 This morning, under sunny skies (finally), the Long Hauler awards were presented at Bristol Motor Speedway. Just from looking at the size of the crowd, it doesn’t seem there were any attendance records set!
According to Hot Rod Magazine, there WILL be a Power Tour next year, and it’ll begin the second week of June. They usually announce a few of the cities the Tour will visit, but today, they said that at this point, the route is totally undecided.
This was one of the fastest awards ceremonies ever…after receiving our Long Hauler tin signs, we were out of there at 9:30 AM!
Just before 10:00 AM, we were in the local Cracker Barrel enjoying breakfast. At 10:30, we took to the two-laners, and headed for Alcoa, Tennessee.
For the first couple hours, we drove and drove, only to find we were about ten miles from where we started. Yes, we were lost!
But we got straightened out, and our roundabout route took us through Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Sevierville, before arriving at the hotel just after 3:00.
A couple hour nap, and we headed off to the Tail Of The Dragon. During the hour ride to get to the starting point, it rained, and at times, it rained so hard that the rain was blowing sideways. Not good for convertibles, or the Packard!
When the skies cleared somewhat, we continued south, then drove the Tail. If you’re not familiar, the Tail Of The Dragon spans Tennessee and North Carolina, goes up and down a mountain, and has 318 turns in the 11-mile stretch!
We picked up T-shirts and other memorabilia, then found out the only way back to the hotel was back through the Tail, so we did it again, and we all agreed that once would have been more than enough!
At 9:00 PM, we were picking up a few dozen burgers at Krystal’s, and heading back to the room. It was an exceptionally long day, and tomorrow, as we begin our journey south, will be just as long!
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