dok
07-10-2004, 08:00 PM
Last week was my wife's 62nd birthday. Since she was now going to be contributing to the family income with her social security, she wanted to take a little road trip.
We decided to head into the mountains of North Carolina. Instead of taking the Marauder, we decided to take the Mustang as it just seemed like a convertible type of trip. The first day, we took the Waterfall Scenic Byway. Saw 3 beautiful waterfalls including Whitewater Falls, which at 410 feet, is the highest waterfall east of the Rockies.
The second day, we drove the loop. We started on the Cherohala Skyway which is a fairly new road. At the beginning, the temperature was very warm, but the road climbs from 2,660 feet to 5,300 feet in the first 11 miles. We drove into the clouds and the temperature dropped about 30 degrees. There are several overlooks which offer beautiful views of the mountains. Here is a picture that was taken at one of these overlooks:
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/554don_mustang-med.jpg
We then drove into Tennessee and came back on US129. As many of you know, this stretch of road is known as the tail of the dragon. In an eleven mile stretch of road there are 318 curves. Many of them are VERY sharp hairpins. All I can say is WOW!!!! This is something that all car (or motorcycle) lovers need to drive. At the end of the run is a little shop that caters primarily to motorcyclists. They have tail of the dragon stuff for sale:
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/393100_0606-med.JPG
Also at this shop is the tree of shame. Hanging from the tree are pieces of motorcycles that have crashed while running the dragon.
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/554tree_of_shame2-med.jpg
While we were at the tree of shame a BMW club took off on their run. There were several BMW's including a Z3 and a Z4. A bunch of Marauders would look good taking on the Dragon
We decided to head into the mountains of North Carolina. Instead of taking the Marauder, we decided to take the Mustang as it just seemed like a convertible type of trip. The first day, we took the Waterfall Scenic Byway. Saw 3 beautiful waterfalls including Whitewater Falls, which at 410 feet, is the highest waterfall east of the Rockies.
The second day, we drove the loop. We started on the Cherohala Skyway which is a fairly new road. At the beginning, the temperature was very warm, but the road climbs from 2,660 feet to 5,300 feet in the first 11 miles. We drove into the clouds and the temperature dropped about 30 degrees. There are several overlooks which offer beautiful views of the mountains. Here is a picture that was taken at one of these overlooks:
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/554don_mustang-med.jpg
We then drove into Tennessee and came back on US129. As many of you know, this stretch of road is known as the tail of the dragon. In an eleven mile stretch of road there are 318 curves. Many of them are VERY sharp hairpins. All I can say is WOW!!!! This is something that all car (or motorcycle) lovers need to drive. At the end of the run is a little shop that caters primarily to motorcyclists. They have tail of the dragon stuff for sale:
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/393100_0606-med.JPG
Also at this shop is the tree of shame. Hanging from the tree are pieces of motorcycles that have crashed while running the dragon.
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/data/500/554tree_of_shame2-med.jpg
While we were at the tree of shame a BMW club took off on their run. There were several BMW's including a Z3 and a Z4. A bunch of Marauders would look good taking on the Dragon