My first thought on ridding the Sky-Way early in the morning was a Chilling thought !.  

Kind of like one June we went up Mount Mitchel : it was about 80 deg. at Deals Gap when we took off in the morning.   On the way up to Mt.Mitchel we stopped and put the full fingered gloves on , then stopped to put the jackets on , then was glad to see a vender selling Hot Coco at the top ... when we finally got up there.  
It sure feels good on those hot summer days to run-up the Sky Way where its nice and cool.

The next time we went up to Mount Mitchel , OldFeller didn't have enough fuel to get up to the top and then back down to a fuel station.  That's when we discovered Hwy 30 going down from the park-way to Marion !   We forgot all about Mt. Mitchel after that , Hwy 30 is good !  
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Hay Dave ,
You ever been North on the parkway past the NC. section ?  
We Had a feller from NH. that used to come every summer .  He gave me impression that the most northern sections were really nice.  He worked at a saw mill and we call him "Al from NH". and he rode a White Savage with side opening hard saddle bag.  He got himself a Suzuki S50 and faded into history after four or five years .   But his tales of the Northern Parkway have lived on (at least in my memory).  
Any of you other fellers remember him ?
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I'm very glad you ask me that question .  

I got back Saturday night to a bustle of activity and just now (Monday 11pm) am getting around to logging back on.

One of our local community centers was having their annual "Ice Cream Social" Saturday night .   Well , part of me taking off Thursday morning for the weekend ... was to be back in time to meet Marcia at the Ice Cream Social.

To get to Suches from Lynchburg is 200 miles.  The easy way is to hop on the Interstate for about a hundred miles .  
I was planning to ride the Guzzi ... but ... I sold it last Sunday before leaving the following Thursday (opportunity knocked   )
I was a little hesitant about ridding the 350cc Meteor ... but ... it has gearing for about 95mph and the speed limit is 70mph so , come Thursday Morning off I went , saddle bags and trunk full with the tent tided on the back seat.
To my surprise on flat ground 70mph is only about 1/2 throttle.   Going up Moneagle mountain I was passing all the trucks as they had to slow down .  I had no problem going as fast as I wanted to.  
On toward the top of the mountain everybody  dropped to a crawl , and it was plain we were going to a single lane.
When I got to the reason ... someone had run-into the rear of one of the trucks going up the mountain ... and there a mini van sat in the middle of the right lane , bent up with the front grill against the fire-wall.  and radiator fluid just steaming up a cloud !  
I couldn't help to think , what kind of Idiot could pull off a stunt like running into the rear end of a semi trailer hard enough to bend a vehicle up like that ?   There must have been at least 40mph difference in their speed when the collision occurred .  

I had written instruction on what to do after I got off the interstate from goggle map the night before but the road signs were all missing.
So , I went to plan "B" , which was to use the GPS.   Well , that sorta worked , but apparently "Suches Ga." is nothing but a cross roads in the middle of NO-WHERE.   My GPS kept suggesting other towns that began with "SU" in Ga.  and wouldn't even let me finish putting Suches into the search box.
So
On to plan "C"  
The Enfield came with a built in "Tripper".   That's a Bluetooth device that plays off of a cell phone by way of an Enfield app and Google Map , then it shows instructions on the Tripper's screen.   It worked flawlessly !  
So, I got to the Suches with the whole afternoon to set up camp and look around.    The first night it was just me and the feller who puts the meets together.   We had a fire pit to ourselves and a bunch of green wood.   I managed to split some of it into small enough pieces to make it burn enough to char the green stuff .   It was still a nice evening.

Friday morning the Dual-Sport bikes started rolling in.   Well , there was a guided ride for Saturday with 280 something ridders pre-registered .     Friday afternoon and Saturday morning they all were going through a vehicle pre-ride inspection  .   Apparently , since there was a National forest involved ... they all had to have their "Spark Arrestors" and stuff in place. ???

