2009 National Corvette Caravan To Bowling Green
 

When: September 3-5, 2009
Where: Bowling Green, Kentucky

Link: www.corvettecaravan.com

Thousands of corvettes are expected to converge on BG during the above dates so it will very important to stay up with the latest info.

Sign up for caravan news, chat, etc.

At this time a Florida Captain has not been appointed. When that happens there will be loads of info that will be of special interest to us club members. Rumor has it that our Linda is somehow involved so I am starting this thread for her use in providing whatever information she deems fit for our reading.

:vette: :vette: :vette: :vette: :vette: :vette: :vette: :vette: :vette:

Yup, there's going to be another caravan to the National Corvette Museum (NCM). This one will be for it's 15th anniversary!! I can't believe it's been open that long. Robert and I were members of the first caravan for the opening of the museum in 1994. I know from our club Bev and Dobbie were also participants. I don't remember off hand if there were others from the club. I'm sorry if I missed someone.
I drove in the second caravan in 1999 (5th anniversary) and then volunteered to help the Florida captain for the 2003 caravan to Nashville/Bowling Green for the 50th anniversary of corvette. I was the local leader for the 2003 event. We had probably 40-45 vettes from our club and Corvettes of Naples leave Fort Myers. We drove up I-75 to Bill Buck Chev. in Venice where another group of vettes was waiting and the dealership had breakfast for us all. We left there with another 40 or 50 vettes and drove up to Ferman Chev in Tampa to meet a very large group of vettes. From there the caravan drove to Ocala where Glueck Chev hosted a BBQ for the whole caravan at his home. There were well over 200 vettes by then. This is where C5R racecar driver Andy Pilgrim joined the caravan for the rest of the trip.
That's just an idea of how one of these events goes. We start small and snowball into a hugh group.
That's enough info to wet your whistles...sign up for the chat in the link and see what the folks are talking about. I suggest you set your email for "digest" otherwise you'll get lot's of emails. With digest mode you get one email a day with all the posts. The chat line is national though so you'll be reading about things other than Florida.
I have volunteered again to help for the caravan in 2009 and when they find a captain the organizers will give him/her my name. If they want someone to help them from this part of the state they will contact me. I'll keep you posted if/when I hear something. Whether I'm working it or not, I'll be driving in the caravan. It's something you need to do at least once!! :yesnod:

The national caravans are a blast! I went in 2003 and will go again in 2009!

Wife and I are definitely in.

The lodging logistics should be something else...

If this one goes like the others, the caravan will have host hotels available at each night's stop. Caravan members are responsible to make their own reservations once the hotels are announced. Once we get to Bowling Green it's each man for himself as far as rooms go...:)

SWFCC Roster Going So Far
 

Armando/Karen
Jim/Norma
Linda/Robert
Tom/Gwen

I can't wait......... :dancer01: :dancer01: :dancer01:

That's the way these sort of things begin. Before you know it there will be hundreds of Florida folks on the list!!!

Me neither, Steve :yesnod:

Hi There
This is my FIRST time on the Forum.
Tom and Gwen Horn will be joining the SWFCC caravan to BG,KY.
We will take both cars.

:welcome: to the forum. The caravan is going to be awesome! :thumbsup:

Hey girl, :welcome: to the site. Now, get up there to the welcome post at the top of the forum and introduce yourselves to the group. You'll get lots of welcomes and be ready to post pictures of yours and Tom's vettes.

Its been almost two montns since the last post. Any new news??:confused:

No captiain for Florida yet.
When that gets posted, things will start moving along.
It is only 29 months away. :)

Yea, I've been checking the emails everyday hoping to see a name for the Florida captain.....one of these days soon, hopefully.

The Florida caravan now has it's captain! :dancer01:
http://www.corvettecaravan.com/fl/

I've emailed Ernie to offer my help and told him about this website. I don't think he is currently a member. Hopefully he'll check us out!

Yahoo!!! :crazy03:

2009 Caravan is in the works!!!
 

Florida Captain, is THAT your identity?

Yes, Penn, that IS my identity!

Everything is in the very beginning stages of getting organized. I am meeting with 2 volunteers this week that have extensive insights as to the planning and workings of previous caravans. This is my starting point, and I will be adding updates to the NCM web site: http://www.corvettemuseum.com Go to EVENTS---2009 Caravan
or go directly to the Florida site: http://www.corvettecaravan.com/fl/

For all of you who have participated in previous caravans, you know what an incredible experience it is. For the rest of you, it is now the time to be planning to take that Labor Day week, 2009, off from work, and have the Corvette experience of a lifetime!

So far, I can tell you this.... besides the fun events that will take place on the way to Bowling Green, as well as the special events at the NCM, you will have the opportunity to tour the Corvette Assembly Plant, which is directly across from the museum.

