the W/A finale convoy!

[MrRedBeard]

Don't knock a seedy hotel. If it wasn't for a seedy hotel and ten dollars lying on the ground, I'd have never met my wife! Heck, I probably wouldn't have been conceived!

Bahaha...... The lack of context here makes a great open ended story.

[MrRedBeard]

I'm trying to make this work but Mick is for sure out. Dang logistics

[katlero]

Please RedBeard!!! I want to see these magic beards and their glorious powers unite!

[Litmaster]

I'm trying to make this work but Mick is for sure out. Dang logistics

What, even with meeting up with us along Interstate 40??

[7oddisdead]

GAAAHH!!

so ive spent the better part of two hours looking at hotel info and im just beyond tired of the whole thing. regardless of the neighborhood the super8 is in. it works best logistically. at this point I say everyone weigh in. put it to a vote. ill get behind the deathmatch winner. THEN ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS THROW MONEY AT IT.

[7oddisdead]

Please RedBeard!!! I want to see these magic beards and their glorious powers unite!

last time this happened, there were explosions, death, rebirth, much weeping and nashing of teeth...and then, everyone got a pony

[Gooer]

Ok Convoyites, we have some decisions to make. I have been researching the actual time and distance involved in this journey, and must say that it's somewhat daunting. This is just one big-ass hunk of land we have to traverse on the way to LA... even traveling only half of it. I need some input as to what the group is willing to do, given the logistics. Here we go:

Wednesday, 7/16:
So we're gonna have to leave Todd's place by 7am to make good time, which, driving straight without stopping except for bathroom breaks, puts us passing Tulsa around 1pm. But then Tulsa to Amarillo is another 5 hours, which has us pulling in to the Cadillac Ranch around 6pm that evening. Dinner is only 15 min away, however, so we're good for the Big Texan Steak ranch by 7pm that evening, and our campground in Amarillo is only about 10 min from that restaurant. So what I'm saying is that the caverns is probably not do-able given the time and distance involved...

Thursday, 7/17:
Well... it's looking like Roswell, NM is also going to be out. Assuming we leave our Amarillo campground by 7am and drive straight to Albuquerque, that puts our arrival at 10am (a 4 hr trip, minus one hour b/c we switch to mountain time by then). So fine, we do the ABQ Breaking Bad tour for a few hours, and leave ABQ by 1pm. Driving straight to the Grand Canyon from there will take 6 hours, which means we will arrive to our Grand Canyon campground around 7pm that evening (yes, this is a big-ass country!).

Friday, 7/18:
From the Grand Canyon to Fort Irwin is another solid 6 hours (ugh!), putting us there around 1pm on that Friday. Assuming we snap some pictures around there and maybe Yermo for a couple of hours, then we leave around 4pm or so, then it's another 2 1/2 hours to our hotel / fan meetup place somewhere in East Hollywood by 7pm that evening.


So, looking at the reality of time and distance, I would have to say that most of the fun we have will have to be on the road, in the van. It looks like we're not going to have a helluva lot of time to piss around, unless we left an entire day earlier...

Hmm..... Personally, I don't mind grinding down a long drive, but it would be fun to leave a day earlier and get to see a few more sites. In the end, I'm happy whatever happens, but it could be a good idea to leave 7/15, just so we have a little extra time, and we don't have to rush there!

[7oddisdead]

my only concern with the whole leaving a day early thing is (well shit, I guess I have two)

one:the 15th was our "fly in, spend an evening mingling" day. by eliminating it, we may end up with some of us already road(or flight) weary...get a few hours sleep, and then jump into a van with a bunch of people we know only from talking on the forum. sure, theres plenty of time for small talk in the van -I'm not overlooking that- its just a concern..perhaps an unwarranted one.

two: we have yet to look at what the additional costs will be of adding an extra day onto the trip. while I certainly see the "relaxation" advantages of leaving a day early, I also know that none of us are made of money -its scientifically impossible-. so while it likely wont change our gas prices, there is the additional cost of food (10-20.00 av per), camping (10-20.00 av per) buying stuff at roswell(speaking for myself here), etc...not trying to bash the idea, im just playing devils advocate. basically if the group wants to move the date up...that's what we'll do.

personally, im not hugely invested in the meramac caverns stop (its local for me) roswell I can take or leave, honestly the breaking bad tour does not really interest me either. for me the important bits are grand canyon and getting out to l.a. but...again. if the group wants an extra day, im on board. I know litmaster sent all of you a pm pertaining to that. weigh in here with your opinions if you'd like.

[Litmaster]

Ok, so the Convoy has spoken. Here's the results of the 'Maybe We Should Leave a Day Earlier' poll:

Main Convoy Participants, so Far
Witch Doctor: Sure, no prob
Katlero: Rather leave on Wed because of logistics, $$, but I'm flexible
Red Shirt: Extra day would be no prob... but I'm still not sure I'll be able to go
Tonyhind86: No prob, my good chap!
Raven: Yeah, leaving Tue would prob be better, more relaxed
Todd: Yeah, but... ^^ (see post above)
Lit: Yeppers

Other People Joining Up for Part of the Trip
Redbeard (hopefully joining us on the road near Amarillo)
AdrianHD (hopefully coming with us from ABQ)
Deacon Tyler (who better drive his ass down from Vegas, at least for the Irwin / local stuff)
Cabbage Patch (who will hook up from Irwin on)

Haven't got response from Kek or Gooer yet, but I think we're going to have to leave on Tuesday. With the Wednesday schedule being so tight, I'm afraid if we hit any snags (i.e., traffic jams, etc), then we're going to screw ourselves out of some key stops--imagine if we hit some LA traffic and don't actually show up to our Friday 'meet up' place until 1am on Saturday morning? And spending 10+ hours on the road is pretty rough.

I'll re-work the schedule to depart from Tuesday and see what that looks like.

[tonyhind86]

Cool. Hopefully we don't hit any major snags along the way, and at least we have a few more months to plan alternate routes etc.