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SCSN Caravan 09 eNewsNo. 21 - 11/19/08>>>TOP STORY<<< >>Prerun 1 Done<< Last week, "Commander" Brent Hicks, his trusty co-driver, "Captain" Hib Halverson and "navigator" Ms. Garmin "Jill" Nuvi preran the Southern California/Southern Nevada Section's route as far as Adrian Texas. On the 1000-mile run to Adrian, Hicks and Halverson, scouted Caravan reform locations, visited hotel properties, met with event vendors and conferred with organizing team members from the Texas Panhandle/Oklahoma Caravan Section. From Prerun 1 comes good news and bad news. First, the bad news. With the exception of those living within strong reality distortion fields, everyone knows our nation's economy is in deep recession. Consequently, while the SCSN Organizing Team has had some successes in raising money, part of which will be used to pay for events; what we don't have is the level of sponsorship from the Chevrolet dealer community which we had for the 2003 Caravan. In addition, costs for virtually all event services have risen significantly since '03. Bottom line: SoCal/SoNev Caravaners will pay for more of the Caravan Section's social events in 2009 than they did six years ago. Now the good news. Captain Halverson announced at the conclusion of "Prerun 1" that the route--generally: I-15 to Barstow, I-40 to Kingman AZ, Historic 66 to Ash Fork, I-40 to Albuquerque NM, Historic 66 to Moriarty and I-40 to Adrian TX--has been finalized and is in good condition. At Adrian TX, on the morning of the third day, we turn the Caravan over to Captain Tuna Dobbins' TXPan/OK Section. "For the most part," Halverson told the eNews, "the route check-out went well except for our attempt to find a way to exit Little America in Flagstaff and get onto I-40 in a manner which would be easy for 250 cars. All Jill could do to help was to say 'Recalculating... recalculating...recalculating.' I fired her at that point. On Prerun 2, next Spring, we'll get that short part of the route fixed right. We're probably talking the Flagstaff P.D. for traffic control." Our social schedule is looking like: Departure Event at Ontario CA on the evening of 28 August, cocktails and dinner at Tucumcari NM on the evening of 30 August and a pancake breakfast on the morning of 31 August which will be a fund raiser for the Adrian Lions Club's charities. The evening of 29 August in Flagstaff AZ is a "free night" for Caravaners. Currently, all these events are tentative but have a good chance of becoming "for sure." At Adrian TX, Captain Hib and Commander Brent stopped at the Midpoint Cafe to meet with Capt. Tuna Dobbins and his Wife Susan who run the TXPan/Ok operation. Also present were Fran Houser, owner of the Midpoint Cafe, Ron Sherman, President of the Adrian Lions club and "Dave the Caterer" (a distant cousin to Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder) who specializes in putting on killer meals for large groups. The group's main topic was the planning of the Lions Club "Corvette Caravan Pancake Breakfast." The Dobbins briefed SCSN Organizing Team members on the plans for the third day of the trip. The TXPan/OK Section will take over the leading and staging of the Caravan at Adrian once the breakfast is over. We'll leave Adrian and drive about half-a-day east to Elk City OK for lunch. Elk City is a tradition with the National Corvette Caravan because of its Route 66 Museum and having been the 3rd-day lunch stop for all three of the previous trips. We'll leave Elk City, headed for Oklahoma City and our third overnight. The evening event at OKC will be different than in 2003 and the hotel properties we use will be different. More details on our stays in OKC and Little Rock AR will be released in a later issue of the SCSN eNews. Lastly, we're glad to announce that on the first night of Prerun 1, Capt. Halverson and Cmdr. Hicks successfully tested the bad weather performance of Hicks' '07 Z06 during a snowstorm just west of Flagstaff. While some of our hobby choose only fair weather driving and polishing with C-Magic prior to car shows, your diligent Organizing Team was out to prove the Corvette still is a car one can drive in bad weather as well as good...and survive. >>>OTHER NEWS<<< >>Hotel Reservations Revisited<< We've slightly altered the room booking procedure as far as responses Caravaners will get. Please read! "Commander" Ron Cohen's Gorilla Travel Network is now booking rooms for the Southern California/Southern Nevada,Texas Panhandle/Oklahoma, Central Texas and Arkansas/West Tennessee Sections of the 2009 National Corvette Caravan. Cohen says that hotel rooms for the following dates and locations will be available: 28 Aug 2009--Ontario CA, 29 Aug.--Flagstaff AZ, 30 Aug.--Tucumcari NM, 31 Aug.--Oklahoma City OK, 1 Sept.--Little Rock Arkansas and 2-5 Sept.--either Nashville TN or Bowling Green KY. There are two ways to contact the Gorilla Travel Network to make bookings. The best way is by emailing Ron at gorillatravel@aol.com In your email please supply the following information:
