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Big Midwest Meet! Des Moines, Iowa -- May 18-19 2007 -- Porky's Diner -- Track Time!

35K views 361 replies 30 participants last post by  nickc50310 
#1 ·
Any interest in a midwest meet this coming spring? Central Iowa might be a good spot for several surrounding states--not too far away for Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, or Wisconsin.

JRau in central Iowa
 
#234 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Awesome Gary, very happy to hear you might be headin out east to join us! It's like all of the CF people on my AIM buddy list will be here! Gary, Jesda, Brian, Ben and more!

Jesda, I'll split the room costs with you, but don't do anything funny, like ordering the honeymoon suite or you'll be paying for it all. I'm serious.

Let's see if we can get the Ohio group to come...Florian, Illumina, Pimpin88, that would be pretty cool. Maybe even ETC97 from Pennsylvania and his gf, whether she's in PA or IL, it's not too far of a drive either way. I'd surely like to meet Dopestar and his woman, and of course the god of Cadillac knowledge..Sandy, but I think he said something at some point about how he doesn't like road trips and I don't think he'd bring his 9300 mile Sixty Special even if he did. :(

Hell, maybe we can get some Floridians to come too....Boombotz, Rick, and the others!

Our first national meet? I sure hope so!

We should exchange phone numbers and stuff starting now, just to get this more arranged, with rooms and whatnot. I'll either PM you about it, or ask you on AIM if I have your screenname.


Oh, and you can bet I'll be bringing my digital camera and a large tolerance for "adult beverages", this'll be an event I'll never forget!
 
#235 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Looks like I might have another non cf member coming. One of my buddies is buying a CTS-V!!
 
#236 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Well sign him up than! :)
 
#237 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I put in another call to porky's the girl thought it would be fine but Im still waiting on the owner to call me back.
 
#239 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Today I put in my request for the days off! I might have an issue asking for vacation days though, as the company policy is "5 vacation days after your 1 year anniversary" and my one year anniversary isn't until 7/11/07. My manager is a real cool guy and he said he'd see what he could do.
 
#241 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Ok guys!! WE HAVE A GO ON PORKY's!! Just got the call from the owner!

We have a couple options here.

Heres the origional plan:
Meet at 12pm in old Target lot for motorcade
Motorcade leaves at 12:30 to go to Porky's
Have a group lunch at 1:30 pm
Hang out till 4 or 5 at Porkys and have some brew ha ha!
This plan has already been confirmed with the owner of Porky's. We can bring as many people as will show!

Heres an alternative option that he gave me- I LIKE THIS IDEA!
They are having an Elvis impersonation show that night- THEY WILL BE PACKED!! HUGE!!
If we want to come in at 4 or 5 they will reserve as many spots as we need. We could totally dominate car night with our caddies. If its nice, there will be litterally hundreds of people there. How cool would that be to have all our caddies on display for the masses? On top of that they will have ALOT of ladies around an plenty of booze! if we took this route, we could just go to a local bar after Porky's, probably around 11 or 12. If we want to party after the bars are closed we have my house within a mile or two! I think this would be the coolest idea. We would need an exact car count by May 12th for this plan so he knows how many spots to block. If we went this route then saturday during the day would could either just hang out or hit the links or do something else.


Let me know what you guys prefer. Heres a link for Porky's. look at the car night pics!! They usually get so busy that they have cops directing traffic! CAR NIGHT IS HUGE IN THIS AREA!

http://www.porkysdiner.com/

Heres a map of the local area with landmarks. Sorry, it was made in paint rather hastily!


Let me know what you guys think! John Ill call you tonight.

Dont worry about anyone giving you shit at the meet. People hatin on anyones Caddy will get mopped up pretty quickly by myself and/or my friends. Im sure we got some big dudes around her also! Im sure Brent can bust some heads! What Im sayin is dont worry about people at car night giving you any problems if we take that route.
 
#244 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Count me in, I already have this in my calendar, looks like a blast. My 03 cts is pretty stock and I don't know how much I'll be able to do to it between now and May, but I would luv to come out and see some of the sick things that you all have done to your rides.

I've only been on this forum a couple weeks and I'm already havin a blast talkin to you guys, would be great to meet f2f. I luv to golf (translate: semi-hacker) so that would fun to do on Sat.

Just an FYI (not a throw-down), us WI boys have mutated livers from generations of hardcore consumption, so I hope you guys are ready to partaaay :alchi: :alchi: :alchi: :alchi:

I'm more than willin to find my own hotel room, but was just wondering if there is a particular hotel everyone was planning on booking?

kfx
 
#245 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

kfx,

There is a Super 8 that's less than a mile from the car show site. Sounds like everyone wants this hotel as the hotel of choice. We'll eat dinner together at a famous local restaurant, rather than a national chain restaurant. We'll have a great time!

