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"Avalanches Cruise the Smokies" Scenic Cruise Friday, July 24th 2015 UPDATE 7/23

4x4dreamer

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"Avalanches Cruise the Smokies" Scenic Cruise


Since the Biltmore is overpriced and a fair distance from Pigeon Forge, I am going to plan a simple Mountain Cruise from Pigeon Forge to Cherokee, NC. This cruise will take us across the mountain through the Great Smoky Mountains.

Distance is 42.2 miles one way, approximately 1hr 15min drive time. 85 miles round trip, approximately 2hr 30min The road itself is a good road, but there are many curves and even an elevated bridge looped around the road below. If you've never been on this road, it really is a great drive with lots of scenic views and beautiful mountains.

UPDATE: 6/4/15

It has been  brought to my attention that there are many that would like to cruise with us that may not arrive until Friday afternoon. Therefore, I've made adjustments to the schedule to allow for those folks to join us. In the interest of time and spending the evening enjoying each others company, we may not continue all the way to Cherokee based on interest. We may cruise to the Newfound Gap for a photo op and then back to Pigeon Forge.

Unless someone has another suggestion of a stop and/or we have several interested in going on into Cherokee NC


The plan now is to depart the hotel sometime around 3pm Friday, July 24th and cruise toward Gatlinburg. Depending on traffic, we may cruise through downtown Gatlinburg, or we may take the Gatlinburg Bypass to avoid sitting in traffic for an extra hour. IF those that are in Gatlinburg want to cruise with us, we can meet them at the Gatlinburg Welcome Center, just outside town coming back toward Pigeon Forge.

After 20 miles or so of beautiful mountain views and lovely country roads, we will make a stop near Newfound Gap NC. This will be a good opportunity to stretch and take a few photos of the trucks and surrounding area. Depending on how many Av's we have limits us to what overlook we will stop at, but there is a choice of 2. This should be a maximum 30min stop.

OPTIONAL CRUISING STARTS HERE Depending on intrest we may turn around and come back to Pigeon Forge. EST return time would be around 5:30PM

We will continue on US-441 to Cherokee and arrive around 5:00pm

There are several things to see in Cherokee and several fast food-type places to eat. Enjoy lunch and sight seeing until we meet up to head back to pigeon forge.

Our central meeting location will be the parking lot of the Cherokee Welcome Center, just across from the Cherokee Fairgrounds. When we arrive we will stop here as well, there is a great parking lot across from the welcome center that has diagonal parking spaces perfect for a group photo-op.

Schedule:

3:00pm- Depart Hotel Grounds

4:00pm-4:30pm Stop near Newfound Gap Bronson City, NC

5:00pm -Arrive in Cherokee, NC Group Photo-op near Cherokee Fairgrounds

5:00pm-6:00pm - Explore Cherokee

6:15pm - Meet back at Cherokee Welcome Center to head back to Pigeon Forge

8:00pm - Arrive back in Pigeon Forge


FRS Radios recommended so we can all stay connected on the beautiful scenic cruise,
Channel 8 will be our communication channel​


Attending:

1. 4x4dreamer, MOM, & Ash
2. james21
3. Joeairforce +1
4. GoldBowTie & Toots
5. ronthehandymanga
6. Tpicks55 & teach8
7. OldVMer +1
8. 02Z71 +1
9. Mdz66 +1
10. BnGBleeder
11. yukonjack2
12. EricB
13. Dluvr22
14. Hugz (Maybe)
15. moosc
16. silverrider
17. texascwgrl
18. frito
19. NascarDave
 
I'll go, if I end up going to the Nats.
 
Dang...always wanted to be a part of the infamous Avy road trip and photo op, but I am not planning on being there until Saturday.  :cry:
 
ARMYtango said:
Dang...always wanted to be a part of the infamous Avy road trip and photo op, but I am not planning on being there until Saturday.   :cry:

They'll be plenty of chances for photo-ops with all the Avy's :) and Tons of stuff to do on saturday  (y)

With attendance being what it is already, I am wondering if the area for the Show & Shine will hold all of us  :eek: Were going to be packed in tight like sardines!  :laugh:
 
I'm working off graveyard Friday morning and have to get some sleep. I'd love to meet up with y'all in Cherokee but not looking like it will work out. Looking forward to Saturday.

