Earache

Nope - solo trip this time.

As I sat there, I wondered why Harley riders like chaps so much. It's thin, fashion leather that really don't' do shit in the event of a crash, they're not warm and ya look like a fag while wearing the. Yet, there's no shortage of twats in them....

Stopped at the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort for a drink, to sit in the warm Sun and to watch the bikes come and go....

Haven't been back here in a few years, but a hotel I used to stay at has gone tits up. Was fun to stay here and drink beers in the lot at night with all of the other riders, Shame to see it go. But I did get some abandoned structure pics for @XTreme

My what a big wall of rock you have there....

Guys in the boat were hauling their hunting dogs (wild boar and bear) back to their trucks. Funny to hear the dogs all howling as the boat went along the water....

Perfect day of riding today! Weather was nice and roads were not crowded. Had a fantastic time! Tennessee / North Carolina riding is kinda like riding in the Lake District and Peak District combined, add in a National Forest and multiplied in size - without the crowds.....

Screens were all torn out and lots of shit lying in the yards, crappy low income housing here. But could be really nice if it was worth fixing them - which it isn't. A fix would costs $75,000 and then you'd have a nice house worth $50,000.

Back home we went directly from Summer to Winter. It's snowed an additional 6 inches since I left with more expected this week. Dunno how I'm gonna get the bike home at this point. Hopefully it will melt by Thursday.

Today will be spent riding around Knoxville , (once it warms up), Deal's Gap area, Foothills Parkway - all of my old haunts in the area. Pics to follow....

Nice colors on the hills...

Cool views of the valley below....

The leaves seemed to be turning more the further south I got -odd. This was in Virginia...

And, of course, some are not so well kept. It'd be fun to restore these to their former glory..... er

I love the architecture of the homes in Appalachia - some really elegant homes and also the sturdy Federal style of homes. Some are really well kept and nice...

Spent yesterday riding from east central Ohio to Knoxville, Tennessee . Pretty cold day as the temp high was around 55F / 12C. Still, the Sun was out so it wasn't too bad. 475 miles on the day but a crap average...

Decomposing animals - nice! Looks like perfect weather though.

Fucker, That was in Knightstown, Indiana - near exit 109. Place was a mess.

Kick a window open and walk in. We used to go up the fire escapes when I was a kid and go in that way. They look to be boarded up now though.

Tomorrow, Saturday, is an off the bike day as we look at some real estate in the area. Might get some pics of that but won't bore you with them. Sunday I'm headed south for 500 miles to Tennessee.

Kind of a depressing place to be. Markers are all of pretty low quality, uniform in size and badly worn despite not being all that old. They'll soon fade away. Some of the large markers were placed by family members after the Asylum was closed.

And for the "patients" that didn't make it, we have a private cemetery out behind the place. No names on the markers, just numbers. The final disrespect to the mentally ill that lived here. There are 5 or 6 of these cemeteries on the grounds, located on different hills behind the Asylum...

Some of the other buildings that housed operating theaters, etc still look to be in good shape. Hard to fathom how many lobotomies were performed here....

Those iron bars and gates on the windows weren't designed to keep people out ...

This is another abandoned place that should be in the movies. It housed some seriously deranged people back when I was in college here (1977-81) but was closed in 1980 or so. We sued to go into the buildings and walk around when I was in school. It looked like the people just walked out and left all of the office and hospital stuff behind. Very weird. They are trying to turn it into an artists studio of some sort these days...