Days Until Gen Con 2019

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Riding to Indy in Style

I tried to get us a Cadillac Escalade but was thwarted.

I was able to secure a Buick Enclave for our trip to Indy this year. I am not sure of the actual seating plan but it looks like it it comes in 7 and 8 passenger configurations. Also I am not sure if it will have a roof rack or not but the vehicle is surely bigger than my Terrain. I will bring my cartop carrier just in case. If there is no roof rack I just will leave it in my car.

I will need to pick the vehicle up in Warren on the Wednesday morning we are leaving. I can get it as early as 7:00 AM. I expect that means that I will pick up Steve on my way to get Bruce. From there we will pick up the vehicle and then head over to Dave's. Does David want to ride with us or does he plan to drive again? If we are picking him up, he will be the last stop before hitting the road.

What time do we want to plan to be on the road? It will likely take us 5.5 hours, give or take, including stops. Traffic and construction could also extend that. What time is check-in at the hotel?

I am not sure how this company car process works as I have not done it before. I am getting one for this Memorial Day so I will have been through the process once before Gen Con. I expect to have a better understanding in a few weeks. If anything I have laid out above will not work, we will adjust the plan at that point.

The only real downside is that I must be in the vehicle when it is driven. I can drive or be a passenger. Since we are staying within walking distance of the con this year, I do not see that as a huge issue.

Expenses will mostly be gas. Might cost more than my Terrain but if we only take one vehicle it should be less overall. Will also have to get a car wash before returning it and will be taxed some for the perk of having the vehicle. I expect that will be about $40. (Again I will have a better idea after I go through the process on Memorial Day.)

11 comments:

  1. Why do you need to pick it up on Wednesday morning? Get charged for an extra day, otherwise?

    We should plan to be on the road after we pick up the last guy. You need to pick up Steve and Bruce and their gear, then unpack all your gear and pack it into the Enclave. Then on to my haus and possibly SGs haus. That sounds like 2 hours to me.

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    1. Those are the rules. Vehicles are available for use once a quarter in one week intervals; Wednesday-Tuesday.

      I expect it will not take too long to pack/unpack when picking up the vehicle but I could easily see it being 9:00 AM or later before we hit the road. If we have a different target time, we need to plan accordingly.

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  2. Looks like David is planning to ride with us. So one car. We should be able to fit everyone and our gear in. If there is a roof rack we should have no worries.

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    1. So... youre gonna put David on the roof rack? Like Grandmaw in Beverly Hillbillies?

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    2. Hey I want a rocking chair if I'm going to ride up there!

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    3. We'll get you a bulletproof Pope-cube. Mostly for the safety of the general public, rather than keeping YOU safe.

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  3. I picked up my car for this weekend. I now have a better idea of what to expect.

    The total process took about an hour. I got there at about 7:30 and there was quite a line. Once I got through the line and got the keys to the vehicle, it was a matter of locating the car, transferring my stuff and leaving my car in its spot.

    I expect that I can still pick up Steve and Bruce but I will need to leave them somewhere like McDonalds while I take care of getting the vehicle. I do not think I can take them into the facility with me. Are you guys cool with that? If not, we will have to figure out another morning transportation plan.

    It should not take too long to transfer the gear between vehicles. We will do the final packing once we get to Dave's and David's places.

    Assuming that everyone is onboard, here is the current timeline I have in mind:

    6:00 AM - Keith arrives at Steve's
    6:30 AM - Keith and Steve arrive at Bruce's
    7:15 AM - Keith drops off Steve and Bruce and goes to pick up the vehicle.
    8:15 AM - Keith picks up Steve and Bruce.
    8:30 AM - Keith, Steve and Bruce arrive at Dave's.
    9:00 AM - Keith, Steve, Bruce and Dave arrive at David's.
    9:30 AM - We hit the road.

    The schedule assumes that everyone is reasonably ready to go when the bus arrives and that the tearful goodbyes are kept short. :)

    Does anyone see any issues with this plan?

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  4. *KSHHHKKKK* THATS A NEGATIVE, CONTROL. WE ARE GO FOR VEHICLE RENTAL. REPEAT: GO FOR VEHICLE RENTAL *KKKSHHHKK*

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Negative as in we don't have issues with the plan

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  6. Hence rereading and then removing the comment.

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