A long and winding road…

The Beatles had nothing to sing about until they have been on route 129 along the south western border of the Great Smoky mountains! (More about that.. keep reading!)

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It is a beautiful sunny day in the lower 60s and a day we decided to do a driving tour of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky National Park. Since we took Harley with us, we were unable to do much hiking since dogs are not permitted in 99 % of the park. We toured Cades Cove then drove to Newfound Gap Road which goes from the west side of the park to the east side. Half way through Newfound Road we cross into North Carolina and cross over the Appalachian Trail. There’s snow up in these mountains! We stopped at the Oconaluftee Visitor center where they had an old Cherokee village to walk through (dog friendly).

We decided to travel along the east border of the park going south to see the mountains. We stumbled across Fontana Dam, marina and resort village. After the village came the winding, winding, winding road that goes around the southern western border of the park. It is here where we found “The Tail of the Dragon”, a road known to motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts for its curves… 318 curves in 11 miles! (We only found this information out AFTER stumbling across the highway.

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Designated US route 129 is bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest with no intersecting roads or driveways to hamper your travel. After about 45 minutes of this, Harley lost her cookies! She just couldn’t take it anymore, fortunately we were near the end of the journey.

We ended the day on the Foothills Parkway where Paul was talking to a motorcyclist and got the lowdown on the Tail of the Dragon. All in all, a lovely day in the Great Smoky Mountains.

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