We have discussed Harrah's as a central landing point. Old HWY 94 is just down the road a piece and contains many fine wineries. The Gateway group has done two tours on 94 and not had a problem. There is more going on than drinkin'.
Trail head is in old town St Charles, which is great for the ladies as it is full of shops. Can't get much merchandise in a Crossfire but most of them will gladly ship it to your house.

roadster with a stick

 

A trip down old Rout 66 (now I-44 in the StL area) would be a cool cruise too, not far from Harrah's

Harraha's sounds like a good place for a home base for the week.

 

My wife and I are meeting with them tomorrow with Shark067 and I have extended an invite to both Franc and emforce if they would like to attend.

 

Oh Deborah, just bring more guns...


But seriously folks, my plan is to keep us out of the heart of STL with respect to hotel and like any sizable city, if you don't venture to where you don't know where you are going, you should have no problems.

Now, we are very much in the beginning of this endeavor and as I've said some time ago, I can give more time to this when we send the kids off to college and finally become empty nest parents (at least for a little while) .

For those of you who were identified as regional volunteers, including oledoc2u (GARY PLEASE ADD HIM TO THE LIST), who have not done so, please send me your preferred email contact information to erzer@charter.net; I've received them from itsky, Gary (Valkryderguy), Deborah, borhmian, and oledoc2u. While we could use PM, sometimes websites have a habit of not always being available.

In the meantime, everybody needs to be thinking of activities they would like to do; once the end of the month is here, I'll be asking for reps to start gathering input from their regions. We are looking in to drag racing, course/road ralley, and some drives around the area, but keep in mind we only have 3 days identified, so all day trips may not be realistic if you want to do muliple things.


Gary and FP, I will be in Chi-town on business at a Printing Industry Days in September; w/o the car as there is a group of us taking the train up. I'll let you know where I'll be if you want to meet some evening.

All for now.

 

Definitely let us know and we will provide transportation and join you for dinner or something.
I have added oledoc2u as a regional volunteer for the Midwest.
Thanks for your work and dedication to the planning of this meet.

Gary

 

So who are all of the TX folk falling under, anywho? I know SRT_SIX is supposed to be picking up Cali, and ZOZ has New Mex, but we don't really have anyone for TX. I'll pick them up, if no one minds.

As a side not, Valk, do you think that you could add my map to the front page? So I don't have to repost it continually? Also, if anyone else would like to be able to work on it, just let me know, and I can add you to it so that others can edit it. I have no problem with doing it myself, but if some of the regional volunteers want to jump on and add routes, I'm all for it. Or just PM me the info.. Either way works for me.

 

Add two more please Mickey 5469 and Ella Lynn Gainesville, Ga

 

OK you have both been added to the list #79 and #80

80 and still climbing !!!

 

I have posted the map link in the anchor post #1 and listed you as V volunteer for the south region (Texas)

 

And it's most of a year away! I am reminded of a wonderful line from a lousy song: "... by the time we got to Woodstock, we were a half a million strong..."

 

yes, sir, I do believe we will break 100 for the first time....

 

Dang - and I am still not on the list.

emforce

 

Glad to see the numbers growing...I was estimating/hoping to have 100 by Dec and we still have time.


HOTEL NEWS

We did meet with the Harrah's casino/hotel and they are going to block 90 rooms for us for now. They will adjust as we approach that number in reservations; they have close to 500 rooms, so we have room to grow. A stunning fact is they average 98% occupancy every night and about a week out they often are booked 100%. Needless to say they are not going to deal much on their rates.

The price for a king or two doubles is going to be $89 and we are still working to get breakfast out of them. Still, they are a nice rooms with a very big TV for those who care. They are going to check into reserving a part of the parking garage for us in case we have inclement weather or it may just be an area of the parking lot.

As a side note, there is an outdoor concert facility nearby and she will let us know sooner than most if there is a concert during that time. They also have concerts in the casino area from time to time; I saw Johnny Winter there once.

Sorry to be short on details, but we hope to finalize more with a link dedicated to the group for reservations as well as event name to make telephonic reservations for those that prefer. I ask that you have patience as we finalize this important aspect of the meet, but things are looking good.

 

Should we be booking as individuals or as a group ? Is there a crossfire reference when we contact the hotel (harrah's)
Dave

 

Oh boy! Hotel talk!
Starting to sound like this is really gonna happen!
I'm excited! Anyone else???

 

I apologize for this oversight
I have now added ya to the list #81
Also noted you as (V) for volunteer

 

Looking @ the hotel site right now,just about to press the reservation button, just checking the cancellation policy in-case this is not our destination hotel

 

As I said, we are nearly final on the agreement and the hotel will need to set up a link (for us) and will provide a reference for call in. There is no need to book as a group other than to save time and max out someone's credit card. I anticipate they will have things settled as early as tomorrow but as snags happen, I would say no later than Monday.

I am working this with the head person in charge of both Corporate and Social group events. Unlike some places when dealing with groups of this size, there appears to be no need for a contract or extended cancellation period (i.e. 30 days)

I don't know that you need to reserve right now but your decision; just keep in mind they may get upset if they see a group this large reserving rooms on their own and then turning around and canceling and reserving under our group....don't know, but I don't know that we want to take the chance.

 

You bet...though I may turn to a bottle by the time it is all over....Rum as it has no carbs for those of us allergic to sugar....right Dr. Jane

 

A little late to the game but i'll be there . So many crossfires will be a sight to see!