The Dragon's Lair

Settling In

2011-05-12T11:48:00.000-04:00

We have moved to a new home and are finally starting to settle in. This house is perfect for us. It is in the woods and has some nice property to go with it. We have had fun moving in and still have some more to unpack. I get the feeling it is going to take a long time to get completely settled in. Here are a few photos of the house.

We are so happy here. I really think we can call this our home for a long time.

Under Contract!

2010-12-28T20:30:00.002-05:00

We received one of the best gifts for Christmas this year. Our house went under contract! That means that we can finally start really looking for a house here in PA. We are so excited about the prospects of finding a home for the long term future. Hopefully we won't be purchasing any more houses, unless it is a vacation home. The search begins. I will keep the blogosphere posted!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-17T15:17:00.002-05:00

Happy Holidays from my family to all of yours! We are still trying to sell the house in SC and are hoping that that happens by Christmas. It would be a great gift for us to receive this holiday season!

I am missing riding my motorcycle and am hoping to get down to Deals Gap soon. It has been quite busy since I have found a job. The schedule varies and can be tough. The job is going well though, and I am enjoying it. Well, I know this is a short post, but I felt the need to connect and wish everybody a great holiday season and an awesome New Year!

Settling In

2010-10-04T20:34:00.002-04:00

Well, things have been really hectic lately. Moving to a new area, and doing plenty of rearranging has taken up a lot of my time. I am finally starting to settle in and am finding a lot of cool things to do. The family and I went to Highland Orchards and picked some apples and got our pumpkins for the Halloween season. Nothing like fresh apples! We are enjoying being so close to the family and went over and watched the Redskins beat the Eagles over the weekend. GO 'SKINS!

We are still trying to find a buyer for the house in SC, so if you know anybody looking for a residence down there send them that way. We have started looking at some places up here in the Northeast. It is kind of exciting! I feel like things are starting to fall into place. All I need now is some gainful employment. Stay tuned. I hope to be able to blog a little more frequently.

Sorry for the Delay.

2010-09-05T09:14:00.002-04:00

It has been awhile since my last post. A lot of things have been happening. We have moved back to the Northeast, my son has started going to a new school, and Maureen has started a new position with her company.

With all of this going on I have been unable to get to the Gap much this year. I am hoping that this will change after things settle down. I still follow the happenings and might go for my birthday in October. We will see. I also plan on blogging more about other rides and adventures that my family may go on. So, hopefully I can make it more of a habit to blog on a more consistent basis.

Deals Gap...OPEN!!!!

2010-04-15T09:58:00.002-04:00

I am so stoked!! Deals Gap is open, albeit only from 8am to 8pm, but it is open! This was the result of the efforts of many people, and goes to show that a well organized professional letter writing campaign to the appropriate government officials actually works!

I would like to send my thanks out to all the people who wrote letters or emails (including me :)) requesting that this situation get resolved. I would also like to thank Brad and Beth of the Deals Gap Motorcycle resort for being such great advocates for the area, and finally I would like to thank all the government representatives for doing something right, for not bickering to much, and for actually listening to the people you represent! Remember this is a government "For the People, and by the People"!

Now all I have to do is get out there and enjoy the road that I like so much!

Have a great day everybody and remember to keep it tire side down!

DEALS GAP CLOSED!!!

2010-03-25T12:41:00.003-04:00

Well, the title says it all. Deals Gap is closed for now at the Tennessee state line. Apparently, there was a rock slide on US 129 near the Foothills Parkway. The state(TN) decided that they weren't going to accept an offer from Swain or Graham county, I'm not sure which one, for assistance regarding EMS services on the Dragon. The Gov. of TN decided to shut down US129 all the way to the state line instead, and to pay for two Highway Patrolmen and two TNDOT workers to stand guard at the barricades. You have to love the government at work!

Anyway, I am not letting this ruin my trip to the area this weekend. I will still go to the motorcycle resort and support them. There are plenty of roads in NC to ride. This little snag isn't going to keep me away from one of my favorite places. I will blog after I return from my trip. Let's hope that this gets resolved, for everybody's sake.

Remember to always look on the bright side of life!

Just A Blog

2010-03-14T10:51:00.002-04:00

Hello to all my blog peeps! Spring has sprung, sort of here in SC! It is finally sunny and warmer. I hope my friends in the Northeast are doing OK with all the rain that they have had recently. I hope that Spring comes soon for you guys.

