I desperately need to know if there's going to be wi-fi at the dragon so we can set up a laptop for customer purchases, etc. I thought that the deal was that if we sold out the facility in 05 they would put in wi-fi for 06....

If anyone hears anything about it please post it here. I bugged Fontana management but have not gotten a solid answer...

I would hope it would active near the main hall where the meals, etc.are...

 

That was the deal they made with us last year... As to whether or not they are going to follow through with it...

 

Being that Fontana is in the middle of nowhere, you should start planning on using the phone line in your room with a dial-up modem. Expect $3/min+! Or, get yourself a GPS cell and a modem adapter!

 

Since GPS is a receive only system that is strictly used for navigation, perhaps you mean Inmarsat or Iridium?

 

Yeah - from what I've heard there is no cell coverage of any kind in the area. This is seriously going to be weird for me.

 

ZERO cell... you may get some at the overlook but even thats spotty... and I have verizon

-josh

 

There is some coverage in the parking lot of the Microtel in Robbinsville... Last year we talked about marking off the spots that had reception.

In all seriousness though, what is probably the most compelling reason to stay in Robbinsville at the Microtel is that they have DSL (and possibly WiFi) in every room... The downside though is that it's a 20 minute drive to either Fontana, or Tapoco, 25 minutes to the Dragon...

 

You'll get over it, Gabe....really fast! So much fun up there that you won't even have withdrawals!

 

Well, is the drive fun? :-)

I'm kind of looking forward to not being reachable for a couple of days. I'll have to stock up on some quarters to call home, tho.

I was thinking of bringing an access point or two and sticking it on the roof of my cabin so that we could all share images and the like.

 

I also thought that the deal stated that if they did not have wi-fi, that we could all use our room towels to clean our wheels. . . .


*****Do not use their room towels to clean your wheels. They usually provide a big trash can full of rags at the car-wash area*****

 

...That's not a bad idea! Now, if someone (NAM???) could sponsor a Host machine with an Apache install and some simple forum software we could have an electronic bulletin board for information sharing, etc!

...I don't really see Mark going to the lengths to setup a portable NAM hotspot - but OH would it be cool!!!


Yeah. I have to agree. We went on a trip last year where I was disconnected from the world. I was surprised just how dependent on technology I've really become! I had forgotten how people used to do certain things. ...using the phone book for instance. ...Or talking to strangers (locals) to get information. I was really frustrated at first.

The main difference this time is that my wife won't be with me. I'll want to call and talk with her at some point.

 

Gabe... you mean to say you HAVEN'T been to the Dragon yet - Mr. MotoringFile himself?

 

Get a long distance phone card that you can use with you room phone at Fontana. Only when we take a drive out of the area can I ever use my cell

 

As I mentioned in a previous post it's something I've literally planned on doing for three years. However each year something has come up. Last year I had a place to stay all worked out and at the last second had to ditch.

But not this year. This year is the year of the dragon!

 

Actually as of right now it's still the Year of the Rooster. But come Jan 29th, it becomes the Year of the Dog.

You'll have to wait until 2012 for another Year of the Dragon.

 

To true, oh enlightened one

 

Very glad to hear it! I look forward to meeting you in person - and also to reading your "first person" account on MF afterwards!

 

As a side note, I recall rates for the phones in the cabins being extremely reasonable. We had 5 people in our cabin and used the phone quite a bit and were shocked at how cheap the bill ended up being.

 

for me it's the year of the dragon

 

But the real question is... what score out of five will I give the meeting

 

A six, of course!

You really can't appreciate what the Dragon is until you've done it...

 

I predict you'll give it... Five Dragons! And I'll further predict, you'll burn a whole lotta rubber off your new tires and a whole lotta (name that compound) off your brakes (just ask Yucca) while meeting someone you "know" every five minutes that you're awake and out of your room.

w00t... you're finally coming! You bringing the wife?? Bug Steve too... get the whole crew down there! I only wish Casey could come too...

 

No no no. _This_ Dragon goes to 11!

 

First off sorry to hijack this thread Aaron!

To answer your question Deb - no my lovely wife will not be in attendance. This will be a the boys weekend. Four of us are coming down from Chicago in two cars with lots of beer between us. (to be used only after driving hours!!!)

 

cell phone and a usb cable. It will be your friend