**The Official 2004 East Coast Meet Thead**

hell ya. Plan a TN or under NC event , like NC, SC, TN, GA, FL meet and im all up for it. Ill bring the CA20ET. Wont that be a suprise.

Okay, so far I have the following people who want to come:
Myself (duh)
Henge
Sundayssorrowgtr
YellowPreludeR
johnnyfive
project200sx
Alex Frost
Ken
jsvob03
oshag03

Did I miss anybody?

Incidentally, I'm researching area campgrounds and the Maggie Valley area has by far the best selection. There's several good ones right near the junction of U.S. Rts. 19 and 276, which happens to be the area I'm most familiar with. I'll start calling the places for info tomorrow.

..better news from this end..the S12..she be driving again! new (to me) tranny, plugs, wires, oil change, lube of stuff that needed it...yeah!! still no promises from my end, as work has yet to approve my request, but i REALLY wanna go!!! As far as where, im gonna say for the guys who are in that area, use your best judgement.

i might chug it down to charlotte for the night. Its a short drive and ill let you see my friends Turbo 535i BMW Very cool.

I've taken the liberty of sending emails to a list of club members in the eastern U.S. who have not been on this thread, I figure some of them might have missed it or have not been to the forum since the changeover.
I also posted an open invitation on the Yahoo group. We'll see if any more attendees come out of it.

currently I have full intentions to show up, if anything changes I'll let you know

So currently 10 members plan to show...I think this may be, at least, one of the largest S12 meets to date...8)

Sorry, but I won't be able to attend. The Tenn/NC border is a bit far to drive my '87 200SX. I don't think the CA20E engine with 264,000 miles will take that kind of punishment.

Sorry, but I won't be able to attend. The Tenn/NC border is a bit far to drive my '87 200SX. I don't think the CA20E engine with 264,000 miles will take that kind of punishment.

Awww, c'mon tootawl, it's not that far! And it's all highway! (Seriously, the area where I'm looking at campgrounds is only about 2 miles off I-40, very easy for everyone to get to.)
And coming from MD, if you wanted you could come via Raleigh and caravan out west with Hendrik & me.

Then when we go hit the mountains you can ride with me, so as not to subject your S12 to them. :burnout:

Okay guys I called several campgrounds in the area we want to stay. The best bet so far seems to be
Jonathan Creek Hideaway (http://www.smokymountainsnc.com/jcreekhideaway.htm)
They can give us, at the very least, two large adjacent sites, one 30' x 40', and the other 20' x 20 '. We should be able to pack the 8-10 cars we expect onto those sites. And they're creekside. Also, if it turns out we need more space, he assured me he will have some available, possibly on the other side of the creek but there is a footbridge.
The rate is going to be $25 /night per site, for up to 5 people per site. If we pack any more onto a site, it's an extra $2/night per person (big whup). That is the best deal I've found, a lot of the other places either don't have enough tent site area to accomodate us or limit you to one car per site. This place is very flexible. It's located right on U.S. 276, only a few miles straight down 276 from exit #20 off of I-40, so it couldn't be much easier to get to.
This would put us about 45 minutes from the Dragon's Tail I think, and less than ten minutes from the nearest entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway! It's also about 5 minutes to the developed area of Waynesville, where there are grocery stores, restaurants, I even know of a plaza right there where some cruising happens on weekends (or did a couple years ago anyway), and I know of a self-car-wash if our babies get too dirty. ;)
U.S. 276, a.k.a. Jonathan Creek Rd., runs through a scenic valley with mountains on either side, it's pretty nice.

So what do you think, guys? How many are willing to commit to this thing? If we want to get these adjacent sites I need to reserve them in the next couple of days.

Alrighty then So how do we reserve then? Would we just send them the money via credit card and tell them that we're part of the S12 meet? Or do we just give you the money to reserve the site now or give it to you when we come?

I am most certainly coming

...and I know of a self-car-wash if our babies get too dirty. ;)
You mean thats possible...the dirt helps to cover the cler coat that is flaking off my car...and besides mine will hopefully be a rally car, ans they are meant to be dirty. 8)

OK, I plan on going, so tell me how much it's gonna cost and I'll send the money to whoever is taking care of it. I'm going to be devoting all of my spare time to getting my 88 running, might do a timing belt while I'm at it just for good measure. Hopefully by the end of the month it will be running, and by mid August will have the timing stuff done.

