Learned a few things:
Gatlinburg, TN is the Disney World of the Smoky Mountains. I've checked that off my list of places visited and hope never to go back. Cherokee, TN wasn't much better - definitely tourist trap towns and their traffic contributed significantly to our time on the road today. Here's a shot that didn't have a cotton candy or leather moccasin vendor in the background:
Our exhaust failed at a joint just before the catalytic converter so we dealt with straight pipes for the bulk of the day. It's loud as hell but sounds mean and "goes" with the overall theme of the truck. We thought the lack of backpressure would hurt our mileage, but we're still averaging 20 mpg. No one believes our mileage figures, but our wallets will be our witnesses! We're continually amazed at the durability of the truck. We've burned only about a quart of oil for the whole trip and other than checking the fluids in the morning, we haven't really babied the truck. Start it, let it warm up and then hit the highway. The exhaust is pretty quiet at highway speeds but the bulk of today was spent between 35 and 45 mph so the truck is stuck in 2nd gear and wailing. We don't have a tach and the 258 is not a high revving engine, but she's loud! The tranny only shifts to 3rd around 55 mph, so it's a bit frustrating to be roaring around in second all the time.We took the truck through Deals Gap today and have a bunch of pics, but here are a few to whet your appetite. Here's what we tried to avoid:
We let AJ, our resident race mechanic, quattro nut and purveyor of windmills take us through and he did a fantastic job. Everyone was on board with the notion that we should take our time, let other traffic pass and not abuse the jeep. We stopped several times to watch other cars and bikes go through and also to let the jeep's brakes cool. After Deals Gap, we decided to take a group picture and it had some unintended consequences. Here's the pic:
After we each stepped on the bumper, we realized that it was pretty spongy and eventually fell off. We decided on the spot that ripping the whole bumper off would be better than worrying about us running over it or another motorist or biker running over it. We strapped it to the roof with bailing wire and realized that removing the bumper BEFORE Deals Gap probably would have been the answer to our brake cooling needs. Bumper or not, we got all sorts of looks from people along the route.
Back at the hotel tonight, we managed to cram the exhaust pipes back together and tighten down the clamps. The hole in the pipe was quickly patched with 6 layers of Miller Lite pounders. Everyone pitched in and made sure we had plenty of material to keep the exhaust quiet!
In other news, our truck sold today on eBay and we're currently making arrangements to deliver her to her new owners. We want to maximize our time on Bourbon Street so were leaving at 0700 and not waiting for the official rally start. We haven't been doing the challenges anyway and were out of prize contention by Day 1.
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