*2010 Zdayz Mid-West Caravan* Thursday, May 20th
 

The "2010 ZdayZ Mid-West Caravan" will converge at the Chick-Fil-A just off I-75 South Exit 108, Man O' War Blvd, Lexington, KY. Groups will be coming from Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and the St. Louis area.

Chick-Fil-A will be on the left about 1/2 mile from the exit. The Google Maps address is:

Chick-fil-A
1863 Plaudit Place
Lexington, KY 40509

Arrival time at Chick-Fil-A will be between 11:00-11:30 AM. We will depart for Fontana Village Resort at 12:00 PM. We should arrive at FVR between 4 and 5PM.

Maps for the route are attached as PDFs.


Directions from Chick-Fil-A to Fontana Village Resort are Chick-fil-A to Fontana Village Resort - Google Maps PLEASE NOTE: This route is revised to follow I40 to Servierville instead of 441.


Chick-fil-A
1863 Plaudit Place
Lexington, KY 40509
(859) 543-0063


this thread posted on the 350Z forum as well. I can provide updates between the two forums.

If you plan to participate in the caravan please add your name to the participant list with your city of origin:


Caravan Participants:


1. PulpZ, 2009 370Z, Dayton OH
2. FuszNissan, 2009 370Z, St. Louis MO
3. Mekatoka, 2008 350Z, Canton, MI
4. Phreakdout, 2004 350Z Roadster, Ypsilanti, MI
5. sig11, 2009, 2009 370Z, Ferndale, MI
6. StlRedrider, 2009 370Z, St. Louis, MO
7. SmoothZ, 2003 350Z, Twin Cities, MN
8. silverbullet Z, Twin Cities, MN
9. MyV6IsFast3r , 2004 350Z, Worthington, OH
10. ZkindaGuy, 2009 370Z, Ohio (MAYBE)
11. drivessidewayz, 2006 350Z, Ohio (MAYBE)
12. Sunset123, 240&300tt&370Z
13. ZROC #2
14. ZROC #3
15. ZROC #4
16. Redmike_02, 2005 350z, Cincinnati, OH, and 3-4 others (non Z friends)
17. Toronto Z32
18. Toronto Z32
19. Toronto Z32
20. Toronto Z32
21. Toronto Z33
22. Toronto Z33
23. Toronto Z33
24. Toronto GTR
25. Toronto Skyline
26. HRteckie Michigan
27.
28.
...

We will be using two way radios, so bring them if you have them handy. Lets use Channel 10.


Revised maps are attached. They can be easily printed landscape on 8.5" x11" paper.

__________________

I'm in on meeting for lunch!

Caravan Participants

1. PulpZ, 2009 370Z, Dayton OH
2. FuszNissan 2009 370Z, St. Louis MO
3. Mekatoka 2008 350Z, Canton, MI
4.
5.

I would love to join but I can not leave until the end of work Thursday, so I will be making a late afternoon Thursday trip starting at Indy. Where do you see the caravan being around that time?

Also, just to throw this out there, my buddy lives in Knoxville TN and gave me a heads up for the way down. Apparently the Dragon is closed at the TN entrance until the late September. Just warning groups so no one decides to take that path.

We should be at Fontana by 6:00 according to the OP.

Caravan Participants

1. PulpZ, 2009 370Z, Dayton OH
2. FuszNissan 2009 370Z, St. Louis MO
3. Mekatoka 2008 350Z, Canton, MI
4. Phreakdout 2004 350Z Roadster, Ypsilanti, MI
5. sig11, 2009 370Z, Ferndale, MI
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
...

StlRedrider, will be in as well.

:tup::rock:

Caravan Participants

1. PulpZ, 2009 370Z, Dayton OH
2. FuszNissan, 2009 370Z, St. Louis MO
3. Mekatoka, 2008 350Z, Canton, MI
4. Phreakdout, 2004 350Z Roadster, Ypsilanti, MI
5. sig11, 2009, 2009 370Z, Ferndale, MI
6. StlRedrider, 2009 370Z, St. Louis, MO
7. SmoothZ, 2003 350Z, Twin Cities, MN
8.
9.
10.
...

Starting to get some peeps. 3 weeks wait is killing me!

Yeah, my hope is the list doubles as we get closer.

My boss didn't veto my vacation request so I should be in the clear. I'm really getting psyched.

So as we get close I can pull together more detailed directions and post them for everyone.

What you guys think about lunch in Lexington? Maybe just stop at fast food joint like Wendy or something? I'm not sure everyone will want to take the time / spend the money for a full service restraunt. That way, if people want to hang out in the parking lot, or run in for a quick bite, it may be more accommodating.

I am up for anything. Road trip!!!

Edit...oh and I love me some Wendy's

< Makes note about Wendy's :rolleyes:

The best thing about going south is Chic-fil-a though...

