Subaru Crew: Official SOA Presence (aka Patti)

p0926

It's 610 miles from Atlanta. I've got family in neighboring Illinois so I'll probably take the opportunity to go visit them too.

Mark- Patti told us last night the Friday the 18th was a pretty firm date.

-Frank P.

volkov

about 3850km from Prince George to Lafayette give or take a few. Maybe get lucky with a small tailwind...
You know what? That idea about driving back from Japan is starting to sound better.;-)

Nicholas

lark6

Asheville is beautiful and I think I'd like living there. My wife and I actually took a driving vacation in October 2001 down the Appalachians through WV, MD, VA and NC, ending in Asheville and working our way north again. We stayed on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway most of the way down, spent each night in a different B&B or lodge (except in Asheville where we spent two nights), only got on I-81 going back.

A very nice trip (taken in the Forester, to bring it on-topic) despite the unease caused by the terrorist attacks of the previous month and the anthrax scare which affected even tiny, one-room post offices along our route.

My intro to Subies came in the mountains of north GA, TN and NC, where they were popular among my hiking and paddling friends. I've heard Asheville has the highest number of Subies per capita, which would only surprise me a little if it's true.

Ed

p0926

Ed- I've heard Asheville has the highest number of Subies per capita, which would only surprise me a little if it's true.

Ha, It wouldn't surprise me at all. Seems like every 3rd vehicle up there is a Subie.

-Frank P.

bat1161

Frank,

   Someday I'll make it to a chat so I will know these things. The 18th sounds good. I'm going to try and talk my wife into going along so that we visit our friends on the way back. Still time.

Mark

ladywclass

I LIVE in Northern Indiana and I think it has some nice parts! People come here to shop for Amish furniture, and Lake Michigan "seashore" is nice, Indiana Dunes, Notre Dame, the College Football Hall of Fame, the Studebaker Museum (ok maybe no one is as interested as Ed).
What I WILL agree upon is that the roads east to west are a LOT better than the roads north to south in northern Indiana!

ldbricker

of places I want to go some day.

rsholland

I was there 10 – 15 years ago.

Bob

p0926

The Indiana Dunes are worth seeing, I was there last summer. You can stand on the top of a 100+ foot high dune on the shore of Lake Michigan and see the Chicago skyline in the distance.

-Frank P.

subearu

back when I was a cub scout. Very neat from what I remember.

-Brian

jfl

Lafayette IN is about 2300 miles from the west coast so I'll most likely be flying into Indy and probably driving to Lafayette from there.

Jim

mrk610

That weekend is good for me too. I live in South Jersey so I'll just drive out . A cental meeting place sounds good to meet up .

Mike k

p0926

Perhaps some of us who are driving would be willing to provide local transportation for the ones flying in, thereby saving on the cost of a rental car. It could also provide a chance to get to know some of your fellow crew members better. Not to mention sparing someone the embarrassment of showing up at a Subaru factory tour driving a Ford Focus rental :(o)

-Frank P.

ladywclass

good idea ... just have to see if it works around b/f's work schedule! ... I'd be willing (if anyone will ride in a non-OCD'ers Outback wagon)

ateixeira

Finally checked my calendar, that happens to be the only week in June that we as a family are free to go to the beach. Figures. We settle on May 27, and it'll probably be rented in July-August.

The week before would be even worse because that's my daughter's b-day.

Go ahead and make plans, there is a small chance I'll make a last ditch effort to make it, but at this point if I had to guess, I won't make it. From Ocean City it'd be more like a 12-13 hour drive each way!

-juice

p0926

Well I could try a guilt you into going by mentioning had good Subaru has been to you by sending you all over the country on their dime to represent the crew so now's it kinda your duty to attend an event planned specifically for the crew but that wouldn't be nice of me now would it? ;-)

-Frank P.

jfl

June 20 is Father's Day, so let your family give you a very memorable gift by allowing you to attend the Subaru social. (Actually, do we have a name for this outing yet?)

