This being my first trip to the Dragon, I have to thank Lovetodrive2000 (Mike) and Hiro for being my tour guides. These guys rock and it wouldn't have been as much fun had I traveled down without them!

Our excitement for the weekend started not too long after leaving Ohio early Friday morning. We encountered our very own S2000 Fan Club in the form of a young lady driving a white Cavalier. You could tell she thought we were hot stuff as she placed herself among our three car caravan for a good 15 to 20 minutes. I think I even saw her blowing some kisses to Mike!

Sensing danger lurking around the next bend, she immediately raced to the front of our group, passed Mike, and assumed the lead. No sooner did she make her move then my Valentine1 laser alert starts blaring. Incredibly, we see a highway patrol officer rush back into his car, ignore the three sports cars (Is silver really that invisible???) and stop our new friend!

Talk about dedication! Way to take one for the team! Naturally, we toasted her at dinner on Saturday night!!!

The rest of the trip down was fairly uneventful, but passed quickly enough. After a bite to eat for lunch, I got my first taste of the Dragon that afternoon! What a crazy road! It alone is worth the trip and that's not to mention meeting and hanging with all of the great people I met!

After returning to the hotel from that first trip to the Dragon, I spot the Ferrari. Here we are staring at the engine:

Well, after Keith asks about 17 times if someone will show him the Dragon, I graciously volunteer to ride shotgun in the Ferrari (haha!) and a group of us take off for some fun! I have to say thanks to Keith for being so cool about giving everyone a chance to experience a ride in his car! I think he must have spent 90% of his weekend driving people around or attempting to respond to the constant, "Dude, that's a Ferrari! How much???" comments from the locals. He has some patience, let me tell you! Here's my turn in the passenger seat:

Saturday morning rolls around and once I stepped outside, I was pleasantly surprised. It felt fairly warm and the weather appeared a lot better than expected. It was not to be, of course. As soon as we began lining the cars up, the storm clouds gathered and headed straight for us! We drove through a torrential downpour and made it to the staging area:

The Dragon was wet and my tires are old (26k fronts/14k rears), so I took it pretty easy in the morning. After lunch, I opted for the Cherohala Skyway Run with w1ngman's group thinking it sounded a little tamer than the Dragon. We drove up and down that mountain through clouds and another downpour, but had a blast despite the weather. I only wish the weather were nicer so we could have stopped at times to enjoy the view.

Winning a door prize (camera mount) was awesome and dinner was great! And having the weather clear up on Sunday morning helped top off a great weekend for me! I am definitely coming back next year and can't wait to see all of the great people I met again! Thanks to everyone for making this a memorable weekend: Airgate for all of his hard work. Keith for putting up with our drooling over your car. Mike and Hiro for escorting me down. The two groups (you know who you are) for the entertaining conversations Saturday evening. I laughed so hard that I discovered sore muscles in my abdomen that I previously didn't know existed! Also, my best wishes to Dr. T. Here's hoping you have a quick and complete recovery! To everyone I forgot to mention, take care and I'll see you next year!!!

- Joe

 

Joe:

Glad to have you along! It was nice having another Buckeye (a worthless nut!) tag along! Maybe I shouldn't mention "nut" here..... some of those crazies in the parking lot were making us laugh too much about those (they shall remain nameless here)!!

Nice story about the trip down.... I'm glad that young lady sacrificed herself.... I would hate to think that I would have been the person getting nailed by the laser at 90 mph!! I must have lived a charmed life this weekend.... almost got nailed doing 90+ on the way home Monday in Northern KY!!!

Talk to David1 up there.... tell him what he is missing..... I'm sure that he and I could make a nice run on the Dragon or down to Fontana Dam!

Take care Joe, and look forward to seeing you on a local run between now and whenever!

 

Joe,

Good to meet you, Hiro and, Mike. Nice write up and pics. Hope to see you guys again soon (if I can survive the laughter). Take care... Jay

 

Great narrative and pics! It was nice meeting you at dinner and thanks for letting me use your radio!

Kalan

 

Nice meeting you, too, Jay! Nice meeting you and you're welcome for borrowing the radio, Kalan! Glad I could help! This trip practically marked the end of S2000 weather for me. It's been freezing up here every day since I got back.

I hope we can still get in the local drive we have planned for tomorrow.

- Joe

 

Glad you could make it down here Joe.
Can't believe how hard it rained on the Skyway Saturday.
Hope you make it back in the spring!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ravenwerk
Glad you could make it down here Joe.

 

Crazies? From Columbus? I can't think of any! Maybe you are thinking of that other city that starts with a C?

 

Glad you were able to make the drive down and that you had a good time. See you next year.