The Northeast Caravan Thread

And just in case you might like a group around you on the way home, we usually leave Carlisle/Mechanicsburg around 9-10AM on Sunday, May 19'th and take the same route back home with the same stops.

gn

Hey Gordon,

Thanks for organizing the caravan again this year.

I will email you my info shortly and expect to join you at stop #1.

Peter

Ok, folks...

so far I have confirmations from:

John Eastman

his friend Don Moretti (sp?)

Peter Venuti

 and I'm going to assume the following joiners:

The Gallos

Lenny C.

Danny P.

Carl Berry

and Maybe:

Chris Schofield and his new IM

John Estes (don't know where he'll be joining us, yet)

Who else would like to join the Great Northeast Caravan??

We're the coolest bunch of mis-fits you'll ever brag to your friends about.

Gordon, 95% sure Lenny will be joining you and I will as well in Montgomery/Maybrook exit 5 I-84. Thanks!

Gordon, Baring the unexpected I'll be at exit 8, as will John Eastman and I believe Don Moretti too.

I love it when a plan comes together. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

THREE of you at exit 8!!

Guess I better not be listening to the "Car Talk" guys and miss the exit again, huh?  

And it's a good thing that Heidi Gallo was paying attention and called me on the phone with "Hey, ummmm......Wasn't that Carl Berry's exit?"

Gordon, if we're the only pick-up at stop#2 , we can continue down the road to stop #3 and move things along a little. We'll talk before then. All our numbers are the same. I have Peter's and Danny's phone numbers.

IIRC, Lenny C. was waiting with you'se guys.  I'll call him to see where he would prefer to catch us, stop 2 or 3 and post it.

LAST CALL FOR JOINING THE NORTHEAST CARLISLE CARAVAN!!!

Thus far, we have the following people signed up (kinda-sorta in order of pickup)

Kathy and Gordon Nichols

Peter Venuti

Heidi and Al Gallo

Lenny, C.

John Estes

Carl Berry

John Eastman

Don Moretti

Danny P.

If you've ever wanted to join in on the fun and games on a caravan to Carlisle (but no debauchery - we leave that up to MUSBJIM), then this is the caravan for you.  Come on along, just to watch all the looky-loos on the Interstates!!

if you've decided to join us "Caravanistas", please email me (speedstahguy at gmail.com) with which stop you'll be at and your cell phone number so I can contact you.

Thanks!  Gordon

Hey Gordon, there isn't going to be any debauchery on the South East caravan either.  We're all well-behaved gentlemen with a lust for life.  This definitely includes Jimbo, who will be riding shotgun with Jack.  Now if you believe all this, I will sell you an option on the Brooklyn Grill bridge. 

Amen to that, Hoss.  Are we also on for our annual dinner Tuesday next door to the Hampton Inn in Lenoir City?   Hi to Sarah!

Do they allow Guamaniacs in that fine establishment? 

But of course---that's what makes it a fine establishment!

I believe that is the plan Jack.  We do not know at what point Tuesday that Nolan and Jan will be rolling in, but I suspect it will be in plenty of time for our soiree.  Jimbo, yes of course. 

Hey Gordon, I will meet you at either, but like last year, the Hess on the South side of I-84 has much better room and pull through ease than the tiny lot the Mobil is on. Plus the Subway is almost directly across the street from Hess......plenty of parking room there too.

Last year in preparation for the Carlisle caravaning someone posted a suggested list of emergency 'stuff' to pack...As surely as God made little green apples I'm going to forget something!

Please refresh my memory.

Nope, after ten years of this, I'm not gonna re-type it.

Look at the list below and decide what makes sense for you.  I'll probably have all of this in the truck (if not already in Pearl) so the NE Caravan is in good shape for spares, and anything esoteric we can get at the show field or at NAPA when we get there (like last year for Dave Bash's wheel bearings).  The truck (aka "rolling shop") will have a roll-around floor jack, set of jack stands, some of the bigger tools (1/2" drive and such), ground tarps and so forth.....once I get stuff gathered I'll post a list.

Anyway, here's that memory-jogging list for 2013:

https://www.speedsterowners.com...237#4669860256762237

OK, for Carl and others who might need some assistance on the caravan or at Carlisle (or reassurance that they'll be able to get home afterwards) I have amassed my usual mountain of stuff to throw into the truck to bring along.  Ground tarps, floor jacks, bottle jacks, a set of jacks, shop rags, trash bags, metric sockets and English, too, all the way up to 1/2" drive.  

Special wrenches (I'll find my steering box wrenches and bring'em along), throttle holders (for setting up carbs or timing), a complete spare 009', Danny P's patented magical hand cleaning rags, torque wrenches, my now-legendary, overloaded, three-drawer tool chest (with not one tool within from Harbor Freight), a couple of lawn chairs, several coolers, several umbrellas, my "Mickey Mouse" rain poncho, two partridges and a pear tree.

On top of all that, my trailer has been known, in the past, to double as a portable "lift" as well as a flat surface for field-performed, front end alignments (Literally - we set it up out on the show field).

We are gonna be so well-prepared you all won't believe it.  Hopefully, like most of the past years, we won't have to use very much of it.

Gordon

The Caravaning Speedstah Guy

Hey, that's terrific Gordon!

Now I won't have to medicate myself with anti-anxiety pills.

Besides, I simply don't have room to comply with Jack's laundry list of essential traveling stuff.

Neither does Jack, but somehow he does it.  I don't know how two adults and all that stuff fits into his car, but it does.

Well, there are actually quite a few storage places in a VS and I suppose the other makes as well such as;

In the front battery compartment--I ger quite a lot of stuff in there

Under the spare tire

On top of the spare tire

The ledge in the trunk under the windshield

Along the left and right sides of the trunk

Under the seats--flat plastic boxes fit there

Behind both seats--space for books and thin storage boxes

Behind the seats--two medium rolling suitcases will fit there. (Remove that cushion if you have one)

Beside and on top of the suitcases

I also use a small suitcase on the luggage rack using Dusty's belts but that's used by Alice.

The trick isn't packing everything---it's being able to find the stuff!  All the various boxes and fabric tool bags are numbered and each item is noted on a master list with the container number where it is located.

Easy peasy.

Phone numbers?

I have trouble fitting in a Speedster WITHOUT all that other stuff!! 

Maybe El Guapo can do one of those "Guapo-Lite" diet things before he heads East?

Jack - Me too!!  I finally (last year) came up with a master list of where the hell everything is in the car (and tool box, and truck, and bins, etc).  Just spent way too much time looking for stuff, especially when someone needed something fast.  The list is the way to go.

BTW:  I remember seeing a friend of my brother's off on one of his first trips to Alaska in his 356 Cabriolet back in the 1960's (the one that looked like Chris Schofield's new IM) - I honestly don't think there was a spare cubic inch of space left in the car, or in the cases (two) on his rear rack (plus he had two pairs of skis strapped on).  Once he was in, clothing bags became arm rests, other things became leg supports (I bet Jack knows about those, now), a towel became a lumbar support, etc.  He made it to Fairbanks in 6-1/2 days.  The best he ever did was coming home to Massachusetts in 5 days, 3 hours and a few minutes, getting in around 2AM.  He was somewhat younger than either Jack or me (or the studley El Guapo, too!)

I seem to remember that my friend, "El Guapo" had a video about packing.  The premise was something like what a guy packs as opposed to  what a guy packs when his lady is traveling with him.  I definitely LMAO when I saw it and probably would today if I saw it again.  I'm glad sweet bride Sarah doesn't review my posts, do you honey?

I'm re-editing that 'packing for a trip' video and will post it tomorrow! 

OK, you Northeast "Caravanistas"....

Got my Redneck GPS programmed for all of the waypoint pickups AND the I-83 alternate, direct to the hotel and avoiding the construction just before the river.  We should be all set, as long as I actually pay attention to the GPS Voice, "Rufus", when he tells me to get off for Carl's exit.

We'll see......

I expect heavy truck traffic on that I-83/581/15 go-around (you know it's heavy around there, anyway), so please pay attention, stay in the lanes (I'll be setting us up well in advance of needed lane changes), drive nice and steady and we'll all get to the hotel just fine.  I'll also have my phone connected to the truck stereo, so if you call my cell it should ring on the truck stereo and really wake me up. 

So......regular pickups, lunch in Montgomery, NY, after getting to Danny P. and then either one more gas stop near Harrisburg or direct to the hotel, depending on how everyone's gas is holding up.

Danny:  Can I get diesel at your pickup spot?  That'll hold me to Mechanicsburg, for sure.

Thanks,  gn

Gordon, I'm going to ride by there today and check. We know YOU'LL be good on fuel, but stopping near Hazelton after Montgomery fits most fuel tanks and bladders of the little cars and their drivers. In the words of the Pineapplehead, "I'm just sayin' "!!!

Works either way for me.....fuel in Montgomery gives me enough range to get to Florence, SC, or we can all fuel up in Hazelton for the run to Mechanicsburg.

Let's talk it through at lunch and go from there.