I have a trip planned for the end of March to...you guessed it...Deals Gap! We are going to go to Asheville this time, too. The Mother-in-law is coming down and we are heading to the Mountains. We will see if she can handle a trip through The Gap. I can't wait!

I have to plug my shop's EBay store again. Check it out! I have a link to the site on the right hand side of my blog. Please visit and come back often. The new site should be ready in the beginning of April. I will keep you all posted.

Have a great day and always try to find the good in things!

What's Up?

2010-03-07T18:12:00.003-05:00

Well I know it has been a little bit since my last blog, but I have been a bit busy. I was going to be moving to New Jersey but that has fallen through, so I am now currently working back at the old motorcycle shop that I had been working at when we first moved to SC. I am now the Internet/eCommerce Manager and am working on the shop's new website. It should be up and running in about five to six weeks. I will let everybody know when I get it up and running. In the mean time check out our eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/Attack-Powersports.

I know that I said that I would get pics from my last outing to the Gap but I am not on the PC that has them. I will blog them in a few. The family is doing well and we are having fun.

Until next time be safe and always look at the glass as half full.

Another Deal's Gap Adventure

2010-02-02T16:21:00.002-05:00

Well we went out to the Gap over the weekend and stayed at a friends place. We had an uneventful drive all the way until we got to the house's driveway. In my attempt to go up the hill the car began to slip and slide backwards. The drive was a solid sheet of ice! We just missed sliding off the edge of the cliff!! Mo was not happy, but we were all safe and made it to the house. In the morning I went down the driveway and evaluated the situation. After some help from the neighbor and a local hunter we got the car out of the ditch and on safe ground.

The day was spent relaxing in the house and exploring the local dams. TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) was letting the water levels down in the lakes. It was quite a site! John was amazed. The mountains are so beautiful. We had a safe trip home and I will have pictures to follow.

Jonesing for the Gap!

2010-01-14T09:04:00.003-05:00

Random Gap Photo

I really need to get out to the Gap. I have been with out my curves for to long! I just found this photo on the web and thought I'd post it. I haven't quite gotten low enough to touch my elbow but I have gotten close. Anyway, I need to get back to the mountains.

Another Mobile Post

2010-01-10T11:02:00.002-05:00

Mom rocks!

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-07T12:51:00.003-05:00

Maureen with her new friend!

I know it has been awhile since my last blog, but things have been a little crazy. I did Thanksgiving with my folks, then came back to SC for about 4 weeks, then drove back to NJ for the Christmas and New Year holiday season. I had a great time with friends and family. My wife, Maureen, my great friend Chris and I all went into NYC for New Years and had a great time in the city.

We walked all over and used the subway to go Uptown, Downtown and everywhere in between! It was a great day. In the evening we went to the Kitano Hotel and saw the Gene Bertonccinni Jazz Trio play. My brother came out and the four of us had a blast. Chris was texting the whole time, but hey jazz isn't really his bag. We still had fun and ushered in 2010 with the hopes of a better year and a better decade.

I think that a lot of good changes will be happening this year and this decade. We can only wait and see what the future holds!

So with that said, Happy New Year, and may good things happen to you and your families!

Mobility Rules!!!

2010-01-07T12:49:00.002-05:00

I'm mobile!!! I just sent this from my iPhone!!!

"The Simpsons" is 20!!!!

2009-10-19T09:23:00.003-04:00

I fired up my PC and got on the Internet and the head line on my home page was "The Simpsons" turns 20. I can't believe that this show is 20 years old! I am starting to feel my age! Anyway I just couldn't believe it so I thought that I would post it.

I had a great weekend with the kids camping, so there will be a blog very soon about that trip.

Gap Video

2009-09-25T12:15:00.002-04:00

I made this video back in April. I just thought that I would share it here on my blog. This is why I love Deals Gap.

Deals Gap, Again!

2009-09-19T21:37:00.006-04:00

I love the mountains. They are beautiful and the roads are awesome. I know that if you read this blog on a regular basis you already knew that. I went back to Deals Gap this week for a few days. I had to go to traffic court in Tennessee, and what a trip that was! The stuff people were wearing to court was amazing! The best one was a guy wearing some ratty old pair of shorts and a wife beater t-shirt! I couldn't believe it! These people must have thought that I was a lawyer the way I was dressed! A nice pair of khakis and button down shirt. Anyway after taking care of my traffic ticket I decided to stay and hang out for a little bit at the gap.

