Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Blue Ridge Parkway Tour Report - Long (a long tale about a good time.)
| Blue Ridge Parkway Tour Report - Long [message #84253] |
Wed, 12 May 2010 17:29  |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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A springtime tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Executive Summary:
After 1900 miles with no coach problems, we can tell you it is a good time that cannot be fast. We had some bad conditions, but it was still a good time. There are some fabulous views, there is also some serious terrain to accommodate, but nothing the coach could not handle. The fastest speed limit on the
Parkway is 45 MPH, it is lower in places and you best plan on something more like 30 for your schedule. Check their website for closures before you get on. <http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm>
The Blue Ridge Parkway has been on my list of hopeful tours for many years. We considered this to be a good year to try. It might be a good year, but we might have been too early in the year.
After some research and investigation I decided that south to north was the better plan because: Most of the better overlooks are on the south side of the roadway, And the azimuths of the sun (as a celestial navigator has habits) will not be through the windshield as much of the day.
Thus formed the plan.
Run south through Knoxville stopping at a Camping World for the night. Then on to Clingman’s Dome and then bivouac at the casino. Meet the parkway at the south terminus and run it through to Front Royal. I expected that would be about five days for less than six hundred miles.
That was the plan, then there is reality. Camping World was barred. So we holed up at the little truck stop where we fueled. About midnight we were joined by the world’s loudest reefer, but he fired up the tractor an and left about five in the morning. Clingman’s Dome Road was closed, but the clouds were so low it would not have been worth the drive. So, we were way early for the casino and so started the drive up the Parkway when we saw the sign.
There were three sections closed to traffic and only one of the four campgrounds scheduled to be was actually open. This was the result of a late season ice storm.
The only way to photograph the view (when it does exist) is as a panorama. I have not counted how many I shot, and I won’t know how well any worked until I can get them stitched up. Visibility was not great and then we got to the Mt. Pisgah. The parkway and campground were both closed and we were pointed to a by-pass road that went right off the side of the mountain. At the top of this road, it says “Caution, steep winding road.” Mary was at the wheel and she didn’t think it could be all that tough. Well, according to my GPS logs, that road dropped eighteen hundred feet in four miles of road that was on less then two miles of map. If we had turned just a little tighter, I could have checked the taillights.
Asheville had a Wally World close to the Parkway. Noisy, but close. We were there with eight other motorhomes mixed A, B and C and a dozen car campers.
We ventured into the fog again. It was very tiresome driving and at times I was down to less than twenty because of the limited visibility. We did manage three stops, Folk Art Center, Craggy Garden (we almost missed in the fog) and the North Carolina Minerals Museum.
The Folk Art Center is a good stop. A lot to look at even if you aren't buying. Craggy Garden has more hiking trail than it has “garden”. The fog was so thick that we missed it and had to turn around. The Museum of North Carolina Minerals is aimed at later grammar school. Linville Falls requires some serious hiking, but is worth the time. Linn Cove Viaduct is an amazing structure. Virginia’s Explore Park has some interesting displays including a large relief map of the parkway.
Along the way we found out that the nearest hardware store was a Lowes in Boone, so we dropped off at Blowing Rock and went to find the screws to repair the threshold that the dog had ripped loose. There was also a Golden Corral and a Walmart - What a town.
This is when my formerly reliable and trusty old laptop quit. Boot up, look good then - BLACK.
I managed to restart it several times, with the on time less each try. Then, It refused to restart at all. This is not a good situation. I carry a lot of information in the computer and use it for navigation (essential when you get detoured of the planned route - again) and communication (my wife was waiting for news about a new job).
We awoke to THICK FOG. . . This made it a good day to think about doing something about a computer. Old laptops are really not worth repairing most of the time, but if I could find a used one cheap (Boone is a college town), that might be a way to go.
I really didn’t want to buy a new laptop top today, but we searched Boone and the only options were at Walmart and Staples and nothing looked like what I wanted for a new traveler. Staples had one on display that they could get for my - by Thursday.
