Official: MOT 2005 Caravan - Yankee Candle & Area 51

[Theo]

Greetings,

Well, it's official; we will be forming a MINI caravan to MOT 2005 from among those interested folks in New England and points south and west. There will be two different meet-up points with all the MINIs merging for a final run to the White Mountains.

The Yankee Candle folks will meet on Friday morning (8:30-9:30) at Yankee Candle in South Deerfield, MA (conveniently located on Rt. 5 just off Exit 24 of I-91 in western MA) and drive up to NH via a mix of interstates and back roads. We will meet up with the Area 51 folks at about 2:30 pm.

The Area 51 Folks will meet on Friday afternoon (2:00-2:30) at Rest Area 51 located 15 miles north of Concord, NH on I-93. The Yankee Candle Caravan MINIs with merge with the MINIs at Area 51 and head north at 3:00 for some wonderful driving...including The Kancamagus Highway and Bear Notch Road!

Carol and I will be at Yankee Candle between 8:00 and 8:30 am Friday morning. Just look for the blue and white MINI tent in the North Parking Area. This year we will leave Yankee Candle at 12:00 noon sharp so we can have some fun on the back roads, "Spank the Kanc" and get to the T&C about 5:30 pm for libations at the MOT Hospitality Room. However, your suggestions would be welcomed for any aspect of this event.

Some general info about driving the route:

The driving time from Yankee Candle to the Town and Country will be about 4.5 hours. However, to allow the caravan to regroup (I'm guessing that there will be some MINIs that will want to drive faster than others!) and to allow any Boston-area MINIs to join us at "Rest Area 51", we will divide the drive into three sections; between each section we will have about a 20 minute break for food, rest rooms and refueling. Thus, actual elapsed time will be about 5.5 hours. If we leave Yankee Candle at 12:00 noon sharp, we will be at the T&C by about 5:30 pm. The exact route can be found at the website below.

I've quickly hacked-together a Yankee Candle & Area 51 Caravan website with links to a map of our tentative route and the timed driving directions. You can access it HERE. Changes to the route will be posted on that site.

Sign Up Here
Please indicate your interest in this event by a post to this thread. Make sure you specify at which meet-up point (YC or Area 51) you intend to join the caravan. I will update this first page with all the names. For event information, route maps and driving directions, visit the YC & Area 51 Caravan website and download/print the information.

YC Interested Folks:
1. Theo and Carol
2. Pamlico
3. hwy61
4. lukebuzzy
5. bobbiej (? just to YC)
6. Pipe
7. Uptick (?)
8. LordoftheFlies (?)
9. Shep
10. AprilWhine
11. DanzMINI2 (or Area 51)
12. smurfy
13. CarNut
14. yellowmininy
15. Jollynut (at Mr. Mike's Mobil or Area 51)
16. bethandlouis (fingers crossed)
17. rutters
18. Wingnut
19. m2smith
20. maganoo
21. MINICOOPERBOI
22. minrcdale3
23. jsharra
24. Sideways (at Mr. Mike's Mobil or Area 51)
25. Beanzilla
26. NoNo
27. Guliver (at Mr. Mike's Mobil)

Area 51 Interested Folks:
1. sensorsock3
2. JR9907
3. chs4
4. Don & Sarah (soon to be MINI2 members)
5. StarMini #1
6. StarMini #2
7. StarMini #3
8. StarMini #4
9. harveyjoseph & Terry (in white?)
10. MetalMiniMayhem


Thanks,

Theo

[Pamlico]

We're coming from the Rochester, NY area and are planning on leaving Thursday to visit family in the Boston area on Thursday evening. I assume you all would get onto Rt. 495 and then onto Rt. 93. We could wait somewhere near the 495 / 93 intersection and make a flying jump into the caravan as it passes heading northward.

[Theo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pamlico

We're coming from the Rochester, NY area and are planning on leaving Thursday to visit family in the Boston area on Thursday evening. I assume you all would get onto Rt. 495 and then onto Rt. 93. We could wait somewhere near the 495 / 93 intersection and make a flying jump into the caravan as it passes heading northward.

