We were having serious mountain withdrawals, so Friday after work, Mom, Wessel, Robbie, Corey and I left about 5:00 and got to Cincinnati where we met up with Matt and Amanda and family (love you guys!) that was at 10:00. Stayed there for SKYLINE!!! a must have if you are ever in that area. Got to some rest stop in Kentucky by 1:00am and slept on picnic tables for 2 and a half hours. 3:30 am we were back on the road and headed into some serious fog. once we got above it, it was beautiful!
Got down to Knoxville, TN by 10:00am, fueled up and headed for the gap. Drove by Darrel (never got to say Hi to him) but you can check out his blog at http://www.killboy.com/ He and his wife and amazing to watch run through the dragon. Got the check out his photos though.
From what we heard it has been a hectic year down there so far. A lot of bad wrecks, quite a few deaths and serious injuries. The tree of shame (above photo) is ever growing with bike and car parts.
Once we were there... we stayed only 8 hours. Got to see our dear friends Jim and Aaron. Jim (the one with the camera) got me over my fear on the last trip of leaning really far on the bikes, even though I still get a little tense from time to time. Aaron let me use his bike on the last trip for me to ride my first bike... He offered for me to ride it through Hellbender this trip... Not quite up for that yet, I will stick to the back seat down there for the time being. They are awesome guys, and we miss them already.We sat and caught up with everyone there for a little while including Ben (thanks dude! You rock!) he is the Manager of the Deals Gap Resort no other place to like it!
We took a quick ride up to Wheelers (about the only place to get cell phone signal, as seen in the above photo) then headed out by 7:00pm. Didn't make it far. By the time we stopped in Knoxville for Dinner at 5 guys and headed back into Kentucky, we were all so tired from the 2 1/2 hours sleep that we couldn't go any further. We stopped about 20 miles into KY. Lucky us, the ONLY room left in Wiliamsburg was a 6 bedroom CABIN! Since it hadn't been taken, we got a heck of a deal on it. Got to the cabin and WOW! Our dream house! Mom wanted to take it with us!
The next morning, after some much needed rest, we headed out. Stopped in Fairfield (my home town) to get some South African food. Got nailed by a storm. Once the rain cleared by the time we were in Indiana, we made it home around 8:30 Sunday night! What a weekend!
The entire weekend was amazing. Just being in the mountains. The smells, the sounds, the people. God was with us the entire weekend, reminding us that he knows our desires and we Will provide and bless us. Even right down to the dove nesting on the front porch of the cabin.
Yes, VERY sore tush, sun burned, tired... was it worth it? YEP!
Would we do it again? You better believe it.
I love seeing someone else enjoying a camera like I do. : )
