Updated: 5000 Mile Trip, Porsche Parade or Bust!
07-18-2012, 10:46 PM
#61
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
07-18-2012, 10:47 PM
#62
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
07-18-2012, 11:11 PM
#63
Nordschleife Master
07-19-2012, 09:50 AM
#65
Nordschleife Master
07-19-2012, 04:11 PM
#66
Instructor
ramius
I so pissed I did not see this thread sooner. I live east of Offutt 15 minuets I would have met you and your wife for a drink or better yet had you guys over for a beer. I think it is great you are on this trip. I would have loved to had my cab in the mountains in California last month and will have to seriously think about going to the parade in Monterey. good luck
I so pissed I did not see this thread sooner. I live east of Offutt 15 minuets I would have met you and your wife for a drink or better yet had you guys over for a beer. I think it is great you are on this trip. I would have loved to had my cab in the mountains in California last month and will have to seriously think about going to the parade in Monterey. good luck
07-19-2012, 08:35 PM
#67
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
ramius
I so pissed I did not see this thread sooner. I live east of Offutt 15 minuets I would have met you and your wife for a drink or better yet had you guys over for a beer. I think it is great you are on this trip. I would have loved to had my cab in the mountains in California last month and will have to seriously think about going to the parade in Monterey. good luck
I so pissed I did not see this thread sooner. I live east of Offutt 15 minuets I would have met you and your wife for a drink or better yet had you guys over for a beer. I think it is great you are on this trip. I would have loved to had my cab in the mountains in California last month and will have to seriously think about going to the parade in Monterey. good luck
We're already planning our trip to Traverse City in 2013, hope you can make it!
07-19-2012, 11:47 PM
#71
Instructor
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Warner Robins, GA
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Stupid spam bot.
07-22-2012, 02:19 PM
#72
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
This will be our final update from our trek to the Porsche Parade and back. The hotels we stayed in the last few days didn't have wifi so I'm going to sum up our travels since Millington, TN.
We were thoroughly exhausted from our trip into Millington and slept in a bit to let our batteries recharge. We woke up and lazily took our time toward Fort Campbell, KY. We had a brief trip on I-40 before stopping for breakfast in Jackson, TN with a very good friend that we haven't seen in years. Along that short hop on I-40 we saw a heavier police presence than we had the rest of the trip combined but they apparently weren't interested in Porsches. Even better, it was only about 3 hours through the Tennessee countryside, including a trek through The Land Between The Lakes, to Fort Campbell. Minta and I were previously stationed at Fort Campbell for about 3 years and it's where we met. I've always enjoyed the countryside around middle Tennessee and it certainly didn't disappoint this time either. Our only complaint? The heat and humidity were crushing. Our AC systems were barely able to keep up with the heat and keep us from melting.
Once we arrived at Fort Campbell, we decided to tour the Pratt Museum because amazingly, Minta had never been there. Even though it has been years since either of us were stationed at Fort Campbell, once a Screaming Eagle Combat Vet you are considered Screaming Eagles for life. We took some great pictures:
After checking out the Museum we decided to turn in for the night at lodging on post. It was 109 degrees outside with the humidity and we were worn out. We decided to leave at 0500 to beat the heat and arrive in Roanoke at something approaching a reasonable time.
We've driven the I-40 corridor across Tennessee many times but this was the first time we've both been in Porsches. The weather certainly cooperated this time around and we managed to stay cool. Unfortunately, part of the trade was in the form of rain. As we neared Bristol, VA the sky continued to blacken and as we passed into Virginia we had to start dealing with heavier traffic and rain. It was during this point that we noticed a trend that seems to be distinctively east-coast. That is, semi trucks will cut off drivers in the left lane and then just stay there. I swear, it seemed like truck drivers saw us coming and intentionally tried to get in front of us. Humorously, we were only doing 2-3 miles over the posted speed limit so it's not like they were doing a public service.
We arrived at the Hotel Roanoke in the early afternoon. When planning our return trip, I had looked for somewhere to stay that would give us easy access to the Blue Ridge Parkway but I wanted a bit of class for our last night on the road. The Hotel Roanoke is managed as a Double Tree property by Hilton but is owned by Virginia Tech. If you have 90 seconds, google the history of the Hotel Roanoke, it's very interesting. I exclusively stay with Hilton when I travel for work so we have some "status" with Hilton that got us a complimentary upgrade to their executive floor. We had a beautiful view of Roanoke from our hotel window and the service and decor were top notch. It was a nice mix of classic Virginia charm with modern ammenities and was exactly what we needed to recharge.
