2009 National Meet-Announcement !!!!!

[sparecr]

Boy, I rarely start a thread here but as your acting club president it is my pleasure to announce that we have chosen a location for the next national meet. :party: Those of you who were in Carlisle and read your flyer already know. After much debating, :boxing: conversations, :grouphug: and research :cheers: we have chosen the Ozarks near Branson, Missouri as the winner. Now that is done we will be coming up with the exact dates, hotels, and all the other fun stuff that is expected in one of our national meets. (Thanks Al and Mazda for making my job hard this time around). Just for your planning purposes the target dates are between June and August 2009.

Happy motoring and see ya in Branson:7fume:

[WestTexasS2K]

Great choice I really hope I can attend this event. I have a whole year to plan so hopefully I can make it.

[eVox]

for those geographically challenged (yay elementary educational system :banghead: !) Heres a google maps link to branson!


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Branson,+Missouri&ie=UTF8&ll=36.646661,-93.210411&spn=0.114315,0.32135&z=12&iwloc=addr

[johnh]

we have chosen the Ozarks near Branson, Missouri as the winner.

Google tells me this is 1,932 miles from home and I can make it in 28 hours. Any tips for spending 28 hours in my seven? :7drive:

Are there ideas for how many days may be involved? Trying to get a handle on the amount of time-off I'll need to amass. Just started a new job.

---john.

[BobDrye]

My seven is running, I painted the rear fenders tonight and ......................................... on Friday I'm going to tow it to Big Cedar Lodge in the Ozarks for a week’s driving on the twistes! I'll post pictures and give a trip report.


http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1296748223_willy_nilly.gif

[southwind25]

mary visited Branson one weekend...isnt that the capitol of Blue hairs?

[BobDrye]

This is a 53 mile blat that I thing would be convenient to Branson.


http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1719023316_Blat1.JPG


Does anyone have a better Blat?

[slomove]

Cool. I will be there....1650 miles one way, not too bad.

I might have preferred the Wyoming place maybe a tad more but I see the reason. I think we all can make it very successful and fun event.

Now I just need to come up with a creative idea to sell this to my boss as a business trip (we have subsidiaries in Shawnee, OK and Little Rock).

Al, are you going to have a new (old) Se7en by then :bigears:

Gert

[slngsht]

I guess I better step up and finish my car :willy:

:D

I'm IN!!!!

[solder_guy]

for those geographically challenged (yay elementary educational system :banghead: !) Heres a google maps link to branson!

And it calculates 652 miles from Atlanta to Branson .. doable!

Rob

[11Budlite]

Excellent!! :thumbs:

1306 miles, 20.5 hours, :7fume:

[slngsht]

So, are we going to have some road race / autox / drag events planned? There is 3 years of bragging by the various groups (BEC, turbo, V8, xflow, well, maybe not xflow :D ) guys that needs to be put to test. Who knows, maybe I'll have to learn French after the event.

[JohnCh]

2,091 miles and 30 hours for me. Not sure that is doable :banghead:

-John

[Al Navarro]

Don't despair if 2009 is too far for you....we plan on having more nationals...and since we have Wyoming/Montana already reconned....

---

In addition to the more centrally located biennial national meets, we have also suggested some large regional meets in the off years...like recent Texas Hill Country/Minnesota Lakes meets.

Combine this sort of thing with regional static meets (like Carlisle and Knotts Berry Farm) and we'll have nice ongoing calendar of events.

(Though, I will say that I'm jonesing to hit the Dragon sometime in the next few years....)

[eVox]

So, are we going to have some road race / autox / drag events planned? There is 3 years of bragging by the various groups (BEC, turbo, V8, xflow, well, maybe not xflow :D ) guys that needs to be put to test. Who knows, maybe I'll have to learn French after the event.



What about a fuel economy test? :leaving:

[Martin]

And it calculates 652 miles from Atlanta to Branson .. doable!

Rob


Yup, assuming I have one by then....I'll be there too. Should be about 12 hours. Can do!

[Ian7]

hmmm, 1400 miles

thats only 15% farther than our Atlanta LOG trip,

but we were 10 years younger then...

sounds like a challenge :)

[Al Navarro]

Keep in mind that we had people drive 700-900 miles one way for Tail of the Dragon.

And some of them earned some very fine prizes for their troubles.

---

All kidding aside, the goal was to make the next national more centrally located, to allow people from both coasts to attend with a similar length of drive.

[Boxologist]

1200+ miles to Branson. another 150 to Tulsa. definitely a stop at the Dragon for a day or 2.
minor league baseball in Springdale, Ar (just north of Fayetteville); Tulsa, Ok; and Springfield, Mo.

