Fontana Dam...

The Place:

I've been to the mountain...Isn't that a quote from something? Well, maybe I just made it up. Anyway, I have been to the mountain(s) -- The Great Smoky Mountains. They really are Great! The only smoke we encountered, though, was when a couple of bikers (Harleys, not Schwinns -- I would've said something if they'd been Schwinns) lit up while we were having dinner on the patio. No, I figure the "Smoky" must refer to the fog that hovers over those mountains every morning. I don't know why they need to reference it, though -- Isn't that pretty much true for any mountains? Well maybe not out west. I know there's no dew on the grass in Phoenix. (Hell, there's barely any grass in Phoenix, but that's digressing way too much!)

If I were a poet -- besides limericks, I mean -- I would be able to describe for you the breathtaking beauty of the setting for the annual "Clogger's Jamboree" in Fontana Dam, NC. However, I'm not alone in my inadequacy -- Greg's camera didn't begin to capture the vistas that made us gasp in awe and wonder. At least I was gasping in awe and wonder. Greg was gasping in fear and anxiety. Really. I knew he wasn't faking, because his hands were sweaty and his face was green. (I wasn't surprised, though. He goes all clammy just watching movies that have mountains and tall buildings.) The leather-jacketed biker who took our picture was very nice, though, and no fun was poked. (You can't tell from the picture, of course, but the drop to the bottom of the dam just beyond that little fence, was over 600 feet.)

Have you noticed that I've mentioned "bikers" a couple of times now -- more than I have in all of my other posts combined? Well, that's because there was a big Harley Davidson convention this weekend in Maggie Valley, which is only about 35 miles from where we were. Also because, apparently, the hairpin turns as you wind up the mountain to the resort are world-famous among bikers. There are even books about them in the Fontana Dam Gift Shop. They have names like "Tail of the Dragon" and "Hellbender."

Why, we even had beers at the Hellbender Pit Stop last night before our nice, smoke-enhanced dinner on the patio back at the resort. That's right -- a bikers' bar. (We would have eaten there, too, except that one of clogging friends suffers from migraines if she's not careful about what she eats. It seems hotdogs, hot pockets and nachos are not on her "ok" menu. (Oops -- digressing again.)

Oh -- on top of all that indescribable beauty for our eyes to behold, there was also weather so perfect that the only word I can think of is perfect. Plus, we arrived just as the sun was beginning to lower itself for the night, so the light that was shed on the scenery was -- well, duh -- I 'm at a loss for words. Sigh.

I just can't help myself -- Here comes the limerick:

I went to the mountains and saw

Beauty that filled me with awe...

All I can say

Is tonight when I pray,

I'll ask God to teach me to draw!

(Photo taken by Biker Dude at Fontana Dam, NC, 9/20/08)