Left Fontana on Monday. The copilot would not go back through the Dragon so we took the Cherohalo Skyway out instead. Drove up into thick fog. Ice had accumulated on the trees and grass. Then it started spitting little ice chunks which turned into snow. The fog never let up. Copilot lost her ability to produce recognizable speech but was still capable of many sounds, some of which were new to me. Was not as bad as she thought it was but I was happy that I had left on the all season tires. What a difference a day makes.

Great trip. The first time through the dragon was scary. I was a little apprehensive on the second. By the third I was smokin. What a rush.

 

We couldn't make the Spring trip, but looking forward to Fall Trip. There is a lot of information about the local cops there and harassment of sports cars and motorcycles on the Trail of the Dragon. Anybody have any feedback?

Rick

 

yeah we had no trouble with the cops....

 

The cops sat there and really didn't care what was going on. My wife and I were harassed by a kid on a Suzuki GSXR in the middle of the Dragon. He cut me off and stopped me and threatened to pull me out of the car because I messed up his speed trial. That is a state highway with a posted speed limit which no one heeds. I was glad that I didn't have to use any deadly force to curtail his advances. Other than that I crossed it several times while we were down there with no problems.

 

I didn't feel harrassed at all. I think the people that are doing the whining about the cops are the knuckleheads that can't control their 15-year-old-boy urges to do stupid things.

You exceed the speed limit, and you get a speeding ticket.
You pass in a no passing zone. You get a ticket.
You cross the center line, you get a ticket.

All of those things can get someone killed. You go to pass and you could run over a motorcyclist coming around the bend that you can't see. Same goes for crossing the center line. Speeding is another matter. What happens when you're smoking around those curves and come upon an accident. Now you can't stop in time, and someone gets hurt.

There's not much margin for error on the Dragon. The cops know it and they're trying to keep people from getting hurt. Several people have died there, and most of the deaths were avoidable if drivers had been obeying the law.

I got pulled over on my way out of the dragon. I was speeding. I knew it. Did I get harrassed? Nope. The officer was professional, polite and he even gave me a warning rather than a ticket. Why? I don't know, but I like to think it was because I was honest, admitted what I did, and I wasn't a jerk and didn't give him any attitude. I also wasn't being ridiculous - such as 30 or 40 mph over the limit, or weaving in and out of traffic.

 

Hey Tom that wasn't after you passed me on the way home was it?

 

LOL. Nope, but I should've had a ticket for that.

 

OMG - Sooo sorry to hear that (moment of silence please). Good to see that you are well enough to go online. Hope to hear from him soon.

 

I was thinking about our weekend and realized there is an unsung hero amongst us. This person put a lot of work into our "good time" not only before but while we were all laying around having fun (OK not laying around but you get the point).
THANK YOU LISA/MSXFIRE! for your personal time at home arranging the food, phone calls and using your professional chief skills. Gary and I arrived late to the BBQ to find you standing at a hot grill, cooking and getting greasy. The food was as good as any , I heard many pleased members who mentioned it wasn't a "mass restaurant BBQ" meal.
It's 4:00pm now the family is hungry and I don't have any meal cooking so.............get over here woman! YF Ann

 

We didn't see much in the way of police on the dragon itself. But, they were quite prevalent in other areas. Reasonable, as that is where RV's boat trailers and the locals drive.
As for teh Dragon itself, they just want everyone to be safe. Mostle speed above the limit is acceptable. Reckless driving is not. Last fall our encounter with the law was quite friendly. The dealt with the guy who was driving over the yellow line severely (not a crossfire) and told us "we want you guys to have fun here." The whole time we were stopped, the superchargers were heard screaming up the hill. No one got a ticket.

Later in the day, we passed them doing well above the limit and got......a wave.

Safe and prudent seemed to be good enough. That means, courtesy and stay off the yellow lines.


roadster with a stick

 

Gary,

My reservation for the Fall Dragon is in. See you all there.


roadster with a stick

 

I wish I could go in the fall ... one weekend earlier or later & I would be good, but can't miss the last day of the month in the car biz! Maybe I should quit my job ....

 

I even spoke to one of the deputys on the way out...they are doing their job...and it isn't easy for them either...they will act as you act...you do something dangerous, you will get a ticket...if you are reasonable, they will be reasonable...they know we are all bringing revenue to their otherwise poor county...his last remarks as we were making friends, one cop to another, was "well did have fun while you were down here?" and that's a quote, and my answer was a big yes sir, I did...

 

I am proud to say I (joanna) slayed the Dragon for the frist time!!Also I wanted to say how proud we were of our youngest driver Tray and what a geat job he did slaying the dragon.Way to go Tray!

 

Now that's a bit of sad news. I was looking forward to seeing you and the yellow roadster again. You're both kinda purdy.

Find a way Kim or we'll all talk about you on the deck smoking cigars and drinking single malt.

roadster with a stick

 

LOL!

Next time, Al, try taking the copilot through the Dragon with the "aggresive" group of drivers & then let us know if she comes up with any new sounds !

I heard that Robbinsville got 12" of snow yesterday per the Weather Channel!

 

Travis, keep us up to date on how Eric is doing!!!

 

I have an idea: quit your job the week before and spend two weeks at the dragon!!

 

That's priceless, Al. Send your copilot for a ride with Doc. She'll learn a true appreciation for your driving!!

 

Since I got several PM's about Eric's and my stressfull experience I am just gonna paste my reply here:

Well Eric and I were on our way back and around 9:00am(Monday) we hydroplaned towards oncoming traffic at 60mph. He cranked the wheel right and when we hit the grass median it(the car) flew right, back across two lanes and slid sideways into a tree at(my guess) 35mph. We ended up with the driverside about 2 feet up the tree and I blacked out, I remember sitting in the car looking "up" at him and his face covered in blood dripping onto my jacket. I remember some of the ambulance ride and him asking me to call his wife... Around 10:30am I got to the hospital and was able to call his wife and my mother... To make a long story short he got 12 stitches and 4 staples, I got 5 stitches. The SRT6 got a convertible conversion, along with a chopped top and was put on an atkins diet where it went from a size 6 to a size 0.

I was gonna wait for him to post but as of yesterday around noon he was having very intense back pain and had to go back to the hospital. His face looked like his forhead was malled by a dog.

As for me my right eyebrow is cut nicely, my left knee is hurt badly from being jammed into the center console, my left arm(bicep area) is very sore, my back is not happy with me and my neck reminds me every time I blink that it doesnt want to move, aside from that and a few cuts on my hand I think I am ok.