Busy Day Rain Twice

Day 3, Monday June 11, 2018

Faye’s sister and brother-in-law arrived yesterday afternoon to spend the day with us.  Breakfast around 8AM and then headed out for Wheels Through Time.  Don, Todd and I rode the bikes while everyone else went in Dick’s SUV.  RT 19 up and over the mountain between Cherokee and Maggie Valley was easier today without the trailer plus I was not tired and ready for the curves and 8% or 9% grades.  Bernie said he told Dick “see Sheila up there, take a look cause you won’t see her again until we reach the bottom of the mountain” and he was right.  Todd loves the mountain roads and the twists and turns as much as I do.  I tried to explain to him about running in a lower gear when going down a steep grade so you don’t have to ride your brakes so they don’t burn up.  I explained to him about looking through a curve to where you want to be.  I need to work with him about shifting so when the time is right he will be ready for his own bike.  Got to the museum by 9:15 and left there at noon.  It was just as interesting this time as the first time I saw it.  Todd seemed to enjoy it and he purchased a nice hooded sweatshirt.  Lunch was back in Cherokee to Little Princess which was very good then Don, Todd and I went over to the Tepee Village to see the Bear Park which was closed.  Did some shopping and Todd purchased a nice leather western hat.  Just as we were about to leave the rain started and the bottom fell out.  We sat in rocking chairs on the walk way and watched the rain pour down.  After about a half an hour it stopped, and the sun came out so we climbed on our wet bikes and headed to the hotel where they didn’t have a drop of rain.  Todd got in the pool for awhile.

Plan for tonight was dinner at 5 PM and then go to the show Unto These Hills.  Went to two restaurants and found them closed but the third was a charm; had Elk Burgers, Buffalo Burgers, Buffalo steaks, and so much more.  The show is in an outdoor theater and we had to walk a mile from the parking lot (up hill) and then down what seemed like a couple hundred steps to our seats on the mountainside.  And it started raining just before we went in so we purchased cheap ponchos, not much more than trash bags with holes cut in them but they served the purpose.  Couldn’t help but laugh we all looks so funny, then we are sitting on metal seats and the thunder starts to roll and rain is coming down harder.  Got to stay there is no refund!  The rain stopped just before the play begun and then it cleared up and was just chilly cause we are all more than damp by now.  The play is awesome about the Cherokee People trying to make a living in the Smokie Mountains and trying to get along with the white man only to be cheated and round up like animals and marched thousands of miles to the west.  17000 were forced to march and 5000 died on the trails.  A small group hide in the mountains and after many years and pleading with the government they were finally granted citizenship and a reservation established here.  These people have survived against all obstacles and they truly are a great nation.