Well, got home yesterday afternoon and I'm having a bit of trouble getting back into my routine, sigh.
I had a great time and really appreciate all the hard work and effort put forth by everyone, organizers and participants alike!
To keep the happy dragon feeling going I thought I'd share my favorite moments and hope others will add to this thread with theirs. In no particular order...

1. My favorite moment was one kind of on my own. Being a mom, I rarely get a moment to myself to just be. Saturday afternoon I decided to take a run up to the dragon alone, which I did and thouroughly enjoyed. Coming home, as I approached Fontana I realized I wasn't ready to go in yet so I went the other way on 28. I was loving the solitude with my car and the road and some music. On my way back, there was a motorcyle of some sort behind me, not following too close, just hanging with me. I made the trip home in a more spirited fashion just having fun with it. When I finally got back to Fontana and turned left into the driveway, the bike guy beeped his horn at me and gave me a thumbs up and a wave. I waved back and grinned all the way back to my cabin. What a great way to spend the afternoon.

2. The Brew Swap and BBQ. What a blast all the way around.

3. The Midnight Run, El Kabong was all decked out with flashy LED lights and everyone was in a great mood, all fancied up for a night drive. Can't wait until next year!

There were many other memorable moments, but for the sake of brevity, I'll stop here.

Thanks again everyone for a great weekend!

Annette

 

1. The Brew Swap & BBQ was definitely the most fun I had.

2. The Dillsboro Trip came a close second. My wife used mind over matter to put her motion sickness aside and I finally took the curves with a little power.

3. Seeing the Biltmore Estate was amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been.

Thanks again for all your help Annette. You and Big Hunk did an excellent job with dinner.

 

I was gonna start a "let's us give thanks" thread, but I think this is as good as any place to start.

First thanks to my wife, Robin for coming. and putting up with my "mini maddness". Thanks to everyone that had anything to do with setting this thing up. I don't remember everyone's name that I met, so forgive me to those I don't mention or leave out.

My thanks goes out to:
Maury and Mike the wonderfull owners of the Blue Waters Mountain Lodge.
Matt and Heidi for all the great talks around the pool table.
Ed and Christian from "Cooper Flags" for the same.
(Special thanks to Christian for making me feel like our future is in good hands as long as there are more young people out there like you!)
Everyone on DCMINI for all the hard work you put into this. It was great meeting Jen, Mike and Melanie (hope I spelled that right)
"Chloe" my little Austrian good luck charm.
Everyone at Atlanta Minis for the "chili cook-off"
Tom Clark for my V27 nav. upgrade disc
Sam and Hammish for unlocking my code to view my "3-D" nav screen.
............I no longer know what street I'm on, but I look great getting there
The gang that joined me on my Dillsboro trip, I can still see the line of 30 mini's in my rear view mirror on I-74
"Mr. Bean" for my shirt, it's awesome
Mark Ferguson for all that you've done via this Forum and the Dragon Event
Everyone at Sunshine Mini's for the great Dinner at Nantahala!
Amd finally to the whole Mini community, I had a blast just driving around and seeing all of you!!!

 

Actually, it's "Haemish"... but don't worry, I'm used to having my name butchered. Oh, and you're welcome.

 

On a group drive with agranger on NAM in the 11AM group just after we drove through the Dragon, we passed a C6 Z06 and a Ford GT headed into the Dragon together. I wish I could have watched that one....


Then later in the drive, agranger (Aaron) went to pull off into the grass for a group photo op, and it turned out to be mud, so we had to help push him out. His Pepper White/ Pepper White MINI with painted arches was throwing mud for the next half mile What a great drive that was! I met a lot of great people and the scenery was cool.


After driving back from the Dragon on 28 very early Saturday morning, which is still really curvy, I was followed by an orginal red Mini. After turning off of 129 onto 28, we were about a 1/4 mile apart, and when he heard me squealing my tires and going as fast as the car could move, he gained fast. There was one awesome corner that wasn't blind so I could set myself up properly for it and gave it 100%. After I made that turn that little bugger was all over my rear. After I saw that, I pulled over and let him by and went about my business

Later that day I was down by Fontana village and the gas station just outside and there he was filling up, so I pulled over and went to talk to him.


As it turns out he was one of the guys who runs the shop in Georgia that turns out those VTEC MINIs. And guess what his car was equipped with? I spent a while just talking with him aboot the car that Car and Driver reviewed, he let me sit in it, and what he has in store for his car. Turns out that he's shooting for about 235whp after some mods he'll do when he gets back.

The Drive in that our club put on was pretty cool too. Lots of free drinks! Thanks M7

Everyone was so nice and helpful out there, especially Mark and his family for the great company while it was raining and organizing the drive in, Steve and his wife for the pizza & drink, Dave, Griff, Dan, Mark and his wife from Durham who are transplants from [FONT=Arial]Massachusetts, a very nice woman with a Silk Green Cooper, Aaron for his awesome scenic drive, and a million others [/FONT]