The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from my first trip to the Dragon:

1. I was all about losing my Dragon virginity....up until the minute I actually lost it! Not a fun experience. I was not a knight in shining armor grandly slaying a dragon; I was an imposter in a tin can and oven mitts gradually poking the dragon to death with a toothpick. I conquored him...eventually. See, Mapquest didn't mention that if you come in from the north, you have to drive the Dragon to get to Fontana Village. So, as night fell, after a 10 hour drive on 4 hours of sleep, incredibly hungry, slightly confused (just where was North Carolina anyway?),and desperately needing to pee, I toodled (read: drove the speed limit) my way through the Dragon for the first time. With a string of MINIs that suddenly came up behind me and, well, didn't want to toodle. Fathom the stress. I got tailgated, honked at, and passed. If I had slowed down enough to pull over, I would have been rear-ended. I wish I had gone in with a vinyl that said "Dragon Virgin: Have Patience".

2. The cabin they gave the SO and I was nasty-funky! The only thing redone was the VERY fresh coat of paint (I could SEE the fumes!). The ceiling fan shot sparks, the dresser had been kicked in, and windows were held in place (half in the frame, half out of the frame) by poison ivy vines. Fortunately, the kind Fontana people switched the SO and I to a very nice inn room without any fuss. The Village is going to be spectacular next year when they finish renovating everything; although our cabin was funky, I visited some gorgeously done cabins.

3. I met some really nice people. You got to admit, for the most part, MINI/Mini owners tend to have good hearts. MINIClo gave me a hug when we first met, Nekowoman showed me the ropes, and that's just sweet! (Sorry if I tracked muddy footprints in your cabin, Clo!)

4. I hope to meet more of you next time! There were several of you that I wish I had gotten a chance to meet, but I had no idea where you were staying or how to find you. I would have loved a white board at the rec center that had usernames and cabin numbers.

5. North Carolina is gorgeous. Even when it's raining so hard that the animals start pairing off in twos, it's still gorgeous. I thoroughly recommend visiting!

6. I actually won something! I won a certificated for a strut tower brace at the ice cream social. The SO called M7 once we got home, and they are shipping it out this week. Good marketing tactic on their part, too. Until now, I've been "The Anti-Mod." (Not that I have anything against other people's mods, I just wasn't a modder). I even considered getting a sticker for Giles that said "Factory Perfect." But now that I've won a free mod, I can see it being a gateway to other mods.....

7. I've learned more about what it takes to have a fabulous weekend at the Dragon, so next year the SO and I won't feel like such odd ducks. Things like....go ahead and talk to strangers. Just because it seems like everyone already knows everyone else, doesn't mean they won't be welcoming. Bring a 2-way. And an umbrella. And a bottle of wine. Come a day early (after all the late-night room switching on Thursday, we were too tired to get up for half of Friday's events). Take more pictures! After all, there's no such thing as too many MINI pictures!

Let's hear it from other Dragon first-timers! How was your weekend?

 

You had a "Funky" cabin

 

It was my first time as well and I had a blast. I wish I would have had a chance to meet and talk to more people than I did. Next year I will definitely be showing up a couple days early. 2 1/2 days isn't nearly enough time to spend down there and get the dragon out of your system...Not sure if that ever really happens. I am definiely taking more pictures next year. Just bought a new SLR, will be getting it friday. So I have a year to learn to take the best pictures I can...LOL. I stayed at the Inn and it was great. I think I will stay there again next year unless I happen to bring a tagalong with me. I was so glad I participated in the autocross. Definitely think I'm going to get into that. Well that's about all I can think of at the moment.

Thanks to everyone for helping make this a marvelous event. You are all wonderful people.

Shannah

 

More thoughts from another (ex) Dragon Virgin....

1. KarenTKD...sorry I didn't get to meet you, especially considering we are both in MMMC

2. I knew the MINI was an awesome car, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that bikers would be waving me past because I was faster on the Dragon than they were.

3. Like Karen, the first time thru the Dragon was a little stressful, after a long road trip, with a huge cooler full of beer, water and ice chunks that made a hell of a racket and shifted all around the back of the MINI on every stinking corner

4. As much as I enjoyed hanging with the "youngsters" in our cabin, staying up and partying until 3AM on the day I arrived was just a bad idea

5. It was the best time I've had with my clothes on

6. Next year I will take more pictures of people and less of mountains and trees, because, let's face it, if you've seen one picture of mountains and trees, you've pretty much seen them all

7. Coming home to the same old boring commute the next day was a major bummer

8. I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!!!!:impatient

 

That's not uncommon, cars are almost always faster in the twisties than bikes.

