zeroptzero

I want to let the old thread fade away and use this new thread for confirmation of the meet as we head towards the June 15th date. Please check here over the next few days to make sure the meet will proceed on the first date weather permitting. Right now the forecast looks great, but if it changes heading towards Saturday we will post updates in this thread. No need to reply to anything here, shoot me a pm if you have any questions.

If you haven’t contacted me yet about attending please do so as I need to give the winery, brewery and restaurant accurate numbers for our visit. I will also print off maps for everyone attending, if I don't know that you are attending I won't print off a map and our reservation numbers will change.

Ontario Meeting Spot:
Ontario members to meet at the Petro Canada Gas station and food center located at the Casablanca Road exit along the QEW Niagara, the official address for GPS is 424 South Service Road, Grimsby, On. . We need to leave this meeting spot no later than 8:00 am, I expect to arrive around 7:30 to 7:45 am. If everyone shows up early we will leave before 8am rather than waiting around. This is a gas station and food spot, so give yourself some extra time to gas up and get food/coffee if you like. This is a good place to gas up before hitting the border so you won't need fuel prior to getting to the NY meeting spot. There are gas plazas along the turnpike but the fuel cost is higher in the plazas, we may stop there for a washroom break but I wouldn’t gas up if not needed. If you are late arriving to this meeting spot just try to catch up and get to the next meeting spot which will be in the Finger Lakes NY region. If you are running late text me at 519-200-5148 on the day of the event, and 226-926-3905 prior to June 15th.

Bring some small change for toll roads, the turnpike is a toll road which you pay on the way there and on the way home. It isn’t very much though. We will cross over at the Peace Bridge – Fort Erie / Buffalo. There isn’t much of a waiting spot once you cross through the U.S border, we will all cross through at different times, so just try to catch up along highway I-190 and I-90 on route to the Finger Lakes.

The main meeting spot for all attendees is in the Finger Lakes region which will be Knapp Winery, located at 2770 County Road 128 (Ernsberger Road) , Romulus, NY, 14541. I expect to arrive around 11:30 am, and we will stop here for lunch, and winery visit, for about 1 hour and 15 minutes approx. If you were late leaving home you will have time to catch up with us at this point. We will depart here at approx. 12:45 - 12:50 pm for the start of the scenic drive. The winery offers wine tasting (something like $3-$5 for 5-6 tastings). Given the driving ahead of us I likely won’t be doing the tasting, plus I’d like to have a cold brew at Two Goats Brewery in later afternoon J .

Try to gas up prior to hitting Knapp Winery, so you have a full tank of fuel for the rest of the day, for anyone coming from I-90 there will be a gas station prior to hitting Knapp Winery.

We will drive along the west shore of Cayuga Lake down to Ithaca. From Ithaca we will head west along some local roads ending at Two Goats Brewery. Two Goats Brewing is on the east side of Seneca lake where we can relax, enjoy a cold brew or alternate drink, popcorn and roast beef sandwiches ! After the brew pub we will drive the historic road course of the original Watkins Glen track..

After the historic road course we will head over to Watkins Glen International Raceway located at 2790 County Route 16, Watkins Glen, NY. We should arrive at Watkins Glen Raceway at 4:15pm. where you can purchase your parade lap ticket - $25.00 at Gate #2. Staging begins at Gate #2 at 4:30 pm, the parade laps start at 5:00 pm. I expect we will be done by 5:30 pm. Driving the race track is optional, but it is very safe and pretty fun.

Some people may choose to stay the night in the region and head home on Sunday which is optional. Some decent lodging can be found in the Horseheads / Elmira area, which is pretty close to Watkins Glen and within a short drive of everything. We have some reservations for dinner at 6pm Saturday evening for people that may choose to stay the night in the region, but space is limited.

Reminders:

We have to arrive and leave our planned stops on-time !. We will drive close to the speed limit at all times, we can’t afford to get speeding tickets and we need to stay close as a group.

Try to gas-up prior to hitting Knapp Winery in the morning.

Bring small change for toll roads, and $25 for Thunder Road Tours at Watkins Glen International Raceway - Parade laps

Food money for lunch, wine, beer, dinner, etc....
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GPS recommended, program the stopping locations into your GPS in case you get lost from the group.

Sun screen

2-way radios to keep in contact while in the group drive.

We can discuss washroom breaks at the Knapp Winery luncheon as this can be a different requirement for different people. Driving is planned from 1-3pm and 3:30 – 5:30 pm between breaks.

Anyone deciding to join in at the last minute please contact me as early as possible. If you are debating about doing one of these events try to squeeze this one in if you can.




Thanks for reading.

zeroptzero

Pm's have been sent to everyone that expressed interest in the event early on. I'm 99% percent sure this event will go ahead as planned for June 15th as the weather forecast looks good.

We may leave the meeting spot a bit early if everyone who committed to attending shows up to the Casablanca Road and Grimsby Gas and food stop before 8am, so it is important to let us know if you will be there. If we don't know that you are coming we can leave this spot early.

Right now we have 6 spots taken for dinner on June 15th at 6 pm at Glenora Winery, so we have 2 spots left. The spots are taken by Myself + 1, Phill_69 +1, and Double07spyder +1. Anyone wanting to get in on dinner should confirm with me asap as space is limited We can try to get more spots if people decide at the last minute but I can't promise that we will be given more spots if the winery is busy.

On Wednesday we will make the final call for the event but I am positive it will go as planned based on current weather forecasts.

zeroptzero

The event is a 100% go.

I need to confirm the final numbers as of today's date - Wednesday June 12th. I have sent messages to everyone, so please let me know if you have not replied yet. If I haven't heard from everyone by the end of today I have to assume they will not make the event and I have to call in the final numbers to the places we will be visiting.

I will see everyone who has confirmed their attendance at the meeting locations. Looking forward to a fun and safe drive

FluKy15

I thought josh was going??

zeroptzero

I've had discussions with him about attending.

We have about 13-18 people confirmed for the event, which is big enough given the amount of driving that is planned. It works well with smaller groups, especially given the places we plan to visit. Thanks to everyone who replied.

zeroptzero

Two days to go. Bring a camera there will be lots of great photo opportunities at the stops along the route

Don't forget your passports ! lol.

p.s. - try to have small U.S bills for the toll routes.

zeroptzero

Thanks to everyone who confirmed attendance with me.

I won't be replying to this thread any further, so I will see everyone Saturday morning at the Casablanca Road Grimsby gas/food plaza.

Looking forward to getting this one underway , it should be a blast, weather forecast is perfect. We are getting a good turnout from the NY members. The group size is perfect , not too big and not too small, just right for this type of event. All the best