JRau in central Iowa
 
#246 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Sounds great! This'll be a blast.

EDIT: hey, this makes my post count 2..420
 
#247 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Sounds great! This'll be a blast.

EDIT: hey, this makes my post count 2..420

speaking of which- hope youre ready!! hehe, i dont smoke much but ill have some quality poopoo around for you guys and ill get down with yas at some point!
 
#248 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Oh yeah... I'm ready. :D It'll be fun.
 
#250 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

I would drive down for that, Let me know when things sound more specific.

You in for race night?? I want to race an Eldo REALLY bad!!

Heres my thoughts on the meet- Were getting close to pulling the trigger on this plan. I will take Friday off work. people are OK to arrive at my house anytime Friday to hang out and what not.

Friday-
Leave for cedar falls to race at 3pm
meet at hotel at 4:30 pm in CF
Get food- probably fast food
head to race track at about 5:45pm
race until they close or we decide to leave
head to some bars in Cedar falls
from there who knows on Friday! LOL

Not everyone has to go to Cedar Falls. We will have a block of rooms lined up for friday in both Des Moines and CF. If you want to go but not race Im sure you could ride up to CF with one of us that are racing. I might have my brother drive my Dad's Slade so we should have plenty of seats.

Saturday-
Youre on your own for breakfast
Meet at 1pm for motrocade
motorcade leaves at 1:15 pm
arrive at porkys at about 1:40pm
have a group lunch at 2:15pm
3:30- go outside and look around at cars
stay at porkys as long as you want- people arrive for the car night around 5 or 6 usually. This night will have 100s of people there and Im sure they would like seeing our cars. Leave when you want.
We could meet for dinner around 8;30 if you guys want or some people can stay at Porky's if they want
Go to a bar/club at 10 or 10:30
Stay at the bar until 2am for last call
head to my house or someones hotel room to party more. Strip club or after hours club is also a possibilty at this point. both stay open until 5 or 6 and are BYOB.


Sunday-
get brunch at Granite CITY at 11:30am
Shoot a round of golf at about 2pm or people can leave or just hang out if desired.
End of meet- if others want to hang out after golf thats cool with me

None of the activities are required. participation is solely up to all of you. We will have information for other things to do listed. No matter what youve heard- Des Moines is a pretty big city with plenty to do. Its a gorgeous and safe city to visit. if you have a family or are not big on partying there is plenty for you to do!

Let me know what you guys think of this. Ill discuss this with John on the phone also.
 
#251 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Sounds like a plan. But right now I'm in the middle of hangover hell. So the last thing I want to think about is getting shitfaced again lol. I can still BYOWeed...
 
#253 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Well, I talked to my Dad last night and asked him if he's like to take a little road trip. When I explained it to him, his first question was, "Which car are you taking?" "The Cadillac, of course," I replied. His second question, "Do you think it will make it?" That's my Dad...always the optimist! :histeric:

I told him I was going to post a question in one of the technical sections about what I should have checked before taking the car on a long road trip. I think she'll do fine.

My Dad still works part time as a courier driver, so he needs plenty of notice to get a substitute, but if he can, I think he'll go. As an extra incentive, my little sister is currently in Omaha, so he might not come to the meet, but spend the weekend with two of his grandkids.

On the other hand, I might try to get my sister to come out on Sunday for the golf. She was an NCAA Division III medalist in college, and last year, she played in the U.S. Armed Forces annual tournament (she's in the USAF Reserves). She won the women's title for the Air Force, then beat women golfers from the Army, Navy and Marines to represent the U.S. at the international armed forces tournament in Ireland. She won that one, too.

As for me, I'm a shitty golfer. Linda got all the athletic talent. But I'll probably dig my clubs out of the attic and bring them anyway.

My class is up to 13 students, two more than I need for the highest pay scale. So it looks like I'll have the money to make the trip.
 
#255 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Well, I talked to my Dad last night and asked him if he's like to take a little road trip. When I explained it to him, his first question was, "Which car are you taking?" "The Cadillac, of course," I replied. His second question, "Do you think it will make it?" That's my Dad...always the optimist! :histeric:

I told him I was going to post a question in one of the technical sections about what I should have checked before taking the car on a long road trip. I think she'll do fine.

My Dad still works part time as a courier driver, so he needs plenty of notice to get a substitute, but if he can, I think he'll go. As an extra incentive, my little sister is currently in Omaha, so he might not come to the meet, but spend the weekend with two of his grandkids.

On the other hand, I might try to get my sister to come out on Sunday for the golf. She was an NCAA Division III medalist in college, and last year, she played in the U.S. Armed Forces annual tournament (she's in the USAF Reserves). She won the women's title for the Air Force, then beat women golfers from the Army, Navy and Marines to represent the U.S. at the international armed forces tournament in Ireland. She won that one, too.