The alternative method of contact is to call Gorilla Travel Network at 888-811-APES (2737), however, expect telephone bookings to take longer. 2) The SC/SN Organizing Team has rooms blocked in all cities in which we will overnight. We will book rooms for all caravaners of the Southern California/Southern Nevada, North Texas/Oklahoma and Arkansas/West Tennessee Sections. 3) No credit cards will be charged at the time the reservations are made. When you give Ron Cohen your credit card number that simply guarantees the room. Your card will be charged only when you check out or if you cancel after the deadline set forth in the following cancellation policy...PLEASE READ: The last day to cancel any hotel reservation made by Gorilla Travel Network for the 2009 Corvette Caravan without possible charge is Friday, May 22, 2009. Hotel reservation cancellations *after* that date *may* be subject to charge to the credit car given to guarantee the reservation. Whether the card gets charged will depend on the hotel's ability to resell the canceled room. if it can be resold; there will not be a charge. If it can't be resold; the guaranteeing card will be charged. 4) All beds will be single Kings or Queens. Alternatives (two twins, two Queens, rollaway, etc.) may be available, but you MUST request them in your email to Ron Cohen. 5) All rooms are non-smoking. 6) The Nashville property will be the Opryland Hotel. 7) If your email to Gorilla Travel has all the correct info, you'll get back from Ron Cohen, an email acknowledging the receipt of your information along with confirmation that you have a room. What you won't get is an assignment to a specific physical room in a hotel or motel. You will get that at a later date, probably late next Spring. The reason we're holding off on assigning specific rooms is we don't yet know how many Caravaners we will have and to assign physical rooms we need to have a better understanding of that than we do now. >>Tire Raffle III<< Our third raffle for a set of Goodyear tires at a deep discount starts immediately. Each of these raffles raise money for the Caravan Organizing Team. The money wiill be used to pay expenses on preruns, purchase equipment used to operate the Caravan and to cover some of the costs of staging social events. As with all our Section's funds, anything left over after the Caravan is over shall be donated to the National Corvette Museum. Each raffle is for four of any Goodyear tire which fits Corvettes, other passenger cars or light trucks. The winner of each raffle gets the opportunity to buy that set of tires for $750.00. To enter the raffle, send an email to "Commander" Sherry Maples at caravan2009@cox.net and request entry to the raffle. Your name will be entered. When the raffle ends, Ms. Maples will draw a name/registration number as the winner along with some alternates. The winner will be offered a set of tires for $750.00. Once the winner's check is received, he/she will get, by return mail, a certificate redeemable at any Goodyear dealer for the tires. The SoCal/SoNev organizing team is grateful to Goodyear who donated the tire certificates. Goodyear has been a sponsor of the SoCal/So Nev Caravan Section for both the 2009 and 2003 events. >>Caravan Merchandise: On Sale<< The SoCal/SoNev Caravan Organizing Team has made a deal with Captain "Tuna" Dobbins of the TX Panhandle/Oklahoma Section of the Caravan to handle sales of Caravan merchandise for our section's Caravaners. Currently available are:
Prices include shipping. Payment is by check or money order. Sorry, no credit cards are accepted. For an order form, please email Tuna or Susan Dobbins of the TXPan/OK Section at okcaravan2009@yahoo.com Two different Caravan t-shirts and a Caravan sweatshirt are available direct from the Corvette Museum Store. The t-shirts are not the same as the free shirt you get with a Caravan Registration. More information on shirts and sweats can be had by going to http://www.corvettecaravan.com/ca-southern/ and clicking the "caravan merchandise" link. Best Regards, Caravan info: email to captain.socalcar@pop.charter.net Going on the Caravan? Even new cars with less than 1,000 miles have paint blemishes from normal driving. Imagine what a cross-country trip will do to YOUR paint. The solution? A "Clear Bra". It functions like a traditional auto bra but is far more durable and cannot be seen. It will NOT scratch your Corvette's finish like most "strap-on" auto bras. This 3M Paint and Headlight Protection lasts for the life of your Vette. SCSN Capt. Hib Halverson used a 3M Clear Bra on the 2003 National Corvette Caravan and endorses it as the best way to avoid damage to the front of your car. Professional installations by the 3M factory-trained Installer in California most experienced with Corvettes: Envisage Design Labs. Call (310) 613-4691 or email Envisage at: envisagedesignlabs@yahoo.com Need past issues of the eNews? Go to:
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