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MG TD TF 1500 - Gatlinburg plans

Have been emailing my brother in MD regarding our meeting in Front Royal, VA, or further down the route and travelling together...He is almost finished restoring an mga twin cam... and drives one of two modified MGB's... these are our last emails..... (tortoise and hare indeed!!!)

Gord - I just got on Mapquest and it is 501 miles from our place to Gatlinburg - whew. Why don't you drive here and we will take two days for the trip. I have a perfect place to spend the night - called the Peaks of Otter- look at the web site - it is 243 miles from my place and 288 miles from Gatlinburg!
LRL

Laurie - I came up with 750 miles from Buffalo to Gatlinburg on mapquest. Your idea makes sense.. I will drive to your place and we can leave from there... In the time i've had with the new gears, 60 mph seems to be comfortable and 65 not out of the question.
GBL

Great - I will get down to business when I get back from Florida - both on directions and the car. "60-65 is the right speed - like the tortoise we will make it".
LRL

Laurie - You have been driving high performance MGB's waaay too long... as a TD driver, 60-65 will put me in the "hare", no more the "cheeta" category... the wind will be whipping through my hair (well... one or two hairs), my engine will be revving its little 1250 cc's heart out, my hood will be shaking, and wheels shimmying... my teeth will be gritted together and at that speed I must wear my leather helmet and goggles... and (gulp)... I might even have to pass a car or two....maybe even a 'Neon'!!!!
GBL

gordon lawson - TD 27667

LOL... Thanks for the day brightner. You guys are a hoot, I can't wait to meet you in Gatlinburg!

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Gordon/Dave,

Your comments about the route to Gatlinburg has prompted me to completely re-think our plans for the run to MG2006. Having driven different portions of both the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway at different times and in both directions. I can recall all the slow-pokes, and cursing the traffic; but I had forgotten the distances and the time it took to drive it/them. Everybody should in their lifetime, drive the Skyline Drive and/or The Blue Ridge Parkway, as this is a truly lovely part of America, but as you will see, I don’t think that’s for us, this time.

There will be 6 Rockburnian MGs in Gatlinburg, and we planned our trip over a year ago. We made a rule - if you didn’t have at least a 4.55 diff, you don’t come! So we have 3 TF’s, a 2-litre MGB, an MGB-V8 and a ‘35 PA on a trailer behind a Lexus. Looks simple, ‘till you look at the route. The interstate trip one-way for us, is 1,000 miles.

Our original plans were to take I81 to mid-Pennsylvania (Hazleton) on Tuesday (Day 1), and that’s still on. Wednesday we would go via Winchester to Front Royal taking only the Skyline Drive and ending up in/near Roanoke/Salem, and that may be still on. But from there we’ve had to pull in our horns - not a little - a lot!. The original plans were to do the Blue Ridge on the Thursday and arrive (relaxed?) late PM in Gatlinburg. I now realise this is impossible! So it will be back to the interstate for most of Wednesday and probably for Thursday, too.

Here is what we were facing:-

On day 2, before we get to Virginia, we have 194 miles, or 4 hours to do, to get to Winchester.

From here on, the distances on these circuitous roads can be deceiving. We proceed from Winchester to Front Royal (21 miles), where one starts the Skyline Drive, and which ends near Waynsborough - a distance of 105 miles for a total of 126 miles. However, THE SKYLINE DRIVE PORTION, IS ALL AT (A LEGAL MAX.) OF 35 MPH! To this we must add the BLUE RIDGE PORTION OF ANOTHER 110 MILES AT THE RESTRICTIVE SPEED OF 45 MPH (and some, at 35 MPH!), to get us to our 2nd night stop. I figure we should allow 7 hours for these 236 miles. That totals almost 12 hours of driving for about 430 miles! Ugh! - not for us!

Now Gordon, add the fact that this will be the first week school will be out, lots of camping vans, and for good measure, throw in some rain, too!

The same route over the I81 is 375 miles or about 8½ hrs. Go figure!

For the record, the full length of just the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway together, is 470 miles of twisting, narrow park roads, and all at reduced speeds.

