Are you up for driving more of the best mountain roads in the world? Then join us for the Second Cayman Club Rock'n'Croc Rally, to be held Friday thru Saturday morning Oct 19-20, 2007 (that is, if you can't make it to Croctoberfest, which will be held in Las Vegas that same weekend). For those of you who missed the first Rock'n'Croc in May, go to this thread or this one and this one to get an idea of what this is all about. This time our route will take us on the superb roads of the Blue Ridge through Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, on our way to the Euro Auto Festival at the BMW plant and Zentrum museum near Spartanburg, SC.

The Euro Auto Festival is an outstanding car show of European marques that's been held annually there for the past 12 years. People bring lots of amazing cars, and ours will fit right in! They put all the cars of each marque together in rows on the lawn in front of the Zentrum (which, by the way, is worth a visit all by itself).

We'll be attacking 6 intense mountain driving runs in a full day and the following morning before getting to the car show. These are some of the best twisties up there, sequenced to maximize the fun (avoiding traffic, fatigue, tickets, etc.). In addition to the "special stages", we'll also visit a couple more waterfalls, all the while zooming through some of the best Fall foliage you'll ever see. (A word to the wise here. If you're thinking of bringing a passenger, be sure they have a "hearty constitution". These are very twisty routes that, when taken at speed, can be nausea-inducing for those in the passenger seat.)

While we'll eat and stay at some nice spots, there won't be any catering, presentations, tours, etc. This one is just about driving - "spirited" driving. (That's not to say you won't make a few new friends, and maybe even score some goodies from Cayman Club and/or other sponsors). There's no fee for the event. Everyone will be responsible for making their own lodging reservations (links below), paying for their own meals, etc.

We'll start early Friday morning from the James F. Martin Inn in Clemson, SC (near Greenville off of I-85 in the northwest corner of the state). The first run will be up NC 28 from Mountain Rest SC to Highlands NC. During the run up 28, we'll take a short jaunt into Georgia on War Woman Road, which goes off to the left about halfway up the twisty section of 28. We'll also make a stop at Lower Satulah Falls which is about 3 miles south of Highlands.

From Highlands we'll head east on 64 to 178 down to 11, east on 11 to Caesar's Head (this was our first run during May's Rock'n'Croc - remember "happiness isn't just around the corner, happiness is the corner"). We'll turn around at the State Park building and go back down Caesar's Head to 11 east to do Old Hwy 25, then get to 176 for the historic Saluda grade.

After a stop for lunch in Saluda, we'll get on I-26 north to I-40 west to do the run up 151 (Candler Mtn. Road - this was the one we did in May just before getting to the Pisgah Inn) to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then we'll head down from the Parkway on 276 with a stop for Looking Glass Falls. Next we'll head across 280 east, briefly onto I-26 south, getting off near Hendersonville and taking 64 east up to 9 and spending Friday night at the Monte Vista Hotel in Black Mountain, NC. Then an early AM start on Saturday to take the road from Old Fort to Bat Cave, then onto 64 to I-26 south, to get to the car show mid-morning.

As I mentioned before, each of us will be responsible for making our own room reservations - at the James F. Martin Inn on Thursday 10/18, and the Monte Vista Hotel on Friday 10/19. Right now there are plenty of rooms available for Thursday night, but the Monte Vista is already pretty booked up on Friday. (There are also some nice bed & breakfast places in Black Mountain, but they're probably also pretty full for that date, as it's during the Fall foliage season. There's also a Comfort Inn and a few other motels there.)

Feel free to ask any questions about the trip. However, I'm leaving on a two-week road trip to Canada in the CS (woohoo!) on July 6, so after that date it may be a little while before I can respond. I wanted to get the word out now as there may not be many rooms available for Friday 10/19 before long.

If you're planning on joining us for Rock'n'Croc 2, please PM me with your name, e-mail address and cell phone number. It'd also be helpful if you can let me know where you'll be coming from, and the color, year, model, and any mods on your car.

I'll send out further specific info to event participants. It should be another great time!

Bill Koff
Wilmington, NC

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Count me and "baby" in.... as long as boxsters are still invited!! been to a few autocross days... now im really ready!!

I'm in as well, I will PM you my details. I think I'm going to continue on from Spartanburg after the car show towards Robinsville, NC, stay the night there, do the Tail of the Dragon and surrounding roads on Sunday, and then come back down south to FL. - Suneet

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- Suneet

Count me in.....all days.

If anyone wants to hang out at my place on the same night as the Black Mountain stay.....I am only 15 mins away. Bill maybe we can swing by? I woudl love it....that is if I still own the place.

James Madison Chiles Spanish Revival Villa located in Asheville, NC

Kevin

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Kevin

I cant must the energy to go that far again, and in october I would likely hit alot of snow on the way down. My next trek will probably take me to northern california next summer where I hear there might be some comparible twisties.

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1 of 60 Sold in Canada 2006

We'll be there! 2Caygirl will have her meds.

