greatbear | A MINI vacation

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 The Dragon, aka US 129, that little two-lane blacktop that weaves it's way through the Smoky Mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee once again beckoned, and I heeded the call.Except for some rain squalls in Saturday, the weather could not have been any better. The cops left me alone, I caught up with quite a few friends I had not seen since this time last year, and I made a few more this time. I made it a point to be more social with people rather than keep to myself as I had been guilty of for a while now. It was like therapy.

Given the scope of the gathering, which is actually down in attendance from last year mostly due to economic concerns that many are encountering, things went well. There was only one accident involving a MINI, where a guy hit an unexpected bump in the road and overcorrected the resulting slide and ended up hitting a rock wall and ditch, rolling his car onto the roof. He and his passenger were completely unhurt, and with the help of bystanders to roll the car back on all fours, the tough little MINI was driven back to Fontana Village where the most of the group was staying. Rather than hide out embarrassed, the owner of the smashed car put the car on display as a reminder to all that bad things can happen in an instant if your attention lapses even for an instant. He also continued to enjoy his stay as well as participate in as many events as he was able to, even just as a passenger.

There was also a bit of excitement which occurred after a large pine tree, felled by the gusty breezes on Thursday, landed across power lines, causing spectacular arcing up and down the street behind the cabin where I was staying. The shooting sparks and such ignited a brush fire that proceeded to burn all the way to the top of the ridge and threatened more than a half dozen houses, including mine. At the time, I was in front of the cabin working on my car (as I am prone to do), and I managed to get some video of the arcing as well as tons of pictures of the ensuing chaos, in between emptying the cabin of my stuff as well as my roomie Katie, just in case the worst would happen. Thankfully it did not, and the rest of the day there was no power. My laptop, which was charging at the time, managed to escape damage. The television, Katie's boombox and a couple lamps,, however, did not. The power was restored by the following day, and despite the scorched earth a few feet from the back of the cabin, there was no smoky smells or other remnants of the fire to deal with. It could have been a lot worse, had a lot of rain not fallen earlier in the week.

I am still sorting through hundreds of pictures I took using three different cameras. I will eventually get them up on my Flickr site, but I have been too tired to sit here and resize, sort and upload everything. In the meantime, here is a self-portrait of me and my wheels. I need to get out in the sun more, as my winter paleness is enough to overexpose the shot. I am really starting to look like an old man now.

All in all, it was a great run. My tires are beyond shot, though, and I had to limit my gonzo running as a result. By next year, I will have new rubber, new shocks and struts, and some other suspension goodies to make my run totally killer.