I met up with a friend I met while working in Waynesville, and he let me borrow one of his bikes. We rode for a little while then I drove the car through the gap and hung out with Killboy for a while. I'm glad I did because an insane group of classic cars rolled through and it was a blast to see. This has inspired me to get the "Moro" running again by this time next year so that I might be a part of this annual event. I think they call it "The Run Through the Hills". Anyway I have blabbed long enough. I had a blast and hung out with some cool folks.

The plate says "JUICY67"

This was AWESOME! 1971 'cuda with a 2008 6.1L Hemi!

This brought back some great memories of my 280z! This is a 1976.

I want to get another one someday.

"Buzz Lightyear"

2009-09-14T19:07:00.004-04:00

I have a new nickname. Just call me "Buzz Lightyear". I had a women call me that while I was at the Gap. She said that my leathers look like Buzz Lightyear's suit. I never thought of it that way, but after they said it I think they are right. Here is a pic of me draggin' knee at the Dragon. Check out the leathers.

Patriot Day Parade

2009-09-14T15:29:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday John, Liam And Mo were in the Florence Patriot Day Parade. It was a small parade but it was fun all the same. Mo and the kids had fun riding on the float and there were some neat things to see. There was a Cobra helicopter being towed along and some cool military trucks. St. Anthony's float won "Best Float". John was proud of that.

John & friends on the float.

Mo & Liam on the float. Liam was holding his ears because of the fire trucks.

Labor Day @ The Gap

2009-09-12T14:55:00.007-04:00

This past Labor Day we went to Deals Gap and had a blast! John loves riding with me and is an awesome passenger! He leans with me in the turns and everything! We camped at the motorcycle resort and met some neat people. Sunday was a little rainy but Monday was awesome for riding. I got some good runs in with John and by myself. We also got to go out to Fontana Dam one of John's favorite places. He loves looking down the massive spill tunnels that allow water to go down to the river below. They give me vertigo!

Here are the happy campers! Minus the photographer.

Here is John in front of the spillway for the dam.

John next to the spillway. This shows you how big that opening is.

Here we are at the overlook.

We also stopped at a Krispy Kreme on the way home and had some fun with the hats that the kids got. All in all we had a good weekend. The only cloud over the party was my layoff from work on the Friday before we left. We didn't let that ruin our good times though!

MMMM! Yummy!!!

Light Saber Fun!!!

2009-09-12T14:14:00.012-04:00

The other night the family and I decided to have some fun with the camera and John's Light Saber toy. The results were a lot of laughter and oooo's and ahhhh's. Check out the results below.

800 miles in a day!!!

2009-07-13T23:35:00.004-04:00

I know it has been forever since I wrote on my blog. I hopefully will do better at this. My life has been hectic and this has been low on the priority list. Anyway I had to travel to Louisianna for work and thought that I would ride the bike. The trip there was uneventful. Just alot of "Super Slab". The ride home is were it got interesting.

I decided to go to Arkansas, since it was only forty miles from where the meeting was held. Well I managed to get lost even using a GPS! There really is nothing in Arkansas. I was driving down a road and it just turned to dirt. It is spooky how desolate it is. I finally got to some form of civilization and spent the night in West Memphis.

The next morning I woke up and rode all the way home. It came out to be just about 800 miles! What a crazy adventure. I had fun and got to see some neat things.

Hopefully my next post won't be over six months from now.

New Year, New Car!!

2009-01-25T00:53:00.003-05:00

We finally got a new car on January 2, 2009! It is a 2008 Subaru (of course!) WRX. The WRX part is the best thing. That means 224 horses reside under the hood. John said that we had to get this car because it was the turbo! He said you can buy a Subaru and not buy a TURBO! I said OK! So without any further delay here are some of the first pics of the car. The dealer still owes me a detail!

Merry New Year!!

2009-01-04T20:52:00.005-05:00

MERRY NEW YEAR!!!!

Well it has been one crazy Christmas and New Year!! I don't think this one can be topped! We had Mo's family down and had a wonderful visit with them. Then Santa came and what a haul he brought!! Both boys got dirt bikes, and John got a whole lot of Star Wars stuff. Liam got alot of Cars stuff. As for me Santa brought me a new job, and some other cool things, like an iPhone, and a new garage door opener and some new office stuff. He brought Mo paint for the Master bedroom and bath. This holiday season has been one of the wildest and the best. I got to spend time with friends and family and have good things to look forward to. Now on to the pictures!!!

