Well, it's over. 
But I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time. If my counting is correct we had 22 attendees. Some father/son teams as well as newbies that have never been to a meet. A big thank you to all who came. I had a blast in spite of the cold and wet that mother nature decided to bless (or curse) us with. As always, this family finds a way to have fun even if we can't get outside and rub the fenders. I'm going to try and give a play-by-play from memory so forgive me if I get something out of sequence or especially if I forget someone because I already don't remember when everyone arrived.
Thursday brought some cold air and Yardleybill riding in on it. A bit of a shock to him leaving 80 degree temps to forty-something here. I picked Bill up at the airport and I gave him the nickel tour of Indy. A drive-by of the speedway and then eastbound on 16th street to downtown Indy where we stopped by the 500 Festival offices to pick up some additional parking passes then back to my house to wrestle some adult recreational beverages. Later in the day FIREM arrived at the house. My plan of backyard burgers on the grill became the first casualty of the weather so we went to DiBella's for some subs then eventually out to the hotel to get them checked in.
Friday more cold and wet. The way the showers kept coming it was not worth it to try and go to the speedway. Very little running of the cars but just enough dry time for someone to turn a fast lap of 230+. We kept busy trying to keep warm and doing upgrades in the parking lot. Mike scored some HID headlamps from Cory and Bob, Louis, and Cory installed them. (Oh yeah, there was some beer drin...er...I mean, adult recreational beverage drinking going on too.) Lunch was at the Steak 'n Shake down the street. Rick (geezer) and Shirley showed up on their way to the St Louis area the next day. Friday dinner was at the Green Street Pub, same as last year. Mmmmm... beer battered pork tenderloin! Having brain-fade trying to recall when the rest of the Friday arrivals got there. Sorry. I do recall that Craig got there at about 11pm.
O-dark-thirty Saturday morning found me waking at 6:03 when we planned to be leaving the hotel for the Mayor's Breakfast and track lap. I don't remember the last time I showered that fast. Anyway, we did leave pretty much on time at 6:35 and made it to the gate without losing anyone (at least for very long) on the trip. As we were entering, traffic control told us we had to hurry because the track was cutting off the track lap at 7:15 so, of course then they proceeded to re-route Cory past the turn-off but he managed to get turned around to join the caravan. Now with our line all formed up, we proceeded to the gate to enter the track only to see the gate closed and guard trying to leave. Bob and I jumped out of our cars to investigate. The man says, "You're too late, the track lap is closing early. Track control says they want to have all the cars off the track by 7:15 so the track can go hot at 8:00." It was 7:10! After some arm-waving, well chosen expletives and general bad behaviour by yours truly, as we were getting back into our cars they opened the gate and told us we could go after all! Woo Hoo! We finished the lap, walked to the breakfast and was greeted with a bevy of pretty princesses. I must say I was more than a little disappointed with the food this year and I think everyone else was too. After the introduction of the princesses and listening to the drone of the mayors, most of us decided to trade the warmth of the breakfast hall for watching some race cars. After realizing that my club jacket alone wasn't going to keep me warm, I decided to make the trek back to the car and retrieve a sweatshirt as well as the cooler for some refreshment later. I got back to the seats where I left everyone and they were gone! They opted for a visit to the garage area but I chose to take the long walk to outside of turn 1 to join up with my son-in-law and his group. All the club members joined me later. Sitting in the sun, when it was out, made it a little more bearable. We watched all 33 cars qualify. Some drizzle set in late in the afternoon so we decided to head for the hotel and meet up for dinner at 7:30 at Boulder Creek Dining Co. More good food and then back to the hotel to see what mischief we could get into. We took over the conference room where we traded stories and Bob made his traditional drunky-drunk phone calls to former members and members not in attendance.
Sunday came with sunshine and after some rubbin' and buffin' we were ready to judge the cars give out some awards.
http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=123&t=32119
I'm sure I left some stuff out so someone please add your thoughts and perspective of the meet.
Once again, thank you to everyone who came.
