After a restful night in the Rocky Knob Cabins at Mabry Mill, I wake up to this.

Yes, rain. All night long. A deluge.

But the sun breaks through the clouds, we saddle up, and head North on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a 198-mile day.

Somewhere on the outskirts of Roanoke (a real city!), we find a 3G cell signal and yesterday’s e-mail makes its way into your cyber-mailbox.

78 miles up the Parkway from Rocky Knob Cabins, we stop in Vinton, Virginia — for gas and lunch. Different places. Lunch was at “Smoqin Odie’s” … yes, a BBQ place. A docent at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors Center near Roanoke suggested Smoqin Odie’s. We’re glad she did.

Ray indulges his sweet tooth, as the photo shows. I have a pulled pork sandwich, consistent with my desire to eat Southern on this trip.

After lunch, we continue through the Jefferson National Forest — home of both the highest (3,950 ft) and lowest (649 ft) points in Virginia on the Parkway. No need to look this up on The Google; the high point is Terrapin Mountain (which probably should be in Maryland) and the low point is where the Parkway crosses James River.

Eventually, we reach milepost 0, the Northern end of the Parkway. With the exception of a minor detour (I’m over it) yesterday, we traveled the Parkway’s 469 miles from Cherokee, North Carolina to milepost 0 with no problems, other than a little rain (I’m over that, too) and a temporary technology blackout.

Now what?

Well, no need to decide yet. So, we head to Waynesboro, a few miles West of milepost 0, to park the Harley for the night.

We get another dining recommendation, this time from the front desk clerk at the Comfort Inn. What could this kid know?

He sends us to Shukri’s, a hole-in-the-wall rib place on Main Street. On the way to Shukri’s, we encounter our second detour of the week: Main Street is closed. F#%#ck!

So, we park the bikes on a parallel street and take a closer look at Main Street.  What we see is an awesome slice of Americana: the regional Soap Box Derby finals, right there on Main Street. From our table at Shukri’s, we watch the kids whizzing side-by-side at 32 mph.

After the race ends, we find out that Front-Desk-Boy knows what he’s doing. For me, it was a home run.

What will tomorrow bring?

Technology. So helpful most of the time. And right now, technology is why you aren’t receiving this note on Friday evening, when I’m writing it.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is stunningly beautiful. Even for a Journalism major (me), words can’t describe the majesty of this ride. So I won’t even try.

The Parkway goes through some very remote areas, which means little (if any) cellular coverage, and sparse wi-fi opportunities. So, technology has conspired to get you news of the Harley Hillbilly Holiday, Day 3 — delayed until Day 4.

We are in Cabin 18 at the Rocky Knob Cabins in Rocky Knob, Virginia. It’s near milepost 175 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

These cabins were built for the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The CCC built the Blue Ridge Parkway about 75 years ago, pretty much a jobs program with a spectacular result.

But I digress.

This morning, our day starts with a hearty, thought not exactly healthy, breakfast at the Little Switzerland Inn.  I have taken a culinary vow of Southern-ness for the remainder of the trip, and today’s breakfast provides an excellent start. Would someone please call my cardiologist?

With full tummies, we head North on the Parkway. Unlike yesterday, we are traveling under sunny skies — in short-sleeve shirts — all day.

Next stop: Blowing Rock, North Carolina, an artsy town of 2,000, named for the Blowing Rock (yes, THE Blowing Rock).  This rock is a 250 million-year-old rock formation with Chickasaw Indian legend. For more, click here.

The big news of the day was my shattered dream, left in a thousand pieces at a lonely exit from the Parkway. My ambition on this trip had been to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway end-to-end, all 469 miles of it — maximum speed 45 mph.

So here we are, enjoying a lovely day full of Parkway pleasures, when we see a sign announcing, “Parkway closed. Detour ahead.”

F#%*ck!  We lost 25 miles of the Parkway, detouring through Sparta, North Carolina. We did see dozens of Christmas tree farms on the unplanned route, and the detour has its own road rhythms, but it isnt the Blue Ridge Parkway. I now have one more reason to come back and do this ride again — so I can complete the Parkway. Anyone want to come along?  Schedule TBD.

After the detour returns us to the Parkway, the roads are much more gentle. We are now in Virginia.  There are tons of Scenic Overlooks along the Parkway. Brilliant design. The overlook below is High Piney Spur, elevation 2,805 ft.

At the end of a 181-mile ride, we arrive at our destination, the Rocky Knob Cabins, just North of Mabry Mill, famous for milling grist in the 19th century. Mr. Mabry is a well-known guy around here.

A mile from the cabin, we dine at the Woodward Inn.

What will tomorrow bring?

On Day 2 of Gary’s Harley Hillbilly Holiday, we experienced 262 miles of Southern hospitality — from Farragut, Tennessee, to Little Switzerland, North Carolina.

