Klasse Act
10-03-2021, 08:44 AM
So another trip has come and gone and it was a great time, especially this year. To make a long story short, my daughter came with me because someone in her daycare class had Covid and they had to shutdown the class down for 2 weeks, yet her all day Kindergarten class had no problem with Kendall coming back because she was negative, if only an adult was in charge of all this (rant over[emoji849])
So last week I already had Wed-Thur-Fri off for my Dragon trip, so she came with me and I had an entire day planned for non-car stuff. We got there Wednesday evening, unloaded the ES, had some dinner and went out for a "taste of the Dragon" and came back and went to bed, big day Thursday!
Thursday morning we got up and headed out for breakfast, I have a place for that in Tellico Plains TN...or so I thought[emoji17] The restaurant was called the Town Square restaurant. This was your classic small town, everyone goes there place. To my surprise and sadness the restaurant was gone and replaced with another business. I knew the owner was sick and the next day I came back to find out the disheartening news that the owner died of cancer[emoji25] He was your typical polite, southern gentleman, may he rest in piece!
Plan B was Hardee's and then we gassed up the ES and ran it through the touch-free wash. Before the wash I sprayed down the front end with Adam's bug remover and let it dwell and after gassing up it was already breaking them down and after the wash nothing was left[emoji106]
At this point we headed to Sweetwater TN to check out the Lost Sea Adventure. This is home of the largest underground lake in the United States!. The grounds had a number of cool, old style buildings with PLENTY of parking. Your greated with the yellow tube that leads to the route to get to lake. Along the way you see various rock formations, growths...including stalagtites and stalagmites. Also old rations incase of a nuclear war where they planned on 20K people living down there for 3 weeks. Another cool thing was an old moonshine still because during prohibition they made the illegal hooch[emoji1634] Then we came to the lake which is stocked with rainbow trout and they're fed during every tour. Lights showed them swimming up to our boat and a feeding freny unused, VERY cool!! The entire tour was over an hour and we'll worth the $42.00 I spent[emoji6]
Now it was time to head to Zoo Knoxville, an hour away. It was a straight shot to get there, well marked. The parking lot was tight, so I was a little worried but I did find an end spot at the furthest away location, that's ok because it's piece of mind! This Zoo experience was great, basically had everything to ourself because the early massive crowds were already gone. We really enjoyed the birds as they had an eagle owl, a crow and 2 hawks. Owls are really cool with how they move their necks and then there's their eyes and brows!! The crow was quite vocal but that's what they do, LOL. The hawks has awesome wings and chests, really spent some time here.
Kendall wanted to see the Tiger and we sure did[emoji779]From about 50 feet away he strutted right up to us, Kendall got behind me because she was scared and once he got up to the fence he growled...I was blown away to have had that experience my daughter and I'll never forget it!
We made our way through other exhibits and came up to the chimpanzees and gorillas. Yeah everyone has seen them but here you can observe how they interact and once again I was all in! There was this large gorilla which ruled because if any of the chimps got close to him and his food he would raise his arm and they ran away, very human-like. Even the way they picked up the food, it's really something to see and it was an all new experience seeing it through Kendall's eyes!!
Towards the end we got to see rhinos (and their huuuge dung), giraffes and elephants, we really took this in, BIG TIME[emoji779]
Afterwards he headed to Ponchos Mexican restraunt for some awesome food and called it a day. I keep track of my steps...13K this day, a new record [emoji56]
Friday came and it was time for The Dragon and surrounding roads. Since we're staying right on 129 I decided to hit the Dragon first. I moved Kendall upfront with me for a better experience and so we could chat. Windows down and moonroof back we got after it! Now I didn't get too crazy because she's in the car but I drove a pretty brisk pace. I kept asking her if she was OK and she was. It was a great drive until we came up on a bagger HD and apparently didn't know what the dozens and dozens of pull offs were for [emoji849][emoji849][emoji849] We slowly pulled into Killboy's place across the street from Deal's Gap to buy some souvenirs and to take some pics. We crossed over to Deal's Gap to take some pics there too. Now it was time to run Moonshiners aka route 28.
Moonshiners takes you to the Fontana Dam, THE largest dam E of the Mississippi River, more educational stuff for Kendall. We arrived at the base after a brisk drive getting there[emoji6] I pointed at the flagpole way up there and said "we're going up there". After some more brisk driving and 8% grade we got up there. On our way in the GT3RS's were heading out and once we got to the observation deck I heard them wailing to their NINE THOUSAND RPM REDLINE...a religious experience because the sound echos through the mountains[emoji779](had to get that in here[emoji6]) So the Fontana Dam is 480 feet high and over 2300 feet long and the thing you have to understand when looking at it is this...PEOPLE MADE THIS in the mid 1940's, it's a must see when coming down here.
