Forever friends…sometimes you are blessed in life to have those special friends that remain friends no matter what—the ones that you may not talk to often, but you know would be there for you in a heartbeat. We are thankful to call Annie our forever friend we’ve known for over 25 years (we first met living on our sailboats in a marina!) And now we are lucky to have met Jim too.
Annie & Jim live up on Roan Mountain in the northeast corner of Tennessee. “Camp Annie” is where Murphy spent three weeks in May 2023 when Dave and I traveled to Slovenia for a guided bike tour with our Alaska traveling partners Greg & Helen. As we headed up the narrow, curvy mountain road to Annie’s cabin, Murphy started squeaking in delight — he knew where he was. As Dave backed down Annie’s gravel driveway, Murphy could hardly contain his excitement. As soon as we stopped, he bounded out the door into Annie’s arms, then raced around her property. Of course, one of his first stops was down to the creek behind her house.
A few minutes later, Murphy heard Jim’s side-by-side rumbling down the road. Jim has a house just up the road from Annie. Murphy dashed off to get his big red ball (which Annie had given him during his stay) and brought it to Jim to throw. Murphy was in heaven! Free to roam and play to his heart’s content.
It was great to catch up with Annie & Jim. They shared the devastating stories from Hurricane Helene, where the eye passed through not far from their homes in October 2024. Thankfully, they were spared major damage and spent countless hours helping others who were not as fortunate.
Roan Mountain State Park, where we camped, wasn’t so lucky. Due to the excessive rain (over 30 inches in some areas) and the swollen rivers, the park lost the bridge to the upper campground. It is scheduled to be reopen in May 2028. We were lucky to score a campsite right on the river.
During our stay, Dave, Murphy and I enjoyed several hikes in the area. Unfortunately, Jim & Annie had some items to take care of for a few days, but we did get to reconnect with them for dinner on our last night.
While Murphy was living his best mountain-dog life, Dave was gearing up for his own kind of adventure — a weekend BMW off-road motorcycle course. I’m turning over the “pen” to Dave to share his adventure.
Brenda and I traveled to Greer, SC so my friend Paul and I could attend a 2-day off-road motorcycle training class at the BMW Performance Center in preparation for our upcoming trip to Patagonia.
It was time well spent as we learned an entire new set of off-road riding skills. Skills such as mounting and dismounting the bike while starting (much like you would on a bicycle), tight turns, figure-eights, circles, very low-speed maneuvering in soft sand and gravel, traversing washboards and ruts, emergency stopping in soft sand and gravel as well as learning to perform an emergency stop and recover the motorcycle while climbing a large hill.
Besides the drills, the instructors would lead us on “enduro rides,” where we headed off into the woods to put everything into practice — weaving between trees, crossing ditches, navigating long ruts, and riding up and down hills. It was a great way to apply the individual skills to a real-world scenario.
By the end of the second day, everyone in the class was feeling muscles they’d forgotten existed. For me, it was a blast — equal parts challenge and fun. A big thanks to Paul for saying yes to this crazy idea of spending three weeks on motorcycles in Patagonia next month. It’s going to be an unforgettable adventure. Stay tuned for a blog post (or two) on the trip.
By the time you read this, Dave, Murphy, and I will have returned to our townhouse in St. Petersburg, Florida. Coming home is always bittersweet — it’s wonderful to reconnect with friends and settle back into our regular bike rides, but it’s hard to give up the adventure of exploring this beautiful country. Each year we’re reminded just how many treasures we’re blessed to see. And of course, we already have a few new adventures on the horizon for next year.
We truly appreciate you following along. If you have been with us since our Great Loop days, this marks our fifth year of “retirement” travel. Over that time, we’ve covered over 6,500 miles by water and more than 43,000 miles on land, stopping at over 395 unique locations. Which doesn’t include the group bike ride along the Erie Canal, a guided bike tour of Slovenia, a Transatlantic cruise, a week in Costa Rica, plus camping in the Everglades. We are, without question, incredibly blessed.
So happy to know you are safely home. What an adventure you’ve had!! Thanks for taking me along; I’ve enjoyed every picture and all the stories. A big special thank you for including us in your travels. Love to you both, Sandie
I have truly enjoyed every step of your adventures. Thank you again for awakening the
Feelings of appreciation that I have for our awesome country. We are blessed.
Stay healthy, stay safe, Your friend and fellow arm chair traveler Reta