astepup

Wow what a trip...3468 miles in seven days. Things I learned on this trip include 1. Nitto 555's are a great tire with very little road noise. 2. Don't trust Goggle Maps. 3. Corvettes are magnets for other drivers with small minds and big egos. 4. Some truckers (not all of course) think they can change lanes no matter what's in the occupied lane already. 5. Kentucky and Tennessee are two of the most beautiful states in the lower 48. 6. The roads in Arkansas and Oklahoma are PGS's...Proving Grounds for Suspensions I may drive those roads again someday but not in a corvette.

Had a few close calls that I'll rant about some other time but overall it was a great trip, just wish I'd had more time to do more things. The car did have one hiccup and that was in Murfreesboro TN after I stopped at the Battle of Stone Creek national battlefield. After about an hour I started the car and it ran VERY rough for 5 seconds and died. I thought...oh crap! Started it again and it ran rough so I revved it to 3000 rpm's a couple of times and it idled perfectly with no other issues at all. Kind of reminded me of the old "vapor lock" carbed cars used to have. Not even sure if that's possible with fuel injection? I then went on to the Tail of the Dragon and MAN was that both fun and scary at times! You really have to concentrate at all times if you're doing at it speed and I did have the new Nittos squealing a few times Somebody takes pics of drivers and if you Google "tail of the dragon pictures" there's a site that comes up "Find Your Photos". Enter the date and approximate time you were there and the pics pop up that you can purchase high quality photos of. Click on Cars (Sporty) then on July 24th narrow the timeline to 6:20 EDT or so and there's pics of me Slaying the Dragon...OK I may not have slayed it but I made it notice me I had a little blue Miata on my bumper to the point I pulled over to let him pass then we both got slowed up by a Dodge Ram truck which finally let us around him. Then I thought OK...now it's my turn to ride his bumper and that lasted about 20 seconds. It had a full roll cage and tires that didn't look that big but WOW could that little sucker stick like glue! There was no way I was going to keep up with him and wasn't willing to risk the car or myself even trying.

OK so onto the pics. Many are self explanatory but they'll be a few comments throughout.

All washed/waxed and ready to go.










1/4 scale GS










Cutaway of the LT-5





Rotating cutaway of the venerable LT-1




Kind of a cool display...like Zora's ghost is adding oil.







This mosaic was very nice, it's made up of thousands of smaller pics of vettes and the people that drive them.




Pics inside the Dome...some of these are very sad indeed.











The blue C6 has been restored and they're going to restore the black 62 as well. I was told the rest will be on permanent display. can't imagine the forces that crushed that black one into a thin plastic noodle.



















Kind of surprised both tops survived...












Across from the NCM is Arts Corvettes. He told me he usually has about 90 cars at any given time. Most are for sale and there are what I think to be some good deals there. I apologize for the quality of some of the pics. Even with the flash the lighting was sometimes not cooperating.




Gorgeous 69 Superbee with the 383...





Buick GN owned by Charlie Sheen...


The only way I'd pay 80 grand for this car is if Mr. Sheen left a couple of kilos in the trunk that I could pawn to offset the purchase price








Notice the cool vette in the parking lot in the background


Here's a "certain" GS I saw there











Few pics from the Stone Creek battlefield.






Pics along Hwy 70....





I think these were at a scenic view on the TOTD.


[URL=http://s887.photobucket.com/user/astepup94/media/2015%20NCM%20Pics/P1000774_zps86ajm4ya.jpg.html]


Scenic skyway after the Dragon





Big *** armadillo at the Perini Ranch restaurant in Buffalo Gap TX



Lots of bug juice by the time I got home.


Here she is all cleaned up and ready for the next adventure...the 75 feet to the garage



Hope everybody enjoyed at least a few of the pics. If you get the chance to tour the Corvette Assembly Plant DO IT! It's an amazing process how these cars get put together...best seven bucks I ever spent

astepup said that

96GS#007

Thanks for sharing!

blackozvet

Very interesting, thanks

Grimlock13

Will have to try to make it there next summer.

-=Jeff=-

Glad you had a good time..

How much was it to view the cars at Arts?

Richard Raichert

Thanks for the pics that reminds me of the beauty of TN that we left behind when we moved from there to FL. When we lived there we took the mountains for granted just as we do the same of the beautiful beaches and Gulf down here! Good memories!

FASTAZU

Sounds like you had a great time and trip... Thanks for posting the pics

astepup

The "gate fee" if you can call it that was five bucks. What you'll see in there is well worth it. Like I mentioned there were more than a few cars there that I thought were very decent deals. I got the impression Art's a true "car guy" and not just somebody that buys/sells.

astepup said that

PLRX

I've been to all continental states, but WV, and yes many drivers like to throw their cars at us. Now I always expect it, so I also push towards them to let them know I'm here lets walk-to-walk.

The tail-gaters are the funniest for me. They close in, and what they dont know is that I've watching them for about 100 feet by now. Never press the brakes, I turn on the cruise control, and count to 10, press the set, and as we know that slows down 1 MPH, count to 10, and do it again. After 3-5 times they actually pass, look, and I have a beautiful sarcastic smile.

Yes, TN, and KY have great roads, and great scenery . Tail of the Dragon is a great "attraction" (we have better curvy roads up here) but these nOObs motorcycle owners are very dangerous there. They go for their weekend-warrior experience, looking around and would cross the yellow line on a twisty. The last time I did the Dragon was on The Stallion on a weekday, I only saw three cars, and a damn cop. The cop was sneaky, parked facing traffic on the opposite lane with the hood open, but the radar detector took care of all threats.

There are three different photographers there

Was this the miata bothering you

http://xtremesportsphotography.photo...004&po=0&pc=16

There you are

http://xtremesportsphotography.photo...o=4740&pc=4814



The museum does a great job updating, and changing. I've been to it several times, I know Betty Boop was there a bunch of times, The Ghost, and Stallion, and everytime it was different.

Thanks for sharing the story, and photos. It is always great to see any Corvette owner putting mileage on it. A Vette in the garage is a waste of ownership.

Pa'svette

Wow! what a trip.

charliet615

Sooooo Glad you made it back Safe.........Great Pics...........

-=Jeff=-

I seem to remember it being a lot more about 8 years ago.. for $5 I would have walked through but way back then I think it was $15

C5 4me

Thank you for sharing your pics.

chevyman_ky

looks like you had a great trip. we went twice to the museum last year to see the sink hole cars, pictures don't do them justice. done the plant tour back in the late 90,s, back when the 83 was still at the plant. did the dragon last year in the vette, go every year on the bike. tn and ky both have great roads we have some good ones on my side of the state.

corvetteronw

Fantastic!

shaft1

Great pics and commentary. Thanks for sharing.

By the way, where did you purchase the LT1 emblem below the right rear tail light? Been looking for one but I could not locate that exact style.

ghoastrider1

great pics. As a Semi driver, we call those idiots that change lanes quickly and without reguard.. Super Truckers.. You will also see them hauling butt on ice, in a snow storm, in fog ,ect. They give truckers a bad name and are dangerous.

1bdvet

Thanks for sharing, you took some great pictures!

3JsVette

That was a great trip. I hope to do something like that one day when I retire (when ever that might be).
Thanks for sharing!

Peaven

Thanks for sharing the pics and your experience, astepup…great trip! Planning on one myself, soon.