Tail of the Dragon to Twin Cities 2016 Road Trip Thread

[scottrx7tt]

Originally Posted by BK911

Hey Scott, I work in oak ridge. Never seen your car around. Just did the devils triangle this past weekend.

I used to live in Oak Ridge, Now out in Farragut. I am still in Oak Ridge on a regular basis, but usually driving my truck. Just got it back on the road in December after the turbo swap.

[Otter74]

There are a ****-ton of great roads up there. I also enjoy parts of 129 that are SE of the tail (near Franklin, I think). I'd pull up a map on google I know it will crash my browser. Lots of curves but faster. Also the road that goes by Fontana Lake - I can't remember if this is the lead-up to the Tail or the one that is sort of parallel to it. I grew up in Atlanta and used to take my Fiat and SE-R up there before I moved to Boring Flatland.

Do you have a route planned through the midwest? I picked my Targa up in Atlanta last summer and drove it home. I wanted to go all the way up the Appalachians to WV (or even to the Pittsburgh Vintage GP) and then east through there through the Hocking Hills, but didn't have the time to do that. No problem finding nice roads up to about Nashville and western KY, but after that it's pretty slim pickings until you get to WI. If you're going up IN, you can at take US 41, which is not adriving road but at least more interesting than I-65.

If you are feeling ambitious and have a lot of time, you can drive up the lower peninsula of MI, across Big Mac and then across the UP, which would be fabulous, though it is probably too early in the year to do that.

[spidklr]

I have Thursday and Friday in the area of Il Dragon, then Friday night I'm staying near Lake Cumberland KY, then visiting my in-laws in Louisville, up to Madison then home. I figure the best back roads driving will be in the Smokies, between there and Louisville, then not much until Wisconsin, but I aim to take advantage where I can. Thanks for the tips!

[spidklr]

Reunited with my honey and ready for the Tail

[spidklr]

The Dragon and surrounding area is AWESOME. Definitely worth the trip. I struggled a little with my car, which is having some charging issue where the battery runs down, but in other respects the trip has been great.

I caravanned with my father and his wife from AL up to Tellico Plains, TN to a The Lodge at Tellico Plains http://lodgeattellico.comwhere they really enjoy staying. I think it was their seventh or eighth visit there. It was very nice, but small and minimal. If you are a biker they have a great motorcycle garage you can rent space in for about $5. Lots of people there with BMW GS-style adventure/safari bikes for a weekend event.

Tellico Plains is a small crossroads town at the west end of the Cherohala Skyway. It's got some basic services and a couple of restaurants. There's a good old-school place for diner-style breakfast in the historic center of town called the Town Square Cafe / Randy, proprietor.

It was raining like crazy and my battery was dead, so we had a down day at the lodge waiting out the weather.

[spidklr]

I'm trying to upload some pics but the upload feature seems broken. Just me?

[Shadetree930]

Here ya go!

You made the Killboy highlights page your 1st time out!

[Shadetree930]

And some of our crew:

[Shadetree930]

[billh1963]

I've been there several times...always fun!

[rwest]

Remember to obey the speed limits in Wisconsin, seems like every 25 to 50 miles you'll see a trooper in the median- I never speed in WI. or anywhere else.

[spidklr]

Originally Posted by Shadetree930

Here ya go!

You made the Killboy highlights page your 1st time out!

LOL isn't that hilarious? That's my Internet buddy Pilote Ancien VERY excited to be in a 911 for the first time, he said, since 1971.

Thanks for the upload :-)

[spidklr]

Wonderful trip - everyone should do this at least once. I was happy to be there before it really got crowded, but still there was a nice group of gearheads swapping rides and tall tales. I started on a terrible rainy day by arriving from AL to Tellico Plains at the west end of the Cherohala Skyway, nursing what turned out to be - later - a bad alternator.

The rain forced us into a down day resting, eating and reading, which really was nice. The car battery got a charge in front of the lodge, and I put a bucket and a towel under the spot where the Targa top leaks.

[spidklr]

Beautiful night





The next day the sun returned, after breakfast I managed to get the car started and parted ways with my dad and his wife in their crazy purple Challenger

[spidklr]

Then it was UP UP UP a deserted Cherohala over to Robbinsville NC. Spots of sun, some places in the clouds

[spidklr]

Miles and miles of perfect twisty asphalt

[spidklr]

Out of Robbinsville and up to the famous T-Shirt Shack





Darryl let me plug my car in, which at this point was running exclusively on the battery. I was joking about Tesla ownership...

[spidklr]

Required shot with The Dragon Himself

[spidklr]

I got to meet in person some Internet gearhead buddies



There was helpful head scratching about the charging issue, but no simple fix

Ground? Voltage regulator? Battery contacts? Fuse?



I guess I'm sort of an idiot, but I was not going to miss out, so I alternately charged the battery at the building and drove up and down the Dragon :-)

[spidklr]

Afterward I limped up to I-40 in TN, battery draining, one stop for an hour at a diner with an outlet on the outside. Then I gave up, hit a hotel. Auto parts store in the morning to test the battery, then the story about the alternator in Knoxville which you can read on another thread here ... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/908564-friends-sos-tennessee-semi-stranded.html