This trip sent me through 2 states. Some new and old environments. Imagine for a moment, there is a strip of road, people travel hours even days just to ride this strip of road. Now imagine you rode this strip in the past. Imagine accidently riding it again! Well that pretty much summed up my ride on the Tail of the Dragon!

We are getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we.

It was a Wednesday and it was time to plan the next ride. I decided to put some of this new AI to work to find a good ride and maybe even a place to stay the night. After a lot of prompts and multiple different apps, I found it. A reasonable priced lodge and campground that fit my needs. So I started planning. 2 days, 5 sites. Ambitious? Proven absolutely that! After some re-working we got it to 2 days, 3 sites in 7 hours on the 2nd day. Lots of riding and knocking out those sites would be great. Again, proven too ambitious. But this time it's ok! See because this time we had the dragon! Wow here we go again! Please calm down.

The lodge is a campground that caters specifically to motorcyclists. It will cater to others but the main intent is, the riders of the dragon and the Cherohala Skyway. (As I was soon to find out!) The campground was purchased by the Smith family and a lot of updates are currently going on. The favorite update of mine are the single room cabins. The thing itself is about 10' x 10' and has just enough room for a bed, a fridge boot heaters and a shelving unit. It was way better than a tent. And a bonus is a covered awning to park the bike under out of the weather!

Smitty's Lodge, I cannot say enough good things about this place! In fact. after looking at it's website I decided I wanted to put my own spin on advertising the place. Call it a labor of love, however, if I do a good job, more riders will go there and I'll never get a lodge again! So for the first time ever, I present you with MY version of an advertisement for Smitty's Lodge.

No laughing!

Dinner time!!!

After getting checked in and a dinner at a local joint called Iron works grill. It was time to turn in for the night to get an early morning start. At 7:30AM the next morning I was out eating breakfast and on the way to, (what I thought was my first stop) Fontana Dam. But before that, the backstory. This was the first trip for many new experiments. For instance, I worked with a few AI apps to plan the trip and the thing that changed the whole trip mid run, I used a new app for navigation, (something I will sort of regret). Imagine riding a few roads, For giggles we will call them 441 and 72. For what I knew these roads helped take me to the famed Fontana dam. The largest concrete dam this side of the mighty Mississippi! The next part is hard to imagine if you never been there before but you dead end into 129...... Your GPS tells you to turn right..... And you do... 1 turn, 2 turns 14 turns and things start looking somewhat familiar.. I've been here.. Long ago but I've been here. A few more turns and it hits. Holy Hell I'm riding the dragon! (tail of the dragon for those that do not know) I rode this strip in the past. New bike, New me, and the lousy good for nothing person I rode it with last time is nowhere in sight! It's time for new memories! And that is where my head went! New Memories! And boy did I do just that! [](/assets/blog-images/Fontana__7_.JPEG_ Rarely in life do you get a moment to enjoy every second of a span of time. This was it for me. I wanted it, I needed it. And it was put in front of me and I took every bit of it.

North Carolina You have to know to know. Sad the tree of bike parts is gone but I hope the dragon will always be here!

I do not know if it was the excitement of riding the dragon alone wiping away bad ones, or the miserable choice to use a different GPS device, but this is where the trip took a turn. Not a bad turn.

If you know the dragon, you know cell service is worse than at my house. The experiment GPS did not have offline maps.

When it was time to hit the road again I did not know the next site location after Fontana dam. I had a big ol' sign telling me for a dam good time go here 👉

So I knew where the dam was but the stops after that were foggy.

On to the dam!!!!

I like seeing things I can't make. That is when my jaw drops. When I pulled up on the dam and saw the impressive sight.. I was in awe.... As I previously said, Fontana is the largest concrete dam this side of the Mississippi. I'm not 100% sure why they say its the largest CONCRETE dam this side.. I do know there is a dam that is the largest dam in the company. I have yet to visit. I suspect it's not entirely concrete. We shall see when we get to Kentucky!

For more on the dam click HERE or HERE! I left the dam, still not knowing the next site rout. Do I follow 28 hoping it doesn't lead to bears? Or turn back and finish the rout I took with the bum and finish wiping that memory away for new, good ones'?

I think the choice was clear at that point! The sites could wait for another trip. I knew 1 rout without the need for maps, and it was also an incredible ride in itself! Ladies and Gentlemen.. I present the Cherohala Skyway. 43-mile National Scenic Byway that connects Robbinsville, North Carolina, to Tellico Plains, Tennessee It's known for its stunning mountain views, numerous overlooks, hiking trails, and historical significance. For me it will be remembered by not only the amazing ride and views but starting out I witnessed a sobering reality of watching an ambulance leave a scene of a biker accident without it's lights or siren. If you know, you know. 😥

Not too quickly, but soon after, the thrills of riding the sweeping curves along the ridgelines. looking up and seeing riders, look in the mirror and seeing a line of riders. I was in a pack and I was in heaven.

is that??? A Smile? A few hours later I was back on my way home. When all was said and done I had new memories and a patch to keep them by. I truly loved this trip. It was what I needed going into a week I'd much soon forget. But this trip. This trip turned out to be less about work sites, but that's how it is when you ride the Dragon!