Tornadoes! What Next

Bruce's Report:

Bruce reports that after leaving Gettysburg, they have their sights on getting home.  Today and tomorrow will be driving days with a plan to make it home before the forecasted rain for the Boston area.  

Doug's Report 

Jack & I (The Rescue Team) got an early start today after stopping at a local NAPA store to get a battery for the emergency brakes on the trailer.  With today being Saturday we figured it would be ab easy day of driving and we would be in Memphis late afternoon.  

Traffic was reasonable until we got into Knoxville and noticed lots of traffic and cars loaded with party type people and lots of orange T's.  It had to have been a Tennessee football game.  It didn't last long and before were back up to speed.  The weather was looking a little more threatening and after passing through Nashville the skies opened up and it poured for a short time.  

We continued on but eventually traffic came to a stop.  And we could see trees down on the side of the road.  As we slowly made our way more trees could be seen down and the CB was talking about truck blown over and fatalities (this report was false).  Ambulances and very large tow trucks were being brought in.  I-40 was then closed and we had to turn around before we could actually see all the damage.  We did see one truck that had it windshield blown out, so that was not a good sign.

We sat in traffic for over two hours before we were able to turn around.  We got off the highway at the first exit and tried to get around the damage and it was obvious that the tornado caused wide spread damage and power outages. We got stuck in more traffic tie ups since the small roads couldn't handle the extra traffic form the highway.

Eventually we got going again and made it to a hotel in Jackson, TN, after about 4 hours of delayed traffic.  Needless to say we did not make it to Memphis to retrieve the Model A.  

That will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

First of the many trees down on I-40

I got these pictures from the local TV news

We were turned around before we got to the accident scene

This traffic jam last over 2 hours

After being turned around by the state police we had to avoid more trees in the road way

Finally dinner when we got to the hotel

A Dukes of Hazard Day

Live Report from our roving reporter Parker Duofold:

Today was going to be a high mileage run from Roanoke, VA to Gettysburg, PA.  We left out hotel at the usual 8:30 AM and moved into the usual rush hour traffic.  We got on route 11 north and that turned out to be a great road.  Around 10:30 AM we stopped for a gas fill up and a break.  We stopped at a Pilot gas station / truck stop.  The store sold just about everything the road warrior would want.  The rest rooms were clean.

After leaving the truck stop we turned onto route 340 and continued on into the Shenandoah valley.  The sun was just starting to peek out from between the clouds.  The scenery was great with beautiful homes, farms, foliage and the mountains all around us.  We cruised route 340 for some time when we came upon the Dukes of Hazard museum, snack bar and gift shop.  We just had to stop!  We got a light lunch first - hot dogs all around.  The museum was in the process of preparing for a car show and concert this coming weekend.  There were a couple of General Lee cars, the original Cadillac owned by Boss Hogg, a wrecker, Daily Duke's jeep (and her shorts) and police car.  It was a fun stop.

After that piece of Roadside America that you won't see from the interstate it was back to driving northeast.  The roads were generally very good and the stop lights very annoying.   We crossed both the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers in Harper's Ferry, WV.  We got to our hotel in Gettysburg about 5:30 PM after negotiating local road construction, ambulances and car crashes. 269 miles today.

On to Poughkeepsie, NY  tomorrow and the crossing of the mighty Hudson River.

Doug report:  Jack and I left today to pick up my Model A in Memphis.  We should be there Saturday afternoon. 

Cooter is on the job

It's hard to keep the General Lee running each week

Boss Hogg's Cadillac

Daisy says "come on in"

Bruce & Trish with another General Lee

Lou is ready to out run Roscoe P Coltrate

Crossing the Patomac

On the road to Memphis

Taking the High Road - The Blue Ridge Parkway

Bruce's On the road Report

It was 30 degrees Fahrenheit in Boone, NC when we went out to load the cars this morning.  There was a bit of frost on the windshields and the roofs of the cars that needed to be cleaned off before we could get underway.

The ride to the Blue Ridge parkway took about 20 minutes which included a stop for some overpriced “corn gas”.  We have been accustomed to finding real non-ethanol gas but not this morning.