You can see from this that we are probably facing almost entirely interstate on I81, at least on the way down. Maybe on the way back, we can reconsider parts of the Skyline Drive and/or The Blue Ridge Parkway, and may be throw in a few caverns, too.

I realise that this kind of information is of little interest to the many that do not live in North America, or for that matter, are not planning to take in MG2006, but I just felt that I should warn those that are planning to include portions of the Skyline Drive and/or The Blue Ridge Parkway, in their plans, to have a second look, unless you are allowing more than the 3 days we have allocated to get there.

You’re welcome to join up with us, but as I recall, you’re leaving Monday arriving Wednesday, and I suspect you'll be heading via Pittsburgh, and I79/I77. We'll have a full complement of T-Series “travelling spares” including a half-shaft, electrics, SU stuff, gaskets, pumps, etc.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

Its the distance on the BRMP that prompted me to change plans as well... Front Royal to Gatlinburg in one day is just not practical.
I am assuming we will do the Skyline Drive and a bit of the parkway, then get down off the mountains and make some time...
My new itinerary is:
Monday 9:00 a.m. - Buffalo/Peace Bridge
350 miles to Gathersburg MD.- Rte 219/and various expressways/shortcuts-MD#70
Tuesday - Gathersburg to Peaks of Otter (?)250+/- miles Skyline Dr./Blue Mountain Prkwy
Wednesday - Peaks of Otter to Gatlinburg 250+/- miles (probably on an expressway...)
gordon lawson

"So we have 3 TF’s, a 2-litre MGB, an MGB-V8"

Gordon, who drives the V8?
Carl Floyd

And a TD and a A Twin Cam amd a BGT
gordon lawson

Carl,

Gil Price from Constable NY, which is only 15 minutes from here. He's a regular Rockburnian and a long-time member of the Montreal MG car Club.

GAC

Gordon A. Clark

Gil's a great guy. He has made the trip to our last two annual British V8 meets (Teere Haute, IN & Grand Rapids MI). Canadians Graham Creswick, Martyn Harvey, & Pete Smith are also fellow British V8 fraternity brothers that I expect to see at the V8 Meet in Townsend TN just prior to MG 2006.
Carl Floyd

An edit button would be handy. I can actually spell "Terre Haute". :)
Carl Floyd

As a long-time northern Virginia resident (DC area) who's driven the portion of I-81 between I-66 (Front Royal) and I-64 (Lexington) many times, you should be aware that it is often a madhouse of semi's speed demons tailgating each other at speeds regularly in excess of 75-80 mph. I can only assume that the southern portion of I-81 is the same way. I would not drive my TD on I-81, no way.

I would suggest as an alternative, St Rt 11, which essentially runs parallel to I-81, is not as slow as Skyline Drive/Blueridge Parkway, and is quite scenic. You will go through many little historic towns with lots of mom-and-pop establishments along the way.

Rt 11 will be slower but safer than I-81, and faster and nearly as scenic as the Parkways.

Bryan
B Sieling

Bryan,

Thats an excellent idea. I drive I81 both ways at least twice a year and I know what you mean. The worst portion is from Harrisburg PA to just south of Roanoke VA, where I77 cuts off.

I'll be leaving in a few weeks and will check out your suggestion.

But I'm not sure there is a perfect solution.

Thanks.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

I-77 leaves I-81 just north of Wytheville, VA. Wytheville is about an hour, maybe abit more in a T-series from TN. Traffic thru VA on I-81 is not that bad, certainly not like the D.C. area. Thru Roanoke is no fun. VA speed limit is 65 MPH all the way. I-81 thru TN is 70 MPH in most areas and much of the traffic flow is 75-77 MPH. Going to the annual British V8 meets I use the Interstate to make time, usually 5-7 miles over the limit & stopping only for gas. The Interstate is NO fun in a roadster. Wearing earplugs does much to help fight road fatigue.

Hope y'all have a safe trip down.
Carl Floyd

This thread was discussed between 28/02/2006 and 02/03/2006

MG TD TF 1500 index

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