The GREAT CIII Caravan!

Hello folks!

I've been in talks with several FanForces about having a caravan of sorts to CIII. For those of us coming from the NE part of the states we have a fairly direct route.

There will be a couple of "Staging" areas. That is to say FF's will meet up at a regional location, travel to the next regional location and so on til we get to Indy.

Logically, Philly works as the first staging area, then Pittsburgh, Columbus and finally Indy.

Basically those further out than Philly will coordinate with Philly's FF on where and when to meet (bearing in mind that you will be meeting all the rest of us along the way, so you would need to start very early Wednesday (4/20/05) or possibly Tuesday (4/19/05). From there you can either take the PA toll (it costs but it's most direct to Pittsburgh) or figure out another route. Next those further out from Pittsburgh (Including the caravan coming from Philly) would meet in Pittsburgh. BTW, these staging areas are meant to 1) break up the monotony of driving, 2) provide time for bathroom breaks, 3) BRIEFLY get to meet others from our respective FF's and 4) a safe place to stop. Okay so anyway, From Pittsburgh we will travel Interstate 70 straight to Indy with the last staging area in Columbus. That will give the other Ohio FF's a chance to meet up and the rest of us NE chapters as well. We'll possibly pick up Dayton and maybe Cincinatti on the way, but that's for them to decide. If your chapter is a bit southerly of Philly and you want to meet up in Pittsburgh that's fine. Or maybe you want to meet in Columbus, that's okay too. Let's just make this big and FUN!

So that's a plan for those who would like to join in the GREAT CIII Caravan. For those who do, I'm going to look into getting special made large Vehicle car magnets to show who we are and to help in identifing each other on the road. (That's not mandatory, just something cool to do and would be a nice "collectible" for the drivers.

I already have Pittsburgh (of course), Cleveland, Clarksburg WV, and Rochester FF's on board for this. Let's make this even bigger and more fun by having as big a caravan as we can! And we won't drive single file to hide our numbers...to paraphrase Obi-wan. Ha ha.

Please sign up in the official thread here, if you'd like to join the caravan:
http://boards.theforce.net/post_edit.asp?mes=17646266

Please state:
1)FF Chapter
2)Number of vehicles from chapter
3)Total people traveling from chapter

There will be more to work out, and there's still lots of time, so no need to sign up immediately. Let's say an March 31st deadline. That will give us all almost 3 solid weeks to firmly plan the trip out there.

 

Great idea! Thanks for posting about it.

I won't know when I'll be leaving until I get my spring schedule, but my plan is to fly home the weekend before and then drive from there with some people. Here's hoping that there are no exams scheduled for that week.

 

I'm not in the caravan but if you're leaving from this area and want to be there (and rested) for Thursday, I suggest leaving on Tuesday.
It takes about 16-18 hours of driving straight thru to get there, with the stops it will take longer and you'll probably want to be ready to go for all 4 days.
Party on!

 

Sounds like fun! Unfortunately I'll only be going for a couple of days. I plan on flying out that Friday morning (5/22), attend C3 on Saturday and Sunday, and then fly home Monday morning.

 

16-18 hours of driving straight thru to get there,
OUCH!!! 16 to 18 HOURS!!! Good Grief.

 

That's part of why we're having the "staging" areas. Gives you a chance to take a break, go to the bathroom, eat (more than just snacks). It will break up the monotony of driving. If you have a second driver, you can switch then to for "fresh legs".

 

I can see why!

 

I would also highly recommend at least 2 pilots per transport for you folks that haven't done this kind of thing before.

 

Yes, I recommend this as well. Always good to have a fresh pair of legs (and eyes). As well as someone who is awake and alert. Depending on how far one can drive, if you're coming from Boston, I'd say switch in Philly, then again maybe in Columbus, keeping in mind that there will be a stop in Pittsburgh to break that up a bit.


BTW, I've started to look into getting large magnets for vehicles for this. They would have the Star Wars logo on it and say something like:

Star Wars Celebration 3
"The Great CIII Caravan"
www.fanforce.net

Though that's just a rough draft.
-Sal