After sleeping in for a couple of hours longer than we have the last couple of days we hit the road to grab some gas and catch the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had done a bit of research on the Blue Ridge Parkway but honestly, the most information I received was via Clarkson complaining about the 45 mph speed limit on Top Gear and extolling the amazing views. Clarkson's comments about the speed limit aside, the views were everything we had heard and more. Even obeying posted speed limits, this road did offer up some driving fun with steep cliffs and awesome switchbacks. Our trip would take us from Roanoke to the intersection with I-64 and then on to Charlottesville and then via the The Constitution Route to Rte 3 and then up US 301 to the house. Just like our trip to/through Moab and Arches National Park, we could waste our time trying to describe beauty but instead I'll let the pictures speak for us:
You'll note the pics where it looks like we were shrouded in fog. Actually, we were driving through the clouds! Once again the euro fogs I installed on the 951 paid dividends and allowed us to see easily. We paused a few times for photos and got some that I think will wind up getting blown up to poster size. One of my goals on this trip was to capture a picture of both cars together that we could blow up to 24x36 and frame next to the picture of the 951.
As we headed north the weather got progressively worse and wet. The drivers on I-64 didn't disappoint either, they were generally clueless and when they weren't staring at the cars they were trying to wreck into them. So, after a short jaunt we stopped in Charlottesville for an excellent lunch and on to the rural highways of Virginia toward home. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures but rest assured, it was a beautiful drive of Virginia horse country.
Once we passed onto US 301 we were again on familiar territory and could finally see that our trip was coming to a close. The weather was gray and boring but exactly what we needed to stay focused on the road and getting home safely. We crossed the Harry Nice bridge and our flawless trip took it's first unscheduled stop. Not even a quarter mile into Maryland we drew the ire of a Maryland Transit Authority officer who was apparently bored and hoping to stop some folks with clear criminal intent. He pulled out and instead of coming after me (which is the obvious choice?) he got behind Minta and hit her with his lights. She radioed me to keep going and gave me the rendezvous point. Any guesses about why she was stopped? Speeding? Trafficking people/drugs? NO FRONT LICENSE PLATE and A REAR LICENSE PLATE OBSCURRED WITH THE INTENT TO AVOID IDENTIFICATION?!? Yes ladies and gentlemen, the Maryland Transit Authority has apparently solved all crime and can now focus on keeping license plates on cars. In the end, the officer gave Minta a warning (really, you want to give a Veteran a ticket for showing Unit pride?), but failed to mention anything about the missing rear view mirror that was strategically placed in the Wal-Mart cup holder, and we were on our way again. A few short minutes later we arrived at our home and officially called our incredible journey to Parade complete.
In the end, we passed through 18 states, 3 mountain ranges, the Mississippi River TWICE, 2 time zones and drove 4,816 miles and the only casualties were an AC compressor (thanks Darwin for the replacement!), a failing door handle linkage and a rear view mirror. Not bad for some cars over 20 years old!!
We were thoroughly exhausted from our trip into Millington and slept in a bit to let our batteries recharge. We woke up and lazily took our time toward Fort Campbell, KY. We had a brief trip on I-40 before stopping for breakfast in Jackson, TN with a very good friend that we haven't seen in years. Along that short hop on I-40 we saw a heavier police presence than we had the rest of the trip combined but they apparently weren't interested in Porsches. Even better, it was only about 3 hours through the Tennessee countryside, including a trek through The Land Between The Lakes, to Fort Campbell. Minta and I were previously stationed at Fort Campbell for about 3 years and it's where we met. I've always enjoyed the countryside around middle Tennessee and it certainly didn't disappoint this time either. Our only complaint? The heat and humidity were crushing. Our AC systems were barely able to keep up with the heat and keep us from melting.
Once we arrived at Fort Campbell, we decided to tour the Pratt Museum because amazingly, Minta had never been there. Even though it has been years since either of us were stationed at Fort Campbell, once a Screaming Eagle Combat Vet you are considered Screaming Eagles for life. We took some great pictures:
After checking out the Museum we decided to turn in for the night at lodging on post. It was 109 degrees outside with the humidity and we were worn out. We decided to leave at 0500 to beat the heat and arrive in Roanoke at something approaching a reasonable time.