1 vote for AutoX

half a vote for track day.

[eVox]

Yup, assuming I have one by then....I'll be there too. Should be about 12 hours. Can do!


Hmm, we might be having quite an Atlanta convoy going by then!

[xflow7]

So, are we going to have some road race / autox / drag events planned? There is 3 years of bragging by the various groups (BEC, turbo, V8, xflow, well, maybe not xflow :D ) guys that needs to be put to test. Who knows, maybe I'll have to learn French after the event.

We xflow-ers can brag, too. It just tends not to be about speed. More about sound, smell, and ability to support the Motor Oil industry. :ack:

[lowflyer]

I would vote for a drag race and/or and autocross as well.

BTW, do you know what English Ford engines and Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines have in common?????

When there's no oil on the ground under either one, it means there's no more oil in them!!!!

I once rebuilt the twin-cam in my Lotus Cortina and it didn't leak oil, never did figure out what I did wrong.

[scannon]

One vote for a track event even if we have to drive a ways to get to the track.

Skip

[11Budlite]

"BTW, do you know what English Ford engines and Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines have in common?????

When there's no oil on the ground under either one, it means there's no more oil in them!!!!" - I hope you're talking about the early P&W radial engines, because if you're not, I could be looking for a new career! :)

Bruce :7drive:

[RDROCKT]

778 miles. We are so there! Blue haired set? I resemble that remark!!

Roads in the Ozarks are wunnerful; Jerry Eddens took us on a three day tour of the Ozarks in our Se7ens in 2006 and we would do it again in a minute.

Branson was a two day stopping off spot for us last year on our way to the Southwest Sevens Festival in Fort Worth after attending the 2007 Run & Gun event in St Louis. We had a terrific time at the races and Branson was a real treat; so many shows and exhibits. This will be a great place to bring the family...or not.

USA7s is to be congratulated on this choice; hope those with long commutes will be able to make it anyway, it will be a hoot.

Calendar is cleared, where do we sign up?

[Al Navarro]

Chuck-

We need to do a little more recon for the meet just yet. The hope is to have the sign up available with a year (give or take a month or so) to go.

Also, look for the 2008 "Open Enrollment period" for the club coming up in June-August. Even though we don't have a national this year, the dues help support the forum and other more regional meets, etc.

-Al

P.S. Oh, and we'll be giving out USA7s stickers with membership...the folks who went to Carlisle got a preview.

[sparecr]

There was some talk on the USA mailing list about the guys on the west coast getting together and have their cars shipped. I just wanted to mention it here also. We (I) looked into shippers for cars to the Wyoming area for the meet getting a few areas to ship cars from. Almost everyone was looking at 1000-2000 miles one way and that would be 3-4 day drive there 3-4 days back plus 3-4 days for the meet and asking a lot of time, but to ship fly in and out would make it a workable vacation. This was going to be around 20-30K per truck for them to pick-up travel 1500 miles wait at the event and return 6-7 cars per truck (remember the trucks are basically ours even for storage at the event for 2 weeks. Of course nothing was in stone as dates were uncertain and gas prices well....

If I can get some suggestions of how many are interested and areas of for pick up I will look further into shipping of cars. Basically see what kind of deals can be worked out.

[sparecr]

Yes like Al said we just picked the local now we are wanting to start the recon and figure out dates, events etc... We just wanted to let everyone know the location so if you have suggestions or wanting to step up and assist we would know where we stand.

I know we want a drive or two, the racers out there want some track time, we need some events for the kiddies.... If you have suggestions email them to me or even post here. This really is your event and we want you to be happy. Al, Mazda and I are just the "lucky" ones who get to put it all together. And like Al said membership renewals start next month and this is a key source of income to help fund the event, so the earlier you renew the bigger we can figure the budget to be.

[slomove]

Did somebody ever try the "Pods" movers (http://www.pods.com/Default.aspx?tabid=277)?

They can drop an 8x8x12 container at your home that you can stuff with one or two Se7ens without time pressure and then have them haul it wherever needed.

But I have no idea how much that costs....

Gert

[lowflyer]

re: P & W engines, definitely talking about the big "round engines".

[Kitcat]

Its a long day's drive from Cincy so I will come, assuming date doesn't conflict w/misc weddings, graduations etc., that keep popping up. Sooner the date is announced, the better for us long range planners.

Track day wld be great. Folks mite be surprised at how smartly an old 1700 cc Crossflow goes when some turns are added to the speed contest:). Auto-X wld be nice too, and probably appeal to more folks than a track day.

John, Al will tell you that this is a lot of work, so don't hesitate to seek volunteers to delegate certain components of the event to.