Much of the Blue Ridge parkway was built by the CCC during the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Work began in 1935 by hundreds of unemployed skilled and unskilled men. The entire project wasn't finished until the 1960s.  The road is 469 miles long and we did 169 miles of it today. We had yet another wonderful day of blue skies and full sunshine.  The views of the mountains and valleys were breathtaking. Trish got a glimpse of a large bald eagle just off the roadway. Most of our stops along the way took longer than expected because many folks asked many questions about the cars.  Like the Grand Canyon, what more can you really say about “America’s favorite drive?”

We exited the parkway at approximately 4:15 PM and arrived at our hotel in Roanoke, VA by 5 PM.  We had dinner at a place called Cheddar's. Trish and I has salmon, Rose had meatloaf and Lou had the chicken pot pie.

Off to Gettysburg tomorrow.

I guess the crisp mountain air comes with a price - Burr!

We didn't think to bring an ice scraper

The views were increadible

Lou says: Not as high as canyonland but just as scenic

One of many old building along the parkway

Cooling our "Tar Heels" in Boone

As reported by Bruce

Another somewhat "crisp" start to the morning but the cars were covered with a coat of dew and not ice so that's a plus.  We all woke up and hour late and blamed it on the time change moving from Central time to Eastern time.  At least that what we are going with.

After dueling with local commuters whizzing around, texting and applying makeup on the way to being late for work we broke out into some beautiful countryside in east Tennessee. Our destination was Boone, NC a somewhat short 135 mile drive through the Great Smoky mountains. The ride through the mountains began after we went through Johnson City, TN named for the 17th President Andrew Johnson and home of East Tennessee University.  We went up and down some pretty steep grades and then ended up on a long and twisty road. Trish is happy to report there were some guardrails on this stretch.

We passed by some fishing camps along the river and some expensive looking lodges.  There was even a private airport in the area that looked like it would be an exciting place to land.  We were now in the town of Elk Park, NC.  We found out later that the trout fishing in the area and the elk hunting was the big sporting attraction.

We stopped for a nice lunch (I had a corned beef sandwich) in Banner Elk, NC.  This is a college town (Lees - McRae) that is pretty upscale.  The woman that seated us at the restaurant told me she used to live at Killington, VT.  By the way yesterday we met a guy from Ipswich, MA. 

So now we were only about 20 miles from Boone, NC but since it was early we decided to a swing over to downtown Boone for a stretching of the legs and some therapeutic recreational shopping.  Boone is also a college town and home to Appalachian State University and their 15,000 students.  We found some parking right on Main Street and we were on our way.  The local general store has been in business since the 1880's and they sell all kinds of stuff.  We must have spent 45 minutes and $75 in that store.

Lou and Rose had gone across the street to an antiques store when we found out that Lou had gone back to his car for something.  Lou and behold ( !!!) the Zadramobile had a flat tire. After finding that out the pit crew went to work and changed the tire in less than 8 minutes.  We decided to get to our hotel and fix the flat before the sun went down.  Bruce and Lou got that chore done in approximately 30 minutes. We didn't use the old tube but instead opted to replace it with a new tube.  The old tube was then patched and we will keep that as an "if all else fails" spare. 

Finally, we enjoyed a light dinner at Troy's Diner next door to out hotel.

Today we went through Strawberry Plains, Talbott, Morristown, Whitesburg, Bull's Gap, Mosheim, Greenville, Roan Mountain, Elk Park, Banner Elk, Banner Mountain, Sugar Mountain, SevenDevils and Boone, NC.

Off to the Blue Ridge Parkway tomorrow hoping for blue skies and safe travels.

Elk Grove Fishing was renowned

The Banner Elk Cafe - Good place to eat

Lou changing the flat tire

And the culprit was a pin hole in the tube 

Fall colors were everywhere 

More countryside colors

From MARC facebook page, someone took this picture in Boone

Breaking up is hard to do - again

Part 1 (by Doug)
Well, today was the day that we would officially leave the tour.  Nan & I will be heading directly home to make plans for the return trip to Memphis to trailer our Model A home.  Bruce& Trish and Lou & Rose will complete the remainder of the trip and we wished them a wonderful time and happy travels. 

