Carlisle Survey ...What did everyone think of the new Courtyard Shippensburg ?
Anything else you can comment on too ~
I really liked it, huge improvement.
Everything was good, Alan.
No complaints or issues here, just contentment...
:-)
The hotel this year was a lot nicer than last year. The outdoor space was also a great addition. Being crammed in the hospitality suite last year, even with 20 people was okay but outside on the deck was great. The food for the bbq was also way better than I expected to get at a hotel.
If I had a complaint, the free breakfast was not great..............but it was free.
I’ll echo what Chris said. Even the, um, aromatic characteristics were tolerable 🥴. Nice room, decent bar, big hospitality suite, etc., etc.
Fake eggs, and fake meat is the usual 
They buy it for quick production.
Bacon would be nice, but then you get what you pay for
Lane Anderson posted:I’ll echo what Chris said. Even the, um, aromatic characteristics were tolerable 🥴. Nice room, decent bar, big hospitality suite, etc., etc.
Am I the only one who can still smell that?
Chris,
I can't resist. Check the bottoms of your shoes!
Pennsylvania countryside spring air.
....growing up in Lancaster, I remember the Spring planting, and the fresh manure that the Amish always use for fertilizing. I still remember seeing the 10-12 year old boys standing on top of a plowing rig, handling 6 horses pulling the rig.
A photo album taken by the Carlisle fairgrounds folks:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...KKJ_SD8eBBHxp0sI4E9E
Just made it home with a leisurely drive from Watkins Glen.
Nice to see old friends and some new ones. Large thanks to Heidi Gallo and Joe Forentino for the very nice gifts. Thanks to the Merklinator for the guidance and especially thanks to Dave Kumph for the windshield wiper blade help. I got some nice compliments on our new car too which were much appreciated. It ran like a top the whole trip which consumed 1827 km.
Thanks to Ed for an excellent gathering and also to Al Merklin, Bruce Stumpp and Wives for the excellent organizing. Others probably contributed too...thanks.
The Hotel and the new location are great.
Made it home around 2:00 this afternoon. Perfect weather for the trip and traffic wasn’t bad until I got near Charleston. The whole trip was roughly 1600 miles. Glad to be home but already missing everyone.
Am home- more later (have to pay attention to everybody here before I spend any time on the computer)
As an aside, I forgot to mention our new route this year. Instead of coming straight down 81 from Watertown to Shippensburg and rassling with all the trucks and traffic, we got off 81 at Courtland, NY and got over to 15 then a few smaller roads down to the event. Same way back, little traffic and a nice assortment of driving roads. We overnighted in Williamsport, pa on the way down and Watkins Glen on the way back.
I checked out your route... I might try a bit of it next year.
That’s the route I always take. A great drive part of the way beside the beautiful Susquehanna River. Much more relaxing than fighting the trucks on a freeway.
Glad you enjoyed that route, Dave.
Can you tell me the journey you guys use.
Now that my 2nd Carlisle is behind me- it was great seeing again all of you that I met last year (and getting to know some of you better) and meeting a bunch more of you for the first time. This is a special (and i mean that in a good way) bunch!
Good choice on the hotel, Alan, kudos to Ed for organizing the Saturday night dinner and thank you to everyone else who had a hand in putting things together. It made it easy and fun for the rest of us. I never thought I'd do it 2 years in a row and I don't know if it's even possible (and my wife will really think I've gone off the deep end), but I'm already thinking 3peat...
Yoda out (but back you know I will be, for now you really can get rid of me not!)
IaM-Ray posted:Can you tell me the journey you guys use.
do you mean the route ?
Yes the route, sorry.
Headlight grille guard update.
Some of you know I lost one of my headlight grille guards at Carlisle. Well, with electrical tape holding the headlight unit on the car, we made it to the Outer Banks on Sunday. Emails and finally a phone call to Stoddard’s NLA site on Monday morning got me a set delvered by UPS air this Tuesday morning.