Friday , I went to pick up my brother Kent who lives in Hiawassee now (30 miles away) so we could visit and ride some.    He is still ridding the old Harley Sportster.   His (New to Him) Road-King is still in a local shop with an oil leak ... who would have thought Harleys leak oil ???
So , Kent worked out a plan to go over Hellen Mountain , over Hiawassee Mountain , then over Blood Mountain.    Well , since I was on a 350cc bike and he was on a 1200cc "supped-up" bike he suggested we ride at my pace and I lead the way , so , off we went.
The little 350 is coming up on 10,000 miles now and it's still getting better all the time.  I ran off and left him with the first bunch of twisty road we came too.  So , once we established the who can leave who thing we took turns leading and the day went really well.
Up on Blood Mountain there was a bicycle rally/ride going on and the patrol officers were really thick so instead of running up and down the back side of Blood Mountain like I wanted to do we just back tracked our way to Hiawassee .
I did get to ride the Wolf Pen twice Friday and then again Saturday once more.  
Saturday there was a British Bike Rally in Hiawassee , so that's the way I went home.  It was more than British , there were German , and Italian bike too.  I'll post some pictures , but ONE PICTURE per post is the only way I know how.  
Friday night the campground was full and the wood was dry enough to burn so we had a nice fire with 11 more Guzzi and ??? fellers join us.   One of the Friday night guys had a Himalaya Motorcycle , so Saturday morning we swaped bikes and took a short ride.   I'm glad I didn't buy one of them ... the 411cc was slower than my 350cc bike and a lot rougher  too.  
The ride home was - out the Wolf Pen gap , then the British Rally , then Hwy 64 and River Road , then the Interstate.  
There was a traffic mess going into Chattanooga that turned into 1st gear idle .
But
The mess going into Chattanooga from the west was from - the river bend all the way past the I-59 cut off.   I could see a bit down I-59 as I went by it , there appeared to be no end to it.   Just a 20 mile long parking lot.

I was glad to be going the other way and headed home to my Ice Cream Social Date   .

again

The Commander was there with two buddies , here's one of them

A REALLY OLD Guzzi came to visit too !    I think it was the Bacon Slicer one.

Look at the rear  and front shock , that might be the first "Up-Side Down" shocks ?   Now days we're putting them on the front .

 I would like to go a few days during the week so that traffic is a bit less  

Waynesville is up in the Ashville area if I remember right ?
I think that's where we found Hwy 30  that runs through Marion NC.   It's like the Dragon with a legal 55mph speed limit and no enforcement and no campground.
Hay , Lancer , Oldfeller and me stayed at a campground near Waynesville.   There were cabins with two beds and floor space.   I hope I get graduated to a bed  this time if we find it again.  Boonsboro NC.  ?    Lancer or Oldfeller might remember ?    Maybe Booneville ?   Oldfeller was always so good at planning stuff .  

I have to use the next 5-day stretch of Hot weather to roll hay then I'm free again for bit.   Tomorrow , its using the tractor frontend loaded to pass the floor beams up to the second story ... it might take two days ?    Then I'll put the hay cutter on and watch for a week of sunny weather.  

Then I can take a three or four day ride , I hope ?

I'm down to one bike , but the Meteor has got "loosened-up" now and I don't feel like I'm "Handy-caped" anywhere but the interstate and even then cruising the high side of 70 is OK , (95mph=6750rpm/rpm-limit) so I've read.     I'm itching and ready to bring home the 650 version if the test ride don't turn up some dreadful something.  

This place is just down the road from the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground.  It looks a bit upscale from what we are used to.  Tent sites are $28 a night for two, cabins are $90 a night and have 2 bunks beds that sleep 5 people (one bottom bed is a double)....the cabin would be reasonably priced if we had 4 people going.  I imagine cabins have to be reserved in advance....especially on weekends.
https://campinginthesmokymountains.com/

This place has cabins for $64 a night that will sleep 2.
https://moonshinecreek.com/

I will be bringing my car and trailer - so I can get a campsite and sleep in my trailer like I normally do.  It likely would be easier to find a campground and just share a campsite....plus we likely could find a place that would not require a reservation, and we would not have to pay a fee if we cancelled on account of rain.