| Author | Message | ||
     No_rice |
So, In early october, The woman and I have to make a trip from central Iowa, to Nashville for my sisters wedding. I'm using it as an excuse to bring my newest toy out of the flatlands and into some mountains/curves/elevation changes for some very spirited driving.... We have the wedding on a Saturday, so will probably leave home thursday night after work. make some time on the way there. then party friday/saturday/ and possibly hit the road sunday(depending on our health... lol) or monday morning. we will need to be back home the following saturday or sunday. so roughly a week to play. We have discussed wandering our way up to Niagara Falls since neither of us has been there, and then looping through canada around Lake Erie, or even farther into canada and around somewhere. We have also discussed heading more southernly and going towards New Orleans or something and some ocean view... Right now we really have no damn clue! Lol! But we have some time free, a desire to do something with it, and will already be 700 miles from home, when we actually start our vacation... So, with all the traveling that this group does, and good insight or ideas? Yes i want some good roads to play on, but also want to make this enjoyable for both of us. So some fun sights, food, and neat places to visit would be great to find along the way. Oh, and since everyone loves pics, here's the toy I picked up in December... Sadly this wont be a 2 wheeled trip this time. 2001 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo 6 speed (sold my 99 911 N/A 6speed to get it). Full Ohlins suspension, Upgraded hybrid turbos, tuning, just had custom injectors built for it, greddy turbo controller, bigger intercoolers, plenum and throttlebody. as well as all wheel drive delete... a ton of carbonfiber and stereo on the interior. And now rims and tires just ordered for it a few days ago.             (Message edited by no_rice on August 22, 2018) | ||
| 99buellx1 |
#whang | ||
| 86129squids |
"Sadly this wont be a 2 wheeled trip this time." Boo hoo hoo... SO sad you gotta roll in such a POS to your sis' wedding. Gosh.  The Nashville restaurant scene is blowing up nowadays, be sure to study on that. Roads- the Natchez Trace parkway would be nice, but just like the BRP, watch your speed. If you head towards Birmingham AL, of course you should stop at Barber for the day- they also offer track time for cars from time to time. A fleet of Porsche cars on hand to rent, but you should be able to run what you brung... | ||
| No_rice |
The Nacho trail doesnt look bad. especial the "scenic trail". Looks like some good curvy stuff. plus we can stop along the way for Jenn to enjoy some outdoorsiness!  (Message edited by no_rice on August 23, 2018) | ||
| 86129squids |
+1, outdoorsiness... even though I grew up outside of Nashville, I've never been on the Natchez Trace. Study on all the neat stuff up/down it for sure. I'd forgotten how long it is. Once you get into west TN, things get kinda boring... east TN and western NC are awesome though. | ||
| 86129squids |
If you guys get anywhere near Birmingham, DON'T MISS Barber! The museum opens at 10am IIRC, and it'll take until 3-4pm to look at everything from top to bottom. If you make an appointment, you can access their archives- if just looking at unobtainium motorcycles and vintage Lotus cars gets boring... | ||
| Zac4mac |
Tim Once again, I'm jealous. Sweet ride, have fun in it. Z | ||
| Bellisima |
Nice toy you have there, you will surely have fun on your road trip. | ||
| Crusty |
I rode a good sized piece of the Natchez Trace in 2015. It's a very nice road with very light traffic One of these days, I'm going to go back and ride the entire length of it. | ||
| No_rice |
Looks like we are leaning towards heading from Nashville down to Mobile AL, then running all along the coast over to maybe Galveston TX. I would like to drive all the way out to Grand Isle LA. simply because it seems about as far out into the ocean as we can get by road in the area. 3/4 mile wide strip of land waaay out there. | ||
| Macbuell |
I highly recommend the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are also a ton of nice roads that offshoot the BRP as well. You'd be heading East from Nashville so maybe head over to the east coast after you're done with the Parkway and Asheville is a really cool town. About heading Southwest, once you get into Alabama things really flatten out. The roads won't be much fun. The beaches East of the Mississippi generally are nice. Nothing really to see in Galveston TX, IMO. It's kind of an ugly Oil Refinery / Port town. Speaking of Porsche's. I have always wanted an air cooled 911 but it looks like they have become collector items now and are very pricey.  | ||
