{"id":3976,"date":"2014-02-25T01:00:44","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T06:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allandouglas.com\/blog\/?p=3976"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:40","slug":"2011-nascar-pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/2011-nascar-pilgrimage\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great NASCAR Pilgrimage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASCAR<\/a>Since I’m low on ideas for prattlings this week I thought I’d skate along by reprising a post from an old blog about the last time we took a really-truly vacation.\u00a0 That was 2011, when Marie and I went on our NASCAR pilgrimage to Charlotte Motor Speedway.\u00a0 This has been an annual trip for many years, but this year we added a twist.<\/p>\n

Normally we just take a long weekend and pop over to North Carolina and back.\u00a0 While there we take in a race, visit some race shops and see some sights.\u00a0 We live just 12 miles from the Tennessee\/North Carolina border and the drive to Salisbury (where we stay with relatives) is only about 3 hours – if we drive straight through, which we rarely do.<\/p>\n

This time we decided to go to North Carolina by way of Alabama and Georgia so we could visit with my twin-brother-by-another-mother and his wife.\u00a0 We took an entire week (an historic event in itself), took our time and enjoyed the journey.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Roads Less Traveled<\/h2>\n

To us, getting there is half the fun, so we tend to avoid interstate travel whenever possible and make use of state highways; there is so much more to see and experience this way.\u00a0 I am often reminded of the scene in the animated movie \u201cCars\u201d where Lightning McQueen and his Porche girlfriend have taken an exciting drive along the old Route 66, ending up on a high overlook.\u00a0 Below, the new Interstate highway slashes across the landscape and hundreds of cars whiz along it.\u00a0 McQueen observes, \u201cLook at them; they\u2019re missing all of this.\u00a0 They\u2019re just missing it!\u201d\u00a0 How true!\u00a0 Interstates are great if your primary objective it to get where you are going ASAP, but if you want to enjoy the trip, get off the Big I and use the smaller highways.<\/p>\n

Der Beetle Bug<\/h2>\n

\"Volkswagen<\/a>Our pick-up truck is great for getting us around locally, but it has developed some idiosyncrasies that make it not the best choice for long road trips.\u00a0 So when we go on these extended drives, we rent a compact car from Enterprise.\u00a0 When we arrived at their local office the day before our departure, all they had for us was this sunflower yellow Volkswagen Beetle.\u00a0 We were leery of this, but it was all they had ready to go out.\u00a0 What could we do – Enterprise is the only game in town for car rentals.<\/p>\n

\"Volkswagen<\/a>However, other than the trunk being rather small, we had no problems with this and it turned out to be a surprisingly good choice for a road trip.\u00a0 The seats were comfortable.\u00a0 It had a surprising amount of interior space – even in the back seat it had good leg room; something we discovered when we went touring with Aunt Ruth and Marie sat in the back.\u00a0 The ride was good; not like a luxury car, but who would expect that?\u00a0 It handled well; the rack and pinion steering was tight and responsive.\u00a0 Perhaps a little too responsive for some; just a small twist on the steering wheel and the car is going in a new direction.\u00a0 That is typical of rack & pinion, and it may take some who are used to gearbox steering by surprise; it means you have to pay attention to your driving and not be gawking or overly involved in talking to passengers in the car.\u00a0 The brakes were quite touchy too.\u00a0 I have enjoyed driving a number of sports cars, so none of this was new to me.<\/p>\n

My first impression of the car as I slid into it was a memory of the old AMC Pacer; that car shared the \u201cdriving a fish bowl\u201d sensation created by large windows and lots of glass.\u00a0 It was odd at first, but turned out to be a blessing because of the excellent views it offered as we traveled.<\/p>\n

Our only real complaint with the Beetle was that the placement of the cup holders was terrible; they were UNDER a flip-down arm rest.\u00a0 If the arm rest was in use, both driver and passenger had to be contortionists to reach their drink.\u00a0 Access was good with the arm rest up, but on long drives I like having arm rest on both sides while I drive.\u00a0 But in the grand scheme of things, this is a minor complaint.<\/p>\n

Marie figured our operating cost on this car was about eight cents per mile, which is pretty good.<\/p>\n

When we go on road trips, I drive, Marie navigates.\u00a0 Marie is an excellent navigator and finds all manner of interesting routes for us to use — and we always end up where we intended to end up.\u00a0 Eventually.\u00a0 We make a good team.<\/p>\n

The High Points<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ll spare you a blow-by-blow account of the trip, which was mostly enjoying some time visiting with folks we\u2019ve been missing for too long.\u00a0 But there were a few things worth noting.<\/p>\n

Road Music<\/h3>\n

The first was Highway 77 in Northern Alabama.\u00a0 In Tennessee we enjoy some of the best roadways available in the nation and we are sometimes surprised that other states allow their roads to deteriorate like they do.\u00a0 This one was one such, but in an amusing way.<\/p>\n

It is a concrete highway, so it has expansion cracks cut across it at regular intervals and filled with tar. Other cracks are also filled in this manner.\u00a0 The result is that as you drive along the road you get a bumpety-bump; bumpety-bump; bumpety-bump rhythm from the expansion joints, an intermittent bump from the odd cracks and the occasional Bang from places where the road slab raised up a bit.\u00a0 Add to that the rough spots in the concrete that add a voom-va-voom sound as the tires rumple over them and I was laughing out loud because our trip along this road sounded for all the world like a performance of Stomp! (See what I mean<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Historic Bridge<\/h3>\n

\"Covered<\/a>Marie and I have always liked covered bridges, and Opelika Alabama offers one that had been saved from destruction by moving it 25 miles to a park and restored.\u00a0 It even uses wooden pegs in the beam joints instead of bolts.\u00a0 It is a wonderful piece of engineering and a delight to look at.<\/p>\n

Confusing the Clerk<\/h3>\n

As we were leaving Alabama we stopped for gas.\u00a0 The clerk asked us where we were from; Marie told him \u201cNewport Tennessee\u201d.\u00a0 He asked where that was and we told him.\u00a0 He then asked where we were going,\u00a0 Marie told him \u201cSalisbury, North Carolina\u201d and he gave her the strangest look as he traced that journey out on the map in his mind.\u00a0 I could see he was having trouble with it so I offered, \u201cWe\u2019re taking the scenic route.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess so!\u201d\u00a0 he replied, \u201cabout 300 miles scenic.\u201d\u00a0 Marie explained the situation to him, but just watching the initial confusion on his face was one of those \u201cpriceless\u201d moments.<\/p>\n

Managed Forests<\/h3>\n

\"Photo<\/a>As we traveled through eastern Alabama and western Georgia I noticed a lot of managed pine forests (and many log trucks hauling logs to the mill).\u00a0 These are easy to spot because of their differences from virgin forests.\u00a0 First these forests contain only pine trees, no hardwoods.\u00a0 The trees are spaced evenly, and the brush and undergrowth that normally covers a forest floor has been removed.\u00a0 All the lower branches are removed, leaving tall (100 feet or more in a mature stand of trees) straight, smooth trunks with just a pom-pom of needles at the top of each tree.\u00a0 I live in a virgin forest, I know what that looks like; this was fascinatingly different.<\/p>\n

I was not able to get a photo of my own because there were no shoulders on this highway, we always had traffic behind us, and good glimpses into these forests came up so suddenly Marie was not able to get the camera booted up in time to catch it.\u00a0 But, except for the white stuff growing on the trunks, this looks just like the ones we saw.<\/p>\n

Want to see how they harvest these trees? Watch this: puts Paul Bunyan to all manner of shame!<\/p>\n