It was a short hike into Fontana Dam that day. I needed a resupply, and I found a room in nearby Robbinsville, I just needed a ride to get there.

I met a guy named Shua who was working at the Fontana Resort. He told me he would give me a ride to Robbinsville for $20.00 when he got off work. I sat at the restaurant at the Dam and waited for him to get done.

There was a huge Mini Cooper car convention going on at the Dam. I didn’t even know it was a thing, but apparently there is a whole club of people that are Mini Cooper enthusiasts that come there every year. Apparently there is a stretch of road up there in the mountains called the Tail of the Dragon, which has more than 300 big curves in an 11 mile stretch. Apparently all summer there are motorcycle and various car club meets at Fontana Dam.

Shua finished work around five and came and picked me up. He was a cool guy, he was going through a divorce, and I happen to have a lot of experience in that department. He asked me if I wanted to take a ride up to a cool spot he knew.

I said sure and we went up to a nice spring up on the mountainside. We filtered the cold water from the spring and sat and drank water and talked. I felt for him, I’ve been there. I told him it would pass. Time is a great healer, it always does.

Shua took me to Robbinsville to the motel where I had arranged a room. The guy at the desk told me I could park my bike under the overhang next to the room. I laughed and told him I didn’t have a bike, that mostly I have been walking everywhere I go. He acted like he didn’t believe me, he said, “I would have sworn you were a biker.”

I resupplied in the grocery store about a mile from the motel and got a good nights sleep despite the horrid condition of the room. I decided I wasn’t going to keep sleeping in roach motels when I can avoid it. This was the worst one I’ve seen yet, and that’s saying something.