Should there be someone that is willing to take over the Speedsters meet Spyders weekend aka Carlisle 2019 it is imperative that I contract with Courtyard by Marriott fora block of rooms in the very near future. There is an easy way to do a Carlisle event weekend with minimal time invested by keeping the days open for the most part and scheduling to a bare minimum as people enjoy finding there places to dine with smaller groups. The number one activity choice is socializing.... among friends.
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Let's hope it happens, Alan.
But hoping won't get it done...
Alan,
Please go ahead and reserve the hotel.
As I said in my parting remarks at the drivers meeting - there will be a Carlisle 2019.
Thanks.
ECB
PM sent~
To be clear...
We are still looking for a coordinator for Carlisle 2019 but I am 100% confident the event will happen. Everyone add it to your calendar!
ECB
It's in my book, Bruce. After having to miss this year's event, I really want to make it next year.
There will be several volunteer opportunities. Thanks, Bruce and Alan.
YES, of course there will be. Grab the rooms. Lots of willing helpers. And eventually, a CEO will emerge. Right Ed??
Im 100% going !!!! Life changed for me and Im now a single guy. No need to ask anyone for permission
Tab, Search "Carlisle 2019" reserve your hotel room by calling the direct phone number listed M to F during normal business hours....
Got the room reserved, Im super excited I have wanted to do this for 10 years.
Thanks Tab, it's one big family reunion minus the drama ... looking forward to this year's Carlisle !
Remember to fill in and send your dinner banquet reservations, folks. One thread over.
Its a 8 hour drive for me but Im looking forward to it. Just me and the open road. Im going to try and drive as many state routes and avoid interstates and toll roads. I'll stop along the way so it will then be 10 hours lol Hey I like to drive like where Im going will still be there when i get there
What’s the big deal with interstates? You get out there, run it up to a speed you’re comfortable with (3,500-ish rpm) and go with the flow.
Yes, some other drivers will make fools of themselves trying to take photos of your car. Ignore them unless they get too close, then back off a bit and they usually lose interest and motor on ahead. Other than that, just drive it as you would your daily driver.
10 hours to get to Carlisle? Seriously? Just get out there and get to Carlisle! There’s BEER waiting when you get there! I used to leave Beaufort, SC at 7am and be at the Hampton Inn (or Fairfield Suites, can’t remember ) in Chambersburg, PA at 6pm the same day - That was a nine hour drive day. Lane takes two days to cover 2 hours less distance (100 miles less) from Charleston to Christiansburg to Carlisle, so again I say, just get out there and drive! You’ll be fine! Enjoy the trip....... And don’t forget that beer at the end.
Post on here for others in your area making the trip. Caravan with them. It will probably add a bit more time to your trip, but you’ll have more fun getting there (as Lane does).
Gordon,
You make a good point. As its gets closer Ill see who wants to caravan
I like the road less traveled approach. Theres more to see on back roads the super highways anyhow. Plus I would rather spend my money at a local mom and pop diner than a corporate giant. Im probably going to take rt 30 across ohio. Its the old Lincoln Hwy and has lots to see. But who knows I could change my mind. I took back roads to the Woodward Dream Cruise, but interstate to come home? Just depends on how I feel
Everybody is different— but for me, driving to something is about getting there. In a speedster, I always try to leave a time cushion. If my route dawdles long enough to eat into the cushion, then I’ll learn pretty quickly not to take the car.
There are forgotten roads that are completely worth it, and a LOT of blue lines that are just longer. I’ve got no desire to sit at 10,000 stoplights in a speedster, which is what secondary highways east of the Great Plains generally are.
We romanticized the road less traveled, but it’s often just a frontage road for strip mall access.
Gordon was able to do it in one day ensconced in the luxury of his loaded F-350 with Pearl on the trailer. I took two days in the Speedster (or BMW) to make the trip manageable in the Speedster and squeeze in some visits along the way. It makes the drive much less of a slog.
Mine is a 20 hour drive in two days. I used to do it in three days but that middle day was only 3-4 hours so I'll knock it out in two this year. For me there is no option between the scenic route and the get-there route so it's interstates all the way. 13th year this year and always worth the long drive there and back which is 2,500 miles each year including a swing through DC to see our grand babies after each Carlisle. My Speedster is designed for trips like these and I do love the drive. Can't wait to see everyone again this year!
