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Regional Meet for Midwest 2004...Open for ideas!

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jnspur

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Hey everybody! I think it's time that we start planning our own first official 2004 Midwest Regional Meet! :0: We are a very big area, with Iowa pretty much being the geographical center, but not much activity in the Dakotas (except for the un-Nationals).

I am looking for suggestions for dates and places and things to do. I would like to try to plan it durring summer vacation months for the members with kids. I am thinking about maybe a long weekend thing, maybe 3 to 5 days, like Thursday thru Sunday or something like that? And we don't really have to stay in one state the whole time, either. We could cruise from St.Louis to Minniapolis. Or Lincoln to Indy. Or we could spend the whole time in Des Moines with the 'newlyweds' AhhYeah! >:D >:D

It's totally up to you guys!

:0:We have plenty of time to throw ideas around before we make any decisions. Right now I think the number of members in attendance to beat is 43? :rolleyes: We can do that, right?!? (y) >:D Butch's modding GTG just might do that!

So come on, people! Throw out some ideas! You might get some ideas from what some of the other regions and Chapters have done... camping, offroading, marshmellow warfare... ;) It's all open. Let's hear it!

Jen
 
I vote for Huntington IN - that would give me an excuse to drive my AV home - now what is there to do - hummm - not a hell of a lot - that is why I left.

I do like your idea of cruing from one city to another - it is OK to do something for a day in a city, but that gets old on the 2nd day.
 
OH NO! Another feasible GTG for me!! :eek:

I will keep a watch on this one!

Kim

(BTW, don't let Blueruck be in charge >:D ........KIDDING!)

Kim
 
Well our region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, so I vote NOT to have it in Texas! >:D Really, I think the idea of a curise to some of the active states would be a great idea. We could pick a state and meet up with Avalanches from all the active clubs in our region! jnspur, you could just start out and see how many would follow you and make the rounds!

Butch
 
Just a thought....

Main gathering in LaCrosse Wisconsin
Day cruises to Mall of America, Riverboat gambling on the Mississippi, or looking at the scenery (and old barns and covered bridges???) in NE Iowa.

JB
 
Z66 BUTCH said:
Well our region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, so I vote NOT to have it in Texas! >:D Really, I think the idea of a curise to some of the active states would be a great idea. We could pick a state and meet up with Avalanches from all the active clubs in our region! jnspur, you could just start out and see how many would follow you and make the rounds!

Butch
Heeeeey,
Some of us are coming up to your house. You can come down and visit us ;D
 
We are very interested in following or leading (if necessary) or just being there depending on date and location! (y) Will be keeping an eye out on this one! ;)

Lorry
 
Great ideas so far! Keep them coming!
I just want to mention a comment on jbarco's suggestion,
Avalanche, Wi is not far from LaCrosse. I think there was only 3 parking spots in front of the (only) store/bar. Might be worth a drive by for pics. If we had 10 Avs lined up, I bet we would stretch from one end of town to the other! There is a campground there.
And I see Wonder and Blueruck might be interested, maybe a little more if we went to the South West corner of our region. Come on Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri! What can we do/see down there?
I want to hear from everybody!
 
The only problem with Branson is that it's so doggone busy that keeping any kind of cruise together would be like trying to cruise a city interstate at rush hour.

As to Nebraska, we've got lots of interesting things to see/do/cruise to - Royals ballgame (Omaha), Kearney Archway, Pioneer Village (Minden), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (Grand Island), SAC Museum (Ashland) just to name a few.

And I wouldn't mind including a re-do of our http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php?board=27;action=display;threadid=10111;view=all (May Covered Bridge tour) as part of an Iowa thing.
 
I agree about Branson. I vote to have it somewhere that is COOLlink in the temperature! I don't do heat well anymore! I don't know where this would be if you wait until the middle of the summer..........I still like the State to State cruise idea. We could join up and drop out when we needed to.

Butch
 
If we did a state to state cruise, I don't think we would be able to make it to all 11 states in a long weekend. Not sure. Give us some kind of example about what you have in mind.

Also, I would like to here from people how much time they would like to spend at this meet. 3 days, 5 days, 2 hours :2:

I will definately be watching the East Coast and West Coast meets next summer, so we don't overlap. Plus, I would also like to go to the East coast one next year.
 
I will also try to make it to the East Coast meet next year, and I wuold love to have our own meet.

I think that going from state to state may take too long. Maybe pick a centralized location, close to other 2 or 3 states and then have cruises to those stated each day.

Just as an example: Chicago could be the meeting place, then cruise to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, again this is just an example.