As for me, I'm a shitty golfer. Linda got all the athletic talent. But I'll probably dig my clubs out of the attic and bring them anyway.

My class is up to 13 students, two more than I need for the highest pay scale. So it looks like I'll have the money to make the trip.
Great gdwriter! I'm impressed that you can swing this. Maybe we should give a prize away for the person coming the greatest distance or something...

JRau in central Iowa
 
#254 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Hey, everyone, got more details for Saturday. The motel chosen is Super 8 on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines. It's less than 2 miles from the meet site, on a busy thoroughfare that in and of itself has lots of shopping, fast food, sit down restaurants (Denny's, Bennigan's, Perkin's, etc.). Lots of car dealers on this stretch of road as well. Hey and Des Moines has some very low gasoline prices as well.

Anyway, I negotiated a deal on a block of rooms at the Super 8. The single room rate for Super 8 is $44.99, and the double room rate is $49.99. When you call in to register, make sure you mention you are with the Cadillac Owners Club attending the Midwest Meet. Unfortunately, I'm posting this at work, and took the phone number home with me this afternoon. I'll jump back on and give the phone number.

Nick and I want you all to experience a true taste of Des Moines--one of this area's famous restaurants is called "The Latin King," and it's been in business since the 1940's I believe. Anyway, awesome food, primarily Italian. They take credit cards or cash only. It, too, isn't too far from our meet--say less than 5 miles or so.

The kicker on this restaurant is that they don't serve until 4 pm on Saturdays. We will have to take this into consideration should we choose to take over Porky's Diner during the Elvis impersonator show. The gal at the restaurant said if we came in at 4pm when they opened, we'd have very fast service since the dinner crowd doesn't start up until 5:30 pm or so. I've got us blocked in for about 40 people at the restaurant.

We are good to go, guys. I'll be in contact with AmesCTS-V to get the website up now that we have plans solidified.

See ya soon!

JRau in central Iowa
 
#256 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

The motel chosen is Super 8 on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines.
For some reason, I can't find that location on the Super 8 Web site, even though I found it on MapQuest. Do you know if they allow pets? I'm planning to bring Hoover. If not, I can always stay at Motel 6. But I'd rather stay with everybody else.
 
#265 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

How many rooms did you get?

Let me know when you get the phone number also. 44 bucks is cheap
Flyin-Ryan,

I'm set up with 15 non-smoking rooms and 15 smoking double rooms. We can change that mix as we need to, and we can add or drop rooms as we need to up until May 15th. Phone number is (515) 278-8858. Remember to refer to code CGCICS for your discounted rate.

JRau in central Iowa
 
#259 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

More news... The Super 8 Motel's phone number is (515) 278-8858. Remember to let them know you are with the Cadillac Owners Club so that you get the reduced rate! $44.99 for a single bed, $49.99 for a double. This is a pretty decent motel--no roaches, smells, freaks, or wierdos nearby! :) :thumbsup:

As Nickc50310 has said, if you want to race or watch others race, you will want to spend Friday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Nick's got the info on the motel there. If you DON'T want to race or watch, just come to Des Moines, and book your room for both nights, May 18 & 19th. The motel serves a continental breakfast if you want that, or there are tons of restaurants a stone's throw away for whatever you're in the mood for.

I understand that this particular Super 8 isn't listed for some crazy reason. Their address is: Super 8 Motel, 4755 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines, Iowa. The Merle Hay exit off Interstate 80 is exit 131.

That's all for now.

JRau in central Iowa
 
#260 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Well guys, I have some pretty horrible news. I found that Fun Night at the dragstrip doesnt start until June 10th. I have e-mailed the managers of the track to see if they can make accomidations for us. Im hoping they will just decide to start fun night on the 18th of May or at the very least let us get some private track time that night. I would prefer to have the general public there so I can eat up some ricers but private track time is better than nothing. Ill keep everyone updated on this!
 
#262 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

The Super 8 does allow small domesticated pets for an extra $10 charge. Don't be bringin' no Llama's or sheep!!:histeric:

Also, everyone needs to use the reservation code CGCICS. That will give you the discounted rate and let them know which rooms to assign you.

JRau in central Iowa
 
#267 · (Edited)
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

The Super 8 does allow small domesticated pets for an extra $10 charge. Don't be bringin' no Llama's or sheep!!:histeric:
No llamas or sheep, just a goofball yellow Lab. I've taken Hoover with me on a couple of road trips, and he's a great travel companion with excellent hotel manners. He always comes with me when I take Betty to car shows, and he enjoys meeting all the people.
 
#263 ·
Re: Midwest meet in Spring, '07

Shit, I might get myself a room just so we can party and act an ass all night!! LOL!! :thepan:

Some pretty straight bars within walking distance of the Super 8.
 
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