May 17

It rained most of the night but without severe weather. We ate breakfast at the hotel and just prior to leaving, the rain was starting to move in the area. I figured we had about 20 minutes or so of riding in the rain before finding drier skies. We went ahead and put on our rain gear and were on the road by 8:30am.

It rained heavy for about 5-10 minutes and then we just had intermittent showers throughout the day. Around 10:30, Michele noted that our route was going to take us directly from Georgia to North Carolina completely missing South Carolina. Well, we couldn't resist being so close and not get to experience a little bit of South Carolina. So we hung a right off of US17 and onto SR365 and made our way across the northern section of Lake Hartwell.

We crossed over into South Carolina on the eastern shore of the lake.

We then meandered our way through some very scenic (and twisty) country roads and into the Sumter National Forest.

We crossed back into Georgia.

And then we entered North Carolina.

We rode into Cherokee on Hwy 441 with the low clouds clinging to the sides of the Smokey Mountains (hence their name). Much like our entrance into Yellowstone last year, the rain and ominous clouds provided spectacular scenery as we entered the park.

By 1:30pm we were in the hotel parking lot at Cherokee. Our room was not ready so we made our way into the park and stopped by the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and got our National Parks passport stamps for both the GSMNP and the BRP.

A ranger at the visitor's center told us to stop by the Mingus Mill just up the way. This mill is a turbine mill from the late 1800s. Instead of a water wheel, the mill uses a turbine to power the shafts to grind corn and wheat. It is a working mill for the tourists, and the guide said it can produce 300 pounds an hour, or 6 bushels. He said he has it turned on slow so he doesn't have to bag so much corn meal all day!

We made our way back to the hotel. We had dinner at one of the local restaurants and then went to the new local movie theater to see "Iron Man 2". Tomorrow, we will head into the park and make or way to Sugarland Visitor's Center and then Cades Cove.

Oh. Today's picture of the day? Well even though our hotel is coincidentally next door to a Dairy Queen,

today's picture of the day is the tool to use when you need to trim some trees. Atop the mast is a massive saw blade. Timber!