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Post by Boomer on Sept 13, 2008 8:00:30 GMT -6
The plans are in the works for a long 5-day ride through the Blue Ridge Parkway in Sept of 2009. We are tossing around the idea of making the trip on a holiday weekend to save a day of vacation. This trip will have a different plan as far as hotels and places to stay...we will be making one way trips, meaning we will not be backtracking to stay at the same place like we have done for the last two trips. Stretching it out over 5 days will give us some time to enjoy the ride and stack up some serious miles, which will happen on the first day. The ride up to the start of the blue ridge will be the longest and probably hardest day...looking at right around 500 miles. Keep in mind that's 500 interstate miles not twisty miles so it shouldn't be any harder than that Saturday was for the Ark. trip. This will be one for the photo book as we will be in some great country. We are looking at swing through deals gap on the way back and hitting the dragon again. Estimated funds for the trip should be about 500...I have done that for the last two trips and it works out about right ($100 per day) but keep in mind we will be getting motels on the fly. We learned a good deal on the Ark. trip and those lessons will be applied to this trip in Sept 2009...any thoughts or takers?
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Post by Bonehead on Sept 13, 2008 12:07:17 GMT -6
I'm in. Don't forget too, we can stick Baby Dragon in the spring.
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Post by netminder24 on Sept 13, 2008 17:19:23 GMT -6
Count me in. Look forward to it. (Hope the hurricanes are out of our future)
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Post by netminder24 on Sept 14, 2008 21:32:43 GMT -6
Boomer and I looked over the trip today and discussed some preliminary details, that are up for discussion. First day should take us to Bristol, Tn, aprox 500 miles. This will all be interstate driving so it should go by in aprox 11-12 hrs. Day 2 should take us to Front Royal, Va, aprox 310 miles and about 6 hrs. This also will be 95% interstate driving and shouldn't pose much of a challenge. This will put us at the beginning of the Skyline Parkway, which end at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Also will allow for some recovery from day 1 and allow anyone who wants to explore, time for that. Day three will end somewhere near the middle of the BRP, in the area of Wilksboro, NC, aprox 290-300 miles. The time is gray, due to frequent stops for pictures and views. Day 4 will end at Tuskegee, NC, aprox 280-340 miles, time unknown for the same reason. Day 5, we get up, I'LL be eating breakfast at Iron Horse Inn. (All others are welcome to come) Ride Hwy 28 to Deals Gap and ride the Dragon. Stop at the end at the overlook, take pictures and gather all souls, then return back up the Dragon to the Dragon Store at Deal Gap. From there, we will go into Robbinsville, catch the Cherohala to Tellaco Plains then to Cleveland and on homeward. Total miles, best guess for day 5 will be around 400ish.
I'm open for any discussion, changes, billeting arrangement for the trip, etc.
Here are some facts about the trip: It's 800 miles from Columbus to Front Royal, Va. Skyline Drive is 106 miles long and leads directly into the Blue Ridge Parkway which is 460 miles long. It was aprox 380 miles from Columbus to Tuskegee, NC.
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Post by Boomer on Sept 15, 2008 9:10:49 GMT -6
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Post by netminder24 on Sept 20, 2008 7:41:37 GMT -6
Just found out the speed limit on Skyline Drive is 35 MPH! 105 @ 35 = 3+ hours, counting stops. Do we want to do that?
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Post by Boomer on Sept 20, 2008 20:09:32 GMT -6
First response would be no. That would be like driving the trace for 3 hours...but where does that leave us?
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Post by netminder24 on Sept 20, 2008 22:39:21 GMT -6
We can start the trip at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Waynesboro. That would be my vote. I'd still do the Gettysburg part, but skip Skyline Drive. No sense to waste time on a road @ 35. Also from the other post on the goldwing sites, there are quite a few cops enforcing the speed limit. Maybe if you had all the time in the world, it would be worth putting into the trip, but with trying to cram as much as possible, I see this as a liability to the time we have.
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Post by Boomer on Sept 21, 2008 14:38:28 GMT -6
My vote would be the same...plus, nothing would put a damper on the trip like getting a speeding ticket from Barney for going 37 in a 35...and it does happen.
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Post by netminder24 on Sept 21, 2008 19:03:00 GMT -6
Absolutely. PS, I told Steve about the trip - he seem to want to go, if he's not in a PCS move during that time. We'll see.
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Post by Boomer on Sept 21, 2008 20:01:33 GMT -6
I'm proud of ya! How many miles from waynesboro to Gettysburg?
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Post by Bonehead on Sept 21, 2008 22:10:57 GMT -6
I can think of a bigger damper that a ticket!
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Post by Boomer on Sept 22, 2008 0:21:55 GMT -6
Let it go...your only beating yourself up and you got a better product in the end...just learn from it.
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Post by netminder24 on Sept 22, 2008 8:03:02 GMT -6
Its 231 from Bristol to Waynesboro and 190 from Waynesboro to Gettysburg for a total of 421. Then you add another 190 back from Gettysburg, would make for a long day.
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Post by Boomer on Sept 22, 2008 9:46:49 GMT -6
And probably no time to see anything worth while.
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