeable by clicking on Settings..then Quality.... in lower right corner of full view video. Your internet speed determines how high you can adjust..............Still working on editing better videos with GoPro App called Splice but very time consuming.
WiFi is a must.....
Pictures load fast and with good quality.....Videos are a different story. Don't know how much more time I will spend on this project. Our Internet Service is the worse. Need good fast WiFi for this stuff.
Cruising along the Blue Ridge Parkway.....the view doesn't get any better than this...gorgeous day.
Compilation of several video clips of our Memorial Day Weekend Ride thru the Blue Ridge
Mountains of North Carolina.
And when this group gets together there is always a fun party about to happen....seems the ladies formed a runway dance along the sidewalk in front of the "Big Lynn" Resort at Little Switzerland. Then started calling for the men to join in. It was hilarious.
SlideShow and Videos are a work in progress.....so here goes. They should be viewed in 1080p or 720 for maximum clarity. Click on "gear icon" in lower right of full view screen..click on quality and choose from there 1080p or 720.
Turn your volume up too...
Had to remove this version due to Copyright Laws regarding the song I chose. Sorry bout that.
Videos must be viewed in 720 or 1080p to get best quality. Changeable by clicking on Settings..then Quality.... in lower right corner of full view video. Your internet speed determines how high you can adjust..............Still working on editing better videos with GoPro App called Splice but very time consuming.
WiFi is a must.....
Mountains of North Carolina.
And when this group gets together there is always a fun party about to happen....seems the ladies formed a runway dance along the sidewalk in front of the "Big Lynn" Resort at Little Switzerland. Then started calling for the men to join in. It was hilarious.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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