White knuckle fun

[rodsterinfl]

Have you ever been on a road that seems an unlikely path for an rv driver to take? Yesterday was quite exciting coming through West Virginia. You see, I had the gps set to avoid toll roads so instead of heading straight down toward I-77 I was routed along the river on some half crumbled road that had fallen down the cliff around US 60. I entered a town and the gps said turn right. I looked over and the turn was nearly a 180 with a steep incline. I made the turn and hit the gas to get wheel spinning. A sign said narrow road and it definitely was not even counting the eaten edges that my trailer hit in the 18 mile snake run. Wow. People from hilly country would probably think nothing but FL boy here was certainly on the edge of his seat. Don't underestimate the Appalachians!

[tvketchum]

I did one of these in Virginia to Kentucky. I enjoyed the drive, the switchbacks, and the scenery, but my wife was on edge, as well as looking over the edge....


Tom
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[Lily&Me]

Try the Tail of the Dragon in southeastern TN.

We got on it by accident....it is my avatar picture.

I have since driven it by myself.


Maggie

[Flying Gypsies]

Rodsterinfl-Wow- just when we thought that we were the only ones that ever did The Snake... Last year leaving NC to go North to New England we headed out on 421 to pick up I-81 East. Now 421 from Boone to Mt City, Tn is a nice road and the Rand McNally made it look like it was the same right through to I-81. So off we went and found ourselves on something called The Snake. From experience dragging a Classic 31, going on The Snake is not the recommended route. Once we got on it, there was no turning back- narrow, and 489 technical turns in 33 miles with multiple 180+ degree switchbacks. Nowhere to turn around so no option but to continue on until we got to Shady Valley. I had my hand on the "oh Sh**" handle and my other hand on my mouth to contain the screams of fear. My husband figured he had it down- just take the steering wheel all the way to the right, then all the way to the left, then all the way to the right again. We stopped at Shady Valley at the gas station, I stopped and asked some Motorcycle guys if there was another route to I-81 or did we have to continue on The Snake- they were congratulating themselves on making the run on their Harleys and could not believe we had come dragging our Airstream. They told us that hanging a right and going through Damascus would be better than continuing on. My husband went into the gas station and got the "I've Done The Snake" pin and signed the log there with comment that he did it with Airstream in tow. While the trip to Damascus had it's windey roads too, it was nothing like The Snake. As a bonus however, my husband said that after doing The Snake, it was a confidence booster- there aren't many campsites that he thinks he would not be able to stuff it into.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Try the Tail of the Dragon in southeastern TN.
We got on it by accident....it is my avatar picture.
I have since driven it by myself.
Maggie

It's a very popular stretch of road for motorcyclists
It's a very dangerous stretch of road for motorcyclists. We were told there are a lot of fatalities on it.

[skitique]

Flying Gypsies - your story gave my husband & I a good laugh. I can see the Harley guys feeling good about their ride & then you come along dragging a 31 ft AS! Hah!

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by richw46

It's a very popular stretch of road for motorcyclists
It's a very dangerous stretch of road for motorcyclists. We were told there are a lot of fatalities on it.

Hmmm....I could see how that would be.

The motorcyclists there seem to hug or go over the center line on curves.

The cool thing, tho, is there are professional photographers set up at the top of some of those curves, taking photos which you can then access online, and purchase.

How often can you obtain a great picture of your rig like that.


Maggie

[urnmor]

Maggie
I think I could do without a picture so I will do my best to avoid those roads��

[Lily&Me]

At least, with your trailer.

One of the many advantages of being small.......


Maggie

[rodsterinfl]

The moral of my story is to switch the GPS to accept toll roads in mountain areas! By the way I have been sitting in traffic for four hours on I-77. Left at 9ish.

[ColoradoLady]

Wow!! The Snake sounds terrifying! And I thought surviving the mountain passes between Durango and Ouray towing a small T@B was quite a feat! I did see a you tube video and subsequent reports of many crashes on the snake....that was enough for me!
Maggie, your bravado to drive it yourself is noted! You are fearless!

[polarlyse]

We were traveling from Gettysburg, PA heading to Front Royale, Va to get onto the Blue Ridge PKY. I was off the beaten track somewhere in MD following my GPS that told me to turn right. As soon as I made the turn the alarms went off in my head but as usual I ignored them and continued on. The road got smaller and smaller with a few homes and farms along the way. About 2 miles in it began a steep descent. Of course by now it's thunder and lightening and pouring rain to make things worse. As I began the descent my senses became heightened, especially as I looked ahead and down to see a sharp switchback turn to the left. This is where I stopped and got my smart phone and brought up google maps to tell me that we were on a road to nowhere with the road dead ending up ahead just around the sharp turn. To make matters worse to my immediate left someone had hand painted a sign on plywood telling me ( and others I suppose) that
" your GPS is wrong". Now they tell me. So I commenced to make a strategic advance to the rear with backing up a hill and around a mild curve for about 1/2 mile until I found a driveway wide enough to turn my 30' Airstream around. That's the worst predicament I have gotten myself into so far. And even that could have been worse.

See ya'll on the road sometime.

[kb0zke]

Jo Ann and I had a job that required us to drive every road in a specific area. One "road" turned out to be a trail that came out in a farmyard. It was barely wider than my Mountaineer, no place to turn around, and quite steep. Once we started down there was no way to go back. We prayed that there wasn't a locked gate down there somewhere (there wasn't). If anyone in the farmhouse saw us they probably wondered what we were doing. We were wondering the same thing. Fortunately we didn't have anything attached to the car.

[Rich W]

Years ago, before GPS, my friend and I were taking my boat on a fishing trip. I was driving and he was navigating. He kept telling me which way to turn. We left the 4-lane to improved 2-lane, to a gravel road, dirt road and finally I turned and asked him if he knew how to read a map. He said he was following the shortest way and the map said this was it.

The dirt road disappeared and we were traveling across grass, no visible road of any kind, through peoples' back yards. People were coming out of their back stores to stare at us. Finally, we came through a small field and into the back parking lot of a Quickie Mart. We went around the front, saw the big road and a big sign pointing to the launch ramp. We launched a good 15 minutes before our friends in the other car, so I guess my navigator and his map were right

We went home a different way, no grass or rock roads.

[ericpeltier]

Has anyone ever left Boulder Utah south on 12? If so, you know what I'm speaking of.

[rodsterinfl]

The snake, I am familiar with as my family has taken the pet Miata for "the run" through the gap outside of Gatlinburg supposedly the most turns in a stretch than anywhere else in the U.S. My road was not as treacherous but still bad.