In My Own Backyard....

Once again, I find myself pacing the LiL Girl in circles around my home town. Why? That's an easy question. My bike was ready to pick up from the shop. I had broken the drive belt over two weeks ago, dropped it off the same day, but they dawdled around fixing it until Sat. All right, I also asked them to change to fork oil in my bike. Turns out the parts were not available from HD, (WHAT?)FACTORY BACK ORDERED MY DUST CUPS! Then the parts department, rather than tell the service department there is a problem in Houston, just thought to let the B/O ride! I needed the bike to cover a first time bike event right here in Johnson City...yet I had no bike. Oh I was pissed. I gave Paul the parts man hell, told him I didn't care where he got the dust covers, "Just get the damn things." How hard can it be to have an open line of communication between the parts department, the service department and the customer? Oh bloody hell. Just get the fricken parts.

picking up my bike at service

Two weeks later, I come in to pick up my bike and Shannon (my favorite tech) is tweaking the last of the fork job. They bring me out my parts, yeowzia...the right fork I knew was damaged...because I had damaged it five years ago. Dented the dust cover by attaching something to my forks on the front fender. Dumb move. Never replicated again. I didn't fix it either. It was so bad...Shannon told me he couldn't believe the seal didn't leak. It just kept getting flatter and flatter. Smooching out and up the shaft. huh...why didn't I take a picture of that?

The service writer says my bike is becoming legend there at the shop. No one has ever seen a Sportster with over 150K on it before I guess. I just smile. She takes a licking and keeps on ticking!

IMAGE CAPTION: BROKEN DRIVE BELT ON SEAT


Ah well, water under the bridge now. Let's just lead Mom (my ride) back into Elizibethton and get the ride underway!

Passing by the Sycamore Shoals State Park, I notice there was a little hula baloo happening at the Watauga Fort. This State Park has a small fort replica depicting life at the Shoals in the early 1700's. I love these little hoop-la's they have during the summer. Encampments they are called. People from all over the region and beyond come to these re-enactments dressed in period clothing, work with period tools (iron smith, soap maker, rope maker...) and live the weekend as settlers and Native Americans would have during the early 1700's. It's really a fun thing to see! (I'll bet it's it's even better at night when they all get together and it's just them... no public eye!) Yes, these people seem to have it all!

Here is some of what I "captured" at the Fort.


IMAGE CAPTION: THE BOYS AT THE TAVERN


IMAGE CAPTION: THE SOAP MAKER


IMAGE CAPTION: THE BOYS RELAXING AROUND THE CABIN


IMAGE CAPTION: NATIVE AMERICAN MAIDEN


IMAGE CAPTION: FRESH TROUT FROM THE RIVER


IMAGE CAPTION: MAKING ROPE FROM HEMP


IMAGE CAPTION: LUNCH IS ALMOST READY

There is so much more to show you from the encampment, but to do so would mean you would have to miss out on the rest of my ride. So I'm leaving Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizibethton TN. off of SR-67, and I fix my wheel to take me back into Johnson City, catching SR-11E to Greenville, TN. I figure I would hit the Lilac Festival happening there. Before I got there, I passed through old downtown Jonesbrough, TN. This little burg is Tennessee's oldest incorporated town. As I'm rolling down the hill on the back road into Jonesbrough, I see one of those history markers up rise to my right. It's on a small one lane track road. I decide to turn around and check it out. Here we go... HUH... very interesting history, this old house has. Not to mention, the really OLD cemetery sitting next to it!


IMAGE CAPTION: BUILDING STARTED LIFE AS A FEMALE INSTITUTE.

After stopping to photograph the sign, I walked to the crest of the hill to enter the cemetery. Most of the headstones indicated the occupants of this place died more than 100 years ago. I will show you some of my favorite headstones!






IMAGE CAPTION: PLEASE, DON'T BURY ME UNDER THE SHADE TREE!


IMAGE CAPTION: a beautiful stone knocked off the pedestal





I leave Jonesbrough and I'm on my way to Greenville for the Lilac Festival. I don't know what I was expecting. It was a bit of a disappointment to me. It was a great festival I'm sure...as far as they go today. But I was hoping for more of a hometown flavor to it. Instead, there were professional vendors everywhere. The food vendors were selling Lemon Aide at $4.00 a glass. That's what you expect to pay at events like Daytona Bike Week. I am disgusted. They aren't even local vendors. Eventually, I found a Mennonite family making the lemon aide right in front of me. The girls all dressed in their sweet old fashioned and crisply iron dresses and their little starched white caps. The lemon aide was $2.00 a glass and it was REALLY good stuff.

I didn't hang out in Greenville too long. Too many people, too many disappointments. Too few local people showing their crafts wares, and it was danged hot to be walking around in my chaps. Time to go. No pictures taken here.

I turned my wheel back onto 11E once more. I've decided to explore SR-351 North. It's a road I noted on my way here. I thought it would be nice to ride it and see what was there to see. SR-351 is a nice farming country road. Cattle and grazing land for miles. Old barns, and early 20th century farm homes were the norm on this road. It was quieting after my time at the Lilac Fest. Unfortunately the road does not go on forever, it ends in a t and I'll be darned if I can remember what the road designation was from here. I just turned East, and rode till that road ended, and headed south east until I came to SR-81 North. It's time to go home.