Before making the trip north/south I would always line up a season's worth of "Car Talk" Podcast episodes to listen to while on the road. Even though they're always pretty funny, along about 2 or 3 pm on the first day (after we pulled out at 7am) my wife would suddenly exclaim, "THAT's IT! I can't take these nitwits any more!" and I would usually switch to TED talks or Science Friday podcasts. I also had a pretty good playlist with over 20 hours of music we both like so we had lots to keep us entertained as we all know how boring it can be on the interstates.
And yes, Lane's right about the pickup - Kind of like a Lincoln Continental with a pickup bed and 4WD so we weren't roughing it by any means and the interior was quiet enough to hear the dogs in the back seat area snoring. Or Lane, the time he rode with us to the Harley Davidson factory tour - in a torrential downpour. Ah.....Carlisle!
Car Talk was great I would find myself answering the call in's question before B & T did. But then again there' was Bob n' Tom which was priceless entertainment
Usually when we head to Carlisle, it's still a little chilly up here. We try to head out with the top down, but if not, it comes down soon, once we reach warmer climes. It's a nice six to seven hour drive from our place, and it always gets warmer as we get farther south.
I think it's the anticipation of arriving that keeps us warm, regardless of the weather.
The truck was a hard top, but had two sun/moon roofs. Whenever I opened the one over the rear seat, our Jack Russell, Murphy, would bark at it, and then us, to remind us that something isn't right back here!!!! and would keep it up til I closed it. It was OK to have the front one opened, though - It was our neck, after all, not his.
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"THAT's IT! I can't take these nitwits any more!"
Tom and Ray, the Car Talk Guys, would definitely endorse that sentiment. That show was far and away the unlikeliest hit ever to grace public radio, and I miss the hell out of it. I especially miss annoying my wife by shouting my guesses and diagnoses at the radio during road trips.
Ah yes, the Harley plant trip during the second Biblical flood. I vaguely remember spotting an ark in the distance while sitting in the back of Gordon's truck with Hoss, well up up above the common folk driving alongside us. We would occasionally use the intercom to call the staff for more champagne. They also made sure that our footwear was appropriate for the tour, unlike some people we know.
"THAT's IT! I can't take these nitwits any more!"
listening to anything on the radio/cd/mp3 is usually a solo thing in our car
Lane , I recall 2005 when you and I drove around to the car museum in my black S10 rained bid time but you and I were dry :~)
Yup. I learned to appreciate a watertight vehicle that day. I still remember the picture of Bruce and Norma having to wring out everything in their Speedster, including themselves. Ah, the good old days!
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A couple of years in a row Schu and I would attend together - I'd tow his red CMC MG-TD up from No VA. One year we stopped nearby Carlisle for gas, a local filling his pickup said " Oh is it that time of year again? I need to get home and plant my crops so the rain will wake the seeds up." He didn't need the Farmer's Almanac - just looked for foreign/kit cars headed to town!
Fortunately, there was a back way out of the Marriott to the parade grounds (2014).
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hoping to better weather this year
Tab Tanner posted:Im 100% going !!!! Life changed for me and Im now a single guy. No need to ask anyone for permission
This just hit me ..." Your now independently owned" and operated, post divorce follies you still have a speedster :~)
He may be under new management soon...
Yep a master of my domain. A one man band, etc. Yes we called it quits just over a week ago. Im fine with it, we have agreed it was just not working. We are very civil to each other, and parted ways as friends. Yet another page in my life
C'levie (or something like that) when i got divorced we had 3 horses, i always kid that I got rid of 4 nags at one time:}
IaM-Ray posted:He may be under new management soon...
Let him enjoy being without any adult supervision for as long as it lasts...
Hotel reservations made, banquet dinner reservations made, looking forward to meeting everyone! Been to spring and fall Carlisle many, many times, have never been to this one, very much looking forward to it! Ready to join in on the Speedster madness!
Im taking my car out of storage next week. I can't wait to meet everyone this year VERY EXCITED