Black Friday Ride, "Lucky Son" & a Happy Dad

[jgarp99]

Black Friday- alot of people use this day to shop. Not me, No -I wanted to take a ride. I needed to take a ride.
2012 has been a crappy year so far. Divorce, Family Split, living in a crappy apartment away from my beloved children, debt, & Sadness has made this a year that can kiss my ass.
So with that, I needed something Good. I needed to Make a Happy Memory and since I had 3 days off and clearance from my Ex to let me take my 10 year old son Mateo with me. A RIDE was What we were gonna do.
A little Father/Son quality time and 3 days just to make great memories.

Isaiah 61:3 - roughly translated. I WILL GIVE YOU BEAUTY TO REPLACE YOUR ASHES ..

This ride started in City of Rome Ga. I Stuffed some warm clothes into my Wolfman Duffle and tied it down to my HD 2000 FXDX. Stuffed the saddle bags with as much as I could and We hit the road around 10 am or so


Brief stop to gas up then traveled US 27 N through Armuchee Ga and connected to 140 E.
Below is a Photo taken from my Tailgunner Mateo of our shadow


We rode 140 E to 411 N then took Hwy 53 to 5/515 north to the Town of Blue Ridge Ga. Turned off onto 5 North to take us into Maycaysville Ga where Mateo saw this cool colored Jeep


Continued on 5N to Hwy 68N destinAtion Tellico Plains TN
I also read that Tellico is an Indian word meaning Plains. So that makes the white man name Plains Plains TN.
Hwy 68 is a very nice road that runs through part of Cherokee National Forest.

We stopped for Gas along this nice Store on Hwy 68. Very nice old lady inside and got some Drinks and used the Restrooms. The Sun stopped shining around this town and got very cloudy and cooler. Heres my little man at the Gas station


We made it Into Tellico Plains with hopes to stop into Tellico Outfitters and look around but it was Closed


So we decided to ride up the Cherohala Skyway to have some lunch/picnic. This picture is of the Tellico River on Hwy 165


We stopped At the Turkey Creek Overlook to eat lunch . This overlook is at 2630 ft and has a great view over the Tennessee River Valley


This lunch of Leftover Turkey / Ham sandwiches was delicious.


Happy Dad & Son


This photo has a back story. After ripping off the King of all Burps, I challenged my Son to Best it. Well he tried but wound up pukin a tiny part of his lunch. It was a hilarious moment and we must have laughed for about 10 minutes non stop. LoL


With bellies full we give a Mondo enduro tribute at the Turkey Creek Overlook!!


I kept feeling my son shifting around alot on the pillion seat. Asking through our Cardo Speaker System what was up ? Comes to find out he was passing time by scraping his boots on the ground


The Higher we rode the cloudier and foggier it was getting with fews like this.


We turned around close to the NC state line and headed back toward Tellico Plains.
We decided to stop at thos
Tellico River pullover and look at the water



My Son found this under a Rock.
It was left by someone over a month ago.


We decided to take these items as a keepsake and my son promised to keep the keychain as long as possible and think of our trip when he looks at it. :)
Thanks to the person that left this. I know it wasnt meant for us but a little "Luck" is what we both needed and you gave my son and a lifetime story.



Rode Back into Tellico Plains and picked up Hwy 39 to 315 to check in at the Campground we were staying.



I cant say enough good things about how friendly the owners were. They also gave us a
Dinner recommendation to go 1 mile South on 315 to eat here at
B&Bs


This place is a Gas station/Grocery/Restaurant. Here i am trying to decide.


I go with a Cheeseburger & Fries.
It was probaly one of the Best Burgers ive eaten. No lie.


MaTeo went sans cheese


Great Grub. I will be back


After Eating we cruised back to the cabin and enjoyed these
Cool boot n glove warmers in the room


Hit the sack around 9 pm
Tommorrow. The Dragon !!

[gumshoe4]

Good job, Dad...being there for your son and riding with him...may have been a bad year for you, but doing positive stuff like this with your boy can only be good for both of you...

Nice bike and nice ride, also...will be looking for more...it's not just about the ride, it's about you guys also...

[jgarp99]

Woke up Saturday am to a very cold but sunny am. Breakfast consisted of Coffee, Pastries, and Hot Chocolate got us warmed up enough to head out.


