Morro Bay 2010

I will begin contracting for hotel, restaurants, events, etc for Morro Bay after July 1 when we return from North Carolina. So..... now is the time for any suggestions you might have for events. Please post your ideas and any details you might be able to offer and I will be glad to look into all possibilities. I want this to be a real "Wing Ding" of a gathering. It is time to add some new interest to our great West Coast gathering to show the guys and gals on the East Coast that we are still the most OUTSTANDING event of the year and get them to join us for the fun.

BTW, date will be the end of April as usual because this is the only time that we can have the town to ourselves before their large (500+ entry) hot rod show and the hotel is more amenable to negotiations for us.

Thanks for your input.

Happy Trails,
Dusty and LMS

contract with danny for beer mugs

And the beer to put in 'em, too...

Hey Dusty---good to see your post up starting to plan for Morrow Bay.

There are a few guys who are planning to make the drive from the Southwest, North Central and South Central states in 2010. Some wives will fly out to meet their husbands out there too so it should be a good sized contingent from "fly over country". Personally I am extremely excited about this trip. I believe that my son, Russ and I will drive the then-Raby powered Vintage and have my wife, Alice, and possibly Russ' wife also fly out and meet us for the event.

This is also a good opportunity to encourage any other East Coasters or Central states folks to plan now to attend---OK too (Cal?)

Rusty,I am glad you are heading this up as I saw the marvelous job you did with all the resulting kudos last year!

I am writing to see if there can be a reasonable amount of time between the Morrow Bay event and the Carlisle event as I want to do both in '10. So what is the earliest that Morrow Bay can be to allow for recovery time between the two events? Regards---Jack

Beer mugs (or similar) from Danny,

Killer shirts from Teresa aka BERT

Consider this property for 2011 or 2012. We take over as vendor in October this year if I recall correctly. I don't know the costs or anything yet, but I'll be able to let you know later (too late for 2010):

http://www.visitasilomar.com/

angela

Certainly someone on the Best Coast can design a killer shirt, also we want to do "badges" this year, Darrin and I are still cooking up ideas.

We really liked the Hotel we stayed at this year, it was very comfortable, no complaints from me, maybe we can order warmer weather? Is there anywhere at the hotel that we can all meet for like a cocktail hour or something? Conference room? A wine tour that the friday gang from down south can attend? A night time cruise? I heard the restaurant to the right of the Great American Fish co. is really good and can accomodate our group? just to mix it up a bit.

still thinking...............

Different restaurant...PLEASE!

The restaurant was ok, but I would rather bring a brown bag than eat their food again. Either that, or just have them serve potatoes as that was the only thing that didn't have to be totally masticated before swallowing.

Not a hit on you Rusty, but when you talk to these people about the food, tell them I will be there to check it out beforehand. I will be honest in my report.

I'll do what I can about food and venues but please remember it is
DUSTY -- DUSTY -- DUSTY

NOT Rusty

A Dusty Johnson is easily taken care of, but a Rusty Johnson, that can be real trouble!

Looking forward to my first outing. Moonstone Beach in Cambria offers good food about 30 miles, I believe, from Morro Bay. Some of the best Zinfandel anywhere off of Vineyard Drive north of 46 between 101 and 1. I'm running the risk of writing here what you all know about. At any rate, the boss and I hope to be there. About 2 1/2 years ago I started reading this good stuff on your wonderful website. Such a cool addition.

Now Will, That there is funny!!!

I'll make the motion that (if possible) we 'blow-off' the parade on Saturday morning. I'm guessing this may involve some modification with our sponsorship from the Chamber of Commerce.

I'll go out on a limb with the speculation that a large portion of SOC attendees don't often get the chance to cruise up the spectacular coastline along Hwy 1 in their Speedsters/Spyders and Saturday morning would be a perfect opportunity to do so (in a 40+ Speedster caravan). What a photo opp THAT would be, especially for our SOC brethren coming in from Chicago/Arkansas/Florida/Delaware/North Carolina and other points East!

I'll volunteer to coordinate this cruise (with any other volunteers). Will also try to coordinate a stop in Cambria for shopping/sightseeing as well as other points of interest.

...I'm just saying...

Jim, if the weather is nice, that HWY 1 cruise is the ticket! And if the weather is too wet or cold, A nice drive in the warmer/dryer back country would appeal to me more than the parade. I'm just sayin'! Where ever the Pineapple Head leads, I will follow!

