We have a name!!! Congratulations to Bruce Pancoast for his winning submission of "General Lee's Last Stand"
Date: August 14 2004
Kickoff Point: Wegman's Market, Sterling VA just up Pacific from MINI of Sterling
Meeting Time: 8:00 AM
Driver Meeting: 8:30AM
Departure Time: 9:00AM SHARP
We'll be headed from Sterling up some backroads through towns like Aldie, Middleburg, Halfway, Marshall and eventually up to the picturesque Skyline Drive, which we will take up to the Skyland Lodge (the highest point on the Drive) for lunch

Other important information for this route:
Gas and Rest Stops: There aren't many, I'm sorry about that. I recommend coming to Wegman's with a full tank of gas. However Wegman's is a terrific market where you can use the potty facilities and pickup coffee and a bite to eat if you wish before we leave. There will be a brief stop enroute as well where gas, cash, and food and beverages will also be available. Due to the nature of this route, there really were few places with facilities that could accomodate more than a few cars.

Fees: The National Park Service charges $10 per car to enter Skyline Drive. This fee covers unlimited entry to Skyline Drive for 7 days. This fee will be collected by NPS when we enter the Drive at Thornton Gap. In addition non-DCMM members will be charged a $5 event fee at the start of the drive. This fee collected by DCMM is to help offset the logistical fees incurred by the event organizers as well as to offset event insurance charges to the club, again this fee applies to non-members only

Lunch: Lunch will be at Skyland Lodge hopefully by 12:30 at the latest. Menu items at the lodge range from $5 to $10

Radios: As always we'll be using FRS/GMRS radios during this run, they will be critical since once we get deep into the run there will be limited cellphone coverage.

Please RSVP either here or on MINI2...

RSVP so far:
Pete & Nancy Robison
W3IWI
MTYMINI (MINI2)
DaCrema +1
Marty & Bob Miner
Marina Martin
Wxsquid (MINI2)
Smeagolo & hubby (kinda sorta like will be there)
Chilibit
RedbaronF2001 (MINI2)
Paul! (MINI2)
Jason Humm & Navigator
paulsminis +1
LauraJane +1
Scott From Baltimore
Electmininrd +1 (MINI2)
Marshall Cone
John & Tammy Loxton
Anne +1
mhh366 (MINI2)
Deb (Nekowoman)
S2000&CooperS
Z3bum

 

Bea and I will be there for sure.

 

There is a good chance that I and my sife, Sue, will be in the area from our home in Ohio. If that happens, we will most likely join the group for the run in our KERMEE.


cheers,

Paul Strieby:smile:

 

Great, we'll look forward to seeing you!

 

I wish I could make it but will be out of town. It's too bad because Skyline Drive is 2 minutes from my house!

I hope another one is held before the end of the season so I can meet you all.

 

Looking forward to a run... HoooWheee...!

 

I'll be there! :smile:

 

I've been seeing some posts on the various boards regarding the weather for this Saturday.
I have been watching the weather reports and will continue to do so. At this point it is still too early to make any real decision to cancel the run. Those of you who are familiar with hurricane tracking know that 72 hours out the storm tracks and timelines are still very unreliable. In addition, it is difficult to predict right now how severe the weather will actually be.
Based on the 5AM observations from the National Hurricane Center in Miami (the authority on hurricane tracking), they do expect the storm to pass over just to the east of Washington DC. It's expected to be around the FL/GA state line at 2AM on Saturday, pick up speed and be north of the PA state line at 2AM Sunday.
Depending on the size of the storm we may not see any real effects from the storm until 3PM or later. With that in mind, I don't see it having any impact on the organized driving part of the day. However, we may end up heading home in the rain, and with that in mind my suggestion would be to stick to the main roads on your return instead of exploring some of the back roads.
I will continue to watch the weather however, and should the situation change a decision will be made and posted here and on MINI2 and the Yahoo! e-mail groups no later than 9:30PM on Friday. Tropical Storm and Hurricane forecasts are released every 6 hours when there are active storms, and every 3 hours in areas where active watches or warnings are in effect. This will allow me the chance to look at the 5PM storm forecast, as well as the 8PM forecast is one is produced as well...

 

It looks like the storm will stay closer to Annapolis then Skylne. I'd still be up for the run, as I just changed my oil!

 

Given the reports I'm currently hearing, right now I'm less concerned with the actual weather during the run, I am however concerned about flooding along the route...

I will drive parts of the route tomorrow to see what things look like. If the route is in bad shape by tomorrow afternoon, or anything on the route looks questionable, I won't take any chances...

Again, expect a decision to be posted by 9:30 PM tomorrow...

 

The latest info I'm seeing from the National Hurricane Center shows Bonnie sliding more to the East, with the heavier rains staying east of DC.

Charlie's path up the eastern seaboard now looks to be slower than originally expected, it's now expected to be south of the FL/GA state line at 2 AM Saturday, and only around Richmond and dramitically weaker (sustained winds below 39MPH) by 2 AM Sunday.

This is a major change from the forecasts I was looking at 24 hours ago, which showed the storm still being at Tropical Storm strength at 2 AM Sunday and north of DC.

