thoughts of a Spring New England Rally

[blucille]

to take advantage of my self-centeredness, I propose the weekend of my Birthday, so for starters, let's talk about friday, April 16 thru sunday the 18th, with the ability to add another day, if the attendees feel it is worthy.

So, I'm thinking we can start or end here in northern NJ, convenient for the NYC, NJ and southern NYers, and end or start somewhere near Boston. This allows the bulk of our attendees to be near end one of the drive.

my proposal is to have 3 or so planners, I would handle the NY leg of the drive, someone would take over and handle the VT/NH leg, and another do the ME/MA leg. The planner is responsible for finding a scenic route, figuring out rest stops, meals and overnight accommodations. My suggestion is to find a nice b&b, inn or decent hotel in the $100-$150 range, people can double up. I'm estimating we will need around 10 rooms...guessing 12-14 cars.

I've set up a google map showing what I'm picturing.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en...403259&t=h&z=9

Attachment 74379

this map should allow people to make changes and comments.

I've planned for around 200 miles each day, on these roads, I expect that 4-6 hours, each planner can tweak number of miles and amount of driving, but I figure first and last days should be at a reduced number of miles, to allow folks to come and go as needed.

for the NJ/NY run, I will suggest a hotel nearby, for anyone coming down the night before. I'd be happy to have folks over for a BBQ/beer and movie night, or whatever, in addition to open access to my workshop for any last-minute tweaks. Start at the farmette with donuts and coffee, plus bagels (the real NYC bagels, of course) for those watching their girlish figures. From there, we head up the palisades, around west point, and eventually find our way thru some twisties just west of the new york state thruway, eventually ending in sharon springs, NY, a turn-of-last century vacation destination spot for the NYC crowd, now more like a ghost town, with a very nicely redone B&B and lots of history.

http://www.americanhotelny.com/guestrooms.html

day 2 I will leave in the hands of the VT/NH planner.

[Gumby]

Lewis, I'm offering to help out with the New York section (Catskills + Gunks) ...we can make this happen as a group, ie = Der Fall Klassic Ron

[911rips]

Guys this sounds like a great plan and I think we should really start working out some details on this. My concern with mid April would be weather as snow and salt will be close to a sure thing in Vt. and NH.. I like the idea of having four stages and one or two people plan each stage with route, lodging and meals. Will be more than happy to help out anyway I can.
Lets' keep this moving so it will happen.
Happy Holidays!

[blucille]

agree about the weather, but I'm hoping we can do this early in the season, to get better rates at nicer b&b's or smaller hotels.

Paul, I guess you are just itching to try out your new steering wheel???
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ad.php?t=28971



-Lewis

[911rips]

I'm thinking beginning of May might work, most increases in rates start near Memeorial Day.
Ha, watching me I see, wanted that wheel alright, was a little late pulling the trigger - damn, wish I wasn't a Gemini.

[blucille]

truth be told, I have a slight steering wheel afliction, was watching the nardi as well as the flat prototipo (happened to be a few miles away from the prototipo at the time of the ad posting, but saving shipping wasn't enough inspiration to pull the plug), but my budget has been blown on other things lately

early May would work for me, still we need to consider weather trends in the northern reaches of the trip....I'd say the guys who run the new england 1000 in mid May probably have run into a fair amount of questionable weather.

[Mark Morrissey]

Hey guys. I have a proposal that would add to the total miles, but also total smiles. And, if we can swing it, it would save everyone (depending on the total number of participants) some $cash$. If we can add part of the Adirondacks, going through Lake Placid, Wilmington and Keene, we can stay at my aunts camp in Keene overnight. Could probably sleep 15 people or possibly a few more and it's a beautiful place on the edge of a mountain. Surrounding area is gorgeous too. Then we could make our may toward Vermont or whatever.

Just a thought. No worries if you don't think it would work.
I vote for May so we can pray for a little warmer weather though I do hope to have heat by then.

[Gumby]

I'm all for saving cash this looks ok for 1 days driving distance.
295 miles from Pine Bush with no 4 lane roads!
Ron

[blucille]

consider this a new year's bump.

I read on the r-gruppe thread (on this site) that some of the PA/NJ folks are considering a rally to be centered around the hershey swap meet, if the new englanders among us want to attend the swap meet, I think we could do this, and then continue the rally thru upstate NY and beyond. The swap meet is usually the last weekend in April

thoughts?