Last hurrah

[3wbdriver]

since you're into museums, the General George S. Patton museum in Fort Knox KY is a great one to see - otherwise i recommend stopping at Red River Gorge in KY. there are some no permit OHV trails to explore, as well the hiking trails and scenery this time of year is fantastic. be warned though, there arnt any publically available maps - its all locals word of mouth travel through the trails and remembering land marks. if you are interested some forums and google searches can turn up some topography maps of the area.

either way if you're in the Louisville area and want to talk shit about other members of the forum, we have several good brew houses

Gonna be passing north of Ky this trip. Kind of a shame, because I'd really like to see that front bumper of yours in person. I've been up there every October for the last 4 years. The first 2 to go to Knob Creek Range for a group shoot, and the last 2 were spent down near Paducah for the same purpose. I last did The Patton Museum in 2012. The first time was during basic training at Fort Knox in 1977. Just a few years between visits. :becky:

This trip is to get a more leisurely walk through of the USAF Museum in Dayton. When we went in 2011 I only had about 2 hours to walk all 3 hangars and didn't get across the runway at all. This time I WILL get to see that XB-70!!!!

 

[3wbdriver]

Today was another NASCAR day with the added bonus of meeting a fellow T4R member. [MENTION=116092]Carolina Roscoe[/MENTION] pm'd me this morning saying he had just driven by my rig on his way to an appt. So we made arrangements to meet afterward since my stops couldn't be done before 11am.

Thanks for stopping by Eric. :becky:



Then it was on to Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, which I have been trying to make a pilgrimage to since his death in 2001. You who may be diehard NASCAR fans will understand. This place was dubbed the Garage Mahal when it was first built.




Then on to Richard Childress Racing's museum and shops, which is where Dale had most of his championships.



I even got to shake hands with Chocolate Myers, who was Dale's gas man for his entire time at RCR. He's a radio personality now on XM's NASCAR channel and broadcasts every day from a booth at the museum.



This was my favorite Earnhardt color scheme.



Then I went over to the race shops where we were allowed to watch them working on the cars.



This guy is putting on a new wrap for the next race.





Then it was on to Virginia, where I am currently camped out in Carmel Church, about 40 miles south of Fairfax. My maintenance light came on during the drive today. The Whale is due for its 30,000 service, so that will be my first stop tomorrow before going to the NRA museum.

 

[3wbdriver]

Now I have to sign off and figure out why my laptop won't charge. I'll look in again tomorrow night.

 

[marshal]

Gonna be passing north of Ky this trip. Kind of a shame, because I'd really like to see that front bumper of yours in person. I've been up there every October for the last 4 years. The first 2 to go to Knob Creek Range for a group shoot, and the last 2 were spent down near Paducah for the same purpose. I last did The Patton Museum in 2012. The first time was during basic training at Fort Knox in 1977. Just a few years between visits. :becky:

This trip is to get a more leisurely walk through of the USAF Museum in Dayton. When we went in 2011 I only had about 2 hours to walk all 4 hangars and didn't get across the runway at all. This time I WILL get to see that XB-70!!!!

I was stationed at Wright-Patterson, went and did some voulentolding at the museum many times. It's a solid place to visit. The XB-70 is a masterpiece, however bock's car is my favorite.

 

[T4RT]

Sounds like you are having a blast! Keep the pictures coming! I miss Charlotte. I lived there for 8 years before I moved. I still remember hearing the cars running at the Speedway from my college dorm room back 22 plus years ago!

 

[1engineer]

I was stationed at Wright-Patterson, went and did some voulentolding at the museum many times. It's a solid place to visit. The XB-70 is a masterpiece, however bock's car is my favorite.

Yep nice place! Once upon a time I was involved in CVT efficiency testing in the wind tunnel up there.

CJ even though I am not a NASCAR fan (used to be back in the day) I was always a Earnhardt fan. Watched him, Petty, Waltrip, Marlin and others race on a Friday night in Conway, SC. Good times.

 

[3wbdriver]

I could hear dyno runs being made in 3 different directions. It was musical......

 

[T4RT]

I wish I could have seen this post earlier. :sad: *Shame on me for being missing in action for a bit!* I could have suggested a few things out in my area. If you were up for seeing all of NC, you should have hit the NC mountains and the NC coast if you ventured out to Corolla, NC in the Outer Banks. Up in Corolla there is 10 miles of open beach that is open for driving and there are wild horses running free on the beaches up there. You could have gotten a truck shot at the NC/VA boarder on the beach where VA has a barricade up to prevent the horses from roaming into VA. You could have picked up a few lighthouse tours as well and even stopped to see the Wright Brothers Memorial there in Kitty Hawk NC. :sad:

 

[1engineer]

I could hear dyno runs being made in 3 different directions. It was musical......

You might appreciate this:
We were testing CVT's in class VIII OTR tractors in the tunnels. This was preliminary testing to what will come in the future lol.

