MINIs on the Dragon was this past weekend, and we headed out early on Wednesday to make the trip. It is only a couple of hours from our home, but we needed to get there in time to work our shift at registration. We try to do our part to volunteer for the event, but it isn’t a chore. We both enjoy greeting people as they come by to get their name badges and look over the swag. I’ve posted about aspects of this event for the past several years, overview of Fontana Village is on the 2019 post, then drives to Clingman’s Dome on the 2021 post. In 2022, we went driving mostly on our own and found some wildlife on the 2022 post. In 2023 I got both a 3-D printed dragon duck, and had so much to chat about that it took two posts, LOL!! See 2023 Part 1 and 2023 Part 2. But, back to this year, we know we are getting close when this ridge is in view.

Tree lined two-lane roads take us the rest of the way in. Brilliant sunshine reflected a variety of greens in the trees.

Along the freeway and smaller side roads, the purple bloom of an invasive species called a Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) were abundant. These have upright purple blooms with somewhat unsightly brown seed pods that appear in late spring.

Thursday morning, we set out for our first drive of the event, to Cherohala Skyway. We were driving sweep, which means we were the last car, keeping the lead car informed as to when we all had made a turn, or if the group was getting too spread out. Sweep is also the car that stops to assist a car in trouble if that happens, so everyone else can continue on and not clog up a road.

Then this happened, yikes!! The lead car and few cars at the front got by this guy on the straight, but one came upon him in the curve. The trailer was cutting the corner, and as you can see, if he is in our lane, we have no place to go. The cars behind came to a stop while the truck slowly crept around the corner, then we could get by him. This idiot truck driver should never have been on this road, but they stupidly use generic gps navigation instead of ones designed for 18-wheelers, which would avoid roads like this.

Lunch in Tellico Plains was right next to the river.

Back on the road again, we came back on the same roads, this time stopping on a Cherohala Skyway lookout.

The view was spectacular. This lookout is almost a mile high in elevation.

The view of the cars at the lookout shows the mountain ridge through the trees.

More fun that evening with a cabin crawl (visiting cabins sponsored by clubs to sample a special drink and snack), then the rain began moving in. Our drive to Bryson City the next day for lunch had some low clouds hugging the mountainsides.

There are quilts everywhere, and we saw this one in Bryson City on the side of a Farmer’s Market barn.

Coming back, we stopped at an overlook to see Fontana Lake. The lake is still several feet low.

Back at the village, more MINIs were lined up for another run. A little rain doesn’t stop the show.

I thought I’d show you a couple of the MINIs I ‘ducked’. This one got a duck because I liked its front bumper plate.

This one is dark green with the graphic ‘MINI HULK” , and it got a duck too.

The lead car above also got one, and it happens to belong to a friend of ours. His MINI has a ‘wrap’ which is white in front with the sun graphic, transitioning to dark red at the back.

The rear is the original dark red. Beautifully done! The car’s name is Icarus.

Icarus was represented during the pinewood MINI derby races on Saturday, a perfect event to pass the time on a rainy day. It didn’t win any of the speed contests, but came in third in the beauty contest.

The trophies were hilarious. The organizers had gone to thrift stores and picked up various trophies for a dollar each. Then they glued MINI hot wheel cars to them. New nameplates were done for this year’s racing fun.

More fun at Bingo night, as I won a prize for the first time ever!

Lots of silliness this year, as funny signs were placed all over the village, like this one tacked to a post.

Heading home on Sunday, the rain was again on the way. Low clouds blanket the mountains, leaving the peaks to peek through here and there. I missed the gorgeous shot of the distant mountains over a ridge where the low fog defined layers of beautiful blue ridges.

This coming week will see the final preparations for our quilt show on May 17-18. Meetings with show committees and getting the final prep done for the items going into the shop will be finished. Then next week will be a whole week of work, from turning in competition quilts, judging, setting up the shop, hanging the show, and much more. It will certainly be a busy one. If you are local, and can get our the Greenville SC Fox channel, I will be on a live segment on Thursday May 16 on their Access Carolina show. We’ll be talking about the show and all the fun you can have.

What’s your plan for this week?