Heritage 441 - 25th Anniversary Edition
The reason for this trip ties in with the original Stew's Place site. The restoration of my '87 VF700C SuperMagna was long since complete. Ann's purchase of a shiny new 2008 Harley Sportster, an XL1200L, allowed her to ride along with us. The rest of the family, both Nick and Courtney, rode with us as well. We all have our motorcycle endorsements.
While researching various aspects of restoring those classic motorcycles, I came across a group dedicated to the '60s Ford Galaxy, and one of the threads talked about making the so called "Heritage 441 Run". More research turned up more information on this Heritage 441 Run. Long story short, it follows the route of highway US441, mostly two lane highway. It makes for a slower pace, and the ability to take in the nostalgia and Americana of days past.
That prompted making this trip on our motorcycles. All the way to the Smoky Mountains and back. The unknown was a little scary, but having "contingency" plans helped to compensate for all but the most catastrophic event. We made a great start, packed light, and ready to make the first leg of the journey to General Coffee State Park in Douglas, GA. My motorcycle had different plans, blowing a head gasket two hours into the trip. Talk about a catastrophic event! Read the rest of the saga to see what happens next.
Classic Heritage 441 - 30th Anniversary Edition
Think of this as a "redo" of our first Heritage 441 run. This time around we get to make up for missed opportunities and choose different destinations. Ann's always wanted to visit the Biltmore Estate, so that's first on the list this time around. We rented a tree house in Black Mountain, east of the mansion. There's plenty of Americana to keep us busy locally, and the mansion tour itself easily took an entire day. Even though we're there four days, we're wishing we'd stayed another.
Next on the list is a visit to the Cass Scenic Railway in Cass, WV. We rented an original company house that supposedly sleeps ten, if you believe the literature, although I think that single tiny bathroom was barely enough for just the two of us. We're only here for the day and two nights, so it's not as much of an issue as the slow internet. Like dial up speeds slow! Trying to post anything about our train excursions to Whitaker and Bald Knob will have to wait until we make it to Ohio.
Turns out the reason why the internet is slow is the RF interference limits placed on the area surrounding the Green Bank Observatory, a huge radio telescope nestled in the valley below. The RF limits are so strict, only diesel vehicles are permitted within a certain radius due to the immense interference produced by the spark plugs in gasoline powered vehicles. Cell phone towers are forbidden. We had to rely on the WiFi in our company house for any outside connectivity. Read more about our second run.
Grand Canyon
This was the vacation of a lifetime. My mom has a number of timeshares, and this particular one in Flagstaff, AZ, had a large enough venue so that me and my family, along with my brother Chris and his family could stay there. Mom was there too but Dad couldn't make it. It was quite the adventure just staying there with the clubhouse and huge swimming pool and all the amenities. Ann soon found a farmers market in the area and other things to do.
We made a walkabout of the downtown area, taking in the Americana. Some old, some new. We may have asked a bit much of mom. By the time we ended up at the Flagstaff train station, she was looking pretty tired. If you're familiar with those dual track mainlines that run past the Flagstaff station, it's a busy BNSF corridor and trains are always rolling through there, hauling @$$ near 60MPH. Even the Amtrak stops here.
From there, Ann, Nick and I travelled to Williams to catch the Grand Canyon Railroad to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We spent the night at the station hotel. We wandered about, taking in the sights along the famous Route 66 that runs right through downtown. We had dinner at a diner where I had a cherry phosphate to drink. Talk about Americana! That doesn't even touch on the experience at the canyon, or Sedona the following week, where my other brother, Matt, and his wife joined us. All three Stewart boys? Good grief!
Buck Creek
Our 1999 Family Vacation At Buck Creek Cabin, Buck Creek, NC. Well, this certainly was a long time ago. This trip holds fond memories for all of us. We shared this cabin between our families, ours and Ann's sister, Scarllett's family. Getting there by questionable dirt roads alongside the mountains kind of added to the thrill and seclusion. We were close enough to civilization, yet far enough away to be alone.
Those mountain roads took their toll on our niece's car on the way there, knocking her exhaust loose to where it was dragging. I was able to slide underneath and wire it back in place where the exhaust hanger had snapped. Close enough for government work. The creek was at the bottom of a near shear cliff below the cabin. We built our own waterfall right there in the creek, dubbing it "Stew Falls". We'll cover all those details on the Buck Creek page.