I'll call them back tomorrow and find out what they need in order to make the reservation. I expect it will just be a credit card # to hold the sites, then we can worry about everybody squaring up when we're there.

Cool once you get the camp site taken care of we need to set a time (not strict of course) for everyone to be there

Yeah well i expect people to be arriving at different times. Hopefully Hendrik and me will be able to blow out of Raleigh relatively early on that Friday afternoon and get to Maggie Valley in the early evening. Friday evening we'll probably just be getting everything squared away, hanging around waiting for people to show up.

BTW, if anyone has any two-way radios or CB's, you might want to bring 'em, that will make things a lot easier when we're cruising around. I'm hoping to pick up a pair of two-ways before the meet, and have a CB in the car.

Cool once you get the camp site taken care of we need to set a time (not strict of course) for everyone to be there
I sure hope it won't be strict...after a 14+ hour drive I can only imagine what time I might get there...assuming that the border is ok, and traffic isn't too bad!!! 8)

I'm planning on leaving early Friday morning and getting there sometime Friday afternoon, maybe evening depending on when other people will show up.

Awright boys, we've got the two adjacent sites reserved. If when everybody gets there we need another site we can get it, it might be a few seconds walk away but no biggie. I just had to give a charge card #, but they don't charge you until you get there so then we can work out the $$$ and there will be no problems. The guy I talked to yesterday and today is really nice and laid back, typical of Western North Carolinians.
I can only afford to take half a day off on that Friday, so hopefully Hendrik and I will pull out of Raleigh by 3, depending on his schedule. That'll put us at the campground between 6:30 and 7:00 depending on how much ass we haul. :burnout:

So when we get there we pay up on the reservation?

6:30-7:00 it is 8)

Ok, that means I'll leave around 4:30-5 in the morning...thats not too bad I guess..8)

hey Alex, what path are you taking? It looks like I'm the only Ohio member currently going, if you're going through or near Ohio maybe we could meet up and drive down together. I always prefer driving in caravans for safety, and to have someone else to blame when we get lost. :cool:

Okay, I promised Alex some help on this topic, so let's talk directions. For Alex and anyone else coming from the Toronto / Southern Ontario area, your best bet is to cross the border at one of the Buffalo-area crossings of course, and join up with Interstate 90 westbound. If you cross via the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, ON and downtown Buffalo, you will take I-190 South to I-90 West. If you cross via the Rainbow Bridge between Niagara Falls, ON and Niagara Falls, NY, well you will still want to get on I-190 South to I-90 West. You'll just be on 190 longer that way (but the QEW less). Alex if you're coming across the border before 7:00 AM on Friday, then you won't have too much Buffalo morning traffic to worry about, and I would suggest the Peace Bridge, it dumps you almost directly onto I-190.

Okay, once you're on I-90 West, it's a straight shot to Erie, PA, where you will pick up I-79 south. (Between Buffalo and the PA Line you'll have to pay about 2 bucks in tolls) This road will take you all the way through Pennsylvania, through Pittsburgh (if you want to see downtown Pittsburgh, and it's not rush hour, you can divert onto I-279, it goes right through downtown and dumps you back on I-79 south of the city. Otherwise, just stay on 79)
If Alex & Ken want to meet up, Pittsburgh is probably the place to do it, that would keep either of you from going to far out of your way. Ken I'm sure if you want to do that you can get from Cleveland to Pittsburgh easily enough. I think the most direct route from Cleveland to Maggie Valley is down through Kentucky and Tennessee, but if you want to caravan with Alex, then going to Pittsburgh and south from there doesn't look to be too far out of your way.

Anyways, you stay in I-79 south into West Virginia. When you get to exit 57, you are going to get off onto U.S. Rt. 19, towards SUMMERSVILLE / BECKLEY.

You'll be on 19 for an hour or so. BEWARE: There are two spots along this stretch where the speed limit drops to 50 MPH. One of them is Summersville, WV, the most infamous speed trap in the eastern US. They are always stalking travelers on Rt. 19, and the WILL pull you for doing 51. It's only a couple miles long, so keep it slow.

You continue on 19 South until you reach Beckley, WV, where you will merge onto Interstate 77 south. You'll take this road into Virginia. (BTW, on your way through WV you will go through two toll booths. One charges $1.25, the other .25.)

Now from I-77 in VA, Mapquest will send you onto I-81 south into Tennessee, and then onto U.S. Rt. 23/19 into NC to pick up I-240 in Asheville, and from there to I-40 West. I've gone that way, and it's fine, kind of fun, but the chances of getting lost are decreased if you stay on I-77 South all the way to Statesville, North Carolina, at which point you will pick up I-40 west, which will take you past Asheville, and into the mountains.