| Tootal |
Nice Karmann Ghia Dude!  Seriously, sweet ride. Natchez Trace is 444 miles without a stop sign. However it's mostly 45 mph so fly at your own risk. I just got back from Germany. Could have used your sled on the Autobahn!! If I was you I'd spend a lot of time in Colorado. So many great roads, so little time! Whatever you do, have fun! | ||
| Zac4mac |
Tim Curious as to why the AWD delete - complexity/reliability? Z | ||
| No_rice |
I highly recommend the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are also a ton of nice roads that offshoot the BRP as well. You'd be heading East from Nashville so maybe head over to the east coast after you're done with the Parkway and Asheville is a really cool town. About heading Southwest, once you get into Alabama things really flatten out. The roads won't be much fun. The beaches East of the Mississippi generally are nice. Nothing really to see in Galveston TX, IMO. It's kind of an ugly Oil Refinery / Port town. Speaking of Porsche's. I have always wanted an air cooled 911 but it looks like they have become collector items now and are very pricey. Been Around those roads plenty of times on the bikes. used to be atleast once a year for play! Yeah ive been trying to find some decent roads while heading south. been looking into the Natchez trace parkway. looks good and curvy atleast. and the woman is all excited about stopping along the way and doing some hiking (shes very outdoorsy, i am as well when there's a motor involved... lol) And yes, 911's just keep going up in price. I debated on keepin my 99 N/A for a few years and then buying a turbo. but if the market keeps going the general direction it has. i would no longer be able to buy one. theyve gone up 10-15,000 in the last 5 or so years. I already sold my other 911 and my duramax to cover most of this one. Nice Karmann Ghia Dude! Seriously, sweet ride. Natchez Trace is 444 miles without a stop sign. However it's mostly 45 mph so fly at your own risk. I just got back from Germany. Could have used your sled on the Autobahn!! If I was you I'd spend a lot of time in Colorado. So many great roads, so little time! Whatever you do, have fun! As for the Ghia comment, theres one of those around as well  the autobahn would be fun thats for sure. Considering this thing in stock trim pushes 190mph+ and this one is still climbing when it tops that number... Been to colorado many times. but usually only to chase snow. Although when i bought the black 911 pictured above, i flew to denver then drove it home from Fort Collins. Tim Curious as to why the AWD delete - complexity/reliability? Fun factor and weight removal. plus less driveline loss. An all wheel drive car, even though fun to throw around, behaves completely differently then a rwd car. The fun factor is much higher when the a$$ end swings all over the place | ||
| 86129squids |
Hell's bells, you've got a Ghia too??! Always loved those cars, if I hit the lottery I'd love a drop-top. | ||
| No_rice |
Technically it's not mine, it's my Mom's. Over the years helped her on and off turn it from a rough blue hulk of metal, to a fairly restored/mildy modified nice ride. Dual webers and monza exhaust on it. its a fun little car. The colors are a little more my mom's style though. lol. She told the woman that apparently my name is on it though, because she knows I'll do something fun with it. so i guess someday i will have to find a spot for it in my garage. But for now I can just steal it for a cruise now and then. I already told her it would get an altitude adjustment, some wheels(maybe fuchs or baby moon smoothies) possibly debumpered etc. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I hate you | ||
| Tootal |
Nice. I had a 74 Ghia. Dark green with gold Jackman wheels. I sold it to some kid and saw it years later. He had put a giant carb on it and pretty much trashed it. He came out and asked me if I wanted it back but it was too much work to bring it back. Love them though. My racing partner has a 996 and a 944 S2 convertible. Both nice toys. | ||
| 86129squids |
LOL Matthew! I hate him too. | ||
| Ourdee |
Put me down for one heaping helping of hate. | ||
| 86129squids |
