7 Oct – Shenandoah National Park

The road that goes through the park butts onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and is better known as Skyline Drive. It was a dull overcast day today and really quite cold on the ridge line and I was glad to get down to lower levels. For all that it was a very pretty ride. The Park Ranger suggested I take in the National Battlefield at Antietam and I am glad I did.
This was an early battle, 17 Sep 1862 and should have sounded a warning for future battles. In one day 23,000 men were killed, wounded or were missing – the bloodiest day in the whole war – and both sides fought to exhaustion and neither side could claim or secure a victory. Some of the original farm buildings, around which the battle raged, are still standing.
Many of the buildings in the nearby town (village really) of Sharpsboro predate the war, have all been preserved due to local body insistence and is the prettiest town I have ever seen. The only thing modern in the town is the gas station and the cars.
This ends two great rides in America – Natchez Trace and Blue Ridge Parkway. With the Skyline Drive it has been 1,000 miles of the most beautiful traffic free road imaginable. It does not get much better then this. For the moment I am in Maryland or Merlin as it seems to be pronounced. As Gavin Q knows, this is the place where there M R ducks with wangs.

6 Oct – Blue Ridge Parkway

I some how made a 600 mile journey out of the 460 mile parkway but now it is at an end. I did the last 200 miles today. The Blue Ridge Parkway would have to be one of the best rides I have done in a very very long time. You could lie on the grass at a picnic spot in the autumn sun, eat your apple while looking out over the mountains and for a moment kid yourself that it came from one of A.P. Carters original trees. It has been a most delightful way to get from Mississippi to Virginia. Sure, the 45 mph speed limit made it a slow ride but it would have been a waste to have gone faster and the beauty was that there were very few cars and lots of motor bikes. No matter where you stopped, another biker would pull up and a conversation would ensue. Tonight I am holed up in Waynesboro (no WIFI) and a young boy with a broad Kiwi accent spoke to me – they moved here from Auckland. His father still has his NZ drivers license and there are pictures of NZ in the office along with portrates of an Indian spiritual leader. Tomorrow I will make it to Sharpsboro via Skyline Drive. In the meantime I must brush up on my civil war history.

5 Oct – Blue Ridge Parkway

A real late start this morning mostly bought about by trying to find a WIFI connection. Eventually I hooked into the Appalachian State University system by sitting in the car park outside the administration building – thankfully it is Sunday here. That's only half the reason I have made no progress today. I came across a sign saying Blue Ridge Music Centre and another saying 'live music' – well that finished the afternoon off. There was a master class for blue grass guitar players in the hall while outside there was a jam session initially by some very talented experienced players and then by a bunch of kids who were also attending classes. The idea with the kids is to keep traditional mountain music alive. I am reminded of the line from O Brother – 'them's a mighty fine pickin and a singing'. Any of you guitar players recognise the guy in the beard?
I experienced more of the Appalachians this evening when I went into town for dinner (they call it supper here). The homes and the businesses are hard to describe so I will return down the road tomorrow morning and take some pictures. On the way to supper I called into a roadside fruit and vege stall and bought my first bunch of fruit since being here. After supper the stall was closed but the oddest thing was that the produce was still laid out for all to see - and steal. The last time I saw this was with Gavin Q when we were up in Wyoming when farm supplies (wire, posts, netting etc) were left unsecured in the yard of the supply store. I guess they don't lock their homes either.
The autumn colours are back, the weather has been warm and delightful and every picnic spot, and there are lots of them, are full with picnickers. Today has been a great day.

4 Oct – Blue Ridge Parkway

Delayed start from Kickstand Lodge due to the fog and long farewells plus an attempt in Cherokee (where you pick up the Parkway) to find a wifi connection. Found one but could not see the screen in the sun light – seems I am destined to be out of touch on a regular basis. I did about 180 miles on the Parkway today but some of it was due to backtracking when I met a road closed sign and a long detour around it. I hit another closure just before dusk so am currently holed up in Boone, North Carolina. The sign says this is where Daniel Boone came from and it is also the home of the Appalachian State University and due to something called the 'home coming game' the traffic in town is the worst rush hour traffic I have ever seen.
The parkway at the Cherokee end is in autumn colours and is beautiful but as I moved north the show came to an end. I am hoping it returns before the parkway ends. I have about 250 miles to go and tomorrow will cross into Kentucky. Petrol is in short supply – most gas stations have the 89 and 93 octane buttons covered over. Tried 87 in the bike but it protested out loud so had to nurse the bike most of the way here.