Todays ride started with a quick stop for gas and these wonderful things to keep my boy happy.
Hot Hands rule.


We took hwy 360 N out of Tellico Plains then Hit 72 then 129 South to ride The Dragon. Below is a pic of one of the lakes leading to the Dragon


I guess being so cold kept the traffic down this day so got to ride the dragon at a nice steady pace. Stopped and took some pictures at Deal Gap which was closed for season.


Luckily we didnt donate to the Tree of Shame


Happy we didnt donate


We were Getting hungry so we travelled down 129s into Robinsville MC for lunch at Papas Pizza. A nice buffet with awesome cheesy bread.


Asked nicely and the nice ladies working agreed to let me put on the Ga vs Ga Tech Football game on. And after seeing the score and watching Tech throw an interception, get physically handled, and miss an easy Field Goal I started to get very nauseated It truly sucks to be a GA Tech Football Fan. Lol


After lunch heades on 143 towards the Cherohala skyway. The sun was in full shine and the views were Amazing today.

I think this was the Stratton Ridge Overlook at 4420 ft elevation


The rest of day was spent riding and stopping to warm our hands and take pics
Gotta love that hes still not old enough not to hold his dads hand




Respect to the Darth Peach


This is hard for fat people as i almost dislocated my hip .. Lol


After riding back through Tellico Plains and getting bucked a 2nd time at Tellico Outfitters (closed) we picked up a Subway sandwich and headed Back to the campground for hot showers and some chillaxin.




One of the nicest owners


Relaxing with hot cocoa and watching some football.


Lights out again around 830 pm


Tommorrow, heading Home :(

[jgarp99]

Originally Posted by gumshoe4

Good job, Dad...being there for your son and riding with him...may have been a bad year for you, but doing positive stuff like this with your boy can only be good for both of you...

Nice bike and nice ride, also...will be looking for more...it's not just about the ride, it's about you guys also...

nice words, thanks

[jgarp99]

Sunday am. Woke up to another chilly am. Brrrr


Breakfast was same as yesterday with coffee, hot chocolate and pastries. Then back to cabin to Pack things up :)


Choose to take 315 S then US64. Following some of the
Ocoee River




US 64 East back to 68 then Hwy
5 back to GA.
We stopped at Mercier Orchard and taking off our helmets smelled the fried pies.



Parking lot pie eating time


Heres some of the Orchard



After leaving Mercier we retrace our route on 5/515 going towards Jasper Ga. We were getting hungry again so we stopped at Pooles bbq








Heres my sons ruined boots. Nice :). A great trip with memories that will last a lifetime.
Thanks bud. Love u.

[jgarp99]

heres Mateos post video interview . lol

[06yz125]

Great report. Cherished memories. Thanks for sharing...

[grantsdad]

Outstanding!

[Ratchdaddy]

As a veteran of two divorces, both with children involved, I feel you man. I only had my son for the summers and every summer we took a couple of weeks for some motorcycle camping on my old Sportster. They are some of my best memories and hopefully his too.

[waterboybueche]

enjoy your boy while you can...

Divorced 6 years ago... I was 37 years old...my son is now 20 years old and in the Army reserves...
and now engaged... I am remarried and happy as a clam!!!

Enjoy life with your boy...

[clarkebd]

Great report! You both look to have had a great time and created many memories!

I'd suggest to take some time, take those pictures, enhance a bit and then create one of those hardcover photo books and give it to him. He will look back on that book 10 years from now much more easily than remembering to go back and find some pictures buried on some computer.

[pike]

Thanks for posting. Enjoyed that

[jgarp99]

Originally Posted by clarkebd

Great report! You both look to have had a great time and created many memories!

I'd suggest to take some time, take those pictures, enhance a bit and then create one of those hardcover photo books and give it to him. He will look back on that book 10 years from now much more easily than remembering to go back and find some pictures buried on some computer.

thanks for the idea, never thought of that

[AdvSplash]

Touching and carried a great message, both you and your son and the 'Lucky' items you found, I hope 2013 rocks for you sir :)

[X11-MAN]

Looks a great time for you both !!!! Thanks for sharing