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@Michael McKelvey - Here you go.

I put together a list with a few caveats.

  • Lane Anderson
  • Leon Chupp
  • Mike and Jian Ping McKelvey
  • Marty and Sandy Grzckowicz
  • Phil Leubbert (is it "eu" or "ue"?.  I can never remember.)
  • Joe Fortino
  • John Hallstrand (For a cruise or two)
  • Cory and Jeni Drake
  • Stan and Jeannie Galat
  • Danny Piperato and Michelle Parisi
  • Tom Boney
  • Tom Blankinship (I think, but am not sure.  @Tom Blankinship?)
  • Mike Warjas and Dianne Croxford (If they can make it.  They have some hurricane damage to deal with.)
  • Kelly Frazer
  • Carlos G
  • Pieter Van Rossum (Possibly for the cruises.  Not staying at the hotel and has not gotten back to me, but I expect to see him.)
  • Jack and Alice Crosby
  • Greg (Wolfgang) Seitz
  • Ron and Maddie Mullis
  • Rich and Thatsana Drewek
Last edited by Lane Anderson
WOLFGANG posted:

Add my wife Patti to list - I did provide Mike my email/cell phone via a PM

Wolfgang, gotcha covered for Thurs Night---and everyone on the list Lane just posted.  We can get a final count Thurs morning, 9/27.  Except for the usual late summer rains mixed with sunny days, the Maggie Valley/Asheville area should be  high and dry.

On Friday is the Dragon/ Cherohala loop.  Some wish to drive back to Maggie Valley after traveling west on the Dragon.  These folks will go back east through the Dragon and then back to the hotel or lunch or whatever.  The rest of us will continue to the Cherohala.  9 miles west of the Dragon is Dragon Pitt BBQ.  I thought we would stop there before venturing on to the Cherohala.  Folks heading back to Maggie Valley could also join the rest of us for lunch at Dragon Pitt BBQ.  It only 9 miles west of the Dragon.  We will probably still stop at the river just west of the Dragon to game plan.

http://www.dragonpittinnandbbq.com/wp/bbq/

Gentlemen (and Cory), really bummed that I will not see you next weekend as I will be attending Rennsport (a mega PCA event) at Laguna Seca on the left coast. A trip with you guys is always a blast. Seeing that Cory, Lane, Leon, Ron, etc will be in attendance, I know it will be great fun.

Perhaps I will  monitor the NC Highway Patrol FB page to see what you guys get into ?!?!

Thursday's "Rattler Run" is pretty short-- Google Maps says it's about 75 minutes from the Maggie Valley Creekside Inn up to Hot Springs.

There's a diner next door to the Inn, so I would assume everybody will waddle over and back in little groups. Leon will be up, dressed and ready to go at 4:15 AM, and I'm pretty sure Jeanie will skip the whole thing altogether. There is no formality to grits and sour-dough toast, so find somebody you'd be OK spending an hour with over bad coffee, and get-'r-done.

We'll probably leave base-camp around 10:00 AM or so to accommodate Cory's need to replace something on his car (a part that won't fit, doubtless) in the parking lot. Lane's lonely dachshunds should have plenty of time to stretch their stubby little legs, assuming Lane can make it to his own party. 

Everybody should have time for their morning constitutional, to go for a brisk run, get gas, properly air up the tires (22 psi? 22-1/2 psi? whatever it takes), dial in more rebound on their shocks, re-jet their carbs, defragment their hard-drives, get propane for the camp-stove, buy c-store fountain pops and Red Bull, purchase bottle rockets, re-string their banjos, and stow the K-rations and fire shovels.

Leaving on the first day is like herding cats, but we'll try to have it all together by mid-morning.

There's a couple of bar/grill-type places in Hot Springs. I would assume it's going to take a group our size a bit to find our places in the world, and eat our fill of onion rings and greasy food. I'd suspect we'll be ready to pull out at 1:30- 2:00 PM.

Last year, we just ran The Rattler in reverse, which was great. That'd put everybody back in their rooms around 3:00 PM. If our time looks OK, I may try another route back to the stable, because I hate to backtrack. If we're pressed for time, we'll just head back the way we came. I want everybody to have a chance to get cleaned up for the evening. I'll work on this over the next week.

Regardless, this will give everybody a chance to have the menservants brush their tuxes and wipe down the spats for the big night out in Asheville.  We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll be moved. We'll tear up the town, wining and dining and carrying on till all hours of 7:00 or so, at which point we'll head back to Lane's Campfire 'o Love and Storytellin'. With any luck, I will have drifted off to nod by 10:00 or so.

The next day, Doc Luebert is charge, and there'll be no such lollygagging and carrying on. The Dragon and Chernobyl Meltdown Loop  will allow no such tomfoolery. We'll need to leave quite a bit earlier.

... but you are all coming to drive, no?

Last edited by Stan Galat

Listen, I have to hear all this weather crap every year on the Carlisle thread.

The point is, thunderstorms and/or rain has been forecast EVERY DAY all summer there, isn't that what Carlos said?

As we get closer, there is more certainty of what it should be like. Why don't we all wait until next Tuesday to panic?

If you were going to call the hotel and cancel, you can do so up until 3 p.m. on Tuesday if your reservation starts Wednesday afternoon. I'm thinking you've got a whole week to fret and get your panties in a bunch before you may have to make the call.

We're coming. I don't care what the forecast is, short of another hurricane turned tropical storm next week.

Last edited by DannyP
DannyP posted:

Listen, I have to hear all this weather crap every year on the Carlisle thread.

The point is, thunderstorms and/or rain has been forecast EVERY DAY all summer there, isn't that what Carlos said?

That is what Carlos said.

He also said that the weather up there has been highly unusual, and that it has indeed rained nearly every day. I believe the Maggie Valley is at 2x the average rainfall for the entire year already (in September).

The reason everybody talks about rain at Carlisle every year is because it rains more often than not in Pennsylvania in May. I love driving my car, but there is no joy in driving a Speedster, through the rain, top up (for 2 days), to sit in the rain, to drive home through the rain, top up (for 2 more days).

That’s why this particular event has been scheduled where/when it has. Rain really does make a “driving” event into an ordeal, rather than a vacation. Keeping a watchful eye on the sky is a legitimate exercise.

You are free to do as you wish. I’ve said from the beginning that a life-threatening illness or a high probability of rain are the only two things that would keep me away.

Right now, we’re at a 50% probability every day. That will likely shift a bit as the time approaches. If it stays there, I’ll risk it. If the probability increases, I’ll revaluate. 

Last edited by Stan Galat

Maggie Valley is not very far from where I live. It indeed has been the rainiest summer in memory. However, it’s not unusual to see a forecast of rain in the south during the summer. It just goes with program. Unless we have a major system heading our way, I would take any forecast this far out with a huge grain of salt. 

BTW, the weather has been typical for the last couple of weeks. Beautiful in the morning and hot in the afternoon. No rain. 

Driving in the the rain sucks. A very modest investment in a trailer was the one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.  

 

 

 

 

Stan says "there is no joy in driving a Speedster, through the rain, top up (for 2 days), to sit in the rain, to drive home through the rain, top up (for 2 more days)."

I feel the same way.  But, we are coming no matter what the forecast.  If the precipitation probability stays at 50 or 60 I won't drive my Speedster.  Then I will feel really bad if the sun is out.  I have to decide by Saturday morning since we are coming early.

The nude dancing reminds me of when Ann Arbor had its own version of a nude beach.

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