We left there and headed to the Cherahola Skyway, stopping in Robbinsville NC for some 90 octane pure gas. While there a group of cars were also getting gas and heading to do the same thing, we let them go and then Kendall and I made our way out. A little ways down the road one of the cars from that group, a Miami blue Cayman, was over on the side of road with its passenger hunched over...I don't think she was feeling too well and these roads can do that to you, bring the appropriate meds[emoji362]While making our way up the Skyway I spotted their group at one of the scenic pullovers and pulled in to tell them about the Cayman driver and co-driver and we then continued on our way, didn't want them to be worried about their friends[emoji118]
After the Skyway we took route 360 to 411 to 72 and back to our home base...Dragon City. I must add that route 360 is a very fun road too, we even had a Z4 behind us and I kept a good pace so he too could enjoy the drive. I did stop at a quarter car wash along the way...$1.00 per cycle, haven't seen that price since the early 90's!
We headed home Saturday morning and had a nice drive back until about 75 miles outside of Illinois where the skies opened up, also once in Illinoyed it was raining too...back to reality[emoji174]
Gotta play Powerball tomorrow so I can stay down there permanently and fly Kendall to "God's country" when it's my time with her. I'm a pretty simple guy and although I'm a city boy I'm made for living down there as everyone talks to you like they've known you their entire life...what a concept, humanity and plus...nah never mind, pushing the soapbox back[emoji58]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/77b10852f137d9ec685d9278ff5e753a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/1ca07add0296eda96a98c0e95df8e4aa.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b68bd221b91797b6f5bcdf44aab366ee.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/19322b64686062dbf7d5d7879b42ff45.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/81e05c25692945866464a027d223d6a0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/c8b047a45c95d2fa9520302664f838b6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/e44b575ff55c84c3ce5ce0ff0c1f3503.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/97a0df5e77e871aad554ca43e38245e4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/40505d4a682f7a30a137a1db0a7e5223.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f101b32085ac75395d1aebc9f8d85e26.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/5cd08dfc6292aa77451d5c581737eecb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/a1cc0abe2dc551c80ddaa0f6f9a0b485.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/25564d5b81b2df9be1c23a9681cde0d6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/0b2b9cdafab4a607116e8fe5bc2ded92.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b7c0434598cffa55bb9503a7f6c3a95b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f133570b31b9220705bd981015bafa7d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/9b802f36ce7ffe88866a046b5a37a190.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/be05363dba240b5133a07563a1e6fa5b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/fd143f81b7d3b608804695c3fdd1c9ba.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/1ecb616de0a869d1546b6bc3567eb8e9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/cfe3862ba8e8807376cd90f722ea0bfe.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b9e584df189d9c4020ee6596d032b2e5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/457359ba10e2149c86cbcb0b729d7567.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/09394e71f1e18fe669f41bd51108354b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f8f51f07f0c7d1d4e0bb595a09e57607.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/569ca265260617564efade35d4d1bb5e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f17f4fe8c300ed53d66e4fcb0ecb1afb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/eab7911f05fb5ecde2e83bab1d181107.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/63924c7082d33ace463ee2ea57ef4494.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/9d6b9c524ffba8d2a767284dfd4ccc40.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/674c16d7edd4c0361506be49140d1aa5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/965fed254000e4fbbaaa008e691d874f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/1f1981ecf76971e07cb56a45625ba178.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/c956c08ac9bc72d17e8a32622ecbd265.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/6397e7f1d9f7bb6a3421c4be28e2ea44.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/4b999ea2327d8490c3ebd0b1686f4c5f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b73f09150d4a1300e7f8d6a40088c54e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/77b4873f3d1247fd4f08bb73dbb2ab79.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/fd7605826a8144330dd22ae9d585a09a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/555bc6f1febe7161bbd4252f77a2776b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/ec59a3362c60a62b01df42cd943d16b3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/eec8cfb7659614df7193a541a2f09923.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/ba735bd14de941aba1c4ec3a0ea09496.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/61d29cac911f945bb1b90c87590d8af8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/30810a65941cc2ff9cb38c5afb92690e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/43a0e1e8f7bfc060087e5712f19f13d4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f383623006669d8fa4262baaf6f88846.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/786d94a8d0f7c7304759475fbc145c81.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/32363bf2211fcb1156393d5e0096e69d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/43efcab3cb86ee65c21ece611eafc704.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/57a5dd7515447f1a45666db3e10a8526.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/3bf4cf2aeb402c5c5a9d5f2b8b4f89d9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/599e59257cffd782d97e309c0bd9ca54.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f0e84ac2553bf1ef85b26a8ee83ca16e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b8b064df4beb196f92e9ed42a31c60e4.jpg
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So last week I already had Wed-Thur-Fri off for my Dragon trip, so she came with me and I had an entire day planned for non-car stuff. We got there Wednesday evening, unloaded the ES, had some dinner and went out for a "taste of the Dragon" and came back and went to bed, big day Thursday!
