Rod Halsell planned and hosted a 3-day mountain drive. Particpating in the drive were:

1. Rod Halsell with his white C7 Coupe Corvette

2. Joe Browder and his son Ethan with his red C7 Corvette

3. Barry Blakely with his dealership’s red C6 Corvette — day 1 only

4. Dallen Veazey with his Accelerate Yellow 2024 C8 Corvette — newest member of the Ridge Runner Corvettes club

5. Dave Smits with his Accelerate Yellow 2021 C8 Corvette — member of the Ridge Runner Corvettes club

6. Kevin Thomas with his Porsche 911 Carmen S — I’m not sure we made a convert but we definitely made an impression — here is a quote from him “It was a true pleasure and privilege driving with you all, what a great experience and amazing memories!!”

Day 1 — September 3rd

• Meet at the Ingles in Pickens

• Took Highway 178 to highway 64 to Cashiers, Highlands, Franklin (we had a State Trooper in front of us for part of the drive from Highlands to Franklin

• From Franklin, we took highway 28 all the way to the newly repaved Tail of the Dragon

• Lunch at 129 Hub

• Drove to Tellico Plains

• Took the Cherohala Skyway to Robbinsville, NC

• At that point, Dave Smits and Barry Blakely said goodbye to the group and headed back home

• The rest grabbed a bite to eat and spent the night in Robbinsville,

Weird, dangerous, and frustrating:

I’ve driven the Tail of the Dragon 5 or 6 times now and nothing like this has ever happened. Well, there was the motorcyclist laying in the road after putting his bike down and being run over, but that’s another trip, therefore another story.

On this trip, as we were passing the 129Slayer.com photography station, a motorcycle passed all 6 cars in our group. Not only did he do this on a curve, he did it with oncoming traffic. We are fortunate that none of our cars were scratched and the motorcyclist made it through without causing an accident. Danger — Danger — Danger!

We also encountered the opposite extreme. Two motorcycles with the loudest sound systems we have ever heard were out for a very leisurely drive. Unfortunately, leisurely and curves do not go together and that made the last part of the Tail of the Dragon drive less enjoyable. While many slower drivers made use of the pull-offs to let us pass, these two didn’t seem to care that they were holding up traffic.

Day 2 — September 4th

• Left Robbinsville and took highway 28 then highway 74 over to Cherokee

• Kevin peeled off and headed home, his final comments from the back of the group was something about how well Corvettes corner and he's not used to his car cornering like that. I think he has a very favorable outlook on Corvettes after a day and a half. 

• Joe, Dallen & Rod continued the drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway where we stopped at the highest point for some pictures

• After a couple of hours they went on to the Pisgah access and took twisty Hwy 276 into Waynesville for lunch

• They ended the day back on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a great drive with temps in the upper 50's

• Made a stop at the very nice Visitor's Center just beyond Asheville

• We encountered very courteous drivers all day long along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It wasn’t until 5 PM that we encountered the first vehicle that held us up. It was a great day!

• We exited the parkway around 5:30 PM onto a great, newly paved, and very twisty Highway 80 that carried us into Marion for a night at the Hampton Inn

• Parts of Highway 80 made the Tail of the Dragon look like a straight road.

• We took the recommendation of a local and had an outstanding meal at Countryside, a fantastic restaurant that's very close to I-40

• If we ever find ourselves near Marion around mealtime, we’ll be sure to stop

Day 3 — September 5th

• Left Marion heading north on Highway 221 to to Highway 194/19E on our way to Bristol Motor Speedway

• Had a nice visit to their store, walked inside the stands to view the track as they prepare for the NASCAR race in 10 days

• Had a chance to take some nice photos of the drivers & their Corvettes in front of the "It's Bristol Baby" sign

• Departing Bristol we took Highway 19W south to Interstate 26 to Asheville

• Jumped on Interstate 40 to Waynesville for lunch at Church Street Depot (a fantastic experience)

• After lunch we took Highway 74 into Sylva

• From there we took Highway 107 down to Cashiers and in into SC

• Lastly, took Highway 130 back to Seneca

• After chatting about the trip and ways to invite others to join in future drives, we all headed home

More than 700 miles were driven over 3 days

Most of the time, the steering wheel was not in the home position

We had a blast, Come join us on the next ride!