Helllloooo Santa!!!

Big John!

Yes we got a Wii!!!

Do you think he was excited?

Just a Post.

2008-11-25T20:42:00.006-05:00

It has been awhile and I feel like I'm so far behind on things it is amazing. I am looking forward to the day off on Thanksgiving, though. I have had allot going on and it will be nice to relax. I've taken some neat photos with my camera. We have had some early frost around here and it made the cotton field behind the house look kinda cool (no pun intended).

Cotton right after the harvest.

This is the harvester that is used to harvest cotton.

Just some frosty plant at the edge of the field.

The boss' 1985 Yamaha RZ350.

The other big news is the I finally had all of the pine trees removed from my property. Talk about opening the place up!!! Here are some before and after shots!

Before.

After.

I saved some money by taking the limbs from the trees to the dump by myself. What a mess that was. There was definitely more lumber than I expected! I got it all picked up though.

The Pile!

A Lot to Update!!!!

2008-11-07T20:20:00.005-05:00

Barack O'Lantern!!

John and Liam enjoying their camping trip!

Hello everyone! I'm going to try to be more timely in my blogs, but life has been pretty hectic! First I've been busy at work and then I went camping with the kids and Mo. Next I drove up to Jersey and got to see my sister and Dad, for a short time. I also participated in the annual Toy Run in Philly on Nov 2!! This is always a blast!

The best thing I got to do recently was vote for Barack Obama on Nov 4th! I'm so excited about what the future is going to hold for this country!!

John and the BB gun.

I will post some pics over the next few posts as I get time. For this post I have some from Halloween and the camping trip.

Buzz Lightyear!!!

Sorry for the Delay!

2008-10-11T21:37:00.003-04:00

Hey all!! It has been awhile, and I apologize. Life has been a little hectic lately. I got a call from some old friends this weekend and thought how cool it was to here from them! I can't blog for to long tonight, but I will try to get back to this more than I have lately. I have some neat pictures and some cool stories to tell. Keep checking back!

High Voltage!!!!

2008-08-26T20:23:00.005-04:00

Shocking!!!!

First I just want to say what a crazy last three weeks!!! I am going to try to do a few blogs this week on everything that has happened in the last few weeks! The craziest adventure was my house getting struck by lightning! I'm not talking about a power surge, I mean it got STRUCK by lightning!!!! A billion volts right into the side of my house!!! The wildest part was we were inside when it happened! Talk about having the crap scared out of you! Mo and I were just minding our own business, chatting about the day, when BAM, the loudest bang I have ever heard happened. Then the house alarm was going off, and I had no way of shutting it off. Mo called 911 and the fire department came out to make sure we had no fire. All was clear.

It blew the light bulb clean out of the socket!!

The next day we were able to assess the damage and really see what lightning can do. It traveled all the way around the fascia of the house and fried our security lights, A/C (that's a whole other story!), phones, TV, and the biggest reason I haven't blogged, our Internet!! We finally got that back the other day!

BAM!!!

We are all fine and the house will be OK after some minor repairs! Life goes on and the adventure continues!!

Another Great Ride with John!

2008-08-01T20:59:00.007-04:00

John. A great companion!

Last weekend, John and I went on another ride with the Southern Cruisers of SC. We had a blast! We first met up with two friends, Ross and Roseanne, that I have met through the shop I work at, then headed to Lake City to meet with the rest of the group. The day started off over cast and was threatening rain, but wound up being a good riding day! It only rained for a little bit and then it was sunny and hot!

Ross and Roseanne

Gearing up for the wet ride.

After a quick stop for some of us to gear up, we were on our way to Red's Icehouse. Once there we had a great time and John really enjoyed the waterfront!

The group at Red's

If I only had a million $ layin' around!

John at the waterfront.

Some kayakers.

John haming it up at Red's!

After eating a good lunch we headed home. We took some really pretty roads and had a great ride. The only mishap was a mirror falling out of one of the bikes and hitting me in the toe! No harm no fowl though! I'm OK. John and I logged about 275 miles that day and we enjoyed every minute of it! I can't wait till the next ride!

