Tail of the Dragon 2018

[Mook]

Edited. I meant CANT.

 

[Pressure Ratio]

Damn you!

 

[OmniGLH]

If you drive down I fell it has to be a 6-8 day trip. So you get to relax and enjoy the time down there.

We also drive down to Nashville and stay the night there. It is a 7.5-8 hour drive. Then leaves a 4 hour drive to the Tail. It breaks up the driving some and spending a night out in Nashville is fun. Well if you like music, bars, and what not.

I do wish we'd had more time to commute down, I would have loved to stop in Nashville with enough time to eat, take in a few drinks and a band, and get a good night's sleep. Then continue on to the Gap in the morning. But we had a fairly short timeline.

If I were driving it alone (or not trying to keep several cars together) then doing it in one big chunk is fine. My car can muster 425 on a tank if it's all highway.... so the 800 mile trip down means I'd do it with just one stop. I'm pretty good at zoning out and just driving.

But I think if I did it again, with a group, I'd definitely make it (at least the trip DOWN) a 2-day commute. Leave leisurely, mid-morning, get to Nashville, have some fun, take in some music and drinks... sleep in the next day, get a good breakfast, then finish the trip in a leisurely pace with enough time to check in to the resort hotel, relax, eat, etc.

 

[Pressure Ratio]

The trip down is nice to stop and enjoy if you have the time. Nashville is a good time for a night. Wake up early and you are at Deals Gap with most of the day left to rip around.

The way home we motor back in one day. It is a long day but you just want to get home. Not to another location to a hotel.

The group I go with is all about the driving. We make great time and stops are pretty quick. I have traveled with people over the years that don't understand that stopping all the time for 20 minutes adds a lot of time to a trip like this.

Get pills for those with small blatters. They actually do seem to help with the need to stop all the time.

 

[J-LO]

I cant do vacations that long

We need to talk, our trip will be more than a weekend

 

[Mook]

I mean I CAN do longer, but mentally I start to get like super antsy by like day 4. Not to mention I have a pet.

 

[J-LO]

I do wish we'd had more time to commute down, I would have loved to stop in Nashville with enough time to eat, take in a few drinks and a band, and get a good night's sleep. Then continue on to the Gap in the morning. But we had a fairly short timeline.



If I were driving it alone (or not trying to keep several cars together) then doing it in one big chunk is fine. My car can muster 425 on a tank if it's all highway.... so the 800 mile trip down means I'd do it with just one stop. I'm pretty good at zoning out and just driving.



But I think if I did it again, with a group, I'd definitely make it (at least the trip DOWN) a 2-day commute. Leave leisurely, mid-morning, get to Nashville, have some fun, take in some music and drinks... sleep in the next day, get a good breakfast, then finish the trip in a leisurely pace with enough time to check in to the resort hotel, relax, eat, etc.

Much different in the summer, remember we had 2 teens in tow. I agree a night in Nashville or bowling green would make it easier . With no kids you just muscle it to your first spot like we did and then relay

 

[OmniGLH]

Much different in the summer, remember we had 2 teens in tow. I agree a night in Nashville or bowling green would make it easier . With no kids you just muscle it to your first spot like we did and then relay

The stops on my end weren't for the teen in the car....

 

[PANDA]

You guys should consider flying to Atlanta. Round trip non-stop from Chicago was just over $200 OTD. I paid $163 to rent a 5.0 Mustang through Budget Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. Cabin was $65 after it was spilt up with dudes. ATL has a ton of cool cars to choose from also. Everything from a Ferrari, Corvette, E65, Bentley, SRT8's, BMW's, Alfa Romeo, Camaro, Mustang etc

I know it sucks to not drive your own car but it also sucks to waste time driving down and it is nice to not have to worry about it breaking or getting damaged or anything. Flying really makes a long weekend work.

 

[OmniGLH]

Yeah for me the allure wasn't just to "drive the gap" it was to "drive the gap in my car."

I trailered my old car out to California a few years ago so I could spend two weeks driving it up and down the Cali coast. Sure I could have rented a cool car but it was nice to drive my own Porsche up the coast.

 

[1MEANGT]

Have been down there the last 3 years in a row on the bikes. We trailer down and usually spend 4 days riding the area. So much to see and do. All the roads around there are amazing, nothing like it. They are just about to open a new parkway off of 129 too.