Video - Saying Good Bye Again

Part 2 (by Bruce)

left our hotel in Nashville Tennessee by 8:30 a.m. the Rain of the previous day had stopped during the early morning hours. We wiped the cars down and cleaned the windshields. We also did the usual checking of the oil and the coolant in the radiator.

Turning right out of the parking lot we emerged into busy morning traffic and lots of traffic lights for the next 10 miles. Eventually the traffic lessened, the roads smoothed out and the traffic lights became fewer. At about 9 a.m. we stopped for gasoline and at 10:30 a.m. we stopped at Wal-Mart to "resupply" and refresh ourselves. While in the Wal-Mart parking lot we were approached by the usual assortment of locals and travelers asking about our trip and the cars. One 89 year old guy told me his father had a Model A like mine that they used on the family farm in Minnesota during the late 1930s. I mentioned that Minnesota was the land of "10,000 lakes" and he said "yes except when it rains and then there are 40,000 lakes."

We eventually drove into Cumberland County and through the mountains going up and down hills and twisting along curvy roads. We had lunch in Rockwood, TN and afterwards rolled into Oak Ridge a city built during WW2 as part of the top secret Manhattan Project. The work there resulted in the production of the first nuclear bomb and atomic reactor. 

The rest of the days journey was an uneventful trip through Knoxville, TN and the smooth ride to our hotel in Strawberry Plaines.

After arriving at the hotel and checking in, Lou and I did some light maintenance on the cars including adjusting the ignition points on the two cars and cleaning the windshields.

Tomorrow will bring us through the Great Smoky mountains and onward to Boone, NC in the Blue Ridge mountains. 

Subway's seem to be the go to place for a quick lunch while touring

Bruce is adding to his bug collection

Crossing one of the classic steel bridges over the river

It must be stronger than it looks

Grand Ole Opry Day

Getting started today was a little bittersweet, as today Lou & Rose’ son Larry would have to leave us and head back home; he still suffers with that four letter word – WORK.  Larry has been a great traveling companion, helping in with directions and being a great co-pilot for Lou.  We enjoyed our breakfast with him and then we all wished him a smooth flight with no delays heading back to CA.

Our plan for today was to go to Nashville and tour the Ryman Theater.  Lou & Rose road in the rental car with us while Bruce & Trish followed in the Model A.  We parked the cars in the public parking garage and walked the short distance to the main street area.  We bought tickets for the self-guided tour and started off by watching a movie of the history of the Theater; afterwards we all commented that the movie was excellent.  There was so much history to read on our tour that you could not read everything.  The restoration of the theater was major effort and it sure saved a piece of country music history.

Leaving the theater we headed to Main Street and walked by many bars and restaurants with their live music filling the sidewalk with tunes.  It may have been daylight but the neon signs shining brightly.  We had lunch at Jason Aldean’s (I guess he’s a country singer), no live music, but videos of him singing.

The next stop was to be Opryland, but the only available tour was not until 4PM which did not fit our schedule.  I think the rain today had people opt for inside attractions.  The alternative plan was to visit the Lane Motor Museum.  It was a nice facility (a converted Sunbeam Baking building) that had an unusual collection of cars from around the worl, and some of those were very strange.  It was a good place to visit and only 2 miles from our hotel.

Trish and Bruce were going to have dinner with her niece Crystal and her husband Bo who are on a 6 month tour of the states and just happened to be in the Nashville area.  We joined Lou & Rose for dinner and when we returned we all watched the Patriot’s game in the hotel common area.

Tomorrow, we (Nan & I) will head home, while Bruce & Trish and Lou & Rose will head towards North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Lou & Rose with Little Jimmy Dickens

Bruce & Trish in the gallery at the Ryman Auditorium

Standing under the restored balcony sign

A Legendary Trio

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I MISSED THAT NOTE!

some of the great names of bars

The music filled the sidewalks

The street was an endless bars

The food bus at Opryland

Bruce & Lou at Opryland

A partial view of the vehicle at the Lane Museum

A Tatra

Same car from the rear

These were crazy cars, what were they thinking?

More of the vehicles

I just liked the color of this. Restoration was $35K

A Citroen 2CV, Yes we could fit 

Another pedestrian clearer

5/8 scale Austin Batum

AJ's Good Time Bar