The missing mirror!

Me with my Ninja! Photo by John.

The two adventurers, home after a long journey!

p.s. I finally got to use my new Cannon EOS Rebel XTi on this trip!

Camping at the Dragon...continued!

2008-07-18T22:43:00.007-04:00

Sorry for the delay all you blogroupies, its been a long week. When I left off we were at the laundromat drying out from the flood!!! After we got everything dried out we headed back to the campsite, and ate some lunch at The Dragon's Den Grill. The food is good and it is right there at the start of the Dragon! They hang up a whole bunch of t-shirts from all the people who have visited on the ceiling, and would you believe that there is a DHY shirt there! I couldn't believe it.

DHY shirt at the Dragon's Den!

The ceiling of shirts.

John and I ready to ride.

John and Liam ready for bed.

After eating a fulfilling lunch; Mo, John, and Liam all went to Fontana Dam while I made some passes on the Dragon. We all had fun and then had dinner and got ready for bed. John and Liam were really cute laying on the air mattress. The night was beautiful, and much less chaotic! That is until two guys went screaming up the hill on their bikes to do a night run! It was only about twenty minutes later that we found out that one of them went down at Catch All corner and the bike went about 60 feet down the cliff! The rider was OK, but the bike wasn't. The rider said that he would just leave it at the bottom of the hill and get it out in the morning! Well the Dragon Pixies struck that night and retrieved his bike and put it in its rightful spot! On the Tree of Shame!

Warning! This could happen to you!!!

Especially if the Pixies are around!!!

The next morning began with a great sunrise and a hearty breakfast! I made one run on the Dragon and then we packed it in and headed home. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back! The next blog will be about John's trip to Grammy & Gramps Camp 2008!

The view from camp!

Camping with the Dragon!

2008-07-09T21:01:00.007-04:00

Campsite at the "Dragon"!

Mo, John, Liam, and I decided to go camping in the mountains the weekend before last. The destination was Deals Gap! Mo and the kids went up early on Saturday, while I was at work. While she was up there she pitched the tent and got the camp site setup. The only problem was that Mo couldn't quite get the rain fly on the tent. She decided to go exploring with the kids. They had an awesome time and went to eat. Well, by this time I had left work and gotten on my way. Mo was eating dinner when a severe thunderstorm rolled through and completely drowned the tent and everything that was in it!!! AAARRRGH!! That was Mo's initial response I'm sure, but it made for a fun little adventure the next morning!

The sky right after the storm.

The local laundromat where we dried our stuff.

As you can see from the picture above we had to drive into town and dry out!!! What could have been a long and boring morning turned out to be pretty cool. It's amazing how entertaining two kids in a landromat can be. We watched the clothes go around on the super spin cycle!! What a blast!

Mesmerized by a washing machine!!!

Speaking of severe weather we have a storm coming through right now! I will continue afterwards!

Weekend Ride!

2008-06-24T19:53:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was fun. I went for a motorcycle ride with John, and a group of folks from a riding club that I have joined. We went all the way to Myrtle Beach and ate at a place called Captain Poo's. Dad would like it 'cause somebody there is a Pittsburgh fan! They had a flag hanging in the corner for all to see.

The day started off nice, but then on the way home the rain started falling. It wasn't to bad though and I think that John got a kick out of it. This coming weekend will be alot of fun, we are going to the mountains to go camping and to ride a little. There will be pictures and a blog following shortly after the trip.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your ENGINES!!!"

2008-06-04T19:53:00.000-04:00

The Pagoda and the "Yard of Bricks"

Ok everybody, here is the long awaited blog about my annual pilgrimage to racing Mecca! What a trip we had! 3,000 miles in 6 days!!! Every year for the past four years we have gone to the Indy 500, and it has been great to include a friend or relative who has not gone before in the adventure. This year we took Mo's friend Dan (what a coinkidink!) to the race. Dan is a friend from Mo's college days who is always up for a crazy time.

Dan and Mo

So the trip got started on Thursday morning, early, and was going well when all of a sudden the Subaru decided it needed to change it's anti-freeze!! The car just started running hot and spewed anti-freeze all over the place. Fortunately we were near an exit with a Flying J at it. I went in and realized that they only had coolant for big rigs, not cars. There is a difference! So I called a NAPA and they actually delivered the parts that I needed right to the truck stop!!! THANK YOU NAPA!!!! I am now officially a Michael Waltrip fan!!! I got the car running and we were back on our way, yippee!!!

