2007 GTA Fontana Village
Weekend
June 22nd - 24th
GTA members and friends present for the
George & Joan Forster (TR3), Chic & Patti Fries (TR3), Mark & Laura Pruitt (TR4), Ben & Betty Turner (TR6), Russ & Pat Turner (TR6 x 2), Mike & Sue Hurst (TR6), Gary & Lois Wilmerding (TR6), John Drosdick & Linda Stamps (TR6), Mark & Teresa Farver (TR6), Jeff & Andie Roundtree (TR6), Al Salvatore (TR6), Ray & Barb Sinclair (TR7), Mike & Kathy Munson, & Sam (TR8), Conrad & Johnnie Cheney (Fiero), Chris & Poolie Gore MGB
The Tail of the Dragon.
It sounds wicked. To many
motorsports enthusiasts, the name represents one of the greatest stretches of
public highway in the whole world. It’s
an 11-mile section of US-129 that begins in
On June 22, the GTA gathered at
the Lodge at Fontana Village Resort to see if we could tame the Dragon, and have
a little fun on the other local roads. Sixteen
cars full of GTA members and friends traveled from
The Lodge offered us some newly-renovated rooms, an excellent restaurant, a great gathering place at the pool, and even a visit from the Carolina Panthers’ NFL Cheerleaders! But who needs cheerleaders when you have a parking lot full of Triumphs to get you excited?
Director Pruitt used this occasion to introduce his newest family member, a green 1964 TR4. We may just have another convert to the ranks 4-cylinder Triumph believers!
On Saturday, we took a group
tour to Townsend for lunch. Follow
along on your maps: Begin at the
Lodge and travel north on “Hellbender 28” along
Hwy. 28 ends at The Crossroads of Time, a gas stop and general store at Deal’s Gap, the beginning of the Tail of the Dragon. Stop at the store to get a drink and a little Dragon decal for your windscreen, and to admire the hundreds of motorcycles who gather here every week.
Drive the Tail of the Dragon. Try not to run over any slower-moving vehicles, or get run over by the faster ones. Everyone tries to get along here, but it can be a little crowded at times. Manual-steering cars will give their drivers quite a workout.
The
After retracing our steps back to the Village, Happy Hour began at the pool, and ran through the rest of the evening. With all of the driving we do as a group, we seldom get the face-to-face time to really get acquainted with other members of the Club. When “home” is only a few steps away, these weekends give us the opportunity to make friends and bond with our fellow enthusiasts.
When we left
When all was said and done, the
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |