August 11th, 2012: Seattle Area Meetup (Seattle + Portland + Vancouver)

Considering driving up there. I will blow you guys away in my 2001 Honda CR-V :p
 
Yes, but my car is less likely to kill me.
 
I'm in. I live about 15 minutes from downtown Redmond. Our Corolla pushes 400mi on it's 10 gal tank. Who has CB/ham radios?
 
Nice!

No CB but I do have one of those standard walkie talkie things. Might bring it although I don't see much of a need. Once we leave I-5, then it's just a single road we follow until we reach the town on the other side of the national forest. We'll grab lunch there, take off north, fill up on gas somewhere on the east side (I'll need it!), and then head west. Not many places to stop within the national forest I imagine other than overlooks.
 
Unless by horrible luck it's raining, I'll have the top down and won't be able to hear a thing. :)
 
I'm considering going, but 400 miles is a long drive. I'm not sure I want to try driving the S12 that far.
 
Well, my equipment can handle FRS/GMRS, but the FCC would frown on it. I've got a walkie-talkie, but in my experience they don't work too well between vehicles. True we don't really need it, there's always music, but it's good for urgent but non-emergency situations, like if someone wants to stop for gas/photo-op/tire change or something.

Anyway, I'll get the Corolla all polished up. Are we planning on rolling from Redmond around 11?
 
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Hi all, if ever there was an excuse to join the forum side of FG, this is it. I'm IN! IRL friends of electromage, I will be driving my '01 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4. Cause there's no love for 4x4s :p It's sparkly, and VERY bright at night as electromage will attest to. FRS/GMRS would be a good idea. I have a CB also, but FRS/GMRS radio is buried in storage, Electromage, can i borrow one of yours?
Viper, the "town" you're thinking of is the little Bavarian town of Leavenworth. My family has a cabin up there, so i know the neighborhood fairly well. we can probably find somewhere to eat. I also know of a few back roads with some tight curves and hairpins that you may be interested in, Slightly off the beaten path (US-2), but only would add 20mins or so to the journey, and we'd still drop into Leavenworth.

I'm a truck driver so i'm used to driving long hours :p HOWEVER it is different when driving a personal car vs. a semi truck.

not that we're gonna be going fast enough to need it *wink wink* but who all has "Fuzz Busters"?


Also, looking forward to meeting/seeing you all.
 
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It's hard enough parking one car in Leavenworth! This should be interesting. :p
 
A bunch of Viper guys and I used some Motorolla walkie-talkie things last weekend and they worked well, although I can't hear a damn thing with the top down unless I put it up to my ear. Still, worth having if you can. No CB in my Viper, heh.
 
We've already talked about Leavenworth.. read back a bit :p

sorry.. I obviously meant GMRS.. not GPRS. Yeah, they're not horribly ideal, but no one is going to have CB anyway, so FRS/GMRS is what we have to use (this is the Motorola talk-about things you're referring to Viper). I like having them available.. even if they're not used much (and I prefer to not see them be over used....).

We won't be driving fast enough to worry about cops most of the time. I do have a good radar detector though.. just in case a unit is approaching from around a corner or something.

As for detours.. yes, Chumstick will probably be a good detour. Ben Howard between Monroe & Sultan is not an option since there's some major repaving happening on that road right now.


I actually drove Stevens Pass today. It's in good shape, but there are several spots over the pass where there are small areas of construction. Today I saw groups of cars stopped three times by flaggers, so it's definitely possible that we see some delays on the way to eastern Washington.


Our fuel stops will be dictated by the vehicle that can go the shortest distance on a tank. We've already discussed this a little, and will be able to work out details further before leaving on that Saturday morning. There will have to be a lead car that is familiar with the roads and can help to determine when to pull off (this is where the FRS/GMRS radios can be helpful, along with cell phones).
 
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I don't have any communications equipment. :(
 
I don't have any communications equipment. :(

I don't either... I hope someone is bringing lots of spares?! I'm thinking of just driving to Leavenworth. As that'll end up being just over 200 miles round trip for me. I will try to get new tires for my 87' Silvia SEV6 before the trip. (Already have brand new ones on the back, but the fronts are shot).

So, I'll probably be there the first half, have lunch with everybody, (assuming we can fit everyone in Leavenworth, haha) and head home.
 
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I'm thinking of just driving to Leavenworth. As that'll end up being just over 200 miles round trip for me. I will try to get new tires for my 87' Silvia SEV6 before the trip. (Already have brand new ones on the back, but the fronts are shot).

So, I'll probably be there the first half, have lunch with everybody, (assuming we can fit everyone in Leavenworth, haha) and head home.

That's not a bad idea for people who don't want to do the whole trip. :)
 
Sweet! I see you put that up in the front page. ;) Sounds great! I'm so glad I'm getting something worked out. I didn't get to do the Oregon run.
 
Leavenworth.. there's an annual European car cruise there that is 1000 strong. We'll be fine ;) . The trick is just to make sure we know where to meet up once everyone finds a parking spot. Since we'll likely take Chumstick, we can always stop at the school parking lot right before Hwy 2 and make sure everyone catches up and is aware of plans.

Most people have at least two radios, since they usually come in sets. So, it shouldn't be too difficult to share, as long as people make sure to return them at the end.


Since when is 200 miles a long drive? :D
Why can't you go further?
 
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If I may be so bold on my first post to make a few comments.

1. Had to sign up, so I could join in on the fun. Count me in on this road trip if I could get my car sorted out.
2. I have roughly a 200 mile range per tank.
3. Leavenworth, good parking area would be the civic center. I have organized multiple drives for the mr2 crowd and in the past we were able to fit 30 cars there easy as pie. Good place for say a late lunch would be at Gustaff's (I know I spelled that wrong). They have an affordable menu, and the capacity for a large crowd.
4. FRS radios are a must have on a drive like this especially one this long. It's very useful for informing people on pit stops, passing opportunities, and random issues.
5. Winthrop, would be a good place for a later stop. Parking sucks in that small town and slow down when 5 miles out as the police love to ticket.
6. My car has zero power and to quote Richard I'll compensate with Courage. Light weight car, no power I have maybe 100hp on the ground on a good day, very good tires, add an idiot like me yields interesting results.
7. Do you guys mind if I invite a friend.

So I'm assuming given the distance covered we will just be stopping for either fuel or food. In a "group" setting expect every stop to range from 20 minutes to one hour. Least that is the average stop time for every drive I ever attended. BTW sorry for the poor bastard that decides to tail gate me no cats.
 
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