Harrah's Cherokee Casino

Steven has the poker bug, so we headed out this morning to Harrah's Cherokee Casino. We had a beautiful blue sky full of white billowy clouds and the 50-mile ride there through Soco Gap and US Hwy 19 is so delightful.

Heading to Cherokee Casino

Rooms at the casino were sold out, so we stayed at the Days Inn right across the street.

Outside the casino. "Hurry up and take your photo."

Beautifully landscaped casino.

Craggy Pinnacle

Freezing cold on the Parkway North this morning. Still the view looking from the Craggy Pinnacle Overlook was spectacular.

Paint Fork Road

Ge and Dana behind us

Beautiful Saturday morning, riding with friends through Weaverville, just north of Asheville, on one of my favorites, Paint Fork Road.

Just a stunning ride through green terrain, curves, creeks, and stunning rural scenery.

Rows of Tobacco crop

So much to see and breathe in. Great ride, great friends.

"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats." —Iris Murdoch

And as we were totally immersed with our ride, our Harley just stopped. Dead. A rather dull thud at the climax of our concerto.

Ge's family helped us get started again. Our voltage regulator needed to be changed. We ended up replacing the battery and that got us home.

Steven changing the battery

Riding and Hiking

We now want to ride, then hike.

On a simple gorgeous, perfect dawn morning, we rode north on the Parkway to Craggy Gardens to hike.

It was so beautiful, I did not pay close enough attention to what I was doing, tripped and fell on this rock...

Pain... a quick 45-minute ride back home, then to the emergency room. After x-rays, I escaped with nothing broken and only 11 stitches on my left knee.

Lesson? Pay attention to what you're doing.