ANOTHER perfect trip.....

Friday afternoon: Wash. DC to Front Royal, VA...85 miles to the start of the Skyline Drive.
Started in DC rush hour in light rain, so it was a leisurely 3+ hr. drive

Front Royal KOA gets a thumbs up....Saturday morning was EARLY start up through about 3500 ft on the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Nat'l. Park. (105 miles of mountain ridge highway, connecting to Blue Ridge Parkway in the Smokies - two lane, 35mph max) By the time we hit the first overlook, we were sitting IN the cloud cover - visibility about 100 yards. Decided it was a great spot for breakfast, with wind & sun burning off the cloud cover while we ate.

Then 4 hours of beautiful scenary, twists-n-turns, ups-n-downs....but lots of overlook pull-offs to break up the drive. Visibility unlimited, trees in color, very light traffic, too many slow deer and one black bear on the shoulder, dining at the Road Kill Grille. High pressure frontal movement made for 35kt crosswinds in some spots, and I'm sure my Steer-Safe, rear bags & stabilizer bar paid for themselves on this one trip - no sweaty palms or sweaty spouses...

Once off the Skyline Drive, it's an hour into Charlottesville, VA - voted one of ten top cities in US for living. I can see why.....beautiful downtown, free trolley all over, Civil War heritage, U. of VA campus, etc.
Charlottesville KOA (8 mi S) also gets kudos. Lots of local wineries with unique ambiance for tours, tastes & toasts - we did'em all......

Saturday night is pasta & local wine at the campground, joined by neighbors from a 35' Monaco & 40' Prevost. Once again, the little Barth takes center stage, as they turn the discussion to the "simpler & more fun" days of motorhoming...I can only smile (according to my wife, a smile with a tad too much smuggness)...

Sunday morning at 8:01am (or was it 9:01?), a ten minute drive to be the first tour group of the day at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's digs.
Hadn't been there since '72, so it was virtually all new to us again.....What a place!....What a man! Being a political leader put him in permanent debt - how's THAT for a measure of character, compared to today?

Then about four hours back to DC via secondary roads...rolling hills, horse farms, small towns & settlements.....Fantastic weather, zero Barth-burps and a mind flushed & refreshed by new sights, sounds & people.....I tell ya, a guy can't ask for much more than that.......

On tap for this weekend: Through the Amish country of south-central PA, and then on to York PA for a factory tour of Harley-Davidson....(If my wife thinks I'm really serious about getting one, it'll make my Whizzer purchase a piece of cake....)

Did the Skyline Drive tour tent camping in the '60s, down to Smoky Mtn. NP & on to Florida. Repeated the trip in '69 with a travel trailer, & did the Amish country in the T.T. that same year.

Recruited at U. of VA sometime in the '60s, but never did the town. Almost bought a farm (not "the farm") in a small town somewhere down there, also. Lotsa beautiful country around there, but I still prefer the West.

I also did the Skyline Drive in the late 60's with a Ford pickup and Franklin Camper. We spent a night in a pull-off and woke up to 3 black bears roaming around outside. Went to the Lurray Caverns and got locked out of the camper. Ended up putting the jacks down and shoving the pickup out from under the camper and one of the boys got in under the storage comp to open the camper door up. Learning exp. Nice trip and lots to see.

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Originally posted by Creepy Cawler:
...got locked out of the camper. Ended up putting the jacks down and shoving the pickup out from under the camper and one of the boys got in under the storage comp to open the camper door up.

That must have been something to see.

Bill N.Y.

Lee: You stirred up memories of a beautiful but horrible trip. Back in the 80's before I retired,I lived in Warrenton,VA.We were 45 minutes from our driveway to the Sky Line Drive.
One Saturday we decided instead of taking our sedan we would use the RV(22'Cortez) which was a four wheeler,with a front wheel drive Olds Toronado engine. We managed to do about 40 miles South and then started back home and pulled into an "overlook" to admire the scenery. After stopping and turning off the ignition my wife smelled something burning.Sure enough,all those twist and turns and ups and downs not only heated up the brakes, it set them on fire. With a cook pot and a full tank of water we saved the Cortez but could get NO help getting off the SLD. Using the hand brake only, we managed to get to the next exit,get down hill to route 29 and back home. The last time I was in that area I saw warning signs recommending RV's not to use the Blue Ridge or Sky Line Drives.....

THE TOY 88 33' Regal SE Coach #3448

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The last time I was in that area I saw warning signs recommending RV's not to use the Blue Ridge or Sky Line Drives

You're right Carl, the rangers at the entrance gate advise larger RV's of two issues: The downhill grades and the tunnel clearances.

In my case, the physics of mass, momentum & grade balanced out almost perfectly.....I was able to hold about 33mph in 2nd gear on all but two descents, so it was a non-issue....(Unscientifically, I credit my MMO inverse oiler installation for making it work via great ring sealing....Whatcha think Rusty?

The tunnels, built by CCC decades ago, are just rough-hewn holes blasted into the mountainsides.
The heavy-iron coaches need to remember to take their road half straddling the center line.....scrapes & scratches on the tunnel sidewalls, about the shade of Coleman & Duo-Therm shrouds, indicate that some folks must have learned that the hard way.

quote:

In my case, the physics of mass, momentum & grade balanced out almost perfectly.....I was able to hold about 33mph in 2nd gear on all but two descents, so it was a non-issue....(Unscientifically, I credit my MMO inverse oiler installation for making it work via great ring sealing....Whatcha think Rusty? (

Well, that's possible, as long as you also had the reverse blow-by relief Fnortner installed as well...

As for braking in the mountains, expecially with drum brakes, the best procdure is to brake solidly to slow 'way down, allow the speed to build back up, then brake hard again. This keeps the brakes from overheating, as there are several robust applications separated by cooling periods.