I had one of our club members express some concern over the ceilings and Skyline Drive, if the ceiling is too low, Skyline could be VERY foggy, so you might not be able to sightsee up there...

 

Just curious... someone mentioned Annapolis, but I thought we were starting near Sterling? Where's Skyline Drive? Does it go between the two? Am I missing something or remembering wrong?

As for bad weather... I'm not afraid of a little rain. If it's raining or foggy, we can just cruise & enjoy the route rather than "running" it...

Anybody ever see the "do good works" pop up window on the OL that shows a group of cars spread out in front of one lone tree with snow coming down? Kind of a stark scene? ...anyhow, that was one of our Chicago runs (Sebby & I are on the middle left) that ran into a little blizzard along the southern Wisconsin coast one Saturday... didn't stop us though -- just slowed us down a mite! The background would be Lake Michigan (if you could see it!)... Chicagoans are a hardly lot... : ) it was a fun cruise and a nice bit of 15 minutes to get our pictures up on MINIUSA.

 

Annapolis is in MD, but Skyline Drive is up in the mountains very far from Annapolis. It was merely another weather guesser chiming in with an opinion...

 

Is east of DC, Skyline Drive is to the west. They are about 120 miles or so apart. This drive does start in Sterling and head up to Skyline. Mike B, do you all have the route directions? Any chance we could get them posted before tommorrow morning?

Deb, when did you move to the DC area? Have you heard anything about MINICCA since our last phone meeting? (which was like many, many months ago!) Seth is trying to start up a chapter like DCMetroMinis in Richmond, which I think is a good idea. Not sure how it's coming along.

See you all tommorrow!
Mike

 

Hey Mike W, we have a little club in the making down here . Seth hasn't been able to make the last few events but I'm sure he will get involved when he can do so. Here are some links:

http://www.rivercityminis.org

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/rivercityminis/

Mike B, sorry to hijack your thread again


- Mike A

 

You can check the National Weather Service on this site.
http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iwszone3

It says that the area we are in (counties of: NELSON...ORANGE...KING GEORGE...GREENE...STAFFORD...MADISON...
CULPEPER...PAGE...RAPPAHANNOCK...FAUQUIER...WARREN ...SHENANDOAH...
CLARKE...LOUDOUN...ALBEMARLE...AUGUSTA...SPOTSYLVA NIA...
ROCKINGHAM...PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK...
ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA...FAIRFAX AND FREDERICK
COUNTIES...will be under a flood watch from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday with 2 - 4 inches of rain expected. The drive home might be a mess!

 

Charley hit land, upgraded to a Category 4 storm in Florida.

 

I'm not even going to bother to wait until 9.

THE RUN IS ON!!!!!!!

While there is a flood watch that will be going into effect tomorrow, the latest forecasts I've seen expect that there may be 1 rain storm pulling through at 8 AM, then clearing until the first rain bands from Charlie start to roll through close to 4:30 PM. The heavier rain isn't expected until later in the evening...

See you all either at MINI of Sterling at 8 AM or at Wegman's no later than 9!!! I'm going to leave orders with Sterling to kick everybody out by 8:45!!!!

 

The BMW CCA is having a driving school at Summit Point Racetrack tommorrow and Sunday. Anyone is welcome to come and watch students zip around in BMWs and even a few MINIs! A friend of mine will be there with his Porsche GT3...

 

Mike -- I am sad to say I've been in the DC area for just over a year and I'm still lost. I also lived here for about a year back in '94. With all that, I still don't know how to get anywhere. I miss the wonderful, flat grid system of roads that cover the midwestern states... so easy to get somewhere! Of course we don't have many twisties in Chicago... such are the trades in life... lost on the twisties or found on the gridwork... Hmmm... maybe DC isn't so bad after all... LOL

Did the guy who put the road signs up in DC ever hear of listing the road NAME on the sign rather than the tourist destination it goes nearest to??? Between that and the beltway traffic, it's a wonder any drivers are still sane out here!

As for the MINICCA, I think we should get our butts back in gear, but I haven't heard anything. Maybe we should make it happen ourselves? What do you say Mike?? Should we call up the gang & see?

I haven't met Seth IRL yet, but maybe I'll have to motor down & meet up with the River City MINIs... or maybe the DC MINIs should find a mid-way point and invite them to come out & play...

 

Deb, it was nice meeting you yesterday and chatting with you at Summit Point. You are welcome (as is anybody else who would like to come) to come down and play with we the River City MINI crew anytime!

- Mike A

 

So? How did it go on the drive? Did you guys have fun? Looks like we all dodged a major hurricane bullet...so far. Hope y'all had a safe and fun drive....and I want pictures!!!

 

Mike, thanks for the invite! I am definitely interested in motoring on down to play. Got any good twisties?? It was nice to meet you too and fun to see the BMWCCA in action too. And how about that GT3?? I heard only 750 were US bound so I feel lucky to have seen one in person. Wish we could have seen that on the track! You think Mike W. could talk Gary into it?? I check the stats and it does 0-60 in 4.3 sec! Man! Sweet car!

 

Yeah, seriously sweet car!!