What amazes me about Tim is that whether it's a motorcycle, snowmobile, car, or whatever, he can and will will roll WFO til he sees God or goes to plaid. I still remember cooking my rear brake on the Triumph at a BITA years ago... learned that I USED to be fast. Now my old Beemer suits me just fine. | ||
| 1313 |
or goes to plaid CLASSIC!!! | ||
| No_rice |
Nice. I had a 74 Ghia. Dark green with gold Jackman wheels. I sold it to some kid and saw it years later. He had put a giant carb on it and pretty much trashed it. He came out and asked me if I wanted it back but it was too much work to bring it back. Love them though. My racing partner has a 996 and a 944 S2 convertible. Both nice toys. Yes those would be fun. although im not much of a convertible fan in general. I hate you LOL Matthew! I hate him too. Put me down for one heaping helping of hate. meanies!! What amazes me about Tim is that whether it's a motorcycle, snowmobile, car, or whatever, he can and will will roll WFO til he sees God or goes to plaid. I still remember cooking my rear brake on the Triumph at a BITA years ago... learned that I USED to be fast. Now my old Beemer suits me just fine. And here I always thought we were just out for an easy day of spirited riding! | ||
| No_rice |
well here are the options we are looking at It would be a monday through Saturday trip. North/East traveling through the Appalacian mountains all along the way down the dragon, through Asheville, and a night in the mountains in west virginia, and up to niagra falls and toronto then meander towards home. Or South/West down and follow the coast from Mobile, New Orleans, out into the ocean at grand isle, and some other stops along the way till we reach Galveston Tx. Then find our way back home... Jennifer is being absolutely no help with the decision.   | ||
| No_rice |
think we are leaning towards the northern route. had plenty of people say the southern route will be pretty slow uneventful travel. | ||
| No_rice |
well, heading from nashville to asheville nc on a monday. via some play roads, will do the obligatory run down the dragon because i want to take her by Fontana dam. then cut over to the blue ridge for a bit to make some hiking stops along the way. spend the night in asheville, then follow the mountains north east for most of the next day. not sure on that tuesday nights stop. next day drive on to niagra falls area and explore. spend the night around there wednesday. thursday be in toronto in the morning, and spend all thursday/thursday night in toronto. friday start making our way home. kind of wing the rest of the trip and go till we feel like stopping. maybe swing through chicago or something. saturday roll into iowa and back home. Really still dont have alot of it nailed down. lol. hopefully we have fun atleast! And hopefully the rest of the things i need to put my car back together, gets here soon so i can get the damn thing off the jack stands its been on the last couple weeks, and back on the road! | ||
| 86129squids |
Lots of cool spots here in Knoxville... When you come through Maryville, a good BBQ spot is Full Service BBQ. They converted an old gas station into an al fresco dining area, with picnic tables, cornhole, etc. After 5pm, either Foothills Milling Company or Walnut Kitchen, both higher end and higher $, but dang good food. Dancing Bear Lodge and restaurant in Townsend is also notable, you could overnight there. Your route after the dragon will take you past Iron Horse campground, similar setup to TWoS. Lots of neat places on that route on your way to Cherokee. Also, Maggie Valley has Wheels Through Time, a must see. If Dale or one of his sons fires up one or several bikes, it's a bonus! Again, TONS of great restaurants in Nashvegas. And, here's something I've always wanted to do: https://www.nashvillepedaltavern.com/ I once spent a spring break in Toronto, very neat city! Got lost on the subway system, then got back to my onboarding station to find my 280Z had been towed. THAT was a ordeal. Jealous! You guys have a great time, post pics and a travel log if you can. | ||
| No_rice |
A cousin of mine actually has this massive place in Knoxville. Never have made it by there. Almost did this trip but not in the cards. He's one of those military guys that you might see cruising through the area in a long line of black suv's doing things that never happen, and carrying things that dont exist. lol | ||
| 86129squids |
So- he likes to hang at Blackberry Farms? I know the farmer there. | ||
| No_rice |
Lol | ||
| Ourdee |
Graceland. | ||
| Ourdee |
Going by Dolly World too. |
