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West Michigan 2016 Cruise to WiTW

21K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  lil'red 
#1 · (Edited)
Start Location: Shell 1:30 AM Thursday 14 April 2016
380 Blue Star Highway, Saugatuck, MI 49453
End Location: Fontana Village Resort
Address: Fontana Village, 60 Fontana Rd
Fontana Dam, North Carolina 28733
1-800-849-2258

Cruise Details:
Total Distance: 685 miles (approx.)
Total Time: 11 hours + rest stops
Tolls: Don’t see any,

Link to Google Maps Trip

1:30 AM Thursday April 16th
Meet at the Shell Station 380 Blue Star Highway, Saugatuck, MI 49453
1:45 AM
Leave for McDonald's, 3201 E 96th St, Indianapolis, IN 46240

5:00 AM
Arrive McDonald's, 3201 E 96th St, Indianapolis, IN 46240
Meeting Chicago Group
5:15 AM
Leave for Shell Food Mart, Delaplain Road, Georgetown, KY

7:45 AM
Arrive Shell Food Mart, Delaplain Road, Georgetown, KY
Meeting Ohio and East Side Michigan Folks
8:00 AM
Leave for BP Gasoline 1180, BP Gasoline 1180, 1459 5th Street, Jellico, TN 37762

10:00 AM
Arrive BP Gasoline 1180, BP Gasoline 1180, 1459 5th Street, Jellico, TN 37762
10:15 AM
Leave for Shell, 2701 US Highway 411 S, Maryville, TN 37801

11:15 AM
Arrive Shell, 2701 US Highway 411 S, Maryville, TN 37801
11:30 AM
Leave for Fontana Village, 60 Fontana Road, Fontana Dam, NC 28733

1:15 PM
Arrive WiTW 2016

**Keep in mind, whatever time it takes us to fill up, plus 15-20 min to grab a snack, food, beverages, etc is what we'll be allotting for our gas station stops.

Things to Remember:
Full tank of gas
Radar detectors
2-Way radios with sub-channels (channel will be announced the day of the caravan)
GPS/navigation
Up-to-date vehicle registration and insurance card

Preparation:
Please perform a safety inspection: oil/coolant/brake fluid levels, tire pressure and condition, headlights/turn signals/brake lights, overall mechanical condition, etc.
Please keep your car clear of loose objects which may cause a distraction.
Please be advised that this is a preliminary timeline. Please visit frequently for any updates/changes that may occur. If you have any questions/concerns please feel free to contact me. I will be more than happy to answer all your questions/concerns, as well as receive all suggestions/feedback.
 
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#6 · (Edited)
FV-QR

Why so much BP? Shell FTW... :p

Oh NVM now I see it's just one BP stop. Durrr.

Why are you trying to arrive at Fontana so early, out of curiosity? I posted in the Ohio thread, but I'll share it here... This will be my 8th year attending, and in my experience, after driving so much to get down there, you're not going to want to jump back in the car and do dragon runs / other cruises, you'll just want to unpack and chill out a bit. I consider Thursday a spent "travel day" and don't expect to do any "fun driving" that day, I just do "fun drinking" that night (although TBH Friday and Saturday nights are usually the main party nights).

You can do that just as easily arriving at 4-5-6pm as you can at 1, and then you're not driving through sleep hours just to get to Fontana "early" and be exhausted.

I mean, for people with longer drives like NY I can understand leaving earlier (4-5AM) to get down there before dark, but I don't understand the point of leaving "the night before" and driving through sleep (dangerous) just to arrive down there exhausted at 1PM and immediately want to take a nap. :p

I guess traffic avoidance is the one thing that is logical, but you should still be able to avoid traffic by simply offsetting departure time a bit and/or extending some fuel stops so you don't hit major metropolitan areas at lunch or work rush time.
 
#7 ·
Traffic is the reason we leave at the time we do.

We will stop at Walmart just before the turn to the dragon and stock up on food.

We'll cook and chill the rest of the night and start our runs in the morning.

Why so much BP? Shell FTW... :p

Oh NVM now I see it's just one BP stop. Durrr.

Why are you trying to arrive at Fontana so early, out of curiosity? I posted in the Ohio thread, but I'll share it here... This will be my 8th year attending, and in my experience, after driving so much to get down there, you're not going to want to jump back in the car and do dragon runs / other cruises, you'll just want to unpack and chill out a bit. I consider Thursday a spent "travel day" and don't expect to do any "fun driving" that day, I just do "fun drinking" that night (although TBH Friday and Saturday nights are usually the main party nights).

You can do that just as easily arriving at 4-5-6pm as you can at 1, and then you're not driving through sleep hours just to get to Fontana "early" and be exhausted.

I mean, for people with longer drives like NY I can understand leaving earlier (4-5AM) to get down there before dark, but I don't understand the point of leaving "the night before" and driving through sleep (dangerous) just to arrive down there exhausted at 1PM and immediately want to take a nap. :p

I guess traffic avoidance is the one thing that is logical, but you should still be able to avoid traffic by simply offsetting departure time a bit and/or extending some fuel stops so you don't hit major metropolitan areas at lunch or work rush time.
 
#8 ·
Hey erikm...

if you leave on wednesday ill be heading down 75 probably gonna leave toronto between 7 and 9 am... maybe earlier...

Why is everyone leaving thursday... event dates this year are thursday to saturday.... not the typical friday and saturday with sunday being departure day...

See you guys down there. year 3 for me in my gti...
 
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