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The Croc's Nest:
2008 Speed Yellow Cayman S
2009 GT Silver Targa 4S
2006 Carmona Red Cayenne S

Booster, isn't Las Vegas closer for you? If so, you should be coming to Croctoberfest instead!

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K-Man S

Kevin,

I've been wanting to check out your pad since you posted the pic a while ago...so don't sell it till after.

- Suneet

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- Suneet

Are you going to sign up for the autocross at the EAF? If so, Sat or Sun?

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The Croc's Nest:
2008 Speed Yellow Cayman S
2009 GT Silver Targa 4S
2006 Carmona Red Cayenne S

Will be there..... should be great fun again!

Just booked Hotel for Saturday.....seem's there is only little space left...

Well as you know...I can not control offers coming in...but I will hang on to it as long as I can. Ashevilles real estate market is so different than any other city in the USA.....its still very much a sellers market. Thank goodness.

There is a very cool animation (3D computer model) of the house that will be posted on the chileshouse.com website today. Check it out....wait..wait...I can just post the link here.

Here is the link:

James Madison Chiles Spanish Revival Villa

Enjoy

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Kevin

Wow; I would never have guessed, you are a lucky guy...definitley sell if you get the right offer! The market here in Gainesville is holding steady, and there was actually an 18% percent increase in median house price in the past year. But still, I wouldn't say it's a sellers market because of the inventory available and the lack of consumer confidence in the market... sales are down 23%; stilll lower than the average 33% in FL. I know in Gainesville it has to do with us being a University town, do you think UNC-Asheville has any effect on why Asheville remains a hot sellers market?

I will check out the video\animations of the house, thanks.

On another not-so-off-topic note; I'm headed up to the Tail of the Dragon for my birthday! July 20th - July 23rd with the Crown PCA group. We're doing many of the surrounding roads too; but most of my free time will be spent practicing the deadly Dragon as I'm a first timer! I've been reading through all those old reports on the first rally you guys held and it's getting me really fired up! Thanks croc-ket for all those great write ups and everyone else for the pictures. Before I sign out, I thought I'd share the following picture taken 2 weeks ago, it's inspiring my safety right now. The driver made it out alright.



Image courtesy of killboy.com.


- Suneet

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- Suneet

Holy Cow!!

I dont see how anyone survived. If you want to stop by in July...let me know. As far as the Asheville market, the reason is that Asheville is truly a destination city...VERY desirable by all walks of life. In fact it has made top 10 lists of every kind..."best places to live, best place to mtn bike...best medical facilities for small cities...etc. for years and years and years. The film industry in Asheville and WNC is in the top3 or four in the world....not that you see film crews everyday, but there are a lot of films made here. OVerall the exposure has always been positive. I dont know how to explain it, but Asheville has had a unique draw since the 1920's....and continues on...

My realtor called to tell me she already had someone who "REALLY" wanted to see it from Atlanta....and its not even assigned an official MLS number yet. Keep my fingers crossed!

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Kevin

Hi Bill,

forgot to ask you one question for the October Trip. Is there a planned hotel/stay for Saturday evening - is it worth wile to stay for the car show for sunday as well, or is the plan to head towards home saturday evening?

Thank's in advance.
Helmut

For Saturday night, people can stay at the host hotel for the Euro Auto Festival (the Spartanburg Marriott Renaissance Park, the same one we stayed at for the first Rock'n'Croc in May), or any other one nearby. I think I'll be heading home Saturday night, though you may well want to stay through Sunday.

There are good things to do at the car show on Sunday, including a "Fun Rally" (otherwise known as a "gimmick rally" with you and your navigator answering questions from observations along the route) and an autocross. If they do it the same way as they have in past years, the autocross on Sunday will be a regular autocross, with multiple runs in your own car; whereas the autocross on Saturday is where you run BMW factory cars (probably Z4's) - for free - on the same course.

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The first e-mail update regarding this trip has now gone out to all participants. If you haven't received it and you're planning on coming with us, you'll need to PM me asap with the info requested at the end of the first post in this thread.

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How many people are signed up? In other words if we have 70+ at Croctoberfest and more at this event then combined for the weekend I am wondering what our numbers are.

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K-Man S

We've got 19 people signed up for Rock'n'Croc 2.

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I wish I had known about this trip ahead of time. I would have joined you guys. I loved the first mountain drive that Spindoc organized.

I will be at the Eurofest though. Look for the bright green/yellow Exige S and say Hi.


Mick Opalak
President - Lotus Limited Southeast
2007 Lotus Exige S - many mods

Hey Mick! An Exige S - you dog!! Did you transplant your Elise's seats/interior to the Exige? It should be a real treat to see the car (and you) at the show.

Look for Rock'n'Croc III (so massive it needs Roman numerals) next Spring, likely the weekend of May 16-18. By the way, the Lotus trip in '06 wasn't the first mountain trip I'd run - I've been doing them for about ten years now.

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