Modern Vespa

Can you delete this one Jim?

Is there a location in south TN/NC that would allow us to set up a base camp. (Like near Ducktown or Murphy). That would allow us to ride a northern route one day and a southern route the next.

that would be 2 wheel inn at robinsville

and thats not a bad option of going north say sat. then sunday ride south or versa visesa

Been chatting with Fuzzy about this. I want to come but I have a bit of a schedule conflict. We are scheduled to be in Maine that weekend. My wife has work scheduled there on the 24th and 25th. We stay at our camp which is closed up for the winter and has to be "opened up" which requires me to be there. I am working on some way around this but when I broached it with my wife she wasn't too keen on any of my suggestions yet. One was for her to just stay at a hotel but I got the "look" over that one. The other one was for me to fly up the weekend before and get it ready for her...she is not to happy about that one either but hasen't ruled it out. Still workin' it.

NO NOT THE LOOK you say. I have seen that before and its a holly crap moment. Do wifes go to a special class to learn that?

There is a clean, cheap hotel in Murphy called the Sunset. I stayed there for 2 months about 2 1/2 years ago while doing some out-of-town surveying. I think we were paying about $35 a night. It would be a nice spot in between the Tail and North Georgia. I am very familiar with the roads in that part of Georgia and know of some great rides, but can't promise that I can make the trip due to my job situation. Murphy to Blairsville to Helen to Hiawasee to Murphy would be a great ride. I just got back to Georgia after working out in East Texas since July. There is almost no good roads for rides out there, unless you like flat straight rides. Glad to be back where there are mountains close by. I made the ride to Chattanooga last year, but had to leave early due to a death in the family and missed out on the Tail of the Dragon ride. I really enjoyed meeting all of you and having a couple of cold ones. Hope I can make it this time.

Just a quick update folks:

I'm thinking that Two Wheel Inn is looking promising for a couple of reasons:

1. Actual experience staying there which eliminates some of the unknowns
2. Friendly folks
3. Cheap rooms considering the motorcycle garages and location
4. Location...good spot between southern rides, dragon in the north, and wester cherhola stuff...

I'm calling them tomorrow at some point to see if I can see if they will have openings then and if we might be able to get some sort of group discount.

My backup is the Hog's heaven cabins. They too are nice(didnt' realized that EACH cabin was a full two bedrooms, so originally thought there wasn't enough cabins for us all). My only issue, and it's minor, is that they are located so far west of everything that the skyway is the only quick riding that might be possible.

I'll update again when I find out availabilty/prices of these two places. Once I do, I figure we'll take a final "yes, I will stay there" vote and then try and get everyone to book early so that we get any discounts and ensure we all have rooms. Sound good?

good call there Luthorhuss. 2 wheel sounds great. let us know if we have to do individual call in resv or what. hey are there some decent resturants near-by?
I'll probably go up Fri afternoon. Also I'll probably e solo so sharing with someone would be ok.

Actually, we learn THE LOOK at our mother's knee - unfortunately you all apparently learn how to respond to THE LOOK at your father's knee. My dearly beloved was raised by a single mother and has not in 20 years of marraige learned the correct response to THE LOOK. Eye-rolling and dramatic sighs meet with equal failure - I have to resort to outright statement of my opinion, opening the doors to chaos in the universe. Obviously he does not appreciate that he is upsetting the delicate balance of yin and yang on a global scale. So much better if he would just give in

I was laughing so hard Susan came over to see what was so ROFLMAO. She said to tell you your post was brilliant.
So If I understand this correctly, black holes from the Hadron Super Collider is less of a threat to a stable universe than asking a woman to be direct and up front about something....
Hmmmmm

I lovingly call that look "stink eye" - and I get it all the time. However, much to my surprise, my wife actually asked me a while back if I'd ever want to take a solo motorcycle trip. I casually said something like, "that might be fun", then produced the maps I'd been working on since last summer!

+1! Thanks Luthorhuss. I too will be solo and will be into the area Friday, 5/21. I've got a 280 mile day planned for Friday, so hopefully I'll be showing up by late afternoon or so - plenty of time to drink a few cool ones with y'all. I'm fine with sharing a room as well.

K, so I'm changing the title, to try and make sure everyone notices to get their reservations in.

I checked with the Two Wheel Inn. They don't do group discounts because (and I figured this), almost all the places in the area get motorcycle groups all the time and so just go pretty flat rate.

Their prices are :
$75/night for a double room
$65/night for a single room

The rooms come with a covered/locked door garage that will fit one bike easily and would probably fit two mp3s situated staggered with no problem

The rooms come with a mini fridge, coffee pot, microwave and free DSL hookup(I'd bring my own ethernet cord to be safe if you plan on using it) and access to a laundry room.

The place is tiny, and quaint but is friendly. It is literally TWO WHEELS ONLY, so for those of you who might be considering trailering, I'd call ahead and see if they have a car/truck parking area. If not, there is the Microtel and several other "normal" hotels in the area. I figure we'll likely be pulling out and meeting at an IHOP or similar every morning to do bkfst, so if 2 wheels give you a hassle don't be afraid to search elsewhere in Robbinsville, NC.

So that's it for now...PLEASE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ONE NIGHT DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED FOR 1-3 DAYS STAY.

When you have reserved, PLEASE, PLEASE POST ON HERE HOW LONG/WHAT DATES...so that people can see all who have reserved. I will be making my reservation today.

I plan on getting a double room, so first one to PM me gets a cozy twin bed on the other side of the room and gets to pay for the second night .

