Its less than a month away and I want to put together a caravan down to NICOFEST at the Dragon. I'm curious who would be interested in this. I live in northeast Pennsylvania and was planning on taking 81S so whether you're coming from north of me or interested in meeting on the way south we should be able to work something out. If things go as they should theres already 2 cars driving down with me. The big question is when were you planning on leaving to go down?

The wife and I are heading down Thursday night, driving as far as we feel comfortable then finishing the trip Friday. We live in Collegeville PA so we'd most likely take 81S too.

We were talking about leaving thursday as well. Is it safe to assume you'd take 76 over to 81 and were you planning on driving straight down? I'd really like to get some time in on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This is just an idea. Its more driving but its driving on some of the most beautiful roads in the country and it would take us in through the Dragon.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Wilke ... mra=ls&z=6

hey guys. I like the idea of a caravan. iIm from PA as well (near harrisburg), Im thinking right now that I will leave after work on thursday night and head down on I-81, drive as far as I feel I can, sleep in the car at a truckstop. friday morning I plan on heading over east of Fontana (Asheville area) and do a short 6 mile hike up MT Mitchell.

Maxentrophy, what time on thursday night do you plan to leave?

Since we are leaving Thursday night, I don't want to drive any of skyline drive at night... there is no point. What I am thinking is to drive thursday night (4 hours from me in collegeville, pa) to a hotel/motel/b+b near the start of skyline drive and all meet up there at 7AM to begin our drive south through skyline drive and blue ridge prkwy. we can caravan slow and easy through there and enjoy the gorgeous views.

It takes ~5.5 hrs to drive that scenic route you highlighted on google maps. It would be fun and a great drive but the speed limit is 35 compared to I-81's 55 or 65 limit. I think I may take that route but do less of it perhaps and cut back to 81 sooner. If you all agree to shorten the trip a bit and cut back with me we can caravan the rest of the way or folks can split up-- some continuing on scenic route and others cutting back to 81.

if we did not cut to 81 early, leaving together at 7am, driving 5.5 hrs nonstop would put you at completing the scenic drive at 12:30pm. From there it is another 6.5 hours to Fontana Village. So nonstop again you are talking 7PM arrival at Fontana Village.

Bear in mind that my wife is coming with me and she is due to give birth in November. There is no way we are making it without any pitstops-- my guess is 1 every two hours.

Looking over my notes I'm sure I will need to cut down my time on skyline drive. May actually have to take of Thursday too, lol. This is quite the trip.

I completely agree with you about driving any of Skyline at night. When I had first thought this up back in March my girlfriend and I had talked about taking Thursday off as well and doing the whole thing in 2 days. That leaves plenty of time to take breaks and sight see. My girlfriend may not be pregnant but shes still a chick... who just happens to enjoy road trips. My brother is driving down as well (WRX) and is open to anything.

I'm completely open to suggestions and am OK with cutting out sections of either/both Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. If people wanted to drive down to Front Royal, Va. (the start of Skyline Drive) Thursday night and get a start early in the morning that could work too. There's plenty of places to stay in Front Royal and I'm sure it would be relatively inexpensive. Max, I checked and that's almost exactly 4 hours (according to Google so it would probably be a little less) for both you and I. VQ, you'd have a short shift of a little more than 2.5 if you were interested.

All that being said, if there's interest in doing the whole thing over 2 days while enjoying all the touristy bits let me know. That version of the trip is EASY.

Unless you're doing plan B saturday we don't drive the Cherohala at all and since there still isn't a plan for Monday I was hoping to get out of there with enough time to take part of Moonshiner 28 then cut over to the Cherohala Skyway. After all that I'm going to be looking for the straightest 4 lane road home, haha. Thoughts?

http://www.tailofthedragonmaps.com/maps ... _loop.html

Max you don't have to chime in on that one since I'm already jealous that you're heading to the outer banks.....

I will def drive the I-81 section with you guys however I may break away in Virginina and head down 77 south to 40 to get to the Pigsah Forest Area. As much as I want to drive skyline drive I would rather climb the highest mountain east of the mississippi. I will add drive time to my trip by doing this, 10 hrs to Mount mitchell and then just shy of 3 hrs to get to fontana village.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mitchell

I am going with the gatlinburg, clingmans dome, dragon on sunday. I will not be going to the Biltmore Estate on sunday

DrewH wrote:Unless you're doing plan B saturday we don't drive the Cherohala at all and since there still isn't a plan for Monday I was hoping to get out of there with enough time to take part of Moonshiner 28 then cut over to the Cherohala Skyway. After all that I'm going to be looking for the straightest 4 lane road home, haha. Thoughts?

http://www.tailofthedragonmaps.com/maps ... _loop.html

Max you don't have to chime in on that one since I'm already jealous that you're heading to the outer banks.....

hahaha, you could always bring the girlfriend and come with us! The wife and I don't have set plans on when we need to get to OBX, so we may be down for more touristy fun stuff on Monday if you don't mind the company.

As far as the drive down-- my honest opinion would be that it would be great to head down there early Thursday morning, get to Skyline around noon, eat lunch and meet with the others, drive skyline dr and blue ridge prkwy, and stop over thursday night (9pm or so) somewhere along 81... which would put us about at only ~6 hours out... I'd have to see if both the wife and I could take thurs off and not sure how that would work for others... meeting @ the start of skyline drive around noon thursday... just an idea

If we meet Friday morning at the start of skyline dr, we are not going to get to Fontana until 9-10pm most likely... (with added potty stops and kodak moments) plus we are gonna be exhausted! haha

I talked to my wife last night and she said she didn't want to caravan down due to the fact we'll probably be stopping often for potty breaks and kodak moments. We just don't want to hold folks up and want to take the drive at our own pace. We will meet up with you all down there-- but we're open to ideas for Monday! Keep the thread going.