We began our day by riding through Greenback, Tennessee — which claims Sarah Murr as its most famous former resident.  Sarah graduated from Greenback High School, so this picture may mean more to her than the rest of you.  We met a few people at the school who actually knew of the Murr family. Small world.

From Greenback, we headed into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There are spectacular vistas everywhere. Near the highest point in the Smokies, we visited Newfound Gap, which straddles the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

Most of the day, we rode twisty, two-lane roads at elevations between 3,000 and 5,000 feet.

After a gas stop in Cherokee, North Carolina, we entered the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile road apparently built for motorcycles. It follows the Appalachian Mountain chain, and has seemingly endless views.

The Blue Ridge Parkway takes us from the Great Smokies to the Balsams, the Pisgahs, the Craggies, the Black Mountains and of course the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We will be riding the Parkway the next few days.

To learn more about the Blue Ridge Parkway, click here.

It was a beautiful day … until … It started to rain. F#%#}*ck!!

So, we put on our foul weather gear at Lickstone Ridge Overlook, elevation 5,150 — and got wet for the next three hours.  I assured Ray this would never happen in La Quinta.

Eventually, it cleared up a bit, and we are still drying out as i write this.  We have our fingers crossed for desert-like weather tomorrow.

Oh, forgot to mention food. We ate at the only place you can get food on the Blue Ridge Parkway: the Pisgah Inn. Really, there are no other commercial establishments on the Parkway.  This is a triumph of beauty over capitalism.

I’m pushing for Southern food the rest of the way. Bad for you, but oh-so-good.

Tonight, we are in Little Switzerland, North Carolina, at milepost 335 — just off the Parkway.

What will tomorrow bring?

Today begins Gary’s 2011 “Harley Hillbilly Holiday,” an eight-day ride through the hills and mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

As in years past, I’m riding with Ray, Sarah’s 80-year-old cousin.

To learn more about Ray, visit the My Posse page on this blog.

Today was a warm-up ride, about 50 miles to Deals Gap, North Carolina. Deals Gap is a famous motorcycle resort at the end of “The Dragon,” a Harley fantasyland: 318 curves in 11 miles on US Highway 129.

The Dragon is known for slaying inattentive riders.

At the Tail of The Dragon, there’s a Tree of Shame, littered with motorcycle parts from crashed bikes.  On this trip, I’m riding Sarah’s cousin Tina’s Harley (just like mine, a Heritage Softail Classic) — so I was particularly careful not to add to the Tree of Shame.

Deal’s Gap Motorcycle Resort is the place to go in these here parts if you’re a serious rider, or just a tourist from California.  It has a great cafe, with hundreds of t-shirts on the ceiling from visiting bikers.

To learn more about The Dragon, check out this website:

Tonight we are at Ray and Tina’s home in Farragut, Tennessee — for a relaxing meal and a comfortable bed.

Tomorrow, we hit the road!

My second ride improved upon the first. There were three of us this time, and we took a slightly different route.

My friend from San Rafael, Dennis Johnson, joined Ray and me for the ride from La Quinta to Lake Tahoe.

To learn more about Ray and Dennis, visit the My Posse page on this blog.

Dennis rented a Harley Davidson Street Glide in Palm Desert at Eagle Rider.

We began by riding through nearby mountains, up to Idyllwild, then on to Big Bear Lake, where we parked our bikes, and ourselves, overnight.

From there, it was on to Sequoia National Park, where early May piles of snow (Brrrrr!) still sat by the side of the road.

Then, we continued up the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountains with a stop in Yosemite National Park.

After roaring across Kit Carson Pass, the only Sierra Nevada pass (other than I-80) that was open, we arrived in South Lake Tahoe.

Here, Dennis dropped off his bike, and got a ride home from his next-door-neighbor (and my cousin), Rich Wank.

Ray and I continued on down the east side of the Sierras, riding past Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, eventually arriving home in La Quinta.

Nice trip. This is quite habit forming.

First overnight bike trip!

Ray Sanders, who’s married to Sarah’s first cousin, Tina, rode out to Southern California to join me for a week of riding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

To learn more about Ray, visit the My Posse page of this blog.

We left La Quinta, rolled through Joshua Tree National Park, and on to Victorville, California, where I spent my first night ever on the road with a Harley parked outside my motel room.

From Victorville, we rode up US Highway 395 to Mammoth Lakes, high in the Sierras.

Then, it was on to South Lake Tahoe. We arrived via the Kingsbury Grade, which took us from Gardnerville, Nevada, to Stateline.

On our way home from Lake Tahoe, we stopped overnight in Sonora.

Continuing on toward La Quinta, we checked out Yosemite National Park.

Next day, it was on to Sequoia National Park.

A very good introduction to vroom, vrooming. Can’t wait to do it again.