Jim Frary first time attendee. also new to this Forum. I will be getting in Thursday 29th. and leaving out Sunday 10-2. Sorry for the late notice but work had me chained down.

 

Well, Welcome! First timers make it all worth it, as I often have said. NO issues with late notice - Hell, I didn't get time off till yesterday and only booked my flight on Monday - and Im supposedly running the show!

I am just amazed people are getting rooms. The Lodge has told me repeatedly that the place is booked, back as far as three weeks ago.
OBVIOUSLY they are getting cancellations, that, or they never were booked in the first place, but they've never lied about it before.

 

Anyone who can't get a room, message me or Gary (VALK). For what ever reason, there appears to be a lot of cancellations outside our group this year. We have had the normal 5 or 6 cancellations, but rooms are opening up more than that.

 

UGGHHHH,............

The Skyway is being "peastoned" as I call it. They spread hot tar and then stones on the road and let traffic press the stones into the pavement. This leads to speed limits of about 25-30 and a lot of chipped paint and cracked windshields. For this reason, for the first time ever, there will be no organized runs on the skyway. Leads planning such routes have altered their plans, myself included.

One alternative is to take the Dragon/TN72 to Vonyure and come back that way as well - not a bad option.
As for me, I will run to "Wheels Thru Time" via my "Mark's Mystery Tour" route to provide a new experience to an old destination.
Others are going in totally different directions, this interruption may turn out to be a blessing.

 

Ssquill13 - Scott and Rachel - New Albany, IN - Thursday PM to Sunday Am

 

I'll get you on the list in a minute here.. WOW do we have a lot of first-timers.
Sure is WEIRD people are getting rooms. SOMETHING is going on at the lodge........

 

From Vonore, I'd probably stay on 411 south to 68; turn left & then down to Tellico Plains. Take a rest stop at the Cherohala Skyway Visitor Center. From there take 360 heading north back to 411; then onto 72 and make your way back to 129, thru the Dragon, turn left on Hellbender 28 and travel back to Fontana Lodge. At least the scenery would be a little different. FWIW

Or maybe one of the old, original northern routes from years way back. The Skyway isn't in play on these routes.

 

Yea, MDH is offering a variation on those 'northern runs'.
Wildmans are going around the Skyway via Andrews/Murphy and up to Tellico.
On Saturday (for the first time ever) I won't do the Skyway, I'll go to Wheels Thru Time via 'Marks mystery tour" route.
Zach is going to Ocoee, TN; which sounds interesting.

We can have fun without the Skyway. Im just glad we found out about this last weekend and have had time to plan. With so many new people, we will have a wonderful time, I am sure.

 

Welcome to the forum from Lafayette In. Good to see another "hoosier" on here. I hope to meet you at the dragon event.

 

Just 1 week away now for our last organized Dragon event
See all there is to know about this years current event right here >> www.crossfires.org

This year’s Crossfires at the Dragon brings the end of an era, as this will be our final year at Fontana Dam, NC.
Do not book a room for next year, as we will be in a new location that will be announced in the coming months.

 

WEATHER NOTICE AND TIRES.......Sunday, Sept. 25th. Weather forecast for Fri-Sun of Dragon wknd is for rain all 4 days. So that means now it will probably be a beautiful sunny Fall wknd! Hurricane Ian track predicted ..Tampa, Daytona and from there up the Atlantic coast of GA, SC, NC & VA. Rain bands spin off may reach inland as far as TN. Inspect all of your tires to insure plenty of tread remain. Inflate to proper pressures when cold. Early mornings at Fontana are often in the 50's. Your tire pressure will drop 1 PSI for every 10 degrees in temperature drop (rule of thumb). Nitrogen filled not quite as much. Even 1 degree pressure change affects tire handling performance. If you don't believe that ask race car drivers, they change pressures by as little as 1/2 of a degree for changes in handling. Watch out for leaves in the roadways, especially when wet, loss of traction is instantaneous in the curves. BE SAFE HAVE FUN!

 

good advice ,

 

CRP Group Sales has graciously agreed to extend the Discounted Ticket Price for Adults to us even though less than the 15 required attendees have signed up. So if any of those attending the XFire ToD GTG this coming weekend are" riding the fence" on whether you want to participate, you can sign up either this week or at Fontana Lodge on Thursday evening & still enter CRP at the discounted adult price ($14 / adult).

 

Three more participants have made a commitment to join our Chimney Rock Park Crossfire Run on 09/30/2021. We're probably going to be driving in rain over & back. We can discuss Thursday evening whether we want to actually do this as trekking around Chimney Rock in the rain, and what looks like a significant rain, may not be an activity we want to partake in. CRP could even be closed due to this storm moving thru, but I probably won't here from CRP until sometime on WED or THU.

 

Unfortunately it appears the hurt is heading directly for our home so we are hunkering down and I need to cancel our participation for this weekend. We have a room in the lodge and can hopefully transfer it to anyone who needs a room. If not, I will try to c@ncel.
we were so looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing your cars and how mine compares. Have a great weekend and we will be there next t8me!

 

You are cancellation #4 in the last 48 hours. We have (had) a lot of FL people attending, I don't think ANY are coming now.....

If it were me, I'd have left Florida today and extended my stay in the safety of North Carolina. But then, I won't live where I must run from my own home every hurricane season.

SIDE NOTE: I am flying in, there is a high degree of possibility my flight wont be allowed to land. In fact, I am half-expecting it to be cancelled alltogether.

 

Hello! I'm in Florida and I have to prepare for a Hurricane coming straight here so I am unable to make the trip. I have reserved a room for Thursday, September 29 thru Monday, October 3, 2022, 4 nights. I had to cancel and the hotel refunded deposit because of the Hurricane! Betty survived the storm. A lot of people loss not only their car but their homes too. It's very, very bad in Orlando, FL. Worse on west coast of Florida. Enjoy the weekend and please send out positive vibes to Florida. Hope to meet up next year!

 

Stay home & stay safe!

 

THey'd be safer with us in North Carolina!

Anyway, the storm has slowed down, now looks like THurs/Fri will be pretty good days for us. But we are making plans for indoor activities for Saturday and Sunday (I found a list of museums in the area and its a longer list than I thought).

 

I was thinking the same thing, they may have to evacuate anyway?