After you've travelled down I-40 West about 20 minutes past Asheville, watch for signs for Canton. Now you're getting close. There's two ways you can go from here, the way I'm going to give you is maybe 5 minutes longer but a lot easier to follow. At Exit 27, the road splits, with Rt. 19 splitting off to the south and I-40 continuing towards Knoxville. Even though the signs say Maggie Valley, stay on I-40 towards Knoxville for a few more miles. You're going to get off at Exit # 20, which is U.S. Rt. 276. You want to go south on 276, which I think is a left at the bottom of the ramp. The campground is called Jonathan Creek Hideaway, it's a few miles down the road on the right. Here's the map of the vicinity off their website:
http://www.v6-s12.com/Linked_Images/Posts/map_copy.jpg
I don't think it's that big a place, you can either ask at the office for them to point you toward's Christopher Scott's party, call me at [phone removed] if the cellphones work up there, or if you'll have a 2-way or CB radio hopefully you'll be able to contact us that way. Or you can always drive around the place until you see othe S12's.

If Alex & Ken want to meet up, Pittsburgh is probably the place to do it, that would keep either of you from going to far out of your way. Ken I'm sure if you want to do that you can get from Cleveland to Pittsburgh easily enough. I think the most direct route from Cleveland to Maggie Valley is down through Kentucky and Tennessee, but if you want to caravan with Alex, then going to Pittsburgh and south from there doesn't look to be too far out of your way.
Are you sure that Pittsburgh would be the fastest way for Alex or me to go? I thought that it was quicker to run through Canada to Detroit and pickup I-75 to I-40 for the rest of the trip. I don't know, you guys probably know the highway systems better than I do, but I know that I-75 is quite a straight route, and that you have to zig zag through NY and PA to get to Pittsburg from Ontario.

Well Detroit is going pretty far out of Alex's way to the west, it would take him 4-5 hours just to get to Windsor from Toronto. The route I gave is the fastest route from Buffalo, and from Toronto. It is the most direct route for Alex. It's not quite so direct for you coming from Cleveland, but if you wanted to meet up with Alex that's the most efficient way I can see, unless Alex wanted to come toCleveland and meet you, then you could both shoot down I-71 to Cincinnati, then pick up I-75 and go through Lexington, KY to Knoxville, then it's about one and a half to two hours on 40 east to US 276 in Maggie Valley. That's another option, but even if you did that, it would be a lot shorter and faster for Alex to go through Buffalo and take 90 West to Cleveland to meet up with you, than it would be to go all the way over to Detroit and loop back.

If you do end up coming down through Knoxville and picking up I-40 east, let me tell you that the stretch of I-40 that runs across the TN/NC state line through the Cherokee Gap is a freakin' blast, it's some of the twistiest Interstate you will ever find. Once the road finally straightens out a bit you are basically there, so by that time you may be too tired to deal with that kind of driving, I dunno.

Ken the caravan idea sounds good to me. And taking a bit of a detour to meet up with somebody else sounds good too. 8) Which ever appeals better and doesn't get us (too) lost would be best...I can get to windsor in about 3-3.5 hours...depending on traffic...people like to fly along the 401, 403, and QEW so which ever seems easier to be able to meet with. I think I can get a hold of a CB radio too...8)

hmm..still waiting on the work thing to clear up...but plans remain, i plan to go..(AND I LIVE IN OHIO!!)

Alex, if you're willing to run to windsor and catch I-75, we can meet in Lima, OH where I live during the week. It's about an hour south of Toledo, and I know the area so I can find somewhere for us to meet off of the highway. I'm thinking a Cracker Barrel or something like that. I don't have access to a CB, however I will probably borrow my dad's Motorola 2-ways, giving us plenty of communication. If this all works out for you, great.

Are there any other members from Canada that will be leaving on Friday morning? It looks like a 5-6 hour drive to Lima from Brampton, and then another 7-8 hours to Waynesville. If anyone else is interested in meeting up and caravaning down there together, let me know.

JSVOB03, would you be interested in meeting us in Lima and caravaning?

Ok, that means I'll leave around 4:30-5 in the morning...thats not too bad I guess..8)

If you leave at 4:30, you should hit Lima by about 10 or 11. That sounds like a good time to meet.