One final bit, if you don't have this yet, here is their site:
http://www.twowheelinn.com/

Two questions:

1: Does Two Wheels Inn have a place for us to get together out of the weather? In the afternoon / evening after the riding we will want to sit around and swap adventure stories like rembering the "man on a mission" while drinking the Alaskan Brewskis that Dirt is getting to share. We won't all fit in one room.

2: Do they have a grill we can use? For the above agenda it might be nice to pick up some food and cook our own supper. Robbinsville is lacking in fine eating establishments. Our last visit ruined me on Chinese for a while.

Ooh! Here's some important info I forgot to add...!

- They have a 2 week cancellation policy that means if you cancel within 2 weeks of the date, you lose your deposit. If you cancel outside the 2 weeks there is a TWENTY DOLLAR cancellation charge.

- Ask for the rooms for MODERN VESPA. I don't believe it will help us discount wise, but I think they are trying to put us in adjacent rooms and we'll likely get better treatment all around as a group.

I'm reserved already, so hope to see some posts soon with others joining in. Once we're all rolling reservations wise, we can hammer out the agenda/fun stuff to do over the next months.

I'm reserved for Friday and Saturday night, and will likely ride back home late Sunday(unless we're doing a ton of stuff Sunday)

I figured we would rally round a local restaurant/bar of some sort. When you call the nice lady(she used to own a Vespa ), just be upfront and ask her about a small group and where would be a good place for either cooking out or eating. (They may have a grill area that is not advertised). If you're REALLY REALLY set on us cooking out, there is an optional Apartment for rent for the weekend there that is 90$night but is basically a full apartment with living room and kitchen). If one of us got this and doubled with someone, we'd have a "head" place to hang out at nights). nudge, nudge...

Just talked to the nice lady...

they have a covered pavillion with 2 charcoal grills and a large fire pit and picnic tables...so plan if you want to bring. Also there are grocery stores nearby for steaks, drinks, etc...

I just snagged a room for Friday 5/21, Saturday 5/22, and Sunday 5/23. Looking for a roommate to help on costs. PM me if you wanna bunk. Day one is paid for, excluding taxes - we can work out the rest.

Thanks for getting this rolling Luthorhuss!

UPDATE: The room is now full.

Last edited by oldspice on Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:42 am; edited 2 times in total

Np...just an update...Oldasdirt has snagged my open room spot so we're bunking together...I'm charging him in Alaskan ale bottles in lieu of cash .

the price of beer just went sky high. Guess I only need to bring 1.

i'm not sure that is a fair trade. OAD may want some cash on top of that deal.

Accomodations sound great Luthorhuss. I didn't think we would want to spend the evening hanging out at some dry restaurant but a covered area with picnic tables and grills will do fine.

Just a warning for everyone. This will be a BYOB event. Robbinsville is in a dry county and Dirt is trying to back out of his commitment to bring Alaskan ale. (The price for a single bottle will be sky high.) Fontana Village store does sell some alcohol even though it is in the same county. I am sure we will ride Hellbender 28 and Fontana Village is near the middle of it.

My vote is we either buy take out or cook on the grill or both and have our evening meals at the motel.

Murphy sells liquor, but not beer or wine. Sounds kinda backwards, doesn't it. Go figure. Not sure about Andrews.

I like the sounds of take out/cooking at the inn and hanging out. Should be nice a relaxing for all.

Oh I ain't backing out its just Luthorhusses will be expensive.
By the way how are you going to tansport them from your house to 2 wheels cause I am thinking about 24 shipped to your house but I know if I ship 24 they all won't make it up as I am sure there will be ones left behind for space reasons.

OK, I'll probably be solo, because that kind of riding isn't nearly as fun 2 up (unless BubbaJon is coming bringing his son, in which case another teenager might not be a bad thing - does your boy like rock music and/or books?) If so, a roomie wouldn't be a bad thing for my budget if someone doesn't mind sharing with a girl - I promise I am relatively well-behaved and do not snore.

Since we are not camping I can carry some ale.

No - actually we decided that he would spend his senior year with his mom. So dad is a freebird - besides - somedays he rides well and othwer days he's twitchy. Last thing I need on the Dragon is a twitchy kid...

What do they have for camping nearby? I'm really tempted to come over...

Found this one with Google. Only 1/2 mile from Robbinsville. http://thesimplelifecampground.com/default.aspx

Here is another about 13 miles away. http://kickstandlodge.com/

Didja see they are brand spanky new and haz cabins? Covered parking for motorcycles too. Perhaps they offer group discounts?

pretty inexpensive as well. looks by the pics very few cabins at this time.

Looks brand new, actually a work in progress as pictures up dated this month showing construction. Probably working to be ready for the 2010 season.

I stayed in similar cabins on my trip to Pennsylvania at a couple motorcycle campgrounds. A great arrangement. I'll definitely keep this place in mind for future visits.

They say they are scheduled to be completed by April 2010. That's why I was wondering - if we ask early perhaps they will be "eager" so's to get some good exposure.

Made my reservations for friday and saturday night. Not 100% sure I can get off work for this but fairly certain I will be able to I hope. I think this will be a really fun trip

I'll write a note for you to give to your boss. I'm sure that will work! Welcome aboard. Really looking forward to meetin y'all!

Looking for a roommate if anyone has an opening. I have decided to trailer Optimus for the trip. I can bring chairs and firewood and coolers. Don't know if the Inn has a grill but I could bring one.

pm oldspice I think he was looking for a roomie

Got one, but thanks for thinking of me! Me and Fuzzy are roomin' together. I'm pretty sure we'll have the coolest room, way cooler than your and Luthorhuss's, that's for sure!

I think you've got it wrong. you guys will have a HOT room,

full of HOT air