If you're going to the Boston area, our route would be out of your way. We actually head north from the other (western) part of the state and follow I-91 north along the VT/NH border until we get approximately due west of the White Mountains; then we head east.

However, I would anticipate that there will be a number of folks from the eastern part of the state who will caravan north. You should try to connect-up with them from the Boston area.

See you at MOT 2005!

Theo

[Pamlico]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo

If you're going to the Boston area, our route would be out of your way. We actually head north from the other (western) part of the state and follow I-91 north along the VT/NH border until we get approximately due west of the White Mountains; then we head east.
Theo

Ah, that route makes more sense. We haven't made any final plans for the trip yet (we also may visit friends in Western MA who live near Rt. 91 on Thurs eve) . If we end up staying out there then we'd be interested in joing the caravan.

[hwy61]

Hey Theo,

Good timing, just got through making lodging reservations for MOT and went looking for a Yankee Candle caravan posting and there it was... yes we'd be interested in joining up for the ride , we are from Enfield, CT.

Jeff

more interested folks : Jeff & Pat

[lukebuzzy]

I'd be interested on joining up. Maybe meeting at Mini of Fairfield County early Friday.

Luke

[Theo]

Quote: Originally Posted by lukebuzzy

I'd be interested on joining up. Maybe meeting at Mini of Fairfield County early Friday.

Luke

Luke,

If you want to collect folks early morning at MINI of Fairfield and head up to Yankee Candle, you could pick up hwy61 as you pass through Enfield.

I would guess we'd try to leave YC for NH by about 11-12 Friday morning. YC is about an hour north of Hartford. By what time would you need to leave MINI of Fairfield to make it to YC by 9-10?

Theo

[Theo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pamlico

Ah, that route makes more sense. We haven't made any final plans for the trip yet (we also may visit friends in Western MA who live near Rt. 91 on Thurs eve) . If we end up staying out there then we'd be interested in joing the caravan.

Pamlico,

We live near the Northampton area. If your friends are near there, we could swing by and drive in tandem to YC.

Theo

[hwy61]

Theo,
The 11-12 departure from YC sounds good, that's about the time we were thinking of hitting the road if there was no caravan ...

Jeff

[Pamlico]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo

Pamlico,

We live near the Northampton area. If your friends are near there, we could swing by and drive in tandem to YC.

Theo

Actually, they used to live in Northampton, but moved up to Greenfield last Summer. Since we'd already be close to Vermont it might be more efficient to watch for the approach of the thundering herd and then make a flying leap into the caravan.

[Theo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pamlico

Actually, they used to live in Northampton, but moved up to Greenfield last Summer. Since we'd already be close to Vermont it might be more efficient to watch for the approach of the thundering herd and then make a flying leap into the caravan.

Pamlico,

Not a bad idea! I would suggest that you bring an FRS/GMRS walkie-talkie type radio or cell phone, if you have one. The official MOT FRS channel is 7 with 0 for a subcode. We can either radio you or call you as we approach the Greenfield exit. If you are already waiting by the side of the road on I-91 right after the exit, you can merge right in.

Hope to see you!

Theo

[Pamlico]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo

Pamlico,

Not a bad idea! I would suggest that you bring an FRS/GMRS walkie-talkie type radio or cell phone, if you have one. The official MOT FRS channel is 7 with 0 for a subcode. We can either radio you or call you as we approach the Greenfield exit. If you are already waiting by the side of the road on I-91 right after the exit, you can merge right in.

Hope to see you!

Theo

This sounds like a plan. We have a couple of FRS radios. We'll be making our plans pretty soon and I'll let you know what we end up doing. This way sounds a lot better than putting up with all the traffic in Boston.

[Theo]

FYI --

I'm updating the list of interested folks on the first page of this thread.

Theo

[bobbiej]

we might come up just to see everyone like last year and then head back down to Foxwoods Theo. will let you know the closer we get to the date.

Bobbie

[Pipe]

Theo -

The Hudson Valley MINIvan crew will probably meet you at YCF like last year. Ducttape and I will work out the specifics and let you know. I don't think we'll make there early enough to do anything at YCF though.