JSVOB03, would you be interested in meeting us in Lima and caravaning?

i live in Ravenna (near akron if unfamiliar). Im thinking somewhere outside of columbus, or even down in marietta, seeing as how we have to take I-80 to...or I-77 to... i guess u could use 75, but its impractical for me. If out paths cross, or come near to crossing (<25 miles) SURE! (not sure where lima is, so im not gonna say 4sure)

Okay, so far we've got:
Alex coming from Ontario, ken, jsvob03, and project200sx from Ohio, johnnyfive from Jersey, YellowPreludeR and possibly oshag03 from Augusta, sundayssorrowgtr from Spartanburg, and henge and myself from Raleigh.

Alex may be meeting up with ken and maybe jsvob03 in Ohio, (maybe project200SX wants to get in on that too, he's in Canton), henge and I are caravaning from Raleigh, (as long as henge gets that issue worked out with the exhaust), and perhaps oshag03 and YellowPreludeR want to travel together from Augusta. In fact, if you guys from Augusta take US Rt. 25 to I-385 to I-26, you might be able to meet up with sundayssorrowgtr in Spartanburg, then take I-26 north to Asheville and pick up I-40 west for the quick shot to Maggie Valley.

That gives us 10 people, not bad at all, should be a blast. If there's anyone else planning on coming who I didn't mention please chime in.

you know i could've sworn there were some people from club s12 in charlotte and some other ones in SC..

but yeah.. i SHOULD have my car running 100% again by then.. i'm going to keep my fingers crossed,..

if not i can always take my 4x4 toyota truck! lol :honda:

i might buy a CB if the chance comes by. I don't think I'll be meeting up with anyone in pittsburg it would add 2-3 hours to my trip going the wrong way.

Mapquest takes me from my local roads and stuff (and major highways) then once I'm out of jersey I merge to 295-S which merges into I-95 S in baltimore. Then from there I go onto the Capital Beltway (495-W) then to 66-W and then it says to take 81 from there all the way to I-40 (376 miles alone!) and then onto 276-S which the campground is on. Are these good? at least it avoids that speed trap.

So i should probably leave about 5:30-6ish.

What channel are we going to use for the CB's?

Thats something else I was wondering...I say we should stay well away from 19, but maybe 20, or 25....I think they are used less...8)

i live in Ravenna (near akron if unfamiliar). Im thinking somewhere outside of columbus, or even down in marietta, seeing as how we have to take I-80 to...or I-77 to... i guess u could use 75, but its impractical for me. If out paths cross, or come near to crossing (<25 miles) SURE! (not sure where lima is, so im not gonna say 4sure)

I'm familiar with Ravenna, I have many friends who live in Streetsboro and Kent, I'm guessing that the fastest path for you would be I-77 the whole way, although I know if you take I-76 to Mansfield and catch Route 30 West, it's about a one and a half to two hour drive to Lima(I take 30 when the weather is bad along the lake) and then I estimated another 8 hours on I-75 to Waynesville. From the looks of it, our paths don't cross until the last stretch, I-75 runs through Kentucky and Tennesse, whereas I-77 seems to run straight through the Virginias until it picks up I-40 in NC. Not sure how long of a drive that is, but you're probably better off not driving to meet up with us.

Okay, so far we've got:
Alex coming from Ontario, ken, jsvob03, and project200sx from Ohio,
Actually, I PM'ed project200SX about a caravan, and he said his car just started acting up, and that he may not have time to fix it before then. He said if he can fix it, that he'd go, but as of now I'd count him as out.

OK, we won't plan on project200sx, but I hope he gets his car fixed anyway.

On the topic of CB channels: Channel 19 is the domain of the truckers. All the other 39 channels are relatively silent these days, except for the occasional private conversation, so if you guys travelling together want to chat back and forth then Alex is right, you'd be better off on anything but 19. On the other hand, for info on traffic, construction, police activity, and often-entertaining trucker conversations, 19 is the place to be. So you might want to monitor that channel as well.