Jim

ladywclass

stever

n/m

Steve, Host

paisan

No good for me. Oh well guess I'm out if the 18th is a hard and fast date. I've wanted to go there since '97 but unforutunately that weekend is a no-go, also previously everyon wanted the 2 weekends BEFORE that so I set those aside for it.

-mike

rsholland

No matter what date is selected, there will always be schedule conflicts with some people. It just can't be avoided. I'm sure there are good reasons as to why Patti selected that date. Perhaps that's the date that worked best for the folks at Lafayette who put on these tours?

Bob

bat1161

Does anyone know what time on the 18th we have to be out there? I just found out I can't get the 17th, so I'll be driving out after work. Probably go 1/2 way, sack out for a few hours, then meet you folks.

Mark

ateixeira

THANKS A LOT FRANK! LOL

locke2c

simple: change your other plans, paisan. I saw you were doing some track thing that day... you do a bunch of those. how many times are you going to go to Indiana with the Crew?

~c

ateixeira

I got the feeling that paisan would if he felt the whole gang was going.

To be honest I think that's optimistic, it's very hard to handle that logistically. Someone's always gonna have scheduling conflicts.

Especially with kids, it's tough to balance these things. I've always tried to encorporate my kids, so they went with me on the Fall Folliage Tour in VA, the Gettysburg Battlefield Bike Ride in PA, and the Philly Auto Show this past winter.

Other times I've gone without them, to Detroit, NY show, Philly, Baltimore, Summit Point. Vegas, too. So it's been a balancing act.

Some of you guys have way too much time on your hands! LOL

-juice

PS In my young, single, irresponsible days, I had 14 hour Banzai-style last minute road trips to Florida for every spring break

paisan

Except that I already committed to instructing a few subaru folks at it. If it were just me going for myself I'd cancel it in a heartbeat, however the guys going are gonna be at their first track day so I'd feel real bad backing out on them. Also like Juice said, if I knew there was gonna be people from here going, I might be inclined to re-arrange the instructing of those folks to make it out, but even at these early stages, 90% of the people on here are wishy-washy about going, it'll turn out to be 2 people who I hang with in NY anyway cause most of the other people on the internet are, well like the people on the internet Gung-ho to do things, but in the end wind up bagging out.

-mike

subearu

is fine with me, I'm 99% sure I'll be heading down the morning of and heading back afterwards. My only issue was if it was the prior week (the 11th), as we have other plans for the weekend.

Put me on the list!

-Brian

ateixeira

Well, mike, we could include you in the list of wishy-washy folks. ;-)

Just wait 'til you have a couple of little bambinos running around the house!

I'm working on it - my daughter loves to ride bikes and my son has one of those little electric cars, plus they have the mandatory Cozy Coupe.

-juice

paisan

Low blow Juice! My Subaru resume of events attended is quite extensive.... Baltimore in the snow, etc. etc. Back to back Subaru Challenge Auto-xs- Saturday in VA Sunday in Long Island!!!!

-mike

p0926

Well, mike, we could include you in the list of wishy-washy folks. ;-)

Juice nailed you! If every person waits for everyone else to make a firm commitment before they themselves commit then no one will show up for sure. The flip side is as you alluded, You get a certain amount of people saying they'll go and suddenly everybody wants in on the action ;-) So which are you going to be, a leader or a follower? :-)

-Frank P.

paisan

And attended more events than most people on this board have thought about attending. There is no need to throw the low blows toward me specifically...

-mike

p0926

There is no need to throw the low blows toward me specifically...

None other than we enjoy busting your chops ;-) Besides, don't dish it if you can't take it :-)

-Frank P.

ateixeira

Brian's in, Brenda too IIRC. Dave just needs a ride. Mark. Jim. Patti. Add to that a bunch of maybes, a few of which should show up. Plus the families of some folks.

I think it the group builds up you'll see more folks try to come.

