DRAGON 2008

matti the mini · Post by **matti the mini** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:21 pm

Well, the Dragon is approaching again.

By my count, the official start is less than 99 days away.

I'm going again, and I think John and Johnna, as well as Dave and Debra.

We haven't set a specific time / date of departure yet.... We have thrown around leaving May 1st, (one day after the "offical" start) and staying through Monday - possibly departing for KC on Tuesday the 6th.

So... this thread is two parts - see if anyone else is attending and wants to meet up to caravan...

Nail down the dates that we are going and making sure we can change our room arrangements if needed.

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:48 pm

We'll be there, in the MINI. I may need to leave earlier to be there on the official first day (I have a bit of work to do there) but we plan to stay beyond MOTD for some safer sightseeing.

So we're in....two people, one MINI and one MiniMutt.

For anyone looking for info, check out www.minisonthedragon.info .

Marlow Main · Post by **Marlow Main** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm

I would like to go, but I can not convince Just a Passenger, especially after all the comments of our motoring friends that have been in the past.

I will keep working on him, maybe we will be Dragon bound in 2009.

ddmini · Post by **ddmini** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:06 pm

We are still planning on being there. Debra can not leave until she finishes the end of the month stuff for her job, so we will most likely have to wait until the 1st to start.

kabootist · Post by **kabootist** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:34 pm

This is a great use of vacation time, so pending any work related things that come up, I will probably join the caravan if one is put together. It will be myself and my female companion. I think it would be nice to take a KC contingent. ~800 miles, 15ish hours on the road, maybe longer. I guess if we are going to caravan we should get some plan going. I will donate some of my time to figuring out a plan if we get people interested.

What would be best for myself is leaving the 2nd in the morning and doing it in one day. But I understand most of us wont be up for doing it in one day, so this is flexible. The evening of the 1st would be good too, and make it to St. Louis or somewhere east of there.

matti the mini · Post by **matti the mini** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:30 am

It is very easy to do in one day.

Last year ddmini and I did it with a nice break for lunch.

I ended up heading down to Chattanooga and they drove over to Fontana. Ended up in a big heavy rain storm that really slowed them down. I do remember Dave saying it was late when they finally arrived.

I drove from Knoxville back to KC this fall - I think it was about 11 hours.

I would defiantly say to get a room - or find one!

Bentley

kabootist · Post by **kabootist** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:48 pm

From what I've been reading on NAM, rooms are filling up fast, I might have to settle for something farther out than I'd normally like. If we can all agree to do the drive in one day, it would be awesome. Also since this is my first time going, the drive there as well as those roads around there look like I might get sick, and i definitely know that my passenger will.

Maryville, TN (50 miles from Fontana Dam) looks like a fairly sized town, I can't image having to spill over into Knoxville for a room, but then again I'm sure someone wiser will eventually tell me I'm wrong. I'm okay with that.

ddmini · Post by **ddmini** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:27 pm

kabootist wrote:What would be best for myself is leaving the 2nd in the morning and doing it in one day. But I understand most of us wont be up for doing it in one day, so this is flexible. The evening of the 1st would be good too, and make it to St. Louis or somewhere east of there.

So far the only event we have been too that requires a two day drive is AMVIV. Vegas is just too far to drive in a day. We had no problems getting to either the Dragon or MITM without a stop. We have done the return trip from the Dragon straight through both times, and it was no strain. It does take a while longer when you go most of the way in the rain

kabootist · Post by **kabootist** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:04 pm

I was just trying to appeal to the masses, I figure the more people that come the better

matti the mini · Post by **matti the mini** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:29 pm

kabootist wrote: Maryville, TN (50 miles from Fontana Dam) looks like a fairly sized town, I can't image having to spill over into Knoxville for a room, but then again I'm sure someone wiser will eventually tell me I'm wrong. I'm okay with that.

I actually went down this fall and stayed in Knoxville - very easy drive into and through the Dragon...

Maryville would be a very easy drive. I've run there for groceries too.

ddmini · Post by **ddmini** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:46 pm

Maryville was a nice little town and it is a easy drive to Fontana. The only problem with staying on the TN side is if the Highway Patrol is still on there enhanced patrolling kick you have more of a chance of them hassling you.