With little else to do, we ventured back to BRP and on to the Moses Cone park. We got there, but the fog was a killer. So, back to Blowing Rock where we holed up in a discount mall lot. Mary suggested I call a friend and ask him to: A - recover some of the needed information from our e-mail server, and B - help me think of a plan. He did both. We burned lots of cell time, but it was worth it. A laptop was on sale at Office Max that met my requirements, and they had stores in Hickory and Winston - Salem. Hickory is forty miles down route 321 and would have been a fast and pleasant run but for the hold up caused by an accident.
I bought a laptop, a copy of Street Atlas (more about this in another post - later) and got directions to the nearest Verizon store for the access software. Now, I had a working computer, the navigator was working and broadband access was bringing in the last two days E-mail.
We made contact with Gerry Wheeler in Winston - Salem. We got to WS and went to see Old Salem. It has a lot to offer. There is a lot there that can accommodate a GMC. Back at Gerry’s we talked about the coach he wanted to rescue. It had not moved for a number of years and he wanted to get it back in his barn to prep it for sale. He had suggested that be the next morning but then someone noted that there would be good daylight for another few hours. So, Gerry and I went there with tools and a battery. After doing the standard checks, we did the “start a long sitting engine” drill and it lit up just as one might hope. With some work, we managed to air-up the rear end and then Gerry fired it up and pulled it back. It wouldn’t go forward and had no current registration. It was very low on ATF. (I have since heard that Gerry poured in a lot of ATF and drove it to his barn.)
We said good-by in the morning and rejoined a much flatter Parkway at Fancy Gap.
Mabry Mill was about half as interesting as it could be for an engineer. There is almost no access to the inside of the mill proper. Mr. Mabry had a real good plan, but it was not made evident to the casual tourist.
The Virginia Explore Park visitor center is a good stop. The large scale relief map of the parkway is worth the time. Two things happened at this stop. I found out that the APU was not making juice (noise - yes, power - no) and we got a message that the relatives in Lexington Park MD had a schedule change and visiting time would be problematic on our current schedule.
During the next few miles, we discussed the new situation, and twenty five miles after the last stop, we left the Blue Ridge Parkway for the last time. Cherokee to Front Royal was a lost cause for this year.
We made it to Lexington Park in pretty decent time.and had two very good days that included a guided tour of Patuxent Naval Air. There is a small but well done museum open to the pubic just outside the main gate.
The change in plans had been two things. Mary’s cousin had to work Saturday, and as part of the safety department, he would be on the base the entire weekend. The other part was that the family had planned a camping weekend in Hagerstown. Mary asked if we could work that in the backhaul, and I looked at the charts long enough to figure out that we would have a hard time avoiding Hagerstown on any intelligent route home. So, we went to Hagerstown. We didn’t pay Yogi Bear for a parking place. We parked at the yet another discount mall and waited for a family pickup to take us into the party at the campground. We were dropped back at the coach about a good time to turn in.
Two interesting things on the run for the barn. One is the GMCs are now class 3 on the Ohio Turnpike (we used to be class 2 - See Ya folks), there are other roads. This is why were in Port Clinton when we stopped to let the dog have a run in the weeds. I noticed that the left front tire was real low. When I hooked the little toy air pump on it, it said 30PSI. At about 45 it looked like we could safely run into the village to find some assistance. The service station I remembered is now a flower shop. We parked at a locked up NAPA with an OPEN sign, Mary called AAA and I got out the OE jack. I had never tried to use it before, but I stopped when the fluid started dripping out of the bumper damper. I was waiting inside the coach when a guy came out of the NAPA store and locked the door without even looking at the blue monster in his driveway. About then time I was about to give up on the AAA showing, he did. He did not have the 3-ton floor jack Mary had specified. The closest he had was a large bottle jack that only fit under the frame because my little pump had been running most of this time.
We arrived in the driveway just a couple hours later than we had originally hoped.
Mary is planning other excursions. At the time of posting, I have replaced the rectifier in the APU and discovered that the tire mentioned above is on a cracked rim.
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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