We finally arrived at Mom and Dad's, after about 10hrs!! What a long trip, but it was worth it! I love visiting with my folks. We also met Dan there and crashed for the night. The next morning we had a nice breakfast with Mom and Dad and left Liam with them for a nice weekend visit. Mo, John, Dan and myself headed on our way to Jeannette, Pa to visit my Grammy!! She is an amazing lady, 90 years old and still getting around! She is always good for a BIG laugh!!! We went to Eat & Park and had a nice dinner.

Me, John, Grammy, and Mo

The next day it was off to Indy, sort of. We actually drove to Richmond, Indiana and crashed at a hotel for the night. Of course we couldn't have a nice drive through Ohio without having to stop, uh I mean be stopped by one of its finest!! That's right Mo got a speeding ticket!! And you guys thought I was the only one with a lead foot!!!

Sunday is race day!! We got up early drove the rest of the way and started the trek to Mecca. It is about a mile from the parking area to the track. Once we got to the track we picked up our Brickyard Box Lunches and went to our seats. It is always fun to watch all the pomp and circumstance that is Indy! It was great to see Jim Neighbors back at the track to sing Back Home in Indiana. He was unable to attend last year! Florence Henderson sang God Bless America, and the Purdue marching band was present to play the national anthem.

Lining up the cars.

Thank you to our Military!

After that it was time for the most famous words in motor sports, "Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines!" The sound those cars makes is like a symphony!!! It has to be one of the most beautiful sound in the world! The cars do some parade laps and then they're off and they go by our seats at top speed, a mere 235-240 miles per hour!!!! That is FAST!!

Scott Dixon leads the field!

Danica (#7) going into the pits.

Some more action from the pits.

It was a good race and there were some good folks sitting next to us this year! We all had fun! Scott Dixon won, but it was Danica Patrick storming down pit lane that stole the show!!! Ryan Briscoe had run into her on the exit of pit lane and broke her car! She was MAD! It made for a good little bit of drama!

After the race it was straight back to Grammy's. We got in late so it was pretty much right to bed when we got in! The next morning we visited with Grammy for a little and then headed back to Mom and Dad's. We got in around dinner time and had a nice Memorial Day cookout. I hit some Wiffle ball with Dad pitching to me. It was a smashing good time! Literally! I hit some killer homerun shots way into Wendy's yard.

The next morning Dan went on his way to New Hampshire and John, Liam, Mo and I headed home. We stopped a Mo's Mom's in Delaware, and then had a pretty uneventful trip home. Well that was my crazy Memorial Day weekend, a good time was had by all!

The Fam!

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You!!

2008-05-29T23:04:00.000-04:00

Hey to all you Blogroupies!!!! I will have a post up in the very near future about my AWESOME trip to the Indy 500. I have been busy with work and so on, and am still waiting to get some film developed. So stay tuned, a new episode will be on its way soon!

Look Who's Seven!!!

2008-05-19T08:28:00.000-04:00

Transformers Cake

I know that this blog is about ten days late but I had to wait to get the pictures back and find the time to post this. My son John turned seven on May 9th and had his first sleepover party. It was fun and I'm confident that John enjoyed it too. He had a bunch of friends over and they ran all through the house laughing and chasing each other, it was quite amusing actually! Thank goodness we don't have any Ming vases or other types of collectibles, the way they were running around my insurance company might have had a very large claim!!! It was fun and a good time was had by all.

Madness and Mayhem!!!!

I got a bag!!!!!

Even Liam got in on the Action!!

A good breakfast after a long night of fun and games!

So Long and Thanks for the Memories

2008-05-15T21:13:00.000-04:00

First time at the Dragon.

Monday was a pretty good day and a bummer kind of day all at the same time. How can this be, you might ask? Well I finally sold my Meanstreak. I was glad to be able to pay some things, but sad to see her go. I have had that bike since 2003 and put many good miles on it. I can only hope that the new owner takes care of it as well as I did. I have another ride now and it has been really fun, so I felt it was time to let the "Streak" go. So, farewell old friend and may your new owner be as good to you as I was. Thanks for the good times.

"Smoove"

John ridin' with me.

Tank You!