I think it also needs some off road adventure for those of us who like that stuff. (that's why I am going to the East Cost meet)

Jen, maybe we can even do the tour around lake michigan like we wanted to do. We could start in Indiana, go east to Michican, north to the UP then across Wisconsin to Minnesota, then south to Iowa maybe even just touch Missouri, then across Illinois back to Indiana. I have no idea how long this would take. I will try to calculate a route and time table just in case.
 
OK I run a on MS Streets it would look like this (look at the attached picture)

Total Miles: 1456
Total Driving time: About 25 hours

If we take four days it means 6 hours of driving per day. Once again this is just an idea.

I know that not every body likes to drive that much for 4 days in a row.

 

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NorthFace-of-NW-IN said:
OK I run a on MS Streets it would look like this (look at the attached picture)

Total Miles: 1456
Total Driving time: About 25 hours

If we take four days it means 6 hours of driving per day. Once again this is just an idea.

I know that not every body likes to drive that much for 4 days in a row.

I LIKE THIS IDEA! We did this very same trip about 6-7 years ago. We took state hwys. that were the closest to the lake when we could and if I remember correctly we took a full week. We went the other direction around the lake, started in IN.then went through IL. and then WI. then through MI. and back home. It was a blast!
It seems like we spent one night around Madison WI then went and spent the day at the Dells, spent most of the day there then went on up to Green Bay for the night. The next day we drove tro the uppper pi of MI. and spent the night there. I do not remember the little town we stayed in but it was just a little mom & pop motel but very clean and nice. There was a long lane out to a lighthouse on lake MI and we drove out there. The lake was a little rough and water was close to washing over the road and it was nearly dark, everyone was getting a little worried but we mad it back ok.
The next day we drove to St. Ignace. We spent two days there and took side trips up to Sault Ste Marie and went through the locks and the next day went to Macknic Island. We had a blast! From there we followed the lake as best we could and headed back home.
We have taken several trips where we would just get on a good State Road and see where it would take us. Once we took the Hwy that we live on out west. I have lived on US Hwy. 36 most of my life and found many things that I never knew. 36 was the old Pony Express Route! 36 runs through St. Joseph and Hannibal (Mark Twain) and ends up the the Rocky Mt. National Park! This is a GREAT road trip. We have yet to travel on ROUTE 66 but would love to sometime. We almost always take state roads over interstates when we can, much more to do and see!

Butch
 
NorthFace-of-NW-IN said:
OK I run a on MS Streets it would look like this (look at the attached picture)

Total Miles: 1456
Total Driving time: About 25 hours

If we take four days it means 6 hours of driving per day. Once again this is just an idea.

I know that not every body likes to drive that much for 4 days in a row.

Northface - looking at your map - is there a ferry across the middle of Lake Michigan? I don't recall one, but I am not really familiar with the WI side of the lake.

Maybe you guys could think about a state cruise that visits 1/2 of the states in the region this year and the rest next year and the people in the state get to pick the best thing to do along the proposed route.

For example - if the route went through northern IN, you wouldn't want a trip planned to Brown County way down south :) even though that is the best part of the state outside of Speedway IN ;D
 
I don't think I could make it if it were a state to state cruise...with gas, meals, lodging, etc....that's pushing it a little for me.

Will keep a look out on the thread though to see what ya'll decide!

Kim
 
Blueruck,

Yes, there is a ferry across lake Michigan. Some of the members of MI, WI, IL and IN were planning on doing this for this summer. I think we may still try to do it. We won't take the whole tour, just across the lake and then back home basically.

We were going to take 2 to 3 days to do it. It would be nice to have a week to spend a day on each state or something like that.

Having the members of each state scout the route and plan activities would be a great idea. That way every body is more involved, and no one person get the whole burden of planning the whole thing.

Again just some more ideas.

David

P.S. I will put a bigger map in my picturetrail so anyone who wants can take a closer look
 
This is the SS Badger Thread. (MI to WI ferry) It's kind of expensive, $50 an AV plus $$ per person.

The idea of the cruise around Lake Michigan is cool. Let's keep the ideas rolling in! (y)

Tdybr27, I want the Midwest Region to have our own meet, but I would love to cruise to the East Coast meet with who ever is coming from this way.

NorthFace, incorporating some off roading is a good idea. I know we got a place to off-road in Northern, WI, and I can prob'ly hook us up with our guide, VisualJ again. I also know there is an off roading place in Indiana, but I heard it's a little harsh for AV's. I don't know that for sure, though. Who's been there and knows? What other States in our region have off road places we could go?

Blueruck had a good idea of hitting 1/2 the states this year and 1/2 next year. But which 1/2? :cautious: ??? What a dilehma! :2:
 
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