3 Oct - Deals Gap

It was very cold last night – almost to a frost – and foggy this morning. Seems this is what I am to expect for the next few days. By 11 am the fog had lifted and the road had dried. The Tail of the Dragon starts at Deals Gap on US 129 and is an 11 mile stretch of road with 318 curves and is a motorcycle mecca. Even by NZ standards this is a pretty good road and similar to the Rimatuka hill road or the Pahiatua track. Sports bike riders love it, though on the Friday I rode it cruisers were the most prevalent bike style. Watch out Saturday apparently. Casualties, yes, a Harley all bent up sitting on a trailer and a GSX 750 having its fairing pieced back together at a near by bike shop, the result of an unintentional stoppie. The guy was lucky because he needed to ride it back to Ontario, Canada. Funny incident: the route has strategically placed photographers taking pictures of the riders as they pass – the idea is that you buy the picture as a memento. I see this guy taking a photo so pull up my camera and take a picture of the picture taker – no big deal I thought until I got to the end when the guy following me bailed me up. Seems he was having a hard time keeping up with me (on my Nomad??) and lost all confidence in himself when he sees me going round the corner one handed taking a photo. Seems I surprised the photographer as well. Anyway. tomorrow I move on.

2 Oct – Kickstand Lodge

Today I had my first taste of what is to come by crossing from Tennessee to North Carolina via the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It was quite cold going over the top but well worth the discomfort. What surprised me the most was the amount of traffic on the road – it was really bussy probably from sight seers looking for the fall colours. At the lower levels I passed the town of Cherokee (a mostly Cherokee Indian town complete with braves in full dress regalia) that I will revisit in a couple of days because Cherokee is where the Blue Ridge Parkway begins its northward journey. In the meantime I am settled in to the Kickstand Lodge – a biker dedicated facility – for the next two nights. I need to change the oil in the bike (it's been 4,000 miles since leaving San Diego), attend to some laundry duties and ride the famous Dragons Tail.

1 Oct – Knoxville, TN

Well, sadly, the Natchez Trace Parkway is no more. I just loved it. It was like riding through a 400 mile long botanical garden with mowed lawns, Lewis Carrol picture perfect farms with meadows of newly rolled hay, the odd deer peering out from the trees and the ever present suicidal squirrels never quite sure which way to run to avoid death. They run one way, then the other and finally stop still, arch their back and I am sure they close their eyes and wait for the thump. Towards the end in Nashville the trees are spotting with colour and the roadway is scattered with leaves. In a week or so it will be unbelievably beautiful. Even the Americans, who for the most part seem to be decoupled from their environment, are aware of the beauty to come. Many expressed sympathy that I had not come a little later and last night on TV they showed the spots in the country where you might see the early signs of autumn.

I am pleased to be out of Mississippi. The lower half is flat and featureless and appeared to be depressingly poor. My views of the northern end are prejudiced by what I saw on the Trace. Mostly I am pleased to be back in an English speaking part of the country. Last night the girl at McDonald's asked me a bunch of the usual questions and I swear to God I had no idea what she said and I was no better informed when she repeated herself. I just nodded and took what was given. Tennessee is as pretty as a picture and as broad as their accent is it is pleasing to the ear – I suppose I mean it is refreshingly different from the California accent. It is also getting much cooler. I rode all day with my jacket zipped right up – the first time since arriving – and tomorrow it will be time for the jersey. Tonight I am in Knoxville, Tennessee with only a short run ahead of me tomorrow to the Kickstand Lodge at Stecoah, NC where I hope to get in front of a TV to watch the Palin/Bidden debate. It will be the most watched and talked about event of this campaign.

At the moment the country is all abuzz regarding the 'bailout' of Wall Street. As an economist and given the seriousness of the situation I consider the public debate so far to have been incredibly shallow and unhelpful. I wonder if they attack all problems with such intellectual sloppiness. Equally I have seen only one cautionary voice raised regarding Palin's fundamentalist Christian beliefs. I wager this question will not come up in Thursdays debate.