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My wife suggested we take a road trip to celebrate getting our '14 C7 this last spring. So, we're headed out from Hot Springs to the east coast, specifically Kitty Hawk (I'm an aviation nut as well). The trip is the vacation, not the destination, so we're taking our time and so far having a blast!
Day 1:
Hot Springs to Bowling Green. Cruised on interstates the whole way to Bowling Green to stop by the NCM and the new track. Didn't bother going in to the museum itself, we've been there before. Ran in Econ mode, computer says we averaged 30 mpg, but I haven't done the math on the actual fill up.
I love road trips! The journey there is often more fun than the destination! I can't believe your 2014 has over 85k on it, she looks fantastic!! It looks like you'll be the first C7 on this forum to hit 100k, that's cool!
Been there several times, but not since the major hangar reno. There are actually two aircraft on display there that I've spent a lot of time on: the AFTI/F-16, and the F-22A (a/c #4003). Lots of stories on those two birds, but this is, after all, a Corvette forum!
Today we drove down from Bowling Green to Deal's Gap, honorific home of the stretch of US Hwy 129 that's called "Tail of the Dragon". For all the details you can go over to www.tailofthedragon.com. We went on a Saturday, so it was busy. LOTS of bikes is a vast understatement! But, we're not trying to set a fastest time (plus the TN sheriff's dept. has radar running), we just wanted to have a fun drive. Speed limit is 30, and honestly except for some short straights, 30-35 will generate plenty of g-loads in the corners.
We ran it two times, as we're staying tonight up in Knoxville, TN. The two stores are at the south end of the run, and as you can see in the photos, it was busy. Did I mention LOTS of bikes?
Tomorrow, we're heading back to run part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and make our way over to Durham, NC.
Enjoy the photos!
Mike
The biker's General Store. Very crowded, but clean and welcoming to us that use all fours.
The "general" General Store, also home of the Dragon.
The Dragon. Can you imagine the effort it takes to keep that metal clean?
Waited a half hour to be able to get the Vette posed for a pic.
Day 3 we drove a little less than half of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the best way to summarize the experience is to say
HOLEE KOW!!!
One of the finest roads I've ever driven! We spent about 5 hours driving around 180 miles of the southern part of the Parkway, starting at Cherokee, TN, and getting off close to Marion, NC. Elevation changes up to 6,000 ft., roads in good repair, beautiful views and, considering it was a Sunday weekend day, not too much traffic. Marked passing areas are few and far between, so some trains formed, but I was able to work around them.
If Tail of the Dragon was a famous roller coaster ride, the Blue Ridge Parkway is the whole theme park: something for everyone.
Tomorrow we arrive at Kitty Hawk.
Enjoy the photos!
Mike
Cherokee, TN. BRP starts about 2 miles north of town.
Our first stop, not quite a mile above sea level. You can just about make out the angle of the climb we're on from the horizon; almost stumbled when I got out of the car
Awesome pics! Love the BRP and Tail of the Dragon. Ran the Dragon recently at night in my AEV Jeep Wrangler (was heading down to my Dad's place in Florida and thought...what the hell!). My poor wife should be "sainted" for putting up with the crazy things I do at times...
From what I have seen of Tail of the Dragon on videos, I'm not motivated to drive 2,000 miles to run it.
We've run it three times-
First time in pouring rain.
Second time with a flat runflat on our C6.
Third time was the charm; beautiful day with no traffic and car running great.
Someone said the Tail is like an 11 mile autocross, the turns just keep coming at you.
I too wouldn't drive 2k miles just to do the Tail, but there are so many scenic and exciting roads in that part of the country, plus neat places like the Biltmore, that the whole trip can be a blast. Just like VetteDrmr has been posting.
One video I've seen shows that on a sunny day the road changes from light to dark every few yards (because of the shade of the deciduous trees).
This is an automatic slowdown for me.
Not being able to distinguish clearly whether there is something relatively small on the road (a critter or debris) would take all the fun out of it.
Looks like it would be a lot more fun in the winter (when the leaves are gone) and the eyes can more easily reveal the road surface.
The "shadows on the road" issue is real in some parts of the country, like the Midwest where we live.
OTOH, we've been burning up the roads in Corvettes for the last 16 yrs/200k+ miles and only once hit something of consequence in the shadows- a dead raccoon. It stank and I had to use the power wand at the car wash to clean it up, no actual damage and next day the smell was gone.
Three times we have hit big truck tire treads on the interstate, and once a big shovel on a side road. Each time, no shadows but the object was hidden by slight undulations in the road and in the low Corvette we couldn't see it until too late to swerve or stop with the other traffic around. Each of those incidents made a big Bang and caused some minor damage underneath, but did not stop our travels.
It's a car. I try to take care of it, but if something gets damaged, I have it fixed and get the smile back on my face.
Where I live (Oregon), "shadows" can hide all kinds of nasty things...everything from big rocks to dead deer.
Most of the trees along the prime twisty mountain roads are big stands of large evergreens.
Typically, they don't create as much of a dappled effect on lighting as it extends across a road, which makes it a much safer environment for high-speed fun.
Road Trip!
Been there several times, but not since the major hangar reno. There are actually two aircraft on display there that I've spent a lot of time on: the AFTI/F-16, and the F-22A (a/c #4003). Lots of stories on those two birds, but this is, after all, a Corvette forum!
