Day 1
June 3, 1995
Gatlinburg, TN
Day One of the second annual 'Todd and Sean Get the Hell Out of Dodge' trip... Unusually for us, we left more or less on schedule -- 6:45am Indianapolis time. The secret seems to be (amazingly enough) packing everything ahead of time. Both bikes were fully loaded with all the essentials Friday night, and there were just a few last-minute items to load up this morning.
Both bikes are running like tops... Todd's Honda is smooth as ever, and my BMW is feeling much better with a new shock, new front tire, and fresh oil. Todd is sporting a 'black leather' theme -- the new saddlebags are set off well by the mandatory biker jacket, and my black leather chaps (sans the bottom 4 inches or so, thanks to our trusty Gerbers).
I am finally getting a chance to really give the new leather riding pants and jacket a real workout, and they are extremely comfortable. Not really worth the price, but comfortable none the less.
About 75 miles from home, we stopped for gas near Cincinnati, at the junction of Indiana 1, which we will take south to meet up with I-75 South. We have had overcast skies, and no sign of the sun, up to this point, but no rain.
As we pulled out of the Shell station, that luck ran out on us as we were pelted with a light mist. We turned back to the gas station, and Todd got a chance to try out his new rainsuit. He reports complete success.
Luckily, the rain did not last long, and within 30 minutes, we found ourselved under clearing skies, and pulled into the Cracker Barrel in Erlanger, KY for breakfast. I am sure that, contrary to the waitress's comments, they DID have some food left for the other patrons after we left.
From Erlanger, we resumed our southward journey on I-75, which was largely uneventful. The only real problem we encountered was a stretch of interstate about a mile long that was moving, at best, at a crawl. We have no idea what caused it; traffic started moving normally as quickly as it had stopped, and there was no visible cause. Todd's guess is that someone slowed down in the early morning hours, and the system never quite recovered.
The next stop was a Shell station near London, KY. No need for gas yet -- just a quick breather. We have decided to try to break every 75 miles, with a fill-up every other break.
As we pulled in, we noticed a quite familiar looking maroon Honda V45 Magna at the gas pump - a dead ringer for Todd's bike (except for those BMW-cylinder-cover-shaped scratches that did not mar the stranger's engine).
The fellow who was driving the bike looked as though he would be more comfortable atop a Harley than a honda -- Tattoos, typical 'biker' getup of a bandana and the Nazi Stormtrooper-style helmet that we would see more and more as we went south.
He turned out to be a friendly enough guy - he said he had purchased the Magna new in 1982, because he was tired of having a Harley that was in the shop more than on the road. One couldn't help but notice the helmet's decoration... several colloquialisms, including "F**K OFF" (complete with illustration), and "WILL WORK FOR SEX". We will have to consider these as possible "White Helmet Gang" themes.
We crossed into Tennessee about half an hour after the break - with about 320 miles of highway behind us, and around 120 yet to go. North of Knoxville, we decided to go ahead and top off the tanks while it was convenient. At the station, we chatted with some Harley-riders on their way back to Michigan from Florida. Again with the Nazi helmets. Todd and I were beginning to feel a little out of place.
The next point on the trip was a quick buzz through Knoxville. Since it was a weekend, and we didn't expect heavy traffic, we decided to take the run through town, rather than the bypass. We saw the familiar "Sun Tower" built for the 1984 World's Fair, which was the last occasion that brought me to this area.
We made the interchange to I-40, which took us east to Tennessee-66, then south into the tourist area. We began noticing an ever-increasing theme of Harley-Davidsons, with every rider wearing the Nazi helmet. Either Wal-Mart had a sale, or some sort of cult was invading the area.
As we continued to see bikes, we began to think that we had the only two foreign-made motorcycles in the state of Tennessee. As we entered Pigeon Forge, the situation grew to absurdity - there must have been several hundred Harleys of every shape, size, and condition - the only commonality was the damn helmets. We are going to have to get a couple if we ever hope to get out of this state alive.
If the nazis ever make a comeback and take over America we have nothing to worry about. There's about 4,000,000 bikers that could pose as German soldiers and I know they're probably all armed.
