For those that want to join us for the the Devil Run and don't want to drive back to the dam after the Parade can join in our drive, link in sig, at Tallassee and 129. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.003616&z=18 there is a parking lot on the right side of 129 headed out of the Dragon. I think we will be passing by there about 10:45-ish just look for the CR/W with Carbon Fiber Bonnet. We will not be stopping there. You will get the route map at lunch stop in Maryville, Sonic at http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...=16&iwloc=addr

 

I've been talking to killboy to try and ensure that they will be out taking pictures for us. It'd be a great time to get a great photo of your MINI!

Glad to see that so many people are still interested in the Parade. Keep those registrations coming!

 

107 people registered as of this morning. Keep 'em coming.

Killboy has this event "marked on his calendar" so hopefully they will be out shooting!

 

Don't forget to order your Dragon Parade Beads from MINIBee. Its a cool thing for a great cause!

 

About half of the 350 strands of beads I brought are gone as of tonight's welcome dinner. Find me before the start of the parade to get some. They are $2 each and two for $3. I will keep a small amount in my MINI all weekend so look for my MINIBee europlate.

 

Just a quick reminder for those attending the Brewery Run we will be meeting at 9:30"ish" at the old registration building. We changed the time to help out the parade goers. We will hang around so those parade attendees won't miss out. I have handouts for everyone who signed up. I hope everyone has a great time on the parade and we'll see you around 9:30!

 

I didn't have my camera when we went down to the dam for the parade, so if anyone has any photos please post them here.

It was great seeing everyone and their cars decked out for the parade and I hope to see you all again next year.

Thanks to Meilnicki for help with traffic and MINIBee for making the cool beads!

 

There are over 100 images loaded to the Flickr website from this years MOTD event.
Please join us and add some of your memories to the group.

 

So this is where I get the "Duh" award...
We got into Fontana late on Thursday but got up to head out to the parade. After spending a bit too much time at the general store I realized I had no idea where the blazes I was going so... I asked someone at the gas station, "Which way to the base of the dam?" to which I was told... "Just take a right out of here and it is just a few minutes down the road, but there was nobody down there a little while ago." So... being about 8:30 by now, off we went and... you guessed it, no-one was there.
Oh well... I'm sorry I missed the drive but we'll catch it next year as I now know where I'm going The boys were disapointed though.

 

I guess no directions was better than poor directions in this case since I too didn't know where the meeting point was and thought it was at the gas station at the end of the dragon, so I go tearing out of Fontana, squealing down 28, about 90 across the bridge.....only to see all the MINI's lined up just across the bridge. I arrived 10 minutes early.

 

In a few days I'll post video. I got the entire parade begining to end. I was at the 180 hairpin right after you go over the bridge. It's a nice wide shot showing the cars coming and going all in one frame.

I may however wait a couple days to edit and get it posted. Need more RAM. Too painful to edit it with 2 Gig...

 

I have a video of all the cars leaving the Dam, camera was set up on the gate at the entrance of the driveway, 97 cars + ~10 that came down from Fontana and continued on after the first 2 or 3 cars left the Dam.

There was some sort of hold up after the first handful of cars, and instead of making the 10 or so on 28 go all the way to the end I waved them on behind the first small group.

I will post the video tonight.

Steve

 

OK, here's the first thing I've edited, my video of the parade...
I'd be willing to put the Hi Def 578 Meg version on one of my web servers is someone wants that...

 

I felt sorry for that poor little MINI that got stuck behind the truck at the end!

 

I wonder if the Trucker ever pulled off to let the MINI go by?

Great job Mark
Remember we still have 359 more days till the next MOTD so keep those videos coming....

 

Thanks for the video, Mark.

 

Nice video - I think I probably saw you standing on the road waiting - I was going in the opposite direction towards Fantana and I really, really enjoyed seeing all of those Minis coming at me. My son was with me and he too loved seeing all of the Minis in the parade.

Mr Sun and his Driver-Marty and Navigator-Mark

 

okay, i think those cars were just going around a big circle, lol. thats a lot of MINIs!! did anyone count them?

 

You know...It's simple. Go to the Base of the Dam. U-Turn. Park in a single line with the passenger wheels on the grass, and the driver wheels on the pavement. We were all told what to do at our arrival. Why certain people couldn't follow those SIMPLE rules is beyond me! TVA is being very generous allowing us to use THEIR property to line up for our events. The VERY LEAST we could do is be courteous, and comply to protect the area.
I look forward to next year at the Dragon. I only hope WE didn't push away the friends we have in the Fontana area.
Meanwhile, Pushing the envelope on the Dragon is part of the thrill of it.
Watching some drivers cross the yellow (not just a bit) on a blind curve, or crossing oncoming traffic without warning causing them to brake hard to avoid a collision is cause for alarm. I witnessed one MINI passing a motorcycle on the Hell Bender over a double line in the rain approaching a blind right hand turn (I was on the other side in the approaching lane). Surprise !!!
Drivers! Let's be great behind the wheel. Not sloppy. Go fast, but be in control. Have fun. Don't be wreckless. Especially with my friend's and family.
That said...I can't wait for next year.

 

Yeah! We couldn't have been more clear, 2 on the grass 2 on the pavement.

Looking at this picture People either didn't listen or are lemmings!

 

I thought the whole concern leading up to the dragon was not ruining the grass at the dam. All the posts before the trip talked about the grass this, don't park on the grass, etc.

I wasn't told when I got there to put 2 on the grass, this is the first I'm hearing of it. So next year the concern will be that we DIDN'T park on the grass.

So I wouldn't say they were lemmings. I would say that they were reading NAM before going to the dragon about grass damage from previous years.

 

I didn't even go to MOTD and i distinctly remember that everyone was being ask to not park in the grass. If i was there, I would have been one of them.

 

Post #1
Post #69
Post #70
In this thread alone are posts saying we were to stay off the grass and to park with two tires on the grass. Which way were we supposed to park?

When we arrived, we were not told anything about how to park, so we parked with all tires on the pavement, like it said in the first post of this thread since we weren't given any other instructions. As we pulled in we were given the swag bag but nothing was said to us about how to park, and we had our radio on and never heard anything on the radio about how to park. We were close to the front of the line, and no one noticed we weren't parked correctly or asked us to move, and all the cars I could see in front of us had all four tires on the pavement.

 

When I got there to help line up the cars, I was told to tell everyone, to park with 2 wheels on the grass, and 2 wheels on the pavement. I was one of 3 handing out the bags, everyone I handed a bag to or gave directions to was told "2 on 2 off".

The reason was that there were workers at the dam, and we needed to make sure there was room for the trucks to get out.

 

Here is my video at the start of the parade. After the first 5 cars, I let ~10 cars jump the line coming down from Fontana, because there was some sort of holdup with the line at the dam.