Thursday morning we got up and headed out for breakfast, I have a place for that in Tellico Plains TN...or so I thought[emoji17] The restaurant was called the Town Square restaurant. This was your classic small town, everyone goes there place. To my surprise and sadness the restaurant was gone and replaced with another business. I knew the owner was sick and the next day I came back to find out the disheartening news that the owner died of cancer[emoji25] He was your typical polite, southern gentleman, may he rest in piece!
Plan B was Hardee's and then we gassed up the ES and ran it through the touch-free wash. Before the wash I sprayed down the front end with Adam's bug remover and let it dwell and after gassing up it was already breaking them down and after the wash nothing was left[emoji106]
At this point we headed to Sweetwater TN to check out the Lost Sea Adventure. This is home of the largest underground lake in the United States!. The grounds had a number of cool, old style buildings with PLENTY of parking. Your greated with the yellow tube that leads to the route to get to lake. Along the way you see various rock formations, growths...including stalagtites and stalagmites. Also old rations incase of a nuclear war where they planned on 20K people living down there for 3 weeks. Another cool thing was an old moonshine still because during prohibition they made the illegal hooch[emoji1634] Then we came to the lake which is stocked with rainbow trout and they're fed during every tour. Lights showed them swimming up to our boat and a feeding freny unused, VERY cool!! The entire tour was over an hour and we'll worth the $42.00 I spent[emoji6]
Now it was time to head to Zoo Knoxville, an hour away. It was a straight shot to get there, well marked. The parking lot was tight, so I was a little worried but I did find an end spot at the furthest away location, that's ok because it's piece of mind! This Zoo experience was great, basically had everything to ourself because the early massive crowds were already gone. We really enjoyed the birds as they had an eagle owl, a crow and 2 hawks. Owls are really cool with how they move their necks and then there's their eyes and brows!! The crow was quite vocal but that's what they do, LOL. The hawks has awesome wings and chests, really spent some time here.
Kendall wanted to see the Tiger and we sure did[emoji779]From about 50 feet away he strutted right up to us, Kendall got behind me because she was scared and once he got up to the fence he growled...I was blown away to have had that experience my daughter and I'll never forget it!
We made our way through other exhibits and came up to the chimpanzees and gorillas. Yeah everyone has seen them but here you can observe how they interact and once again I was all in! There was this large gorilla which ruled because if any of the chimps got close to him and his food he would raise his arm and they ran away, very human-like. Even the way they picked up the food, it's really something to see and it was an all new experience seeing it through Kendall's eyes!!
Towards the end we got to see rhinos (and their huuuge dung), giraffes and elephants, we really took this in, BIG TIME[emoji779]
Afterwards he headed to Ponchos Mexican restraunt for some awesome food and called it a day. I keep track of my steps...13K this day, a new record [emoji56]
Friday came and it was time for The Dragon and surrounding roads. Since we're staying right on 129 I decided to hit the Dragon first. I moved Kendall upfront with me for a better experience and so we could chat. Windows down and moonroof back we got after it! Now I didn't get too crazy because she's in the car but I drove a pretty brisk pace. I kept asking her if she was OK and she was. It was a great drive until we came up on a bagger HD and apparently didn't know what the dozens and dozens of pull offs were for [emoji849][emoji849][emoji849] We slowly pulled into Killboy's place across the street from Deal's Gap to buy some souvenirs and to take some pics. We crossed over to Deal's Gap to take some pics there too. Now it was time to run Moonshiners aka route 28.
Moonshiners takes you to the Fontana Dam, THE largest dam E of the Mississippi River, more educational stuff for Kendall. We arrived at the base after a brisk drive getting there[emoji6] I pointed at the flagpole way up there and said "we're going up there". After some more brisk driving and 8% grade we got up there. On our way in the GT3RS's were heading out and once we got to the observation deck I heard them wailing to their NINE THOUSAND RPM REDLINE...a religious experience because the sound echos through the mountains[emoji779](had to get that in here[emoji6]) So the Fontana Dam is 480 feet high and over 2300 feet long and the thing you have to understand when looking at it is this...PEOPLE MADE THIS in the mid 1940's, it's a must see when coming down here.
