The wife and I decided to take a drive on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park on Saturday in Virginia. Skyline drive winds its way throught the mountains of the Park with lots of overlooks and places to stop and hike. The season is at it's peak and the colors were really starting to change. I just did a full brake job with bearings the day before so I wanted to be prepared for any minor issues so I loaded up the front truck with some tools.

Off we go down Route 66 towards Front Royal.

Another shot on Rte 66

Pretty colors.

More Rte 66

beautiful pavement in the second photo

John

We exited 66 and got on John Marshall Highway. Wasn't much of a shortcut but the scenery was nice.

Zoom zoom. Heading towards Front Royal, VA.

Lots of colorful trees.

Entrance to the park. It was quite busy and took about 30 minutes from the time we entered Front Royal until we actually entered the Park. Of course the car started to overheat and the lines going through the pay booths were very slow. I was getting concerned with my oil temp as it started to climb closer and closer to the red mark.

We're finally in the park. Of course the first thing you do is climb about 2000 feet up so my oil temp continued to climb too. I tried driving in a lower gear to keep as much air flowing through the engine.

The first overlook was completely packed so we couldn't stop there, oil temp is still high, starting to creep into the red. Now I'm getting concerned. I'm starting to look for anyplace we can stop so I can let the car cool off. But I'm still trying to enjoy the scenery.

Finally made it to the second overlook and found a place to park. Oil temp in the red. Shut the car off and opened the engine lid. Sound pad came loose from the firewall and is blocking air flow to the fan. Luckily I had loaded up with tools and had some wire with me. I wired the sound pad back in place. We sat at this overlook for about 10 minutes while the car cooled off.

Back on the road. Going up of course. Oil temps back to normal.

Speed limit is only 35mph on Skyline but most people drove much faster. I couldn't keep it under 50 especially in the curves.

A photo woulda been nice.

Couple more shots.

I hope I'm not killing the 914club server!!!

Love this sky!

We took a lot of shots down into the valley but it was very hazy even though the sun was out most of the day. This is the clearest one we got.

Some artsy shots of the car at one of the overlooks.

Another ... . .

We drove for about 1.5 hours down Skyline, decided we'd seen enough, turned around and headed back. Skyline is roughly 80 miles long and would take most of a day to drive the whole thing (at 35mph).

Last shot, heading home. What a great day!! Can ran well, other than the oil temp problem when we got to the park. Drove about 150 miles, burned just over a 1/4 tank of gas.

Kudos on the great drive and thanks for sharing the pictures! They look great. My wife and I love to go for drives whenever possible. There is so much to look at in the NW. I love the trees this time of year.

Meant to say "Car ran well" !!

I have lots of new backgrounds for my computer now. I think if we went again next year we'd try to drive the whole thing and pick a different route coming home. And make the drive during the week when it's not so busy.

Saw lots of Porsches on the drive; new 911's, a 70's something 911 Targa, Boxsters, and a blue 356 convertible entering the park as we left.

On Rte 66 we saw a red Ferrari 360 Modena (I like that car) and near our house we saw a black Ford GT (not sure if it was real or a kit but it was nice).

Great pics. Can't wait to get mine back on the road and do that drive. I pick it up in near Culpeper and choose which way I want to go. Nice to see some VA club members nearby.

Nice pics! Thanks for sharing. I like taking virtual drives when I can't get to my car. Next weekend I hope I can take mine out to Big Sur in N. California along Hwy 1.

Thats the greatest Park for a 914. Although none of mine would ever make it that far. Looks like you had a great time.

Great pics and a nice looking car. Take out that sound pad and throw it away.
Cheers, Elliot

QUOTE (Elliot Cannon @ Nov 7 2005, 08:45 PM)

Great pics and a nice looking car.

The car's definitely a 10 footer. It needs a lot of work yet. The pictures make it look much better than it really is.

I was gonna look at this post but then I rememberd I was up there 2 weeks ago when everything was still green