Ever been up in East TN, Kristta? More ridge runner than redneck (the rednecks fish and watch football; I prefer to take advantage of that and do the roads then), and there is this =lovely= stretch of road, US 129 over Deal's Gap.......Otherwise known to bikers as The Dragon (technically, the Tail of the Dragon, as it links to a lot of the old mountain roads up and down the mountain chain). 300+ curves in 11 miles up and down at least two mountains. 2 lanes, no guard rails, and only skill and rubber between you and solid rock or open air...depending on where you lose it. Fun. Just no pickups, vans, SUV's wagons. Either bikes or small, over powered cars. Oh! And don't forget... 25) It gets real quiet when someone orders unsweetened, hot tea. 26) A continental breakfast is the special at Waffle House. 27) It's big news when the store is out of Moon Pies. 28) No one says 'Damned Yankee' to the jerk leaving...because everyone's thinking it anyway. My favorite damnyankee story happened about 14 years ago now. Had one of those Northern couples shopping who had the 'how quaint' attitude on so hard it was visible a mile away. Then they made their mistake. They asked me where Thunder Road was. So I told them. The closest of the Thunder Roads to where I live is in Knoxville; specifically, Kingston Pike, just like in the song, which they had apparently heard before. So I sent them up Alcoa Highway to the Kingston Pike turnoff. It was a football homegame Saturday, and football is God at UT (to the tune of a 108,000 seat stadium. Plus the Vol Navy, which ties up 8 across on the riverfront. You have to see it to believe it). At the time the song was written, Knoxville -ended- at Alcoa Highway, and Kingston Pike was 2 land farm road from there. Now it is 4 lanes and is part of the West End...and traffic is a nightmare. Particularly for one of those truck sleeper units. Hope they enjoyed it.... >:)