We are staying in a cabin in Maggie Valley. We kinda play it by ear. We have a new couple going with us this year, so we will be doing whatever they might want to see. But we will for sure be riding the Cherohola Skyway and the Dragon. We will also do Wayang Rd and parts of 28 South towards Highlands.
Sounds like some good areas to hit up, I haven't seen Cades Cove yet, so I will probably check that out while I am there. But that's the only thing I have in mind, other than I am hitting up pops on the way in. I didn't realize how far Maggie is (well, I knew, but I have always done it as part of a day trip when I am doing other things) from the Dragon until I went to get breakfast one morning last time and it was almost 3 hours to get there with all the construction they had going on 28. So I am getting my pops fix on the way in. I don't try to plan too much on my rides, and I usually ride by myself. I like the option of "Hey, I want to go check this out".
My wife likes to plan our vacations down to the minute, which I hate, because if we fall off our "schedule" for vacation, she absolutely loses it. I told her that's not a vacation for me.
I prefer just "falling into" something not expected. One evening the last time I was there, it was at the McDonalds in Cherokee. There was an older gentlemen like myself on a Harley who had come in for dinner, and we had sat near each other while eating inside. It was quite obvious he was finishing up a ride for the day as well, as both of us were just eating and not saying anything. But once we got outside, he had parked next to me, so we struck up a conversation while having a smoke together. It turns out the guy was a physical engineer like me before I did IT work, and he also had worked on Cleaver Brooks Boilers in older buildings.
We ended up in a conversation for almost an hour in the McDonald's parking lot. Never since I had been laid off in 2020 had someone wanted to talked to me about the work I was involved in and actually had a interest in it. This stood out to me more than anything else on that trip. That would have never happened if I had my wife with me, as we would have been "off schedule" for getting back to the hotel, and I would have had to cut off the conversation and leave.
This to me is what the riding experience is about. Not about laid out plans to see the greatest places, it is about what you come across as you just "go about your way". Something, unfortunately, that people like my wife and others who are so strict with their routine, will never understand... The enjoyable surprise and pleasure that spontaneity can provide in your life.
