Day 4 – Today We Got Our Money’s Worth -- And We Had A Lot of Fun To Boot

1/6/19 -- Like preceding Drive Home events, America’s Automotive Trust designed this one with its own unique concept to help celebrate the past, present, and future of the American automobile. Besides using pickup trucks, Drive Home IV is focused on traveling America’s backroads, touring two-lane byways to give us a visceral feel for the geography and landscape that you just can’t get from the freeway. A really cool concept and today delivered that experience in spades. Today we got our money’s worth for nearly 300 miles from Tennessee through North and South Carolina, and I was struck by the fact that the hills of the Carolinas seem to go on nearly forever.

Out of Kimball, TN in the morning and up over Cherohala Skyway, I rode with our road boss, Diane Flis-Schneider (we call her Vonda, but that’s another story), in the hefty Chevy Trail Boss pickup that GM provided for the drive. With trailer behind, Vonda handled the thing like a Porsche on the narrow mountain roads. She was most impressive and if I ever learn how to pull a trailer, I want to pull one like she does. For context, Cherohala is North Carolina’s most expensive highway that extends 18 miles up to an elevation of 5,400 feet with magnificent views of the Appalachians, and we ran across patches of ice and snow at various points along the way.

On the other side of Cherohala we had a team lunch at Lynn’s in Robbinsville, and then I again took over the 1965 Ford pickup, piloting it through the winding terrain for what was absolutely the most exhilarating driving experience I have had in my life. We drove about 140 miles for the next four hours mesmerized by never-ending curves and I swear I saw more than 100 of these signs along the way:

The only concern that arose during my drive was a glaze on the windshield that made it difficult to see at times in the glare of the afternoon sun. Bill attributed it to salt laid down for the ice patches on Cherohala, but I’m convinced it was caused by vapor coming from under the hood where he had placed a taco in tin foil on the manifold earlier in the day. (Yes, taco on the manifold. Tasty.) 

A few more fun tidbits from the day:

Here’s Brad showing that Drive Home IV photographers will do anything to get a good shot of their vehicles with an interesting background. 

Here’s Tellico Plains, TN Police Chief Russ Parks admiring the Track Hawk and posing for a faux arrest of the Hennessey Boys.

Here’s a shot of Dave applying bourbon maple syrup to a squeaking belt in the Ford (It did the trick, and as a Canadian, Dave knows a lot about the many uses of maple products). And to toast the successful belt application, Dave and Bill decide to have a belt of their own.     

Today we got our money’s worth and then some – great weather, scenery and fun, all with a great team. Finally, we also got some terrific news: Dale back at LeMay arranged for the 55 Chevy to be fixed by a shop in Hendersonville, so Dave dropped it off there and we should be able to pick it up tomorrow. While we’ll still trailer it to Detroit, if all goes well we may still be able to drive it down Woodward avenue for the final procession into Cobo Hall. Thanks, Dale and Dave!