We left there and headed to the Cherahola Skyway, stopping in Robbinsville NC for some 90 octane pure gas. While there a group of cars were also getting gas and heading to do the same thing, we let them go and then Kendall and I made our way out. A little ways down the road one of the cars from that group, a Miami blue Cayman, was over on the side of road with its passenger hunched over...I don't think she was feeling too well and these roads can do that to you, bring the appropriate meds[emoji362]While making our way up the Skyway I spotted their group at one of the scenic pullovers and pulled in to tell them about the Cayman driver and co-driver and we then continued on our way, didn't want them to be worried about their friends[emoji118]
After the Skyway we took route 360 to 411 to 72 and back to our home base...Dragon City. I must add that route 360 is a very fun road too, we even had a Z4 behind us and I kept a good pace so he too could enjoy the drive. I did stop at a quarter car wash along the way...$1.00 per cycle, haven't seen that price since the early 90's!
We headed home Saturday morning and had a nice drive back until about 75 miles outside of Illinois where the skies opened up, also once in Illinoyed it was raining too...back to reality[emoji174]
Gotta play Powerball tomorrow so I can stay down there permanently and fly Kendall to "God's country" when it's my time with her. I'm a pretty simple guy and although I'm a city boy I'm made for living down there as everyone talks to you like they've known you their entire life...what a concept, humanity and plus...nah never mind, pushing the soapbox back[emoji58]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/77b10852f137d9ec685d9278ff5e753a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/1ca07add0296eda96a98c0e95df8e4aa.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b68bd221b91797b6f5bcdf44aab366ee.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/19322b64686062dbf7d5d7879b42ff45.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/81e05c25692945866464a027d223d6a0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/c8b047a45c95d2fa9520302664f838b6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/e44b575ff55c84c3ce5ce0ff0c1f3503.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/97a0df5e77e871aad554ca43e38245e4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/40505d4a682f7a30a137a1db0a7e5223.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f101b32085ac75395d1aebc9f8d85e26.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/5cd08dfc6292aa77451d5c581737eecb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/a1cc0abe2dc551c80ddaa0f6f9a0b485.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/25564d5b81b2df9be1c23a9681cde0d6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/0b2b9cdafab4a607116e8fe5bc2ded92.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b7c0434598cffa55bb9503a7f6c3a95b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f133570b31b9220705bd981015bafa7d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/9b802f36ce7ffe88866a046b5a37a190.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/be05363dba240b5133a07563a1e6fa5b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/fd143f81b7d3b608804695c3fdd1c9ba.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/1ecb616de0a869d1546b6bc3567eb8e9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/cfe3862ba8e8807376cd90f722ea0bfe.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b9e584df189d9c4020ee6596d032b2e5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/457359ba10e2149c86cbcb0b729d7567.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/09394e71f1e18fe669f41bd51108354b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f8f51f07f0c7d1d4e0bb595a09e57607.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/569ca265260617564efade35d4d1bb5e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f17f4fe8c300ed53d66e4fcb0ecb1afb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/eab7911f05fb5ecde2e83bab1d181107.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/63924c7082d33ace463ee2ea57ef4494.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/9d6b9c524ffba8d2a767284dfd4ccc40.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/674c16d7edd4c0361506be49140d1aa5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/965fed254000e4fbbaaa008e691d874f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/1f1981ecf76971e07cb56a45625ba178.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/c956c08ac9bc72d17e8a32622ecbd265.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/6397e7f1d9f7bb6a3421c4be28e2ea44.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/4b999ea2327d8490c3ebd0b1686f4c5f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b73f09150d4a1300e7f8d6a40088c54e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/77b4873f3d1247fd4f08bb73dbb2ab79.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/fd7605826a8144330dd22ae9d585a09a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/555bc6f1febe7161bbd4252f77a2776b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/ec59a3362c60a62b01df42cd943d16b3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/eec8cfb7659614df7193a541a2f09923.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/ba735bd14de941aba1c4ec3a0ea09496.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/61d29cac911f945bb1b90c87590d8af8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/30810a65941cc2ff9cb38c5afb92690e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/43a0e1e8f7bfc060087e5712f19f13d4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f383623006669d8fa4262baaf6f88846.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/786d94a8d0f7c7304759475fbc145c81.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/32363bf2211fcb1156393d5e0096e69d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/43efcab3cb86ee65c21ece611eafc704.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/57a5dd7515447f1a45666db3e10a8526.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/3bf4cf2aeb402c5c5a9d5f2b8b4f89d9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/599e59257cffd782d97e309c0bd9ca54.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/f0e84ac2553bf1ef85b26a8ee83ca16e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/b8b064df4beb196f92e9ed42a31c60e4.jpg
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