After checking in I left my jacket and gloves on the table. Jerry decided they would make an excellent Grand Prize!!
Nancy putting out ROK t-shirts
Thursday night dinner was hot dogs, chili, lots of other snacks and part of the 406 cookies (chocolate chip, macadamia nut, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter) Nancy made.
Friday Nancy led a group of us on a 25 mile ride through the mountains of Tennessee to lunch at Applehouse Restaurant.
Applehouse Orchards
Cindy and Jerry are ROK members and the club has the rally on their property in Del Rio. 106 people at this years rally.
Jerry and Cindy putting out candles in the creek
Saturday morning Bill led a group ride into Smoky Mountain National Park with a stop at one of the overlooks and then onto backroads only Bill could find. We ended up in the Dandridge area with a stop for lunch at Bush's Family Cafe.
Overlook in Smokey Mountain National Park
One (or two) of the motorcyclists in our group getting gas
Nancy & Bill with Jay & Duke
Bush Bean Factory Dandridge, TN
Saturday night at the closing ceremony Jimmy Morrow (historian, artist and folklore story teller) had us laughing and learning about Cocke County and Del Rio.
Leaving the rally on Sunday we went to Hot Springs Resort and Spa with Nancy & Bill (just over the Tennessee border in North Carolina). After soaking in hot tub #5 for an hour we had lunch at Smoky Mountain Diner in Hot Springs.
Hot Tub #5
After leaving Hot Springs and Nancy & Bill, we stayed overnight in Monroe, North Carollina. Monday we had a quick 3 hour ride home. Google Map Home
Here is a video with Jimmy Morrow telling one of his tales.
Hocking Hills State Park Campground - Hocking Hills, Ohio
May 1 - 3 (1,406 miles)
We left on Thursday morning with 50% chance of rain and lots of black clouds. Amazingly, we didn't get any rain and the sun came out in Virginia. We stopped for the night in Wytheville, VA. The next morning called for rain again and in the West Virginia mountains we hit 42 degree temps and fog so think it seemed like rain although the visibility was not bad. At the Ohio border the sun came out and the rest of the weekend (and the ride home) the weather was perfect. Google Map to Rally
One of the first to arrive at campground
The Southeastern Ohio Beemers hosted this inaugural, historically-themed Hopewell Road Rally. There were guided rides on Saturday taking us to the the largest geometric earthworks, effigy mounds and hilltop enclosures in the world constructed by the Hopewell Peoples. We chose the Serpent Mound tour led by Sam Booth who gave us a lecture on Friday night introducing us to what we would see on Saturday.
Camp Pavilion - Friday lecture and supper, coffee and Saturday night awards
Our tour started at 9:30 Saturday morning. There were 33 motorcycles in the group and Sam kept us all together on beautiful back roads to Mound City Group, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. The park became a National Monument in 1923 under President Harding and consists of five units. The visitor center is at Mound City Group.
Sam arranged for a ranger to give us a talk before visiting the mounds and the visitor center
This largest mound is 17.5 feet high. The area of Mound City is 13 acres
and 23 mounds
Not much is known about these indians who lived
between 2,200 and 1,500 years ago. The Hopewell
people were named after the farmer who owned the land.
Beautiful day with all the trees blooming
The second stop was Seip Mound another unit of the National Park. Thirty-three motorcycles were an amazing site going up and down the hills and back roads of Ohio.
Arriving at Seip Mound
Sam telling us a bit about Seip Mound.
Exploring Seip mound
Our third stop was Serpent Mound, the largest serpent effigy in the world (1/4 mile long, 20 feet wide, 5 feet tall). The best way to approach Serpent Mound was to climb up a tower where most of the site is visible (far to large to take a picture of). After visiting the site it was almost 2:30 and we decided to leave the group and go back to camp.
Saturday night we had a delicious buffet dinner at the Lake Hope Lodge, 2 miles from the campsite. After dinner the closing ceremony, door prizes and awards were at the pavilion. Bob's BMW donated prizes and was very enthusiastic to be part of the first annual Hopewell Road Rally (134 attendees). Bob himself was there for the ending ceremony.
Sunday we drove to Asheboro, NC for the night. The next morning we had a leisurely 3 1/2 hour drive home.
