It actually went fairly fast, turning off onto Hwy 19 west of Asheville towards Cherokee. After some closer looks at the map, I decided to bypass the town of Cherokee, and take the last 18 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Now is where the fun ride begins. Slowing it down from the usual 75mph on the Interstates to a blistering 30mph on the parkway, you can quickly remember why you wanted to take the trip in the first place. Following one of many clear mountain rivers over the pass into Tennessee, I turned off onto the Cades Cove road to bypass Gatlinburg, and all the traffic and concrete that goes with it. Taking a side road into Townsend, I got on Hwy 321 through Marysville, and hooked back up with Interstate 40 west, and pulled over after 435 miles in Crossville, TN.

At this point I am maybe 100 miles further than I thought I'd be, partly because I want to get a bit further before the mid-week rains hit me. So far the bike, the weather and my butt is holding up well.

Likely tomorrow will be a shorter day, as I will get off the Interstate in Nashville, and get on the Natchez Trace Parkway down to nearly the southern state line before heading west again towards Memphis. Weather permitting, I will pull off somewhere before Memphis.