We've driven the I-40 corridor across Tennessee many times but this was the first time we've both been in Porsches. The weather certainly cooperated this time around and we managed to stay cool. Unfortunately, part of the trade was in the form of rain. As we neared Bristol, VA the sky continued to blacken and as we passed into Virginia we had to start dealing with heavier traffic and rain. It was during this point that we noticed a trend that seems to be distinctively east-coast. That is, semi trucks will cut off drivers in the left lane and then just stay there. I swear, it seemed like truck drivers saw us coming and intentionally tried to get in front of us. Humorously, we were only doing 2-3 miles over the posted speed limit so it's not like they were doing a public service.
We arrived at the Hotel Roanoke in the early afternoon. When planning our return trip, I had looked for somewhere to stay that would give us easy access to the Blue Ridge Parkway but I wanted a bit of class for our last night on the road. The Hotel Roanoke is managed as a Double Tree property by Hilton but is owned by Virginia Tech. If you have 90 seconds, google the history of the Hotel Roanoke, it's very interesting. I exclusively stay with Hilton when I travel for work so we have some "status" with Hilton that got us a complimentary upgrade to their executive floor. We had a beautiful view of Roanoke from our hotel window and the service and decor were top notch. It was a nice mix of classic Virginia charm with modern ammenities and was exactly what we needed to recharge.
After sleeping in for a couple of hours longer than we have the last couple of days we hit the road to grab some gas and catch the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had done a bit of research on the Blue Ridge Parkway but honestly, the most information I received was via Clarkson complaining about the 45 mph speed limit on Top Gear and extolling the amazing views. Clarkson's comments about the speed limit aside, the views were everything we had heard and more. Even obeying posted speed limits, this road did offer up some driving fun with steep cliffs and awesome switchbacks. Our trip would take us from Roanoke to the intersection with I-64 and then on to Charlottesville and then via the The Constitution Route to Rte 3 and then up US 301 to the house. Just like our trip to/through Moab and Arches National Park, we could waste our time trying to describe beauty but instead I'll let the pictures speak for us:
You'll note the pics where it looks like we were shrouded in fog. Actually, we were driving through the clouds! Once again the euro fogs I installed on the 951 paid dividends and allowed us to see easily. We paused a few times for photos and got some that I think will wind up getting blown up to poster size. One of my goals on this trip was to capture a picture of both cars together that we could blow up to 24x36 and frame next to the picture of the 951.
As we headed north the weather got progressively worse and wet. The drivers on I-64 didn't disappoint either, they were generally clueless and when they weren't staring at the cars they were trying to wreck into them. So, after a short jaunt we stopped in Charlottesville for an excellent lunch and on to the rural highways of Virginia toward home. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures but rest assured, it was a beautiful drive of Virginia horse country.
Once we passed onto US 301 we were again on familiar territory and could finally see that our trip was coming to a close. The weather was gray and boring but exactly what we needed to stay focused on the road and getting home safely. We crossed the Harry Nice bridge and our flawless trip took it's first unscheduled stop. Not even a quarter mile into Maryland we drew the ire of a Maryland Transit Authority officer who was apparently bored and hoping to stop some folks with clear criminal intent. He pulled out and instead of coming after me (which is the obvious choice?) he got behind Minta and hit her with his lights. She radioed me to keep going and gave me the rendezvous point. Any guesses about why she was stopped? Speeding? Trafficking people/drugs? NO FRONT LICENSE PLATE and A REAR LICENSE PLATE OBSCURRED WITH THE INTENT TO AVOID IDENTIFICATION?!? Yes ladies and gentlemen, the Maryland Transit Authority has apparently solved all crime and can now focus on keeping license plates on cars. In the end, the officer gave Minta a warning (really, you want to give a Veteran a ticket for showing Unit pride?), but failed to mention anything about the missing rear view mirror that was strategically placed in the Wal-Mart cup holder, and we were on our way again. A few short minutes later we arrived at our home and officially called our incredible journey to Parade complete.
In the end, we passed through 18 states, 3 mountain ranges, the Mississippi River TWICE, 2 time zones and drove 4,816 miles and the only casualties were an AC compressor (thanks Darwin for the replacement!), a failing door handle linkage and a rear view mirror. Not bad for some cars over 20 years old!!
07-22-2012, 02:45 PM
#73
Nordschleife Master
coming from Charlottesville, did you go through Gordonsville? that stretch of road is about the prettiest ive scene, short of the BR parkway... and apparently Howie Long lives off that road.
cool pics, glad you've made it back to the right coast!
cool pics, glad you've made it back to the right coast!
07-22-2012, 05:13 PM
#75
Nordschleife Master