A decent application of Loctite Blue to the retaining screw insert in the fibreglass, and a good tightening of the retaining screw, and we are good to go. Kudos to Steve at Stoddard’s NLA section for great, personal service.
I’ll be off to the powder coaters next week to get the set done, and I’ll then have a spare guard for safe keeping.
It was still a great Carlisle gathering. 😀
+1 on that 15/11 route north through New York.
IaM-Ray posted:Yes the route, sorry.
day 1 hwy 81 South to Courtland, 13 SW to Ithaca then Horseheads, 86 W to Painted Post then 99 South which becomes 15 South to Williamsport, Pa.
day 2 15 south along the Susquehanna getting off at Duncannon over to Dellville on the Dellville Rd, South on Pinehill rd which becomes hwy 34 right down into Carlisle at the fairgrounds entrance. Further south on 34 becomes Hanover Street and a right turn on High Street which becomes hwy 11 over to Shippensburg.
Return home day 1 . Reverse the route all the way up to Horseheads then North on hwy 14 to Watkins Glen for the night.
day 2 Over to Ithaca on 79 then take the reverse route to get home.
These routes provide a combo of roadways from the Interstate type, then four lane not so much interstate type and way less traffic ( Hwy 15 ) to some decent twistys on 34. The above shows our preferred new route for next year. This year we ventured further West trying to get directly to Shippensburg without going thru Carlisle and that is not recommended. There are some very narrow steep roads with 10mph corners. That does mean 10mph and no more. These are hairpin turns with a drop. Second gear max. We went around one to the right and down and encountered bikers coming around towards us...eyes very wide open.
Yes, another fine gathering this year with new sights and eats. Thanks for all the pre-work Merklins and Ericksons. This was my 7th out of 8 years that used 5 different cars over that streak. Maybe the Ghia next year. I even got to share a room with the drill doctor Yoda without any serious damage. He made me laugh as much as Alice did at the Sunday departure. He also was a good alternate driver probably doing about 2/3s of the total (I wonder why he didn’t complain?). Thank you all, friends!
Attachments
Images (1)
Well @Rich Drewek I was worried that being with Al might result in a hole in the head feeling
It is amazing driving one of those 911-ish follow-ons, isn't it Al?
I drive my son's 996 for a bunch of hours last year and fell in love with it.
If I were only still working.....................................................................................
El Gordo,
Here you go. The result of exactly 2 minutes of looking. $16K (obo) seems like a retired-guy-friendly price to me, but what do I know?
Holy God, Stan........
I wonder what Kathy is gonna say to THIS one? (Stand far back....Jus' sayin'... But it IS a coupe-ish car, so maybe.......)
But then...........I have this "Speedstah" Thing, yah know?
And besides......It's, like, "silver". I mean......"Silver"? 
Gordon Nichols posted:It is amazing driving one of those 911-ish follow-ons, isn't it Al?
I drive my son's 996 for a bunch of hours last year and fell in love with it.
If I were only still working.....................................................................................
Yeah, Gordon, it was a wonderful car to drive, and Rich let me spend a fair bit of time behind the wheel with the stipulation that I was responsible for my own tickets (which I managed to avoid while still cruising a "little bit" over the legal limit a fair bit of the time). A little impractical for me, though- I can see it being hard to get 5 gallon pails and a 4 or 6 ft. step ladder in and out!
Stan Galat posted:El Gordo,
Here you go. The result of exactly 2 minutes of looking. $16K (obo) seems like a retired-guy-friendly price to me, but what do I know?
It is tempting, Stan!
Otherwise... (as I sit here dreaming)
Al,
Rich's car is a 997.2-- it's nicer (and more expensive) in most ways.
