The weekend was a productive, albeit spendy one. It seemed we were variously driving all over Pennsylvania for different reasons. On Saturday night we decided mostly at the last minute to drive over to Harrisburg and the Brownstone for their 'Bear Night'. Got to see some folks we hadn't seen in ages, which was a pleasant surprise. The place was ( Read more... )

I bet y'all didnt even miss me, or notice my absence for the past six days.

It was that time again, where I drive for over 500 miles to get to a place where I drive like a maniac in 11 mile or so increments along with several hundred other like-minded folk. It was the sixth installment of MINIs On The Dragon, and my fifth time there. The Tail Of ( Read more... )

I got the car all finished up tonight. I had assembled everything save for the inner fender liners and tires yesterday, leaving this evening for refilling various fluids, the remaining assembly and detailing, and the final checkups. Looks good for the big trip. Tomorrow is a shakedown cruise driving to and from work, one last check of fluid levels ( Read more... )

I managed to find (and lift) some proofs frome Killboy's photo store of me having the Dragon to myself. These times were not very plentiful given the sheer amount of people in 'town' for the weekend. This I believe was from a run on Thursday.


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1450-some miles? Done ( Read more... )

It's full of curves, switchbacks and blind corners. Elevations changes. Walls of solid rock and precipitous, unguarded dropoffs. 318 turns in eleven and a half miles. Exhilirating, fun, scenic and very dangerous.

It's that time again. Time to slay the Dragon. Tomorrow morning I once again join a growing contingent of Mini Cooper owners for a long ( Read more... )

A very busy weekend for us. On Saturday lot of my time was spent prepping the Mini Cooper for my annual trek to the Tail Of The Dragon. A separate post about this is in the wings, since there is a bit more to it than burning up tires, brakes, gas and chasing bikers on their crotch rockets. It's emotional this time. Jeff and I scooted off for a ( Read more... )

I'm really not ignoring you folks. Honest.

By now most have figured out my posting modus operandi. Late night post before hitting the sack in most cases, and any return comments happen the next day. With things being the way they have been lately, I've been too busy and quite often avoiding computerized social contact for fear of being a wholesale ( Read more... )

I had a great time down in NC/TN with the MINIs, dragons and good friends, as did Jeff (who sadly didnt win the Chili Cookoff, but instead won the 50/50 Raffle). Little Bear was a hit, he could not have been a better dog. The mods to the car made ripping up the road a razor-sharp, pleasing experience. I'll try to update this a bit later after I ( Read more... )

Me.

Yep, it's that time of the year again. Time to head down south to NC and the Tail of the Dragon, aka US129, which runs along the Smokey Mountains from NC to TN. 318 delicious switchback and sweeping turns in 11.8 miles of asphalt nirvana. This time Jeff and Bear are braving the trip. This year there is at least 650 (omg) people attending, ( Read more... )