But I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time. If my counting is correct we had 22 attendees. Some father/son teams as well as newbies that have never been to a meet. A big thank you to all who came. I had a blast in spite of the cold and wet that mother nature decided to bless (or curse) us with. As always, this family finds a way to have fun even if we can't get outside and rub the fenders. I'm going to try and give a play-by-play from memory so forgive me if I get something out of sequence or especially if I forget someone because I already don't remember when everyone arrived.Thursday brought some cold air and Yardleybill riding in on it. A bit of a shock to him leaving 80 degree temps to forty-something here. I picked Bill up at the airport and I gave him the nickel tour of Indy. A drive-by of the speedway and then eastbound on 16th street to downtown Indy where we stopped by the 500 Festival offices to pick up some additional parking passes then back to my house to wrestle some adult recreational beverages. Later in the day FIREM arrived at the house. My plan of backyard burgers on the grill became the first casualty of the weather so we went to DiBella's for some subs then eventually out to the hotel to get them checked in.
Friday more cold and wet. The way the showers kept coming it was not worth it to try and go to the speedway. Very little running of the cars but just enough dry time for someone to turn a fast lap of 230+. We kept busy trying to keep warm and doing upgrades in the parking lot. Mike scored some HID headlamps from Cory and Bob, Louis, and Cory installed them. (Oh yeah, there was some beer drin...er...I mean, adult recreational beverage drinking going on too.) Lunch was at the Steak 'n Shake down the street. Rick (geezer) and Shirley showed up on their way to the St Louis area the next day. Friday dinner was at the Green Street Pub, same as last year. Mmmmm... beer battered pork tenderloin! Having brain-fade trying to recall when the rest of the Friday arrivals got there. Sorry. I do recall that Craig got there at about 11pm.
O-dark-thirty Saturday morning found me waking at 6:03 when we planned to be leaving the hotel for the Mayor's Breakfast and track lap. I don't remember the last time I showered that fast. Anyway, we did leave pretty much on time at 6:35 and made it to the gate without losing anyone (at least for very long) on the trip. As we were entering, traffic control told us we had to hurry because the track was cutting off the track lap at 7:15 so, of course then they proceeded to re-route Cory past the turn-off but he managed to get turned around to join the caravan. Now with our line all formed up, we proceeded to the gate to enter the track only to see the gate closed and guard trying to leave. Bob and I jumped out of our cars to investigate. The man says, "You're too late, the track lap is closing early. Track control says they want to have all the cars off the track by 7:15 so the track can go hot at 8:00." It was 7:10! After some arm-waving, well chosen expletives and general bad behaviour by yours truly, as we were getting back into our cars they opened the gate and told us we could go after all! Woo Hoo! We finished the lap, walked to the breakfast and was greeted with a bevy of pretty princesses. I must say I was more than a little disappointed with the food this year and I think everyone else was too. After the introduction of the princesses and listening to the drone of the mayors, most of us decided to trade the warmth of the breakfast hall for watching some race cars. After realizing that my club jacket alone wasn't going to keep me warm, I decided to make the trek back to the car and retrieve a sweatshirt as well as the cooler for some refreshment later. I got back to the seats where I left everyone and they were gone! They opted for a visit to the garage area but I chose to take the long walk to outside of turn 1 to join up with my son-in-law and his group. All the club members joined me later. Sitting in the sun, when it was out, made it a little more bearable. We watched all 33 cars qualify. Some drizzle set in late in the afternoon so we decided to head for the hotel and meet up for dinner at 7:30 at Boulder Creek Dining Co. More good food and then back to the hotel to see what mischief we could get into. We took over the conference room where we traded stories and Bob made his traditional drunky-drunk phone calls to former members and members not in attendance.
Sunday came with sunshine and after some rubbin' and buffin' we were ready to judge the cars give out some awards.
http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=123&t=32119
I'm sure I left some stuff out so someone please add your thoughts and perspective of the meet.
Once again, thank you to everyone who came.
2016 Ride of the Year
