I spent a couple of days down around Deal's Gap this week. I've got a MINI-owning friend who lives in Knoxville, about 45 minutes from the Dragon and I had a few days off from work, so what better to do than go drive? The drive from Indy to Knoxville wasn't too bad; about 5.5 hours, all Interstate. I gave my GPS and new Valentine One a good workout on this trip. The MINI's starting to feel like Darth Vader's bathroom. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you...

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Thursday morning I headed toward the Gap from Knoxville. It wasn't a great day weather-wise; mid-40s and overcast, but the roads were clear and fairly dry. I didn't have a very good idea of the start and end point of the actual Dragon, so I basically did a run without really knowing it. I saw the signs admonishing people to stay in their own lane (duh, right?) and the motorcycle resort, but I still expected something ... more, I guess. That first pass was a lot more work than I figured it would be. I was pleasantly surprised to have several cars (SUVs, mostly, of course) pull over to let me by. The grin factor kicked up a notch when I got past the Southern end of the Dragon in NC and 129 opened up a bit. *That's* my kind of road.

I'd hoped to make a few laps of both the Dragon and the Cherohala Skyway, and *boy* was I surprised to run into snow and ice above 4k feet!

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I finally gave up and turned around once I took that picture. I'd gotten behind a snow plow and one other car and wasn't having any fun. Up until the ice started, the Skyway was a lot of fun. The posted limit of 45 was sufficient to pull some lateral Gs without excessive pucker and the scenery was beautiful, of course.

Having had to bail on the Skyway, I headed back to the Dragon and did another 3 passes. I definitely got more comfortable with each successive run, but overall I was a little underwhelmed, frankly. I prefer faster stretches of road that aren't quite so tight. By the time I'd made my fourth run, I was able to get up into 3rd gear, but that wasn't really necessary. In all, it was an enjoyable day, and I definitely look forward to MotD in May!

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Friday we went to check out the the Lost Squadron museum in Middlesboro, KY. That was about a 90 minute drive up through TN and into KY. It was a fairly sedate, yet scenic, drive. The museum itself is very cool. I'm an aviation and history buff and am absolutely fascinated with the story of these lost airplanes and how one P-38 was recovered 50 years after it was abandoned on the ice in Greenland. The guy running the place that day was really cool and talked flying with us for quite a while. I'd be back in the air if it weren't for the MINI! :-)

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After the museum, we trekked up to the overlook point in the Cumberland Gap park, which is apparently on the rim of a giant impact crater. We could only see some of the crater from where we were, and due to the weather, but it was pretty fascinating. And damn cold. I miss hills; I wish God would have rumpled the geography a little more around Indianapolis...

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Coming back out of Middlesboro, we took route 74 West out of town, aiming for in TN, which took us back down to 63 toward I-75. 74 had huge potential, but turned out to be a slick-as-snot road covered in a greasy, slimy coating of mud from coal trucks roaming the area. It started out fun and then I realized I was kind of skating around some of the corners. A quick brake-check indicated just about nil in the way of traction, and I tip-toed my way back into Tennessee. Bummer. 25W made up for it, tho. There was enough traffic to make it frustrating, but once that was dispatched, the road was fairly clean and twisty! Whee!

Today I cleaned the house.

 

I would say you prefered the section of road that runs from Crossroads of Time and Robbinsville? You would have probably like 28 (runs from Crossroads to Fontana Village). It is a bit better if you like the "sweepers" better than the tight turns.

We frequent the area of Middlesboro and 25W/25E. Middlesboro actually was built in a crator hole! We take 25W when we stay with family and head to the dragon from there. SE KY has some really great roads. Tom takes off sometimes and is gone all day finding new roads to motor on. Those coal trucks are definately something to watch out for!!

Sounds like you are planning to go to the dragon in May for MOTD. Have you made a reservation yet? If you haven't you might do it real soon, I don't think there are many cabins/rooms left at Fontana. We have stayed in Robbinsville and Fontana for it and Fontana is the place to be, hands down.

Can

 

Nice write up,...... the Dragon seems a bit tedious at times to me as well....... it is fun ...... see you in May

 

We were in the area but since the Blue Ridge Parkway was shut down decided to just head home instead of taking the detour to 129. Seen enough wrecks on the dragon, didn't want to tempt fate. The last time we were there it was Miata weekend, so it was a little crazy. I prefer roads less conjested, but it was fun. Too bad the Mini Marathon is the same weekend as MOTD, and we ended up with tickets to Spamalot in Chicago. Maybe next year.

 

Yeah, from the maps, 28 would be a winner. 129 between Crossroads and 143 (I didn't go all the way to Robbinsville) is still plenty twisty with lots of corners you can dive into and whip around. The whole region is great; the Dragon's neat, but you're missing out if that's all you do there!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can kill a whole day just motoring around! :-) So, will you guys be taking *both* MINIs to MotD?

I haven't made reservations yet. I'll try to do that today, I guess. What dates will you guys be there? What are the "essential" days?

 

Nice write up. Thanks.

 

I think we will take both MINIs to MOTD. That way when he takes off for one of his day long drives I won't be stranded. We are right now planning on going, but you know things can change. There are some others going that we should be able to share a cabin if we do in fact get to go. Our youngest is graduating this spring so you never know.....

The dates to be sure you are there are May (Thursday, that's when the Welcome dinner should be) through the 7th (Sunday). We got there last year on Wednesday and I really liked it. We didn't have to rush around Thursday afternoon getting checked in and unpacked. We will probably do Wed. again. I would like to stay until Monday but not enough vacation time to take more time off.

 

you didnt tell me you were coming down!! Or we could have had another mini!

-josh

 

I'll send out invites next time! ;-)

 

You should. There are several of us around here who are generally up for a jaunt when someone comes to visit. We were up on New Year's Day. Fabulous weather. Just don't tell Battle Cattle because I forgot to invite him.

 

If anyone is going down I would love to meet up on the dragon! I love it! Now I just need some new tires...

-Josh