Day 5 - A Day late, that is...

Day 5 - WOW...

I get up early at the Fontana Resort and head out... Mosquitoes were up early for breakfast too! My legs look like I have the chicken pox right now!

A few miles north of the resort is Deal's Gap, NC. The start of the Tail of the Dragon (which is officially in Tennessee). Tail of the Dragon is 319 curves in 11 miles. There's a sign at the entrance showing "curves ahead 11 miles"...

I THOUGHT I was ready for this, but NOPE - nothing can prepare you for the dragon. The turns are so tight and banked (causes to have confidence you really shouldn't have I might add...)

Also, there is a LARGE motorcycle meeting this coming weekend and some of the more "proficient" riders showed up early to take the Dragon on.

By proficient, I mean they're travelling in excess of 50-60 miles per hour, laying their bikes down so that their knee almost touches - THAT kind of proficient!

I thought Edgar and I were doing well until I saw these guys. UNREAL!

Along the path of the Dragon, I saw several photographers taking pictures - I'm looking forward to seeing if they captured me!

Once I was finished at the Dragon, we found our way to US 40. Now that Edgar had 1200 miles under his belt, it was time to use the Interstate and Cruise Control! It took me a while to figure out how to use the cruise control (didn't read that part of the manual yet LOL) but I got the hang of it.

Just before I got to Nashville, I was following a large truck with what appeared to be older windows in the back. Must have been a couple hundred of them in the back. I was following a safe distance behind him (have to be careful of Edgar's paint) when the truck hit a bump and the wind got under a couple of windows. They fell to the road right in FRONT OF ME!

A quick look to my left mirror and I made an evasive maneuver to that lane. It's funny how the training I received back when I was in Rescue came back to me. In short, we cleared the wood and glass shards but the cars behind me weren't so lucky.

For the most part, the travel on Interstate 40 was uneventful - rather boring I'd say. After spending so much time on the back roads, it was a stark contrast. If I didn't have reservations already made, I would have continued to take the back roads.

We arrived in North Little Rock to find that the wireless in the hotel wasn't working - that's why I'm uploading this late.

Places visited: Deal's Gap (NC), Vonore (TN), Humbolt (TN), Centerville (TN), Memphis (TN), Carlisle (AR), North Little Rock (AR)

Weirdness of the Day:

McDonald's in Vanore, TN. Seems like the manager there is a former cheerleader. I was there just before lunch and the staff were really hyped up... She'd chant, "A-P-O" and other staff members would give a hollar (Southern for "yell")... Was amusing.

Bumper sticker outside of Nashville: "Out of my mind, be back in 5 minutes"

Tennessee Vanity License Plate: "IMA YNKE"