Steve

 

Well I have been at the Dragon many times now because I live close enough to go there on day trips, but this was my first MOTD event. I really enjoyed meeting all the folks there and checking out everybody's car. It is actually truly amazing to see how diverse this MINI/Mini group is.
Some of the people that really stuck out and I am sure I am forgetting some:

Mike from Aesthetic Creations, Patrick and Joel from Atlanta, Drew and DJ Konky from Pittsburgh, Henry from Indianapolis, the Jersey "boys", the whole Atlanta MINIS group, Chad from Detroit Tuned, IrishCow, FQON, StoopidGirl, KoolMINI, Jeremy Sarcux, Peter from M7 and the oh so very attractive girl from Way Motor Works whatever her name may be.

 

That is almost EXACTLY my first experience with the Dragon -- except in my case I had 4.5 hours of sleep, it was my 16th hour on the road, my windscreen was covered in bug splatters (which were the only things I could focus on, as oncoming headlights illuminated them in a most fascinating manner) and it was pitch black night.

We drove in from the north and, kind of suddenly, the road got very twisty... My exhausted self unconsciously assumed the granny-drive position, replete with violent squinting, while Leif came to the conclusion that; "Oh! This must be the Dragon!"

Oh. *****.

I got to the cabin, downed 3 beers, went to bed and avoided the Dragon until Saturday (at which point it became awesome).

Good story, Karen -- wish I could have met you!

 

Hello, Big Dadddy...we'll have to meet at a MMMC event.

I don't know if they will post or not, but you and I aren't the only ones to have been a bit stressed by that first Dragon run. I talked to several virgins on Rainy Friday, and the story was the same.....people didn't know they had to drive the Dragon to get to Fontana and got quite a surprise. At least I wasn't the only Dragon turtle!

 

Yes, we will! Great post, btw. I got a good laugh out of it. Cya.

BD

 

I was a Dragon virgin, and had a great time. If I can go next year (I might be deployed) I will definitaly be there for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, rather than getting there at noon on friday and leaving Sunday morning. If I go I'm going to get closer too, as I was staying in Maggie Valley, about an hour and a half away. Beautiful drive, but cut down on my Dragon time

I hope to talk to more people next year too. I was only able to meet a few new people this year, and there were soooo many more people to talk to

 

Glad you had fun Karen. It was good to see you guys there.

We went to Little Switzerland NC for a few days before MOTD so we came in from the south. My first Dragon drive was the damp Friday morning. Fine for me as I simply wanted to pet the Dragon the first time. I gained confidence in myself and my MINI with every corner however, and soon I was certain that I must be irritating the Dragon slightly.

After the first run up and back, we were planning to head south on 28 to check out the dam. But as my brakes cooled at the crossroads I saw no traffic and the parade hadn't arrived yet so off we went for another run.

Saturday was dry and I really got to hammer some turns. So exhilirating...like driving a roller coaster!

I wish I had met more people and taken more pictures but time just flew by. Next year we'll have a better plan (and I hope a better cabin!)

 

I lost my virginity (Dragon virginity, that is) at 6am in the morning on Friday... In the dark... In the fog. I took my time and was lucky to have nobody in front of me and no one behind me.

I was trying to make it around the Scenic Drive route before the parade started. I missed the parade, but the drive was GREAT! I was cookin' it around Little River Road (one of the most beautiful roads I've ever seen) at 7am with nobody in front of me! Too much fun!

 

This was my second year at the Dragon but I traveled into town with a MINI that hadn't been before. We stopped in Marysville for a final fuel-up then had a brief discussion on the route from there to Fontana. I guess I wasn't doing a very good job of explaining things and kept trying to explain... "No.. you dont get it.. there won't be anymore stops. We'll be driving.. then you'll be on the dragon. Thats it. It'll just be there. You're not on it.. then you are. I'll see you guys at Fontana."

 

I told everyone in our caravan, that you ride along the lake on 129, when you pass the Foothills Parkway, you will see a sign warning all trucks of the impending DOOM. Then cross the Tabcat bridge and on the left is a gravel parking lot. If you pass the lot, you're on The Dragon heading down (south) !!!

Steve