We stopped at Burger Thing for a bite of lunch (now about 3:00 Indiana time)... and saw the most unusual use of an American flag. A young woman had made a bikini top out of what was probably a 4' by 6' flag, and had no problem filling it out. Dolly Parton would be jealous. We saluted, in a fashion, and went on our way. <>
Finally, we arrived in Gatlinburg. We made a quick stop at the tourist information center, and found a campground a couple of miles out of town. It's no KOA, but then again, how many tent-campsites have you seen with Cable TV hookups? We were impressed. Two thumbs up.
Camp is now set... Creekside view (Trout Creek, apparently... though an adult trout would get a might thirsty, if you get my drift). The neighbors looked on with trepidation as we set up the tent - they don't take to those biker types 'round here.
We made a trip into town (Sevierville, in this case) to the Radio Shack to pick up some supplies to help us watch the Pacers beat the Magic's collective asses tomorrow night... We have a little TV, but the reception is for shit, and we need some adapters to hook up to the cable. Unfortuanately, we arrived a little late, and they were already closed.
We stopped in at K-mart for a few supplies... we wanted a canopy to put up over the picnic table at our campsite, and some citronella candles to keep away the legions of bugs that infest the area. Todd asked a clerk where we might find citronella -- he may as well have asked for Plutonium. I'm sure the fellow's parents are very proud (and possibly related).
Back to camp - the site is now set up with the tent, our new 12x12 awning shielding the table (and the motorcycles), and all the essentials unpacked and ready to go. We opted to take a break and saw "Die Hard 3" at the local theater, and that pretty much finished the day.
Tomorrow - Clingman's Dome (the highest point in Tennessee), and of course, we will find a way to watch the Pacers trounce the Magic once and for all.
Todd and I can be reached at my Compserve address (74044,3457), or via Internet at [email protected]. This report is sent via a Canon Innova Book 10C laptop, with a Motorola Power PCMCIA Modem plugged into my MicroTAC Elite, which is dangling from a tent pole in order to get enough signal to transmit properly.
Gatlinburg, TN
Day One of the second annual 'Todd and Sean Get the Hell Out of Dodge' trip... Unusually for us, we left more or less on schedule -- 6:45am Indianapolis time. The secret seems to be (amazingly enough) packing everything ahead of time. Both bikes were fully loaded with all the essentials Friday night, and there were just a few last-minute items to load up this morning.
Both bikes are running like tops... Todd's Honda is smooth as ever, and my BMW is feeling much better with a new shock, new front tire, and fresh oil. Todd is sporting a 'black leather' theme -- the new saddlebags are set off well by the mandatory biker jacket, and my black leather chaps (sans the bottom 4 inches or so, thanks to our trusty Gerbers).
I am finally getting a chance to really give the new leather riding pants and jacket a real workout, and they are extremely comfortable. Not really worth the price, but comfortable none the less.
About 75 miles from home, we stopped for gas near Cincinnati, at the junction of Indiana 1, which we will take south to meet up with I-75 South. We have had overcast skies, and no sign of the sun, up to this point, but no rain.
As we pulled out of the Shell station, that luck ran out on us as we were pelted with a light mist. We turned back to the gas station, and Todd got a chance to try out his new rainsuit. He reports complete success.
Luckily, the rain did not last long, and within 30 minutes, we found ourselved under clearing skies, and pulled into the Cracker Barrel in Erlanger, KY for breakfast. I am sure that, contrary to the waitress's comments, they DID have some food left for the other patrons after we left.
From Erlanger, we resumed our southward journey on I-75, which was largely uneventful. The only real problem we encountered was a stretch of interstate about a mile long that was moving, at best, at a crawl. We have no idea what caused it; traffic started moving normally as quickly as it had stopped, and there was no visible cause. Todd's guess is that someone slowed down in the early morning hours, and the system never quite recovered.
The next stop was a Shell station near London, KY. No need for gas yet -- just a quick breather. We have decided to try to break every 75 miles, with a fill-up every other break.
