Fred Kern had a great idea for a Z3 Drive - Invite a lot of people up to Vermont for a weekend in the Springtime, especially for everyone who has kept their cars garaged for the Wintertime, and of course, Winters can get pretty severe up in New England. Fred planned for the first weekend in June as a safe bet, and he wasn't let down and neither were we!
We came from all over. At present, since I don't know otherwise, I was the furthest from the start up in Burlington, Vt (I started in Englishtown, NJ). I've been skiing up in New England, so I more or less knew the way up. Fortunately Fred sent out some directions that were a straight drive, except for a little diversion up above Albany around Lake George.
Originally, I was supposed to ride up with Rachel and Dave Pavlik, but unfortunately I was supposed to attend an autocross in Englishtown at Raceway Park. As luck would have it, I totally spaced, and mixed up the dates. When I arrived at the event, I was asked what I was doing there, and how I knew to show up. Apparently, this weekend, the local autocross Pros were participating in a special event - The Dodge Viper Club was having an event, where they showed up to drag race their cars, and to learn how to autocross their cars. Oops.
Fortunately, they were nice enough to let me stay and "pretend" to be an instructor. This meant I'd be able to ride in a couple of Vipers, and possibly drive 'em, too. There was an autocross track set up, so we were able to run it a few times to familiarize ourselves. I offered Perry Aidelbaum, who manages the websites for the Northern NJ, Southern NJ, and Philly Region SCCA clubs' web sites, a chance to drive my car. He drives a lot of different cars, and his own is a properly set up Miata that he really knows how to drive. He's driven a 1.9 Z3 before, but after a ride in my enhanced 2.8, he was definitely impressed. A little while later, I let another person who owns a Boxster drive, and he was also impressed, but complained that the rear end was a little light. Understandable, considering he drives a car with the engine in the trunk :-) As it turned out, I had to leave to get up to Vt before I had a chance to drive any Vipers. Oh well, maybe next time!
Traffic on the NY Thruway was light at times, and heavier at others.
On one 5 mile stretch on the Thruway, my Valentine One radar detector was going crazy. I spied about 15 Police Cars headed southbound, and only one northbound. I wondered what all the fuss was about, and then I saw the cause - there was a State Police Barracks, and I guessed it was a shift change. Most of the ride to Lake George was without incident.
Lake George itself is a resort area, and there's a large touristy section that was farily crowded. However, once you get past the populated section (AND THE TRAFFIC), it was rather nice. Some really nice twisty roads. All Fun.
I stopped to take a few panoramic photos
After some really nice bits or roadway, there's a scenic overlook - click for a bigger photo.