ARMYtango said:
Dang...always wanted to be a part of the infamous Avy road trip and photo op, but I am not planning on being there until Saturday.  :cry:
I'll take you on a mini cruise through the mountains to get to the motel on Saturday. You might just have to leave a popcorn trail to get home though.  >:D
 
Will try to make this....

Is this the type of radio you are talking about?

http://www.amazon.com/Midland-GXT1000VP4-36-Mile-50-Channel-Two-Way/dp/B001WMFYH4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1430617250&sr=1-1&keywords=gmrs%2Ffrs+radios

Thanks!

Rodney
 
redheadedrod said:
Will try to make this....

Is this the type of radio you are talking about?

http://www.amazon.com/Midland-GXT1000VP4-36-Mile-50-Channel-Two-Way/dp/B001WMFYH4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1430617250&sr=1-1&keywords=gmrs%2Ffrs+radios

Thanks!

Rodney

Yes sir!  (y) Any cruise that I've been on we typically use them to stay in contact/BS with everyone. For the WV/PA/OH crew we always use channel 8  (y)
 
Would a normal CB work?  Not that it matters.  If we make it, we probably won't be coming down until Friday anyway.  The drive sounds beautiful.
 
I have been with other groups that have used the same radios and almost bought them for my kids except found out that telephones worked better at the time... Although the ones I show say they can reach a considerable distance.

Rodney
 
frito said:
Would a normal CB work?  Not that it matters.  If we make it, we probably won't be coming down until Friday anyway.  The drive sounds beautiful.

I'm not sure about the change over from CB to FRS, Joe. Im not too familiar with CB channels and frequencies.

redheadedrod said:
I have been with other groups that have used the same radios and almost bought them for my kids except found out that telephones worked better at the time... Although the ones I show say they can reach a considerable distance.

Rodney

At the majority of the GTG's that I've went to that involved cruising, we've always just used the FRS radios. Its great to be able to stay in touch and communicate within the group. It breaks up the drive as well, sometimes the conversations can be pretty fun  >:D

I can remember going to a GTG in PA only i didn't have the Av. I had a Subaru Forester at the time, and I can't tell you how many jokes were cracked over the radio the whole way there. Of course, when we were all out of the trucks nobody had anything to say.  :laugh:
 
I'm thinking less than half of the total count of Avalanches expected to be at the GTG will be there by Friday morning.
Is there absolutely no way this can be pushed back a bit?
 
Dluvr22 said:
I'm thinking less than half of the total count of Avalanches expected to be at the GTG will be there by Friday morning.
Is there absolutely no way this can be pushed back a bit?

If we leave later in the afternoon, say 2:00-3 and we don't spend as much time in Cherokee, which is OK with me we could make it back by 7:30. I know that some are really wanting to have time to visit Gatlinburg. For those that wanted to do that, they could stop on the way back through, unless they wanted to visit in the afternoon and pick up the cruise on the way to Cherokee. Trying to squeeze everything into 3 days isn't an easy task.

We could also shorten the cruise to just the Newfound Gap and come back to Pigeon Forge. I know that a lot of folks enjoy scenic cruising.
 
I'm iffy on this one, will have to let you know the day of, lol.  Last GTG there I had the opportunity to do absolutely nothing, lol.   Was busy modding pretty much all day, lol.

Didit
 
Didit said:
I'm iffy on this one, will have to let you know the day of, lol.  Last GTG there I had the opportunity to absolutely nothing, lol.   Was busy modding pretty much all day, lol.

Didit
:cry:
 
Didit said:
I'm iffy on this one, will have to let you know the day of, lol.  Last GTG there I had the opportunity to do absolutely nothing, lol.   Was busy modding pretty much all day, lol.

Didit

Hopefully you have more time this year to do more things  >:D
 
Put us down for this cruise.

  --OldVMer
 
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