As we pulled in, we noticed a quite familiar looking maroon Honda V45 Magna at the gas pump - a dead ringer for Todd's bike (except for those BMW-cylinder-cover-shaped scratches that did not mar the stranger's engine).
The fellow who was driving the bike looked as though he would be more comfortable atop a Harley than a honda -- Tattoos, typical 'biker' getup of a bandana and the Nazi Stormtrooper-style helmet that we would see more and more as we went south.
He turned out to be a friendly enough guy - he said he had purchased the Magna new in 1982, because he was tired of having a Harley that was in the shop more than on the road. One couldn't help but notice the helmet's decoration... several colloquialisms, including "F**K OFF" (complete with illustration), and "WILL WORK FOR SEX". We will have to consider these as possible "White Helmet Gang" themes.
We crossed into Tennessee about half an hour after the break - with about 320 miles of highway behind us, and around 120 yet to go. North of Knoxville, we decided to go ahead and top off the tanks while it was convenient. At the station, we chatted with some Harley-riders on their way back to Michigan from Florida. Again with the Nazi helmets. Todd and I were beginning to feel a little out of place.
The next point on the trip was a quick buzz through Knoxville. Since it was a weekend, and we didn't expect heavy traffic, we decided to take the run through town, rather than the bypass. We saw the familiar "Sun Tower" built for the 1984 World's Fair, which was the last occasion that brought me to this area.
We made the interchange to I-40, which took us east to Tennessee-66, then south into the tourist area. We began noticing an ever-increasing theme of Harley-Davidsons, with every rider wearing the Nazi helmet. Either Wal-Mart had a sale, or some sort of cult was invading the area.
As we continued to see bikes, we began to think that we had the only two foreign-made motorcycles in the state of Tennessee. As we entered Pigeon Forge, the situation grew to absurdity - there must have been several hundred Harleys of every shape, size, and condition - the only commonality was the damn helmets. We are going to have to get a couple if we ever hope to get out of this state alive.
If the nazis ever make a comeback and take over America we have nothing to worry about. There's about 4,000,000 bikers that could pose as German soldiers and I know they're probably all armed.
We stopped at Burger Thing for a bite of lunch (now about 3:00 Indiana time)... and saw the most unusual use of an American flag. A young woman had made a bikini top out of what was probably a 4' by 6' flag, and had no problem filling it out. Dolly Parton would be jealous. We saluted, in a fashion, and went on our way. <>
Finally, we arrived in Gatlinburg. We made a quick stop at the tourist information center, and found a campground a couple of miles out of town. It's no KOA, but then again, how many tent-campsites have you seen with Cable TV hookups? We were impressed. Two thumbs up.
Camp is now set... Creekside view (Trout Creek, apparently... though an adult trout would get a might thirsty, if you get my drift). The neighbors looked on with trepidation as we set up the tent - they don't take to those biker types 'round here.
We made a trip into town (Sevierville, in this case) to the Radio Shack to pick up some supplies to help us watch the Pacers beat the Magic's collective asses tomorrow night... We have a little TV, but the reception is for shit, and we need some adapters to hook up to the cable. Unfortuanately, we arrived a little late, and they were already closed.
We stopped in at K-mart for a few supplies... we wanted a canopy to put up over the picnic table at our campsite, and some citronella candles to keep away the legions of bugs that infest the area. Todd asked a clerk where we might find citronella -- he may as well have asked for Plutonium. I'm sure the fellow's parents are very proud (and possibly related).
Back to camp - the site is now set up with the tent, our new 12x12 awning shielding the table (and the motorcycles), and all the essentials unpacked and ready to go. We opted to take a break and saw "Die Hard 3" at the local theater, and that pretty much finished the day.
Tomorrow - Clingman's Dome (the highest point in Tennessee), and of course, we will find a way to watch the Pacers trounce the Magic once and for all.
Todd and I can be reached at my Compserve address (74044,3457), or via Internet at [email protected]. This report is sent via a Canon Innova Book 10C laptop, with a Motorola Power PCMCIA Modem plugged into my MicroTAC Elite, which is dangling from a tent pole in order to get enough signal to transmit properly.