When we get to the campground itself, the reduced truck traffic and the reduced CB range due to the terrain should keep even Channel 19 pretty quiet. So I was planning on monitoring that channel while waiting for people to show up, so as to be able to catch the occasional trucker from I-40 for entertainment. So once people arrive in the area, if they need help finding the campground or just want to announce their approach, we can use 19. I'll have the CB on, and I'm also going to pick up a pair of 2-ways, the ones I'm looking at have either a 3 or 6 mile range but with the high mountains this will be reduced. But all those 2-ways use the same set of frequencies, so we should pick a channel on those too that henge and I will listen in on in case anybody needs help finding the place.

jsvob03, if where you live is right near I-77, then that is probably your most direct route. I have driven I-77 from I-70 in Ohio straight down into NC, and at a good clip you can get from 70 in Ohio to 40 in North Carolina in under seven hours. It took me a total of 9 hours to drive from Raleigh to Columbus going I40-US52-I74-I77-I70, so if you look at a map you can see where I get my estimate of less than 7 hours on I77. I-77 hits I-40 in Statesville, NC. From there you can be in Maggie Valley in under 2 hours.

Ought to stick this in the Calendar :-D
I may be able to show up. Friends of mine from the Clemson Sports Car Club are always wanting to go to the Gap anyway, maybe the dates will work out so a bunch of us come just to drive and visit.
Maybe I'll even get through the mire of crap I'm knee-deep in with getting a title for my 200...or I'll have the Datsun back in top shape...
YellowPrelude, is your friend with the Turbo BMW the one that appears every now and then at Clemson autocrosses? I can't imagine that there's too many of them running around...

Either way, you'd be welcome. A classic Z would make a very nice addition.

I want to go but can't make it. Sucks too cause it is so close. Maybe I could make it friday night and chill saturday. Though I will probly be in the S13. Damn S12 still actin' like crap.

oh.. just thought i'd mention this.. anyone and everyone who is going, make sure to remember to bring camera's, video camera's.. whatever.. i'd love see someone compile a sweet little movie afterwards (i'd do it myself if i had a video camera).. but i'll def. be bringing the digital camera

ill save my tires for a nice burnout. Or get a set of crapps put on the back just for burnin them. I want a video of a burnout.

What was the final date for this event decided?

August 27th (friday), 28th (saturday), and 29th (sunday)

atleast that was the last i heard, but i dont think it has changed

That's correct. I've already got the campsites reserved for those dates.
And yeah, everybody that's got digicams don't forget to bring 'em. Then maybe I can take everybody's pics and make a meet photo gallery, and put it up on my website.
Yeah I like that idea. So here's the deal. I'll bring my laptop along, just for the purpose of depositing pictures on it. That way I can just copy everybody's digital pics to the hard drive and we won't have to worry about emailing huge picture files later. I've got a card reader that reads SD/MMC, SmartMedia, and Memory Stick. So if you're bringing a camera that uses CompactFlash or those new xD cards, bring your camera's interface cable.
Oh and the camera I have will do short video with sound. Like most digital cameras, the video resolution is pretty small, but it's something if we want to record a few burnouts.

Sounds good...out of curiosity, do the police do random emission tests down there??? 8)

I've never heard of cops doing random emission tests, I have some friends who live in non emission controlled counties that worry about the same thing. It would take a lot of work to carry around the emission testing equipment, since even the smallest of testers usually are the size of a desktop computer. Then the cop would need to have the time to test it on the roadside, which could take over an hour. Also, he would need to know what the information means coming out of the computer. The only thing that cops can do from what I've seen is give you a noise ticket if you are running open exhaust, they really aren't trained to diagnose emission problems.

Of course, this is what I know about cops in the 14 counties in Ohio with emissions. I know that Michigan has no emission requirements, and I'm pretty sure Kentucky and Tennesse don't have them either. However, I know that PA has pretty strick emissions, and probably NY has them too.

as of right now i think there is only like 5 counties (out of 100) in NC that have emissions testing for the inspection.. altho i just heard that were will be a few more joining that list.. but yeah, i've never heard of random emissions testing either.. so i think you should be good,.. my digital camera does video's too, but no sound and the resolution is pretty crappy (for the movies anyways) for pictures its awesome!

PA's emissions inspections are privatized. Only shops can do them. It is required only in the major cities. NY I have no idea. NJ very rarely has roadside checkpoints but I have no idea how they'll treat out of state (or country drivers).

Mind if I join you all? I'm Tj, YellowPreludeR's friend w/ the Turbo Bimmer. I might not have an S12, but I am an 'enthusiest'! I helped Yellow build his ca20et since he's owned it. And I also helped him show it off when we finished building it 8-) .I live in Charlotte, but I got to school in Boone (ASU). I sure would like to see some of the other S12's lurking around the east coast! Let me know!

yeah sure,.. i dont think any of us would mind if you came

atleast i wouldnt..