Al-just back from Ireland, where a popular pickup truck is the Nissan Navarra.

Mike

[BobDrye]

Today starts my third day in Branson, and the third day with rain. I went for a drive yesterday afternoon. This area is gorgeous and offers more things to do than time allows. We spent "Fat Tuesday" in an Irish Pub listening to Cajun music drinking German wine. Yesterday we went to the Thorn Chapel http://www.thorncrown.com/ in Eurika Springs.

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1401859520_gallery1-5_fs.jpg


Tomorrow should start 3 days of sunshine. I will post some pictures as time allows.


http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/2046509336_smile77.jpg

[Al Navarro]

As a fan of architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright (the two don't always go hand in hand), I love that building! I'd never heard of it before.

Thanks for posting, Bob, and don't forget to bring back info on housing options at all price points!

-Al

[BobDrye]

It's still misting, but here is a picture of a very small portion of the lake.


http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1853357747_Table Rock Lake 1.jpg


:)

[gjslutz]

Bob, great recon, I know how much you hate to do this! Keep posting the great photos, and enjoy.

Do they have any dry red wine out there?

It looks like a roof is needed for this trip.

[powderbrake]

Lots of wineries here in Missouri, although most of them are near St.louis. Try the Norton, made from the state grape of the same name. When done properly, it is a superb dry red that is our answer to Cabernet Sauvignon.

[Boxologist]

as long as we're not going back to another dry county for an extended period of time. my liver hasn't forgiven me from the shock.

[BobDrye]

I,m back home from Branson. I'll start by saying that I spent about 4 hours driving in the Ozarks. It rained almost every day that I wasn't in a business meeting. Sharon and Josh are alergic to mold so that they had an above 100 deg fever every day that we were there. They both returned to normal during the drive home. That didn't prevent us from having a good family vacation. I did a number of drives around Big Cedar Lodge. The mountians are different from "The Tail", but are very enjoyable. Maz: kinda like west by god. I do have a few pictures that I will post in the following days. The level of the lake was over 15' above normal (La Nina) effect. Never flat tow a 7 in the mountians with a Volvo X Country. I left the 7 in Nashville and am leaving to pick it up in the morning.

:)

[slngsht]

Bob, glad you made it back safely. What was the problem with towing?

Mountains in West by God are just fine by me :yesnod:

[Winston]

Excellent, I now have a target completion date (no, not the night before leaving for Branson!) --6/1/2009.

[Al Navarro]

You can put the dates in pen now.

John, Mazda, and I had a call last night and picked a host hotel from a tight grouping we had gotten quotes from.

I will write a longer, more detailed post next week, but here are some deets:

Meet will be held June 29-July 2, 2009.

Again, here is a tentative schedule:

Monday
Noon - 6 PM - open registration/meet check-in
7 PM - Group Dinner

Tuesday
Group Breakfast
Long Drive/Tour...Lunch on Road
Evening free to visit Branson/See Show

Wednesday
Group Breakfast
Short Drive (Thorncrown Chapel visit?)
Free time in afternoon
Group Dinner

Thursday
Early Bird Group Breakfast
Optional Track Day Excursion (participate or spectate)
Dinner on the road or at host hotel
Movie Night?

It is our hope that many people will attend the trackday...which is about 2.5 hours away...a long day there and back, and we understand if people want to start heading home from the track or sleep at a hotel near the track. However, we feel that attendees should plan on staying in Branson Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.

We moved the track day to the end, based on discussions with some track-centric people.

The host hotel accommodations start at $114, a 15% discount off rack rates. We will have camping and secondary hotel reccos for people who want to pay less (or more!) We will continue our tradition of putting responsibility for making room reservations in the hands of each attendee.

We are still putting together various odds and ends of the meet, and will post registration fees (covering selected meals, swag, etc.) as soon as we have that total. We recommend making reservations as soon as we have post the hotel info....perhaps we'll start a thread so we can keep track of who's booked already.

[scannon]

Al,

Which track is it and what direction from Branson?

Skip

[Kitcat]

Hallett??? It would seem to be an ideal 7 track as it appears to favor handling over horsepower. It's about 3 hours northwest of Branson (In a Seven).

[Al Navarro]

We haven't made a final decision on the track...it's between two.

[locost7018]

This will be interesting. I get back from Boy Scout High Adventure in Minn. on June 27. Wash clothes and head for Branson on the 29th. Heck, the misquito bites won't have healed yet. Al, make sure I stay awake for all the activities. Russ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz

[mbwever]

so i live in dallas and this is certainly doable in my caterham
do i need to join something to attend