July 5 - Greenville, SC to Cherokee, NC - 120 miles

Deane attended a seminar on Group Riding, while Norm did some more shopping for motorcycle "stuff".  Then we took one last shopping lap around the big motorcycle accessory vendor area, ate lunch, and rode off for our destination for the day, Cherokee, North Carolina.

Cherokee was our destination because that is the very southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which we wanted to ride North on our journey "North and East to Labrador".

That's right, we are finally going to quit fooling around in the Southern and Southeastern states and head North!!  

We will spend the next four days getting to Bar Harbor, Maine, so that we can catch the ferry to Nova Scotia, and go on to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Today's ride from Greenville to Cherokee was one of the very best rides we've had on the entire trip so far.  While it was only 120 miles, we crossed three major mountain ranges in the Smoky Mountains.  (Actually we crossed one mountain range once, and the second one twice.)  That entailed going up the mountains and coming down three times, with wonderfully twisty curves and absolutely beautiful forest scenery.

At the top of one of these ranges, there was a state park, Caesar's Head State Park, which featured a huge granite uplift from which one could see at least fifty miles over the forests.  This was quite a sight.  Visibility was  maybe not as far as in the Western states like Colorado or New Mexico, but it was every bit as spectacular because of the heavily forested mountain region, with its beautiful shades of green.

It was a beautiful, blue sky day (after last night's rain), and the forests we went through were incomparable.  The trees were a mix of Oak, Pine, and probably some other hardwoods.  Undoubtedly, some of these would be prime fall color trees, but for now they had many shades of green and were just gorgeous.  Little towns along the highway, US 276, had large green lawns, with some modest but pretty homes and some big beautiful brick houses with quite a few southern columns.

If any of you get the chance to visit the Carolinas, be sure to look up this US Highway 276 and drive it.  You won't be disappointed.

The town of Cherokee is indeed part of the Cherokee nation lands.  As have so many other Indian tribes, the Cherokees have built a huge casino, (managed by Harrah's) and attracted lots of people to gamble.

Well, tomorrow is the real start of the ride to the North and East - Labrador! 

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