As we get organized, we will know what areas we will need volunteers in. If you have past experience, and would like to volunteer for the 2009 Caravan, please contact me. If you know of anyone who would like to sponsor the Florida Caravan, please let me know that also. Sponsors are a very important part of this program. There are several initial start up costs involved (t-shirts, dash plaques, banners, printing, etc.) Any monies recovered beyond actual expenses goes directly to the NCM. Any ads/sponsors/donations for this event are fully tax deductible. More on that later.

I will keep you informed of our progress!

Ernie,

Congrats on your appointment. Looking forward to this event as I am sure many others are here in Florida. If there is anything we can help you out with, please let us know.

Armando Sampedro
Public Relations Chair
Southwest Florida Corvette Club
www.swflcorvetteclub.com

Based on everyone's prior experience, how soon in advance will some of the Bowling Green hotels start taking reservations for 09/09??

Good question! Usually it is 1 year in advance, but I am currently checking in to it, and will let you know as soon as I find out.

EZ

:yesnod: What he said :D

Here's the info on motel reservations!
 

Hotels will not take reservations till 365 days out. Some ARE accepting requests to be on the waiting list to block a group of rooms. Most people who try to get reservations as we get to that 1 year mark will be told by the hotels that they are fully blocked or booked. Blocked does not mean sold out. All hotels have a date for these events (usually 3 o 8 weeks out) when you have to have a charge card reserving each room or the balance of the block goes back into the general pool. So we will be encouraging people to get on the waiting list of hotels they really want hope to get into.

I have never been on one of the caravans, but look forward to the 2009 caravan.
I thought that the Captian selected and arranged for hotels along the way.
Am I mistaken? Or is it just along the way and not the final destination? :shrug01:

We will plan for overnight stops to be in locations that have (hopefully) enough rooms for all of us. We will get blocks of rooms, and let you know what motels are participating, and what other motels are near by. It will be up to the individual to make their own reservations.

The motels in Bowling Green are expected to be completely booked up very early. There are many other motels along the interstate that are very convenient to the NCM. You will be advised of all motels, locations, phone numbers, etc. This is currently being worked on.

The previous email was directly from the NCM.

EZ

Registration Now Open
 

2009 Caravan registration is now officially open!

To access registration, go to the NCM web site

www.corvettemuseum.com

Go to the EVENTS drop down menu, and click on 2009 National Corvette Caravan.

At the bottom of page you will find the link.

Process is quite painless - registered

SWFCC Club Members Registered So Far:

als2052
jcb_njb
2Vettes

Will add on to list as more come forward...

Armando, I signed up! I should be a member of your club by then assuming you take my money!

Rich, the Naples club will be more than happy to take your money!

Personally I feel the money is secondary. Its the good people like you that our club is most interested in.

Agree that money is not an issue. We have been fortunate to have been associated with 3 area Vette clubs, and the members with whom we associated have all been wonderful people. Nothing says that one cannot join more than one Vette club!

Barb, Long time no see or hear - hope to see you and Andy soon and definitely for the big Caravan...

Armando

Armondo, that is great to hear! I am assuming that you will sponsor us with SWFCC based on our good looks and Corvette knowledge, since I retired today, I don't have any money! :lmao:

Joyce and I are starting the drive down tomorrow morning. Should be in Ft. Myers Sunday afternoon and we plan to be there for the month of August. (We decided to get away from the heat and humidity here in Maryland! :rofl1:) Maybe we will attend the August club meeting, whenever that is, and start to get involved.

Barb - We just might join more than one club. We will talk when Joyce and I get in and we can compare notes!

Rich

Rich, consider yourself sponsored. Congr ats on your retirement.

Our next meeting is August 21 @ 7PM. Our address is on our website www.swflcorvetteclubl.com compliments of Linda, our webmaster.

Barb: You and Andy are also invited as well...

Armando

Thanks, Armado. As it is, I'm having a difficult time managing my schedule, but it's always nice to know that we're welcome!

Rich, you and Joyce would be most welcome. We'll discuss at dinner this week (I assume?)

Armando, the Lord willing, we'll be there! The 2003 Caravan was the best vaction I ever had, and we are both looking forward to 2009!

Congratulations on your retirement Rich. I have been retired for 4 1/2 years and my wife and I are loving every minute of it. :dancer01:

Thanks Lou!

We have been looking forward to this for some time! As soon as our house sells in Maryland we will become full time residents here in Florida. The Vettes have been full time residents here for about a month now and they seem to like it!

As time permits we will become active in one or two of the local clubs here in SW Florida and we are looking forward to that as well!

Rich