OK, so if I understand this correctly, we used to do this perticular weekend in Paso because of the oldtimer days, and someone from our group blew that Gig. So we switched to Morro Bay for their parade and Kite show same weekend...it now seems like some are ready for another change...If we blow off the parade, it free's us up to do anything we want and any weekend we want....
We may want to look into this a little deeper....
I stayed in San Simeon a few years back at a hotel right on the water
every room had a fire place and a pair of binoculars to watch the sea otters play off shore...they also had fire pits for nighttime campfires...The best western Cavalier...2 restaurants and can handle a LARGE group.. i suggest you look at it on-line, it may be perfect for next year...It's right next to Hearst Castle and parts unknown.....
CHECK IT OUT.........
This also allows the So Cal guys to attend Knott's, because now we can change weekends..

The coast is beautiful and I love it there, but this state has lots more to offer. It would really be nice to have this event in the Yosemite National Park area or even up in Tahoe. Talk about your twisties!
Troy

Maybe the size and popularity of this deal means we don't need to "hook up" with anything municipal any more. Morro Bay is a nice berg, but the morning we spent doing their parade could have been used in lots of other (more fun) ways.
This gathering could go anywhere, do anything it wants to. It doesn't have to be in Central California. And, it doesn't have to be in the same place every year, either.
There are tons of cool destinations to visit and explore. Maybe it's time we broadened our horizons a little.
And while we're at it - find a restaurant that can handle a group.

tahoe is beautiful, good place to consider. i heard the hotels are being more generous because more and more people are stopping at the indian casinos here in ca. i live 1 hour west of tahoe heading towards sacratomato and they just opened a huge indian casino a few miles down the hill and its always busy.

If we get enough of the usual attendee's who would like to look into other options, it would only seem fair to do so...
BUT, lets try to keep it reasonable and perhaps a vote in the end..
lets make suggestions here, and then start a new thread will the options for a vote...

I would love a Yosemite/Tahoe run. I don't think April would be the best time for one though. Isn't the weather a little chancy then? The Morro Bay/Cambria area is a comfortable run for the SoCal contingent to do on a 3 day weekend. It is also a nice drive from Malibu on the coast. A drive from SoCal to Yosemite or Tahoe is more than a 3 day weekend, at least for me. I would do a Sierra run, but it should not replace the Central Coast/North meets South April event. Let's discuss the possibility of a Sierra Run in a different thread.

The last time I was in Tahoe it was April and there was several feet of snow. Not great Speedster conditions, but boy was it beautiful!

Best time for Tahoe is in mid-September. Water is warmer and the crowds are gone. Lot of great roads around and really good wines down the hill in Amador and El Dorado counties.
Barbecue at my house in Grass Valley. We can handle 60+. Plenty of room.

OK then, we meet at Knuckel's this September...

I am checking my calendar...... Sept. might work.

I can't believe what I am reading. This past Morro was the best SOC event EVER! It was the best venue EVER! It was the best schedule EVER!

Perhaps instead of sniveling over tough chicken or coming up with an AAA list of California travel destinations, maybe we can help Dusty out by listing the 5 things that we liked BEST about Morro.

After we've weighed in on what we want to keep, then we can see what's left to add or change.

Keep:
1. Dusty / LMS for Sheriff
2. Blue Sail
3. Parade with candy toss
4. Saturday night banquet, gift exchange, within walking
5. Friday night dinner, within walking / crawling

I'm not comin if the food isn't any good! ;)

I don't care where it is as long as the left coast contingent is there I'm good. I'll stay tuned in until the final destination is picked and then I'll start planning the trip. I'm still shootin for the drive out (to get the Traveled the Farthest Award) and having the speedster shipped back. It's gonna take some serious planning so get to it and pick a spot! ;)

Mark, I hope you just misunderstood my post. I am not complaining about Morro Bay or Dusty/Rusty/LMS! The Blue Sails was fine, and personally the food/restaurant was OK with me, I'm not there for the food. I think that we are just discussing possible fine tuning of a good thing. I think that the Morro Bay/ Cambria area is ideal for an April gathering. My discussion of a Sierra run would be in addition to Morro Bay/Cambria. I would like to have a tour that would start on Sat. early enough to drive up HWY 1 a ways if the weather is nice. But if the group wants to do the parade, I'm OK with that too. I just feel that after driving 300 miles to the Central Coast, I would like to do more driving on the great roads instead of the parade. I hope Dusty and LMS know how much I appreciate the success of the 2 Morro Bay events that I have attended. We are just talking around the campfire about next year!