I live a little over 2 hours from The Dragon and make the drive from Johnson City, TN to Asheville, NC for work. I'll be happy to hook up with the caravan at the I-81/I-26 interchange and play guide/escort through Asheville once there's a time everyone agrees on.

I'm planning on leaving sometime on Friday morning / afternoon. I think check-in time at Fontana is 3PM so I don't want to get there too early.

If anyone has two-way radios bring them so we can pick a channel and can keep contact throughout the group.

Speaking of radios- I've got a mini/personal CB. Let me know what channel you all want to use.

I'm so used to using FRS radios on these kinds of trips but have been considering picking up a portable CB. I guess the only reason I haven't picked one up already is because I just cringe when I think about the antenna stuck to my car with a strong a** magnet. As this gets closer I'm sure we'll have all the little details squared away. It seemed like it took forever to get here but now its only 16 days away.

DrewH wrote:I just cringe when I think about the antenna stuck to my car with a strong a** magnet.

If you're concerned with scratches just use a thin piece of fabric between the magnet and your car.

what time is the caravan planning to get there friday? Im planning on getting there between 6 and 7

tigersharkdude wrote:what time is the caravan planning to get there friday? Im planning on getting there between 6 and 7

As of right now its only going to be me and the gf in my SER and my brother in his WRX but we're planning on getting there around the same 6-7 time frame.

BusyBadger wrote:If you're concerned with scratches just use a thin piece of fabric between the magnet and your car.

I might just try that but one way or another I'll figure something out if I do go the CB route. Regardless we'll be bringing 2-way radios.

Let me know if anyone else will have a CB, otherwise I won't put mine up. They are cheap and a great way to talk to each other long distance to meet up. 2 way radios only work a few miles out... if that... but are great for communication for a set caravan where you aren't far away.

Since I'm doing the road down at our own pace, just figured CB would be a great way to talk to each other to ensure the road looks good ahead, etc

I'll have the CB in my truck. I'll be heading down late Thursday night from from Albany, NY to pick up my truck, trailer, and 240sx in PA

d356bud wrote:I'll have the CB in my truck. I'll be heading down late Thursday night from from Albany, NY to pick up my truck, trailer, and 240sx in PA

Roger, let me know what channel you recommend. We'll be leaving Thursday and finishing the trip Friday-- taking 81S the majority of the way down. PS- My wife's originally from Hudson. You've got quite the haul down here. Drive safe!

maxentropy wrote:

d356bud wrote:I'll have the CB in my truck. I'll be heading down late Thursday night from from Albany, NY to pick up my truck, trailer, and 240sx in PA

Roger, let me know what channel you recommend. We'll be leaving Thursday and finishing the trip Friday-- taking 81S the majority of the way down. PS- My wife's originally from Hudson. You've got quite the haul down here. Drive safe!

Same here I'll be taking pretty much the same route as last year (81S for the vast majority of it), but instead I'll be leaving Thursday night rather than driving it all in one day. I'd say channel 3 is pretty much open, I rarely ever hear anyone on it in PA or in NY.

Sounds good. I'll go by "Max" on the CB channel 3. We will also be starting the trek Thursday night most likely around 5 or 6--- even though I hope to leave sooner.

Has anyone worked out any sort of schedule yet about when they're getting down to Fontana Village? Figure we're close enough to arrival time that we might want to work out some informal schedule. I'll be more than happy to hook up with the southbound crew at the I-81/I-26 interchange.

That interchange is just under 3 hours from our destination so tentatively we could meet there 3:30-4:00 and ride the rest of the way down together if you would like.

maxentropy wrote:Sounds good. I'll go by "Max" on the CB channel 3. We will also be starting the trek Thursday night most likely around 5 or 6--- even though I hope to leave sooner.

I'll probably start heading down around 5 maybe a little sooner from PA. I should be down near Harrisburg around 8 or so. You can reach me by asking for "Allen" on chan 3.

DrewH wrote:That interchange is just under 3 hours from our destination so tentatively we could meet there 3:30-4:00 and ride the rest of the way down together if you would like.

BusyBadger wrote:Has anyone worked out any sort of schedule yet about when they're getting down to Fontana Village? Figure we're close enough to arrival time that we might want to work out some informal schedule. I'll be more than happy to hook up with the southbound crew at the I-81/I-26 interchange.

I think I'm planning to be down at Fontana by at least 4 maybe sooner. Last year it took 14 hrs or so with gas stops to go from Binghamton, NY to there. So I'm planning on about the same amount of time.

Just a heads up- we are leaving Thursday late morning now so will most likely be slightly ahead of the pack. As I said, will have CB on channel 3, but we'll see what distance we can reach with it.

DrewH wrote:That interchange is just under 3 hours from our destination so tentatively we could meet there 3:30-4:00 and ride the rest of the way down together if you would like.

Check-in at Fontana is at 3PM so I was figuring on being there shortly before/after that. Guess I'll see you when you get there.

Never know though...there's always something that comes up last minute. Might end up seeing you out on the road despite my early departure plans.

My email said 4 pm check in, but then again we have a Willow Cabin...

maxentropy wrote:My email said 4 pm check in, but then again we have a Willow Cabin...

When I talked to them when I made my original reservation they said 3PM, but I just checked my email reservation confirmation and it said 4PM.

Oh well, more time spent socializing in the parking lot.