-juice

p0926

ateixeira

Brian
Brenda
Dave (wants a ride)
Mark
Jim
Patti
Frank

Any more so far?

-juice

rangerron7

I have to see if I can get that Friday off.
Are activities planned just for Friday or Saturday too?
Ron

fibber2

and I am pretty sure that I can make it now that it has changed to the 18-21. My only decision is whether to drive from NY, or fly Stewart/Newburg to Chicago and drive down. I have about 125k FFM on American Airlines, so it might be time to burn some.

Steve

rsholland

but I can't commit as of this moment.

Bob

paisan

Maybe I'll bail on the Friday event, and do the tour with you guys and then haul [non-permissible content removed] back to Pocono for sat AM. That *could* work for me.

-mike

rsholland

Maybe we should put a deadline to sign up for this event? Patti, what do think? How much notice time do you and the folks at Lafayette need? Don't put yourself in a bind here by making a late drop-dead date. You're doing a lot here for the folks, so make it easy on yourself.

Bob

jfl

mike,

Being at Lafayette on Friday and driving back to Pocono for Sat AM is pushing it. Don't do something unsafe because someone is making you feel guilty.

There will be other get togethers for the Crew.

Jim 8~)

p0926

if you could post some more definite information. When on Friday is the plant tour an for how long? Are there any other activities planned? For instance we will no doubt want to get together for dinner. Then there's driving directions. Also nice to have would be recommended places to stay. Is there a local motel that SIA uses for visitors and perhaps has negotiated a special rate with and would that rate be available?

Okay guys, any other questions you'd like answered?

-Frank P.

paisan

It wouldn't be the first time I've done that. Last year we drove down on Friday (with the L on a trailer) to Richmond, Partied Friday night, Auto-xed on Saturday, then drove back to Long Island for another subaru auto-x on Sunday! It's probably only about 600miles from Indiana to Pocono.

-mike

ldbricker

and see if my dad can go along as well. More info on times etc. would be great.

rsholland

Excellent point Frank! If we knew some more of the details, that might help a lot of us.

Patti mentioned the 18th, which is a Friday. I'm assuming that would be the tour day.

Bob

subearu

the 18th is the tour day, which would be the only day I would be available to attend. I need to plan for the 3 hour drive time as well.

-Brian

fibber2

especially as I am thinking of flying. Also, Brenda needs time to plan for my visit - cleaning up the guest room, etc. ;-)

OK, a thought here. I know most people don't think about this in much detail, but use of your own car on a trip is expensive. I sometimes use a Hertz car (corporate contract available for personal use - unlimited mileage) for trips where I do not want to put my own car at risk, or where the long miles in a day make it potentially profitable. Case in point: MapQuest shows my house in NY to Lafayette as over 800 miles. There might be better routes, but lets assume that with some local driving, it will still be a 1500 mile adventure. So 1500 miles times 0.37/mile = $550.00. And remember that $0.37 hasn't been updated to reflect current gas prices, so the real cost exceeds $0.40 ($600.00). Compare that to a 4 day rental @ $40 = $160. Add tax & gas, and you are still below $325. My local place even gives '04 Subaru OBW on the corporate rate, when available! Split between 2-3 people, it becomes a relative bargin. Food for thought....

Steve

stevek

I recently rented a car and Hertz was much more expensive (almost twice as much) with the croporate discount. Shop around.

bat1161

Steve,

    I understand the suggestion to rent a car, thus saving the wear and tear on your own, but I thought part of the idea behind this was to show up with your own Subaru.

Mike- If you are "crazy" enough to drive out for Friday, when would you be heading out?

Mark

fibber2

Steve - the one way rate (drop charge), or from some NYC locations is around $80/day. But the 'return to same location' negotiated rate out of the Poughkeepsie office is $39.95 for a "C", & they have been upgrading for free lately.

Mark - I agree, in principle. Just something to think about. Bigger issue is that I don't think I have the time (or the back) for that kind of drive.

Steve