Comments: its all been said. Hotel is very good. Patio is just the bomb. But only 'cause the weather was nice. Cow shyt? well, yes, it's what happens, ya know. Would be nice if that hotel were ten mins from showfield. But it is what it is. So be it. Free b-fast was just fine, real eggs, real bacon, no complaints. Or could order from their b-fast menu for free. Hard to complain. BBQ was very good. Pricey, but good. Staying "home" for that meal suited me just fine. Likewise, Friday night ordering in pizza to the patio was perfect. Banquet food was nothing special, but nevertheless quite good. a solid B grade. Awards at banquet fell pretty short of previous versions. But w Bruce Stumpp & Co, Cory/Jeni, there were some tough acts to follow. Needed a VP in charge of the toy drive thing. Needed a box set up at hotel, then transportation of contents to showfield sat. And a note about the patio: if it had been raining during any of our schmooze times, there is no cover on the patio, so all would have had to be inside. And it may be nice to have a car wash station w hose near the parking lot. Racing museum, which had seen once before, was pretty cool, very interesting. The tour that others took on Sat in lieu of showfield looked to be very good. If that or similar were run on Fri, that would be fine..
Just little nits. As chronicled and expressed over and over, the week end was very well done, and enjoyed immensely. Hats off to Ed, Alan, Connie, et al. for the time and trouble it takes to pull something like this off. and whoever was in charge of the weather should get a special award. It does make a difference when dry.
"And it may be nice to have a car wash station w hose near the parking lot. "
There was one. It was at the far end of the building from where you enter the parking lot. I have a picture of a couple of the guys washing there cars there. As for the smell, well it is poop-spreading season after all. Just part of the Pennsylvania farmland ambiance. Best lodgings we've ever had.
Stan Galat posted:Al,
Rich's car is a 997.2-- it's nicer (and more expensive) in most ways.
Yeah, I know. Anything would be a step up from the gently used, ever so slightly rusty high mileage '94 4Runner I'm driving right now, though.
Ha - suite case was inspected by Homeland Security (they left note) during flight home to NW FL! Had HD rockers, cam and titanium push rods courtesy of Glen/Paul along with 6 bags of wiring connectors in a box. Sure it looked like IED on X-Ray machine.
Banquet food (at $40/head) was a disappointment. Hardly any salad left. No veggies or unknown white fish when my table got to go. By time replenishment was brought out - they had taken all the silverware off the tables! You'd think there would have bowl of pasta with red sauce just as a colorful filler vs more white of smashed taters with no gravy. Can it be set up for BYOB (even wine - if allowed in PA) next year?
Good to meet old tymers and the new folks. Who going to kidnap Gordon next year so we ensure he is there?
Jack said he might drive his Genesis next year - so with 1080 miles (and a finished Speedster) I'd have a chance! Weak kidneys though so long ride.
Stan Galat posted:Al,
Rich's car is a 997.2-- it's nicer (and more expensive) in most ways.
Yeah. And it's an "S". ALWAYS GET the S!
I loved driving that thing, thanks again Rich.
The weekend was awesome. Weather, check. Hotel(loved the parking, patio, and room), check check. Cars, yup.
Three Amigos, got that. Stan, got that too!
I agree with Greg that $40 for the banquet was a bit steep for what we got.
Thursday BBQ was good. Free breakfast was OK, and a nice option.
I'd say repeat it all next year with organized cruise/drive options. But maybe do something different on Saturday night.
My clutch issue will be getting taken care of this week. I believe it's the throwout bearing, we'll see.
My tow car Audi sprayed/leaked from a trans cooler line. Many thanks to Tab Tanner who jumped in with advice and hands. We plugged the leak and got home just fine thank you!
My picture are posted on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/...ms/72157705226267672
Feel free to download any pictures you want.
It was great to see our old friends and meet some new ones. Hotel was great, the weather was great (mostly), BBQ was great. I guess everything was just great.
What was not so great were some of the back roads through the mountains. The vistas were breath taking , but so were the potholes. We left home without a squeak or rattle in the car and by the time we returned back to the sand bar we had a bunch.
I guess flogging the little car through the mountains over 1,300 miles of potholes would loosen up a few things. It didn't use any oil in the whole ordeal , so I'm pretty happy about that.
Thanks again for a well run event.