 

[Carolina Roscoe]

Sounds like you are having a blast! Keep the pictures coming! I miss Charlotte. I lived there for 8 years before I moved. I still remember hearing the cars running at the Speedway from my college dorm room back 22 plus years ago!

I graduated from UNC-C in 1993 (Economics / business)

 

[3wbdriver]

I graduated from UNC-C in 1993 (Economics / business)

Huh? You didn't look that old..... :wow:

 

[3wbdriver]

Did the NRA museum first thing today. Awesome display if a little smaller than I had thought. It took me about an hour to do a complete walk around, but I admit I didn't read about EVERY SINGLE GUN. They made me sign a waiver stating I wouldn't share any pictures I took inside the building. So here it is........



Then it was on to the Air And Space Museum at Dulles. Awesome exhibits. Thanks for the recommendations folks! I'd have never known that new wing was there without your input. :becky:



Keeping it short, I'll just show several views of my FAVORITE PLANE OF ALL TIME!!! I especially loved the multi tiered viewing platforms.






I finished that with time enough to get the 4R serviced at a local dealer. The techs were oohing and aahing and touching the decals. You'd have thought they don't get modded rigs in there very often. And then I went to Best Buy so they could tell me there was nothing wrong with my laptop. They did hose the power supply contacts with some contact cleaner. That seems to have done the deed for now. Then I waited while [MENTION=115932]Vrrooom[/MENTION] went way above and beyond in braving 90 minutes of DC traffic 1 way to meet me AND buy me dinner. I think we sat for 2 hours chatting and never ran out of things to talk about. I really enjoyed it Varun, and thanks for coming out. Thank your wife for letting me borrow you too! My camera died from all of the picture taking today, so we didn't have a timer for a picture. Hence no pipples in the picture below. Vrrooom is well on his way to a sweet looking ride.



Terrible weather today and I had a bad headache for most of the day. That put a little damper on enjoying it as much as I could have. I've ended up about 20 miles NW of Breezewood, Pa for the night. In the morning I'm going to drive by the Flight 93 Memorial that I was informed is not far off my route, then on to Columbus and Dayton.

 

[3wbdriver]

10 states in 8 days and about 2150 miles so far.

 

[Vrrooom]

It was great to meet you too [MENTION=105481]3wbdriver[/MENTION]3wbdriver. Nice chatting and enjoy the rest of your trip. I'm always happy to meet up with fellow enthusiasts! Here are a couple pics that I took with my phone of our 4Rs.

 

[3wbdriver]

Thanks @Vrroom. And yes, I'm adding decals as I go..... Lol

 

[IAmTodd]

Great to meet you and good luck with your travels. Looks like I have 8 pages to catch up on!

 

[T4RT]

I graduated from UNC-C in 1993 (Economics / business)

I graduated in 1998 from UNC-C in Management Information Systems/Industrial Operations Management! A fellow 49'er!

 

[hangman]

Man, what a great thread. Keep the posts and pics coming, and enjoy the ride!

 

[Boyds4Runner]

It was great to meet you too [MENTION=105481]3wbdriver[/MENTION]3wbdriver. Nice chatting and enjoy the rest of your trip. I'm always happy to meet up with fellow enthusiasts!

Sorry I didn't get to meet up with you guys.

My small "factory lifted front" TRD would have sat lower than your two rigs so maybe my ego was better off not making it LOL!

[MENTION=105481]3wbdriver[/MENTION] sounds like you are getting lots of cool sites and visits in your trip hope it keeps going well!
[MENTION=115932]Vrrooom[/MENTION] Don't know what part of MD you're in but on Facebook there is a "Mid-Atlantic Overland Society" They hold a meet-and-greet the 3rd Saturday of every month somewhere in the Annapolis/Baltimore area. These are not just t4r drivers/owners but off-road enthusiasts. Sign up with the group and hopefully we can catch you at a meet-and-greet! This month's got postponed until Saturday the 25th.

 

[Vrrooom]

Sorry I didn't get to meet up with you guys.

My small "factory lifted front" TRD would have sat lower than your two rigs so maybe my ego was better off not making it LOL!

[MENTION=105481]3wbdriver[/MENTION] sounds like you are getting lots of cool sites and visits in your trip hope it keeps going well!

[MENTION=115932]Vrrooom[/MENTION] Don't know what part of MD you're in but on Facebook there is a "Mid-Atlantic Overland Society" They hold a meet-and-greet the 3rd Saturday of every month somewhere in the Annapolis/Baltimore area. These are not just t4r drivers/owners but off-road enthusiasts. Sign up with the group and hopefully we can catch you at a meet-and-greet! This month's got postponed until Saturday the 25th.

I'm in Bethesda- thanks for the heads up on the group. I requested an add on facebook. I'm out of town next weekend and won't be able to make this first one but I'll try to make some of the future meets!