It rained a little bit overnight and things were wet this morning and a little cooler. Still the skies did not look too bad and we found our breakfast around the corner at the little coffee shop in Tazewell. After breakfast we parted ways with Yermo and Jackie and I headed south.

Tazewell, VA

The ride out from Tazewell on VA 91 is familiar all the way to Hayters Gap, we use it often. Nice single lane unmarked roads all the way. From there, we detoured onto some new roads that led through long winding valleys for quite a ways. Green Valley Road led to a short run on 4 lane US 58 then Big Moccasin Road took us much of the distance. The roads remained small and unmarked but generally in good condition and we made good time ultimately using TN 71 to complete this leg of the trip.

Big Moccasin Road, TN

Rest stop on TN 71

Drawing into Gate City, TN, we rode through town then diverted north to continue our trek west from I-26. The road started off nice enough, then got smaller, and finally turned to gravel. Unsure of how long the gravel would last, we started down it to see if it went through to the next road. It wound out into the countryside along a river gradually getting rougher and rougher as we went. Jackie did well with the gravel and things went fine until the road ran into the river. That was enough. The water was deep and murky, the road looked much more primitive across the river, it was time to turn around and backtrack. Our plan changed .

Copper Creek Road

Too deep, too little road beyond

Knowing heavy rain was expected by the time we reached home, the sensible thing to do was get on I-26 and make the best time we could on the interstate. We hit a few sprinkles here and there but dodged most of the rain clouds. The sky screw darker and darker as we approached home and the rain started as soon as we pulled into the driveway. It has been a good trip and we had a good time with good friends. Hope we can do something like this again with them.