Family Road Trip through Twelve US States

[PetitFrereArmada]

Made it in good time at Tybee Island. The beach was not as nice as the other beaches we experienced in Orlando, but this was unique in its own way. We walked on the beach and left pretty quickly for the historic tybee island lighthouse. Then we went to Fort Pulaski. Made a quick stop there and then left for a historic part of town.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Historic River Street. This place is just full of history. It was definitely a great place to visit. If you go to Savannah, GA, make a stop here and you will not regret it.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Left Savannah, GA this morning for my 8 hours drive to Gatlinburg, TN. I made a stop at Peachoid Water Tower in Gaffney, SC.

Then took scenic highway 11 for some backroad drive and to see some peaches and local shops. Stopped at one and bought some peaches, strawberries, icecream and some juices.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Next stop, Campbells Covered Bridge Road, Landrum, SC, where we spent a little family time walking around and playing in the water. Then we had to get on the road again.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I had a big scare today. As soon as I got into TN, my gps asked me to exit and take a back road. My worst mistake ever today!!! Gps took me unto some back super steep roads through the smoky mountains. The road had gravel, very steep and my Armada could not handle it in "D". On my left a deep valley below. On the right, one scary house after every mile. My Armada was struggling and almost spinning its tires to go uphill. I had to put it in what I call 4wd, which I don't have one!!! I moved it from "D" to "1" and turned VDC off. I put tow mode on, but quickly turned it off. So, in this "4wd" mode, I was able to make my way slowly but surely this super steep climb until I came to TN-32 N. This road was paved, but super curvy and scary too. This time, the steep valley below was on the wife's side and she was not comfortable looking down there. I didn't need my "4wd" here, but I was super slow. I drove only 15mph to 25mph for a long time until I got to US-321 when I could drive normally again doing 45mph to 55mph until I got to my destination.

I have never been scared like this before.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

The mountain drive here in TN is just spectacular. Great scenery and great curves. These roads are already way too curvy, I wonder how the curves on the Tail of the Dragon would look like.

This morning, we started off doing the Roaring Fork Motor Nature trail. It was a slow great drive. I got GoPro footage. Then we were off to Pigeon Forge. We went to the Titanic museum and it was excellent. I strongly recommend this. It recounts the story all over again with real pictures, videos and things that were on the ship. And it has a list of every single person n board that ship; all that passed away and those that survived. It was like re-living histry in there. Drve by Dollywood and other places. Then took the long and curvy drive to Clingman's Dome (The highest peak in the smoky mountains). I strongly recommend this place too.

I had my remote controlled fog lights on and I must have been a new attraction in town, especially with my GoPro on my windshield. I bet people thought it would fall off, but I lucked out and it never fell throughout my over 2 hours drive with speeds topping 65mph.

Came back to Gatlinburg and walked into 2 moonshine places and one f them had a free tasting event going on. We joined and had a few shots, but did not like the taste. Bought one bottle for the inlaws and left.

We are looking forward to driving the Tail of the dragon tomorrow.

Places I visited today.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

 

[4x4x4doors]

Excellent accounting! Thanks for sharing.

(I dated a girl whose father and brother worked at Disney in the late 1970's and family got in free. Considering the prices, maybe I should have considered....nah, even at those prices wouldn't have been worth it. )

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Excellent accounting! Thanks for sharing.

(I dated a girl whose father and brother worked at Disney in the late 1970's and family got in free. Considering the prices, maybe I should have considered....nah, even at those prices wouldn't have been worth it. )

Thanks.

LOL, about the story about the girl you were dating.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Today was a very busy day. Started off by driving the always curvy roads of the Smoky mountains heading for Cades Cove. These drives in the Smoky mountain is a must-do for anybody planning to visit the smokies. It is a very fun and scenic drive. You will not be disappointed.

Went on the Cades Cove scenic loop and learned a lot of history and saw a few wild animals; antelope, turkeys, a nesting barn swallow. All the buildings we saw were built in the early 1800s. It was just amazing. This drive was a great one.

The barn swallow and its babies were way less than an arms length reach to grab it or its babies. But we were here to watch and not disturb nature, so we took pics and walked away as the swallows (mom and dad) flew around us chirping in the loudest tone ever. But we were not there to bother them, so we had to quickly go through the buildings and leave them alone.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

After Cades Cove Scenic drive, it was time to head to the tail of the dragon. I took a back road that had a sign that said only 4wd vehicles with high clearance should get on the road. I took a chance to get on the road and it was a fun ride. It was a little challenging, but a fun ride on the 9 miles of offroading. My Armada does not have 4wd, but I made it very ok with a few bumps and wheel spinning here and there on some steep slopes.

Then I got on the Tail of the Dragon. The road is very curvy with lots of twisties and the road is full of bikers and a few that are going over 100mph passing people a little recklessly. I had 2 pass me like that. I have them on my gopro videos.

It was fun to drive this road, but since I have been in the Smoky mountain now for 3 days, I have driven almost all the curvy roads in the mountain area that this felt about the same. But non the less, it was an awesome drive.

The Tree of Shame. Showing parts from bikes that had accidents on the Tail of the Dragon.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

From the tail of the dragon, we took another very curvy road to the Cherokee Indian Museum, in Cherokee, NC. Another must destination for people visiting the area. You will not be disappointed. We learned a lot about these people.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

After our very busy day and a total drive time of about 5 hours, we decided to go park the Armada and decided to take the local trolley to commute around town. It was a nice adventure.

Forgot to share these pics of star cars that they used in these respective movies.

Nicolas Cage's car in Gone in 60 seconds

Shield's car in the Avengers

Car in Fast and Furious

Now, heading to bed as we have a 5 hours drive tomorrow for Kentucky.

 

[machine1]

Thanks for sharing your trip. I'm a big fan of Disneyworld, they know how to take care of their guests, that's why I keep going back. Have you been using your GoPro at all for this trip?