I gotta agree with Will,Dusty and the LMS make this event what it is, we are absolutely grateful for what they do, we are merely making suggestions for a change of Scenery..Morro Bay is a great location, but in the spirit of what this group is all about, we need to move and groove....I would hope that Rusty, I mean Dusty, and the LMS would continue to do their thing wherever we decide to land...
If the majority says we stay in Morro Bay, I will surely be there, and stop calling me surly....

Mickey,

When the time is near, I can arrange the return shipping through a dispatch board that my transport business subscribes to. Current 6/09 rates are running $950 open carrier and $1,250 enclosed... fuel costs effect rates.. ~Alan

1)The weather is always "iffy" in April-May
2)According to Dusty,the Chamber of Commerce was less receptive this year than they were the year before.
3)The parade was a joke. It would be more fun to stay at the staging area longer and let the town know we're there.
4)The venue for the banquet was great but the food was a joke for what it cost.
5)Dusty started this thread in order to get feedback as to what we, as a group, would like to see next year. Nobody has criticized him personally.
6)The idea of having the event in a different location is refreshing. I don't know about you guys but I'm always looking for new roads...

Peace

It's tough to offer criticism about Morro Bay if it's all taken as a personal slam on Dusty. Considering he put the whole deal together from Colorado, he did a good job.
The $31 Saturday dinner was okay for some, not-so-great for others. Considering what $31 can get you at a nice restaurant, I just thought the place we picked served us a mediocre meal. That's easy to fix.
The parade has nothing to do with our cars; we were definitely an "afterthought." A planned drive through the boonies would be much more fun...or even a static car show for a couple of hours, then a cruise.
If you like Morro Bay, why not try San Luis Obispo, or Cambria, or Los Osos, or even Paso Robles (without the Chamber of Commerce)? Solvang is cool. San Simeon, too. There're lots of places with more to offer than Morro Bay.

And then there's that damn rock blocking the sunset view. I say we tell the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce that we won't be back unless they do something about that damn rock!
Troy

Seriously, just so it's clear. Dusty and the LMS are the greatest and we are lucky to have them in our group.

I posted this for feedback and was not planning on putting my two cents in until I get much, much more feedback but .........

1) I do NOT take any of this personally. I appreciate the opinions offered and understand (I hope) the complaints.

2) I appreciate the support shown and still believe this is the BEST car group I have ever belonged to. This is never a car event, it is a "family reunion"

3) My base criteria:
--- town that welcomes us
--- nice base hotel with reasonable rates
--- better than average chance for good weather
--- great roads for drives and interesting destinations
--- area that the spouses enjoy and time for shopping
--- restaurants that will accomodate our size group
--- private room for banquet
--- banquet venue that does not charge $500 for the room + food

I want to make this fun for 100% of the group. So far I think I have made it for 95% and we are working our way up.

Now, on with the thread. I am listening closely, these are good ideas so far.

Happy Trails,
Dusty and the Lovely Miss Sharon

Dusty-Do you have a So Calif AAA travel planner book?

Troy,
Rock? What rock? I thought that was where the chicken and salmon was aged before being served on beds of dry Pacific Sponge.

:->

I love Morro, and would love to go back. If the venue changes, it can't be more than 4-5 hours travel time from LA, it would be to difficult to go further without requiring an extra day travel time. As far as the parade, I can go either way on this, it does take a bit of time out of the day waiting to get started, I wouldn't mind just parking for a little longer in the lot, either way is fine with me. I just want to be with my SOC gang, location doesn't matter, but by the ocean is pretty nice!

If the decision is to stay in Morro, I would suggest moving the date into June. I really think we have been dodging bullets with weather issues having it in the spring. Also, those cruises up and down the coast will be much more enjoyable in the warmer weather.

Just for the record, the entrance to Yosemite National park is a 5 hour drive from southern Calif. It's not a scenic drive by any means, but easily doable. There are plenty of very nice places to stay in the Oakhurst or Bass lake area just before entering the park.
Troy
PS. Only 6 more days until the start of my month!

Alan,
I just got you post. Thanks! I'll definitely be getting in touch with you as Morro gets closer.

April is more appealing to me as I'll be driving the Speedster accross Texas, New Mexico and Arizona and to do that in June with no ac won't be as pleasant as April.

Just a thought-----Jack