We always feel better when we confirm in our head what our intuition already was telling us.

 

pictures at the dragon

 

I got home at 3:10pm. I did the trip home in 9:55 - my fastest time yet!

Thank you to everyone who participated in a great weekend in the mountains! We had a fantastic time and you guys make that happen. I special thank you to Jonathan (Pacemaker) who put together a great Easter service and spoke at the memorial service for Barb.

I think that I counted 29 XF's, 1 MB, 1 Toyota Corolla & 1 rental Sentra. We had several non-members join us as well. They found our event thru notices on other sites. They are great folks & seemed to be sold on our crazy little tribe. The guy in the red SE was named Ron. I would be more than happy to pass information to him if someone wants to contact him. I think that he will join soon.

I had a great time and it is a whole lot different up there in an SRT. I was looking thru the few pics that have been posted & its a whole lot harder to spot your XF when its not yellow!!!!

Every Dragon has a slew of inside jokes that emerge and this time was no different! The walker, jungle juice, Jim the enforcer, Marc's sucking lessons or Frankenstein shoes, Viper p.j.'s, Howard's roadside mechanic stop, Nick's community outreach program and wine chess are just a few of the little gems that came out of this Dragon.

Thanks to Franc, Evan & Gary for the great Hellbender run Sunday!!!

 

On the way, before Bryson City, I stopped and was taking pictures as 3 Genesis coupes passed by and gave friendly honks, made my day! Returned the favor and I waved at each of the Gen-coupe on the GTG!

Arrived at Fontana Thu cloudy afternoon with some light rain – after caught driving in downpours for the first time ever in SRT-6 just after Ashville, but got to confirm my wiper blades worked perfectly and no leakage! The rest of the drive and stay was beautiful weather. Memorable and Awesome time meeting and talking with many of you, again, or for the first time.

My 3rd trips driving the Tail of The Dragon and my first with SRT-6. Love the Franklin drive. Have fun again following Kim in her graphite SRT! Got home Sun afternoon, just enough time to clean up the messy bra, but no tickets, no breakage! Thank you to each and everyone for absolutely perfect 2012 Spring Dragon!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It was great to see you again Han! You always come to the Dragon with a great attitude and a terrific sense of humor! It was great eating dinner with you Saturday night.

 

We all joined up at 7pm for dinner of the front deck of the Wildwood Grill at Fontana Lodge.

 

Kim,
Great to know that you’re home sound and safe, take good care yourself, because we already look forward to next spring GTG!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Could it be his friend from the Dragon?!?

 

That would be him. What a ****** bag.

Here's a couple pics from my journey

 

Add two cross supports,then strap on a toilet seat. Make a mighty fine Porta John. That's if Franc doesn't want it anymore. Squirrel Crusher

 

He wasn't the only one out there, we met up with one on a bike like that on Sunday.

 

After a sweet run on the Cherahoah, Evan and I ,along with Thirteen Dog and Justin did a run across the mid section of rural Tennessee todayton and then US 30 to 111 and Cookville. Awesome fun.
Evan and imade it home to St Louis about 7:30.

All with no tickets.

Got to the house , a few moments with the wife and a phone call from work.

I'm on the job tonite.

But it's OKAY! I got my Dragontime with my friends. And I am COOL!

Thanks all for a great Dragon week end and thanks KimPossible for setting it up. And thanks Kim for one of the best Hellbender runs I have ever had. With your Graphite SRT running the turns so well, I often thought it was Jane Bridges driving in front of me.

Excellent driving.

Ol Doc, that's three ladies I know driving SRT's that can kick your @ss onthe Dragon/Hellbender

 

Here are my pics from the GTG >>> Spring Dragon 2012 on Facebook

 

Thanks again to everyone for an awesome time, it truly was a great 'return' trip to the Dragon.

The car was fast and true - she treated us well. A BIG thanks to Nick for leading the 'oh ****' group on Saturday, it was some of the hardest pushing I have done in an XF and had an absolute blast out there.

Many inside jokes and good laughs were had by old and new friends alike.

'Twisted Walker' is going to become the newest, hottest run

 

And I continue to learn and get better and faster. It's a process that I am enjoying the hell out of.

But al friend is telling me that if you guys (including Kim) are not teaching me "heel and toe", then you don't know what the hell you are doing.




How do I respond to him?

 

Unless you have a standard transmission, and it is my understanding that most of the XF were made w/auto trans, you cannot "heel & toe". It is a racing technique of blipping the throttle/braking to downshift. Your pedals also have to be set up so that this tech is easy to do. Also, if your friend knows you have a auto trans in your XF and said this, maybe HE doesn't know what the hell He's talking about. So unless you have one of the few manual transmissions in a XF, don't worry about it.
Modern Racer - Driving Tips - Heel-and-Toe Downshift

 

You need to learn how to properly enter and exit a corner before learning heel/toe method. Remind him we're not racing.

 

And the dragon is not somewhere to try and learn heel toe downshifting.

 

I don't think that an internet know-it-all cares about the facts, Nick.




But I DO need help with entering and exiting corners. I KNOW THAT!!!

I will thank you in advance for your mentoring this fall...



I arrive Thursday evening and will be staying till Monday.

 

Mine is a stick, and he knows that. THanks for the link, and I see how it would be easier on the car IF I was shifting a lot, which, so far, I don't think I am.

I will leave it to others to comment on the validity of learning this method, but so far, I am with Nick. I have other stuff to learn first, and we aren't really racing. (Riding with Nick Sunday really drove that point home... Such a smooth ride!)
Besides, at this point, I run most of the Dragon in 3rd, with only going down to 2nd in about, oh, 3 or 4 curves. But then, maybe that is where some of my time can be cut, as I'm not accelerating as fast as I think I should be - I really saw that this weekend.

Learning ANYTHING is a process, one I am really enjoying in the car, AND in my study of Japanese!

Arigato gozaimasu !