Thinking we were doing good, we, ( but now it turns out, me) decided to take highway 8 South off the mountain. For anyone interested, google highway 8 off the mountain, it is somewhere between amazing and crazy to go down that steep with hairpin turns, on a motorcycle, in the rain. But, I thought, that would get us closer to Tennessee. Turns out I came down the mountain on the wrong side. After about an hour of driving, I knew I was lost and had to ask directions. The guy ( who turns out doesn't get out that much ) said I was better off going north....basically back to where we started in the morning and coming back down Interstate 81 on the other side of the trail. Hell, at this point, what do I know, and started in the direction he suggested.
By this time it was mid afternoon and time for a coffee. We found this little gas station, general store, and local diner and pulled in.
As I was looking at the map I turned to the gentleman at the next table with his wife and grand kids ( god, I hope they were ) and said, " could you tell me where I am?" He chuckled and said "I thought those were Nova Scotia tags as I passed you on the side on the road back there. Your going in the wrong direction!"
Anyway, he was very kind and gave us directions to get towards Johnson City, the town we had planned to get to at the end of the day. The only thing was, once I turned around, back 4 miles to the old number 8, drive til I get to the number 58, we had to go back over the top of the mountain !!!
Hence, the following pictures ( and another one for the imagination ).
( to be continued in Part 3 )
