MG 2011

[rick_ingram]

Just had an idea, Rick. Why don't you rephrase your request to "If MG2011 was going to be held 1,000 or more miles away, where would you want it to be? That way you avoid everyone wanting it in their home town. Personally I would rather travel to a multi-day event anyway. We're disappointed that GoF West is only 325 miles from home this year. The last two years we got to drive thousands of miles round trip. That's half the fun (or more)! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

I did that for MG2006...in the form of a one-page survey. This format has worked equally well, so far.

And.....I certainly agree with you about the road trip! The memories of being "on the road" and seeing sites that I may not see otherwise are fantastic!

 

[terriphill]

From LR Ar....
1000 miles
Denver, CO
Buffalo, NY
Florida Keys
Anywhere in Texas

so...I pick Buffalo,NY or Sleeping Bear Dunes outside of Traverse City MI. (If we go in July...the Cherries will be coming into season!)

Does that mean I have 4 years to get the B up and running?

 

[Steve_S]

Don't forget the '+' part of 1,000+ miles!

For a distant event, I would choose Wyoming. Most people don't realize that Wyoming is largely pine-covered mountains. In fact, Yellowstone National Park is generally thought to be in Montana, but it is 95% in Wyoming! Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and other attractions make it a driving / sightseeing paradise.

 

[swift6]

Don't forget the '+' part of 1,000+ miles!

For a distant event, I would choose Wyoming. Most people don't realize that Wyoming is largely pine-covered mountains. In fact, Yellowstone National Park is generally thought to be in Montana, but it is 95% in Wyoming! Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and other attractions make it a driving / sightseeing paradise.

I don't think you saw very much of Wyoming Steve. In fact, it is not "largely pine-covered mountains". The western edge of Wyoming is but most of Wyoming is not.
This map of Wyoming shows the mountain ranges pretty well and the relative pine-covered area. Most of Wyoming is classified as a high altitude desert. In the center of the state lies the "Great Divide Basin" where the continental divide splits and forms this basin where water, what little it gets, can only evaporate.

The Yellowstone/Jackson Hole, northwest corner of Wyoming is breathtakingly beautiful. The vast plains of the high altitude desert are also very beautiful in their own way.

With over 97,000 square miles of land and only just over 509,000 people (as of the 2005 census), the terms 'sparse' and 'desolate' come to mind.

Of course I have never been under the impression that Yellowstone was in Montana. Having grown up in Wyoming might have had something to do with that though. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

All that being said... parts of Wyoming do pack some very delightful suprises if your willing to look for them.

I'll take my Triumph coat and go home now though. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/square.gif

 

[rick_ingram]

You can bring your Triumph to MG 2011!

 

[Steve_S]

Perhaps I was being overzealous when I said "largely". I didn't intend it to mean "mostly pine covered", but rather "large areas of pine covered".

I would have to guess that at least a third of the state is mountainous with heavy vegetation. And I also have to agree that the high desert is beautiful. That said, a driving event could easily be held in Wyoming and never pass through desert in the traditional sense.

I think the reason that most people belive Yellowstone is in Montana is due to the town of West Yellowstone being located in Montana. Additionally, the main entrance to the park is in that very town so most people enter there. And don't forget all the "Yellowstone National Park, Montana" post cards they sell in that town! Marketing at its finest. I wonder who benefits the most financially from the largest national park in the country... Montana or Wyoming?

 

[Silverghost]

My 2 cents worth:

Map out the registrants from the previous events - yeah this will take a little time - and then locate a central location based on that. Presuming of course that that central point doesn't put you in the middle of no where. That ought to help take the "politics" out of the decision.
Just food for thought......

 

[rick_ingram]

My 2 cents worth:

Map out the registrants from the previous events - yeah this will take a little time - and then locate a central location based on that. Presuming of course that that central point doesn't put you in the middle of no where. That ought to help take the "politics" out of the decision.
Just food for thought......

Already done...from all three previous events......but that also sways the results because all three have been east of the Mississipi.

 

[Stewart]

A MG meet in Jackson hole would be a absolutely cant miss event. Infact I'm trying to get my 73 in shape so that in the spring I can do Billings to Jackson Hole via yellowstone right as the park is opening up for the year. Fantastic back roads in that area.

 

[Steve_S]

Map out the registrants from the previous events - yeah this will take a little time - and then locate a central location based on that. Presuming of course that that central point doesn't put you in the middle of no where. That ought to help take the "politics" out of the decision.
Just food for thought......

That's a logical approach, but by using that method you are also depriving a large percentage of the country from ever attending.

The question becomes this... is the purpose of the event to get the maximum number of attendants or is it to serve the community by getting as many people involved a possible?

Infact I'm trying to get my 73 in shape so that in the spring I can do Billings to Jackson Hole via yellowstone right as the park is opening up for the year. Fantastic back roads in that area.

We very much wanted to continue our tour this Summer in the '49 MG TC to include Yellowstone, Glacier, etc and then across to Washington. But we were already gone for two weeks and simply didn't have the time to add on 1,500 additional miles.

 

[Stewart]

A lot of ground to cover out there. The last time I went to yellowstone I got there 2 days before the road south to jackson opened up and that was the best time I have ever had there. Very few people and the animals were out and about more than I've ever seen and in the higher parts there was still a ton of snow and yellowstone lake was still iced over. Turned into a real zoo the day the road to jackon opened up.

These were taken in may of 06

[/hijack]

 

[swift6]

In case anyone is wondering what the rest of Wyoming looks like in general... here are some pics I took on a trip to visit my dad when he lived in Moran Wyoming (south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, north of Jackson Hole. Apologies for the high contrast, quick and dirty scans from slides. Trip was about eight years ago in my TR6.
Along US 287 through central Wyoming, North of Laramie to Lander.

Worth it to get to scenery like this though...


Oxbow bend, Grand Teton National Park

Grand Tetons

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Shawn --

Thanks for those. Especially the LAST one - great shot!

(Gotta be the best lookin' MG I'VE ever seen!) /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

 

[Basil]

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif

 

[Steve_S]

I like contrasty. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif The last shot is indeed the money.

 

[swift6]

Thanks guys... It was a fun trip too.

 

[AngliaGT]

Shawn,

I've been through Wyoming.
There's Nothing.....then more nothing.... & beyond that,...
even MORE nothing!
Unless you consider near Billings,Montana,& Yellowstone National Park.

- Doug

 

[swift6]

I know Doug, sort of what I was getting at. I-80 and I-25 don't offer much in the way of scenery. Unless you like broad vistas of not much to see. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

 

[Steve_S]

They're better than Nevada!