Sig, you are correct. I'd rather eat chic fil a over wendy's...NOM NOM NOM

And Southern style sweet tea. :yum:

Check this out....Man O' War Blvd, just of I-75 in Lexington. New free standing Chikfila with parking lot:

chickfila lexington KY - Google Maps

1. PulpZ, 2009 370Z, Dayton OH
2. FuszNissan, 2009 370Z, St. Louis MO
3. Mekatoka, 2008 350Z, Canton, MI
4. Phreakdout, 2004 350Z Roadster, Ypsilanti, MI
5. sig11, 2009, 2009 370Z, Ferndale, MI
6. StlRedrider, 2009 370Z, St. Louis, MO
7. SmoothZ, 2003 350Z, Twin Cities, MN
8. silverbullet Z, Twin Cities, MN
9.
10.

Sounds Good to me!

You guys and your Chickfila are like me and my Sonic or Lotaburger. If I see one, I have to stop in.

White Castle is at the top of my list :)

I used to feel that way about Sonic, but they're starting to appear up here in Michigan. If we had Jack in the Box I would be set for fast food. Every time I go home to visit my folks I have to drive on in to St. Louis to get Jack. (and visit friends I suppose. : )

WC is evil. They're building a brand new one about 1.5 miles from my house. :icon14:

I hate Jack in the Crack. I used to live in SoCal and ate there quite a bit. I'm glad I got over that. I would be set for life if I never see one again.

What's the update on the road conditions? I know TN is under water now, but if the roads are all shut down then this is going to be a long detour.

So for the Minneapolis guys, we're driving south to St Louis on Wednesday.

Thursday morning, we leave to meet up with another crew in Lexington?

Drive south on I-75 to Knoxville, and then..... which way do we go?

I haven't decided yet as it depends on several other things I have going on that same week. If I don't go to ZDayZ then my alternate plan is to do Route 66 from Chicago to at least Alburquerque in the last week of June.

If I don't put my name on the ZDayZ list by two days before caravan deaprts for Dragon then that means I had to opt for the later trip on Route 66. I'd prefer the Dragon but I just might not have a choice. :driving:

Looks like 129 to 28 all the way down to Fontana Village.

Mapquest might suggest that, and normally that's the way we would go, but 129 is closed at the TN/NC border because of rock slide. Check maps.google.com for more accurate route.


Phreakdout has suggested two routes that we should consider, the first takes us through Pigeon Forge, a slow, stop and go drive, but shorter route. The second sticks to freeway, but is a longer route.

Route 1: (Slow, Stop and Go , Shorter)

1) I-75 South to I-275
2) US-441 S (through Pigeon Forge Gatlinburg)
3) I-74 W
4) NC 28 N.

Route 2: (Fast, Freeway, Longer)

1) I-75 South to I-275 / I-40 East.
2) I-40 East
3) Take Exit 27 - This leads onto 74 West.
4) Take 74 West
5) 74 West to 28 North which leads to the Fontana Village Resort.

What is everyones preference?

Well, hopefully you can make it. Keep us posted.

Well, how bad of stop and go. I hate driving this thing in stop and go. Clutch is not traffic friendly...lol It's not stop lights every .25 miles?

Not that bad and its really only for a stretch in Pigeon Forge. The alternate route via I-40 is an extra 40 miles. the word on the my350z is that 441 is pretty fun drive.

It seems like most people are preferring to take 441 through Pigeon forge so I'm going to propose that we go ahead and plan on this route. Any objections?

The List is growing!


1. PulpZ, 2009 370Z, Dayton OH
2. FuszNissan, 2009 370Z, St. Louis MO
3. Mekatoka, 2008 350Z, Canton, MI
4. Phreakdout, 2004 350Z Roadster, Ypsilanti, MI
5. sig11, 2009, 2009 370Z, Ferndale, MI
6. StlRedrider, 2009 370Z, St. Louis, MO
7. SmoothZ, 2003 350Z, Twin Cities, MN
8. silverbullet Z, Twin Cities, MN
9. MyV6IsFast3r , 2004 350Z, Worthington, OH
10. ZkindaGuy, 2009 370Z, Ohio (MAYBE)
11. drivessidewayz, 2006, 350Z, Ohio (MAYBE)
12.
13.

...
_______

Sounds good. 441 it is.

Oh and after Zdayz don't forget to check out killboy.com for action shots of your jaunt on the Dragon. Check this guy out pounding down on his Civic:

PhotoReflect - Powerhead Productions - killboy.com - Deals Gap - Monday - May 3, 2010

I've driven parts of 66 in NM. Not as nice as NC, but I enjoy the fact that I can see the horizon or at least miles of territory and let my imagination run wild about what's out there.

This.

Browsing Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap and Cherohala Skyway, Graham Co, NC

http://www.tailofthedragon.com/maps/map_deaths.pdf

just a reminder...don't cross the double yellow,and look out for bikes.

OP is updated with current info.

Off topic and possibly need a new thread, but is this same caravan gonna be making the trip back together on Sunday as well?

Everybody bringing 2 way radios?

I am. I might need to get new rechargeable batteries, though. One of the radios doesn't hold the charge for long.