Our week in the Outer Banks (OBX)... It was 36 degrees F when we left, so we were looking forward to our week on the beach. Mike and Sarah rode the 400+ miles over from Anderson, SC, to meet us at our rental house, Pelican's Perch. It was a traditional beach house on stilts, right over the water. We walked over to the Black Pelican for our first nights meal which was worth the 900 mile drive down!!

The weather was awesome upon arrival, sunny and mid 70's. Too bad it didn't stay like that! After that first night, the weather steadily got colder (and wetter!). A storm on one day kept us inside all day, the 65mph winds were not too cool to ride in and just walking outside was akin to being in a sanblaster.

We managed to ride the length of the Outer Banks, squeezed in a few lighthouses, went to the Wright Brothers Memorial, ate some great meals, and best of all, got to spend some time with Mike and Sarah!

We departed in the rain, (yuck).... but after a bit, the rain stopped and on the ride to their house in SC, it warmed up to over 80! We rode thru some great scenic roads, Mike managed to navigate a route with almost no Interstate!

For our second week riding, we left for Maggie Valley, NC and the Wheels thru Time Motorcycle Museum, a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Smokey Mountains National Park, and Cades Cove. We stayed in Gatlinburg, TN for a few days while we rode around the area. It got COLD! during our stay, good thing I had recently bought an electric vest! Nothing like a little frost on our bikes in the moring to separate the 'real' bikers!

We left Gatlinburg for Chattanooga, but first, we "had" to detour to ride Highway US-129 , othewise known as Tail of the Dragon. 318 curves in 11 miles!
Great road, not too busy in November. Still, the sports cars running over into our lane at almost every turn was pretty scary, I can not imagine what the road is like in the summer! There were two photgraphers on the roads, taking pics.
Here are some pics of us on the Dragon Oh, BTW, Mike's not in front of me, he's just holding us up!

After the Dragon, we rode the Cherahala Skyway. It winds thru the Cherokee Reservation and the Nantahala National Forest and climbs up 6000 feet. Way nicer riding, slower paced and the colors were still out. We took a wrong turn and ended up on one of the nicest river roads, a pleasent detour for sure!

Once in Chattanooga, we rode north to Falls River Falls. The drought is apparant in the whole area, but the falls were still nice, and we rode home on the Southern Highroads Trail. Even though our last week of riding was cold, no rain! Check out our second week on the road here.