17 October 2011

The Mission Isn't Over

 until the wheels are in the chocks.

Sunday dawned bright and, should I say it? Sunny! and cold.

The dashboard thermometer read 47 degrees so I opted to leave the top firmly up and the heater on for the first part of the trip.

Three of us were heading back to Hickory , so we opted to travel together.  We stopped to fuel up and discussed our route, and it turned out
that none of us were quite ready to go home just yet.

Instead we headed up alongside the Nantahala River on Highway 74 to Cherokee and got on the Blue Ridge Parkway towards Asheville from there.

We didn't quite make it to Asheville, though. In a search for facilities we got off on NC state road 215 heading south and found a treasure.
SR215 twists and winds from the Blue Ridge down to Highway 64, and we decided the ride was just as much fun as the Dragon had been the day before.

We made a quick stop for lunch at Brevard and
caught Interstate 26 just past there, and then on to Interstate 40 and finally split up in Hickory bound for our respective homes.

When the trip was through I had 945 miles on the trip meter and had been away for two full
days.

I certainly needed the break, and I'm looking forward to the next time we go run the Dragon.

4 comments:

Quizikle said...

6000'. The air finally gets breathable about there. A good starting point for going up.
(I miss Colorado...) :)

Sounds like a good trip.
Q

Laura said...

I long for 47 degrees...

Quizikle said...

L: Temperature or latitude?
Q
(Don't mind us, Larry...)

Larry said...

Q, I find I prefer the Appalachians. The Rockies are just too...rocky.

Laura, notice the red car in the bottom photo? That's mine. See the top? No? That's cause it doesn't have one in that picture, it comes down so that you can enjoy the warm sun. 47 degrees is bad.

Thanks for dropping by you two, play nice.