On Thursday, July 10, 2014, we took  another Day Ride. Our destination- Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN.

We left our home in north Knoxville at 9:45am. It was cool and overcast.

 

 

Jeff talks about our upcoming ride in this short video:

We took 640 to Western Avenue, rode to Oak Ridge, then took 58 to Kingston where we stopped to fill our tanks and get a quick snack.

After our break we continued into Kingston where we took 58 south. We rode south till we hit 68.

Then we rode west and crossed over Watts Bar Dam. From there we took 302 south into Dayton.

In Dayton we took 27 and rode south to Soddy Daisy where we stopped for a quick snack before heading onto Ruby Falls.

We both had been craving Krystal hamburgers for awhile, so we stopped for a couple in this small strip mall. After our quick lunch we continued south on 27 into Chattanooga and then to Ruby Falls.

We arrived at Ruby Falls around 1:00pm. It was crowded so we got our tickets and promptly got in line to wait for the tour.

Our trip down to the Falls finally came and we found ourselves with twenty-five other people being led on a guided tour. The half mile path to the Falls was single file and tight in spots. We took photos along the way:

We took this short video of the Falls:

After spending seven minutes at the Falls, our group was turned around to begin the return shuffle back. The entire time for the tour from waiting at the start to getting to the finish was about two hours. Seeing Ruby Falls is definitely something you should do, but you might want to wait until it’s not such a heavy tourist time.

After the tour, we headed up to the overlook for a cool slushie and to take in the view.

We made this video about our ride so far:

By the time we got back to the bikes, it was about 4:00pm.

We rode through Chattanooga, took 153 north and the got on 58 north with the intention of riding to Decatur for dinner. Just a few miles outside of Chattanooga we ran into one of those pop up thunderstorms that was really coming down. So we quickly put on our rain jackets and turned around on 58 to try and outrun the storm.

We rode back south on 58, then took 312 east. We stopped for gas since our tanks were running low. Right next to the gas station was a cute place called the Countryside Cafe.

Our entire experience at the Countryside Cafe was excellent! Great family owned restaurant with friendly staff and terrific home cooking. This place is a MUST VISIT!

By the time we finished dinner the storm had passed. So we got back on our bikes and continued on 312 which took us right into Cleveland. In Cleveland, we took 11 north, rode through Athens, and then into Sweetwater where we stopped to take a break.

Jeff talks about our day so far in this video:

After our brief stop, we continued north on 11 into Loudon- right past the Tic Toc Ice Cream Parlor. (We were still too full from dinner for ice cream so we didn’t stop.)

Then we rode through Lenoir City and finally back into Knoxville.

We got back home at 7:45pm and our total ride was 262 miles.

Jeff wraps up the day in this short video:

You can view our entire list of Day Rides HERE.