Day - 9 The Smokys

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Woke up to a cloudy and overcast day. We all had a great breakfast in the dinning hall of the resort before saying farewell to Pete and we headed off to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On the way to the Blue Ridge we passed through Cherokee. On a whim we saw the Cherokee Indian Museum and headed in to check it out.

This was a real eye opener on the history of these American Indians and the horror of forced migration from their traditional lands in mid winter, by the ruling Europeans in the early 1800's. Thousands died on this trek of a proud nation.

After leaving Cherokee we entered the Blue Ridge and it soon started to rain. We donned our wet weather gear and headed off. Not only was it raining but we were riding in low cloud. Unfortunately we couldn't see any of the views. The ride was very good and because the surface of the roads are in good condition the water drained off so we could have some fun on the winding roads!!

Having done our bit of the Blue Ridge, we headed into Waynesville for coffee and a bite to eat. We found a traditional old world diner, Clyde's. Again like stepping into the past.

One of the customers was a 60's throw back. This lady had one of the best bouffant hair do's I've seen in 40 years. The comment between us was that it reminded us of Marge Simpson. But I reckon this lady's hair do was much better!!

.Before leaving we were looking at the best route to get us back to Knoxville before heading north towards Decatur. We asked one of the guys serving for his idea of the best route. He said he couldn't really help as he hadn't been out of the district in his life!! A real mountain man!

So we took our best option and headed down Route 40 towards Knoxville. As we descended the mountains and out through Knoxville it soon stops raining.

The temps are still in the high 80's early 90'sf and humid. We made good time up Interstate 75 before heading west at Lexington on 64 made good time and overnight at just north of Louisville at Sellersburg.

Approx 340 miles good days run!

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