MiniGeoff · Post by **MiniGeoff** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:32 pm

I'll get a report on traffic patrols and such in a couple weeks. Some friends of mine are scouting for a Harley road trip and I convinced them it was a good place to go.

Wish I could go this year, but with AMVIV, I expect that I won't be able to afford it. Unless of course Mr. Blackjack is nice to me while I'm out there...

matti the mini · Post by **matti the mini** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:07 pm

When I was there in October, and I drove the Dragon on Friday, nary an officer was to be seen...

So, we can hope that is still the case.

JohnBLZ · Post by **JohnBLZ** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:21 am

ddmini wrote: So far the only event we have been too that requires a two day drive is AMVIV. Vegas is just too far to drive in a day. We had no problems getting to either the Dragon or MITM without a stop. We have done the return trip from the Dragon straight through both times, and it was no strain. It does take a while longer when you go most of the way in the rain

Fooey!! We left KC at 9AM on a Friday and rolled into Vegas at 3AM local time a couple years ago... I'm not going to say how fast we were going, but it was a spirited drive

The last few hours of the drive really sucked...especially going through the desert. The mountains at night were adventurous...especially considering when you could round a corner at 80MPH and be face to face with an elk.

But... coming down into the Vegas Valley at night is something you've got to do at least once in your life. Vegas is dirty as hell, but at night it's something beautiful!

JohnBLZ · Post by **JohnBLZ** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:24 am

Grain of salt though...I'm also someone that's driven straight from San Francisco to KC without stopping for anything more than gas and to return the pop I rented.

Definitely not the smartest thing I've ever done, but it was a really neat 25 hours.

We love to roadtrip. Planning on taking the Cooper to Glacier and Yellowstone this year

ddmini · Post by **ddmini** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:41 pm

Back when I was younger I would drive from D.C to Independence (23 to 25 hours depending on weather) at least once sometimes twice a year. Two years ago we did go from Vegas to Ft. Collins, CO where we stopped and visited some friends then came on home. That took almost 26 hours and by the time we got home we were exhausted. I think that I-70 through Kansas is the most boring and sleep inducing stretch of road in the country.

JohnBLZ · Post by **JohnBLZ** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:24 am

ddmini wrote: I think that I-70 through Kansas is the most boring and sleep inducing stretch of road in the country.

Amen...I-80 through Nebraska is a close second though.

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:11 am

To take this thread a little further from the original topic, here's a book recommendation for those of you sharing the joys of driving long distances on the interstate system: Cross Country by Robert Sullivan.
http://www.amazon.com/Cross-Country-Fif ... 402&sr=8-1[/url]

RojoCohete · Post by **RojoCohete** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:05 pm

speaking of boring. I think they ought to just close wyoming and put up a sign saying 'close due to lack of use".

on my first time driving through there. i looked at the map and figured that the map just had the big cities. nope, the map had all the cities, it's just that there so few on i-80.

yep, i say, close it down.

Minidave · Post by **Minidave** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:54 pm

Naw, I liked Wyoming, it's true there aren't a lot of towns, but for me that's a large part of it's appeal. What towns there are seem to be full of interesting and nice folks......I'd take Wyoming over Nebraska any day!

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:40 pm

Registration for MOTD 2008 is now open at NAM...

Anyone else going?

BLUGOOSE · Post by **BLUGOOSE** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:07 pm

Please excuse the ignorant question but,when is the Dragon and where does one get info about it

davester · Post by **davester** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 8:04 pm

Charlotte & I will be going-- We are all registered up!!!

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 8:13 pm

BLUGOOSE wrote:Please excuse the ignorant question but,when is the Dragon and where does one get info about it

Answers to both of your questions are here:

www.minisonthedragon.info

There is also plenty of chatter and registration info over at www.northamericanmotoring.com. There's currently a link on the upper left hand side of the front page.

BLUGOOSE · Post by **BLUGOOSE** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 8:43 pm

Thanks for the info. I found more than enough stuff on NAM. My next questions have to do with deciding which events to attend throughout the week and where to try to find a room.

This would be my first time there and I really have no idea where a good place to stay would be.

Kansas City MINI Enthusiasts

DRAGON 2008

DRAGON 2008

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Re: MOTD

MOTD