Vintage Leathers and 8,000 RPM

2008-05-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

Good Lean, but still have to work on my form.

Don't worry I played nice!

This past weekend I went to The Dragon again! I love this place. I first met some folks in Bryson City and then rode on some other awesome roads in NC. We split up and then my solo adventure began. I rode to The Dragon via route 28. This road is ranked very highly on my awesome road list, and with a nickname like "Hellbender" you can figure out why. After thoroughly enjoying my warm up drive I arrived at the Resort.

Love those leathers!

I had some lunch at the Dragon's Den Grill and then made my first pass of the day. This was a great opportunity to really get the chance to break in my "new" old leathers. I got this set of leathers from work for a steal! The awesome part is that they were still in the original package. They are about ten years old! They fit great and will hopefully serve me well.

This is not where your motorcycle is supposed to be!!!

On my way back through I had to stop and help a rider who had the unfortunate experience of being bit by The Dragon. The rider was OK, but his bike definitely needed some work when he got home. Aside from that I had a great day of riding, and I got to watch Valentino Rossi win his first MotoGP race of the year on Sunday. What a blast.

This is usually the result!!!!

My next major event is my annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis for the Indy 500!! I can't wait! Stay tuned blog fans!

"Dam" Good Trip.

2008-04-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

DAM!!!

John and I @ Fontana Dam

So my son John and I planned a trip to The Dragon and surrounding area a few weeks back. John was so excited because it was his first real trip to the mountains on the bike. We trailered the bike up there on Saturday when I got done work and went to go riding on Sunday. When we got up that morning it was probably 37 degrees outside! Remember this is North Carolina at the end of April!!! It's not supposed to be 37 outside!! When I woke up I told John that we could take the car and explore the area and stay warm. Well, he would have none of THAT!!! He insisted on riding and I'm glad he did. I must say that I had one of the best weekends of my life riding around with him. The temps barely got to 45, but that didn't put a damper on the day.

John @ Chilhowee Dam

Calderwood Dam as seen from The Overlook

John and I on my '01 ZX9R

John and I @ Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort

As you can see from the photos John and I went to see some of the many dams that are in the area. Fontana Dam is the largest dam built east of the Mississippi. It is quite spectacular! One must experience it in person to fully appreciate how massive it is. Fontana Dam is 480 feet high and stretches 2,365 feet (that's almost 1/2 a mile!!!!) across the Little Tennessee River. The other dam of interest is Cheoah Dam. It is nicknamed Fugitive Dam because this is the dam that Harrison Ford's character jumped from in the movie The Fugitive. Needless to say we had a blast.

P.S. By the end of the day it was SNOWING!!!! That's right, SNOWING!!! John loved it!

John catching snowflakes in North Carolina @ the end of April!!!

The Addiction...

2008-04-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is Dan and I'm an addict. I can't stop thinking about motorcycles! I'm also addicted to curves! Three hundred and eighteen (318) of them to be exact! They call it "The Dragon". Simply put, asphalt bliss! This road is undoubtedly the best eleven (11) mile stretch of road on earth! There are no driveways, intersections, or cross streets of any kind; just curves!

I first felt the rush of The Dragon in September of 2005. Ever since then I can't get enough. So that is when it all started. The crazy 680+ mile day trips just to ride it one time! Spur of the moment overnights, sleeping on a picnic table, so I can ride all the next day kind of trips! If you haven't experienced it or don't have the passion for thrills then it is hard to explain. The picture below might give you a sense of what is so attractive about the Smoky Mountains and The Dragon.

This is from September 2005 (My first time!)
That was my 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS and my 2003 Vulcan Mean Streak!

The roads are as amazing as the scenery. What is even more fun is sharing your addiction with other addicts like my friend James! I have yet to drag a knee, but rest assured my day is coming! (see below)

James on his Buell XB9R! (as seen @ killboy.com)

Killboy.com, by the way, is the place you go to get your weekly dose of The Dragon When you can't be there in person. His blog rocks! He also takes awesome action shots of you riding! That is the other thing about this place that attracts me there. The people that you meet are so cool! I guess part of it has to do with our common interest, but the fact that I have yet to meet someone who isn't approachable is amazing.

I hope that this might help to explain my addiction to those who don't understand it. For those who do and those who just want to see what's next check back every now and then to see my adventures. I have some new pics and things to say about a recent trip to The Dragon with my son John, coming up very soon!