[AT] anybody close to this?

[Gerald Johnson]

I live in the Western NC mountains and thought I would pass along this for
what it is worth:

1.  The I-40 route is really not that bad.  You can expect road construction
including lane shifts and reduced lanes down through the gorge from
Waynesville to Newport, TN.  It has been that way basically since this
section was opened and probably always will be.   It is heavily traveled and
there are motorist assistance patrols running regularly through the gorge in
case there is a problem.  It is the main East-West route into and out of NC
so it is kept in as good a condition as possible by DOT.

2.  Another route is to take I-40 to Morganton, then hwy. 181 to Newland
(where I live) and then on 19E into TN.  Once you get to Elizabethton, TN,
you can travel toward Bristol and intersect with I-81 where you can travel
south and then intersect with I-40 west of the gorge.  Not a bad route, but
a long way out of the way.

3. Yet another route it to travel I-40 to Asheville, then take 19-23 (future
I-26) across the mountain to Erwin, TN (where they hung the elephant), then
on
into Johnson City, TN where you intersect with I-81 south which runs you
into I-40 west of the gorge.  This 19-23 section has just been rebuilt in
the last couple of years in preparation for extension of I-26 and is a nice
drive...but still out of the way compared to I-40.

There are any number of other routes using two lane roads (including going
through the Great Smoky Mountains Natl. Park) but unless you have plenty of
time to spare and loves curves,I would advise using  I-40.  As I said
before, it is not that bad....just that every time a rock breaks loose on
one of the cuts that the media gets hold of it and talks about how terrible
that stretch of road is.  Heck...what's a few landslides to an tractor
collector! 8-)

Hope this has been of assistance.

Gerald
Western, NC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <robinson at svs.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 9:45 AM
Subject: RE: [AT] anybody close to this?


> On 2 Mar 2005 at 7:08, Al Jones wrote:
>
> > Charlie, Is there a "better" way to get to TN from NC than I-40?  I am
> > hoping to take a trip towards Nashville this summer for the IH
> > Collector's Red Power Roundup and I may be pulling a trailer.
> >
> > Al
>
>
>
>
> Then you definitely don't want to cross through Deals Gap...   Something
like 318 turns
> in 11 miles.   ;-)
> I have driven from NC to TN a couple of times on I-40 and I didn't think
it was that
> bad. If I was not pulling a trailer or was just pulling a small one I
would likely just
> cut through the mountains on the main road (I forget its number) through
the National
> Park and relax and enjoy the trip. It is usually only bad on fall
weekends. I don't
> really care that much for trips where my goal is to get from point A to
point B quickly.
> I like to mosey and wander around back roads a little. On the trip we made
to see Bob
> Seith north east of Columbus OH we took a "short cut" home through
Florence KY and spent
> the night there...   :-)
> Sadly the trip we are making to southern KY this week will maybe be a
hurry trip. I'm
> having a hard time leaving the farm these days, my mother's mind is not
doing well and
> she has panic attacks when I leave the farm especially if it is any
distance away.
> Columbus IN is the next county seat town south of here and on my last KY
trip I told her
> I was going to a tractor show "south of Columbus". I just didn't say how
far south...   :-
> )
>
> -- 
> "farmer", Esquire
> At Hewick Midwest
>       Wealth beyond belief, just no money...
>
> Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
> Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. Here 100 years
> before the revolution.
>
>
> Francis Robinson
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson at svs.net
>
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