On Tue, November 23, 2004 2:32 am, jon@dakota-truck.net said:
>
> So, I would probably be looking at flying out and
> renting something.
We'd be more than willing to transport your Ram 3500 out there so you can
have your own vehicle available to drive around while you're there :-).
> or if we were in the Moab area one of
> those Jeeps Jason was talking about would be cool, especially if
> we were going to do any trail riding.
Well, I just did a Google search for Moab Jeep rental and found at least 5
different companies. Not much in the way of official web sites, they're
mostly listed on travel guides. I thought there were only 2, so obviously
it's a booming business. Even the Thrifty in Moab rents Wranglers.
> Anyway, with that said, the location doesn't matter a whole lot
> to me since I will probably be dropping in out of the sky. :-)
To go along with the parachute idea :-).
> Hmmm, I notice Utah will honor my NY pistol permit, but the
> other three states don't.
Really? Hmph. I'm surprised the other three don't.
> Camping sounds like a good money saving idea to me. :-)
> Obviously I wouldn't be able to pack in much if I were flying in,
> but doing some "bare bones" camping could be fun. Would be nice
> to have access to a shower at some point though.
We'll have our trailer, feel free to stow some gear in it before we leave.
And, if we're camping someplace with trailer hookups, you can use the
tiny closet shower as well.
> I have this mental picture of a bunch of Daks parked in a
> picturesque forest setting, with a waterfall, up in the mountains,
> and tents all over. Would be cool to get into a national park or
> something somewhere to set up a "base camp" like that. Maybe
> someplace where we could do some trail riding, possibly even some
> hiking or orienteering, etc.
That would be cool. I prefer an organized campground with water and
electricity, but we can go self-contained with the trailer if need be.
There just won't be much showering.
There's a huge amount of public land out west where you can just find a
flat spot and pitch a tent, if that's your thing. I've done it many
times, but that was when I was young and didn't ache in the morning after
sleeping on the ground.
> perhaps with this being a relatively
> big milestone year on the DML, we will stand a chance. :-)
Plus I think it's good that we're giving ourselves lots of time to get it
organized. IIRC, when this sort of thing has come up in the past it was
usually about February or March of the year in question.
> I agree that it would be good to get an event profile going
> and start collecting names and such to gauge interest. This
> also brought another thought to mind. I suspect that as we
> discuss the idea, certain locations will be suggested, and
> there will no doubt be several different ideas that will
> materialize about what the meet should be, and where it should
> be held. I don't know if this would be worthwhile or not, but
> should such a group of potential meets materialize, we could use
> the same system that we use for voting for the DML Calendar for
> the meet.
Good idea. Maybe we should gather together every idea that anyone has,
then do a multi-stage voting process to narrow it down. Start with any
weird idea, be it Hawaii or Jon's backyard. Then take the top half or so
as the serious suggestions and vote again on those. Just a thought, I
wouldn't want anyone to hold off on nominating a location because they
think it wouldn't be popular. Who knows? Maybe we haven't thought of
something that would turn out to be really cool.
> I'm inclined to think that the 4th of July area is probably not
> the best time, based simply on my BBQ experience. That's the main
> reason the BBQ was moved to the end of July; I used to have it the
> first weekend, which was the July 4 weekend, and it just seemed to
> conflict with too many people's July 4 plans. The second weekend is
> of course Carlisle, and you wouldn't want to compete with that.
> Another time to avoid is the 2nd weekend in August as that is
> the Mopar Nats.
I think we'll need to determine a location first. If we're going to be up
in the Rocky Mountains, July or August is the best bet. If we're going to
be more in the desert area, we do not want to be there in August. April
or May would be better. Trust me, we spent a couple of July 4 holidays at
Lake Powell, it was over 100 there by that time.
Hmmm... Lake Powell... :-)
> It would be cool in a symbolic sort of way to have the meet
> during the actual 11/17 timeframe, perhaps by moving it further
> south to warmer climates, but what with thanksgiving coming up and
> x-mas not too much further down the line, it would no doubt present
> a scheduling problem with many people, and probably money is tight
> during that time of year also.
Yeah, another thing about this time of year is it's difficult to get time
off work for people who have to work regular jobs. Employers expect
people to take vacation during summer and around Christmas, so they plan
schedules to make up for lost time during the rest of the year.
> It is *probably* a mistake to make a long event like this be about
> one type of thing. For example, going to the drag strip for a day is
> cool, but most people probably wouldn't want to go there 10 days in a
> row. :-) The same could be said for offroading, from the perspective
> of the drag racers. (Though perhaps to a lesser extent, since at
> least with offroading, the scenery changes.) :-)
Good point. I tend to forget about that. I could go camp out for the
entire summer and probably never get bored, but I have a pretty high
tolerance for just sitting around in a hammock looking at the scenery.
> So I'm
> thinking that by not focusing strictly on Dak related things like drag
> racing and off roading, there are perhaps other things that could be
> done, such as a scenic hike through the mountains, checking out a
> historical landmark or attending a theme park.
Good ideas. I wouldn't mind splitting in to smaller groups. People who
want to go for a hike can, others can find something else to do. I think
it's a good idea to make sure there are lots of options available.
> Oh, and before I forget - if such an event comes off, we'll have
> to be sure to get a group photo, of Daks and of DMLers - good DML
> Calendar fodder. :-)
Only one? I was thinking several hundred :-).
-- Jason Bleazard http://www.bleazard.net Burlington, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black
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