Solo Camping at Stone Mountain - Sept 2024

The weather has been beautiful lately but i didn't have time to plan a full weekend motorcycle trip to the mountains. So on Friday i just decided I'm gong to camp locally at Stone Mountain. I had a little rain on Friday evening but otherwise the weather was perfect. I think the nighttime temps were around 60 and it was some of the best sleep I've had while camping. Super coinvent to be able to ride home if you forget to pack something or just want a quick shower....which I took advantage of.

Just arrived to my site #209 right on the lake

You can see the rain drops on the bike and my jacket

View of Stone Mountain from the waters edge

A lovely Terrapin Rye Squared beer and perogies for dinner :)

Ate under hear the first night because of light rain. Met some great guys from Sri Lanka and talked about motorcycles of beers for a couple hours

I did a lot of hiking while i was there. I hiked about 8 miles Saturday morning and 5 miles Sunday morning. I didn't doit but lots of folks brought kayaks and paddle boards to go paddling out on the lake. I think getting a paddle board might be a good idea. Easier to transport and lighter than a kayak.

Looks like a beaver did some serious damage to this tree!

It was a nice short camping trip but very rejuvenating. Just what i needed!

Snowbird NC - April 2024

This was our first time going to snowbird since new ownership took over. It has been about 2 years. While it was not exactly the same it was pretty damn close and still absolutely wonderful. I think it was a bit more expensive but still worth it in my opinion for a short trip. We only did 2 nights which is great but 3 would be my preference. 

I'm not sure the food was quite as good but it was still amazing. My favorite was blackened trout and grits for breakfast! We had pretty good weather except for the ride home when it rained all day. We rode the Cherohala skyway and did a couple hikes one full day there. We love riding that rode. Perfect sweeping curves.

Instead of staying in the main lodge this time we stayed in the wolf cabins. Still super charming but a fancier shower and a hot tub on our back deck. It also has a front porch with rocking chairs looking out over the valley and mountains. Just gorgeous. I think this is my favorite place in the world to relax. Diane loves it too. Her favorite spot is the "summer room" which is a screened in room with a gas fire pit in the middle. It has really nice comfy coaches you can just sit on and read, talk or take a nap. I hope we get to go back in the fall this year.

Just arrived.

View from our porch looking down at main lodge and summer room.

that's why they call them smoky mountains! Love those mornings!

Loved our hot tub

I really enjoyed this shower head :)

Bryson City NC trip - Nov 2023

 Trying to catch up on sharing a few photos from Motorcycle trips. This one was back in November and we tried a new place in Bryson City North Carolina called Frymont Inn. It was a historic building and they provided meals like at Snowbird (Robbinsville NC). Not quite as fancy....but a bit cheaper which is nice. It has a very small, cute downtown with a railroad station that does Polar Express rides of the holidays. We didn't do it but maybe next time. The Inn was up on a hill looking over the city and you could hear the Polar Express music coming up from the town at night when you went outside. I thought it was pretty cool. 

In terms of riding....the trip was a bit of a bust. We got on the Blueridge parkway but it was so foggy it was dangerous and couldn't enjoy the ride. There was almost nobody on the rode but us. So we decided to just head back and enjoy the town and lounge at our Inn. The bar had a pool table which was kind of cool. Diane and I used it while having some beverages before dinner. Not as fancy as Snowbird but i would definitely go back. 

View from our room looking down over the city

We were on the 2nd floor on the right. These were separate cabins from the main lodge.

The town was decked out for X-mas.

Parked on the Blueridge parkway. It was a lot foggier than the pictures make it look.

Diane taking a pitstop before we turned around and head back to the Inn