If you are in the the US mid-west this May come out and party with us!

A few bloggers are hitting the road on America's oldest highway, Route 66.

Come out and meet us and other travelers like yourself. (Coloured events are officially a "go".)

Sat., May 9: Phoenix, Arizona 8 p.m.
La Grande Orange Grocery, 4410 N 40th St.
http://www.lagrandeorangegrocery.com/index.html

RSVP list:
Judy http://www.travelpod.com/members/semi-backpacker
Chris http://www.travelpod.com/members/chrismarshman
Linda http://www.travelpod.com/members/lblack12
JJ and Kate http://www.travelpod.com/members/travelshrew
Tom and guest http://www.travelpod.com/krepitch
Avsent http://www.travelpod.com/members/avsent

Wed., May 13: Wichita, Kansas 8 p.m.
River City Brewing Company, 150 N Mosley St
http://www.rivercitybrewingco.com/

RSVP list:
Heather http://www.travelpod.com/members/2olives
Andy http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/andyjmullen/

Thu., May 14: Des Moines, Iowa 8 p.m.
Fong's Pizza, 223 4th St
http://www.fongspizza.com

RSVP list:
Jill http://www.travelpod.com/members/iowatraveler
Billie http://www.travelpod.com/members/billiegreenwood

Fri., May 15: Chicago, Illinois 8 p.m.
Kuma's Corner, 2900 W Belmont
http://www.kumas-corner.com/

RSVP list:
Anne and Emily http://www.travelpod.com/members/annatee
Tim http://www.travelpod.com/members/tahazen
Bill and Jacqui http://www.travelpod.com/members/big_red_truck
Lauren http://www.travelpod.com/members/lauren.warnecke
Melanie and Ismael http://www.travelpod.com/members/ruizespieces
Nicole http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/nicole10
Carol and Bryan http://www.travelpod.com/members/fletcherclaytor
Suzanne http://www.travelpod.com/members/nomadicant
Neil http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=6KY0R7K


Sat., May 16: Detroit, Michigan 8 p.m.
Mexican Town, 3457 Bagley St
http://www.mexicantownrestaurant.com/

RSVP list:
Bill and Jacqui http://www.travelpod.com/members/big_red_truck
Arvid and Irina http://www.travelpod.com/members/yoni
Cliff http://www.whereiscliff.com
Brandon http://www.travelpod.com/members/island_boy


Sun., May 17: Toronto, Ontario 8 p.m.
Rodney's Oyster House, 469 King St. West
http://www.rodneysoysterhouse.com/

RSVP list:
Ray and Marian http://www.travelpod.com/members/marian55
Reb Stevenson (of Canwest news)
Bill and Jacqui http://www.travelpod.com/members/big_red_truck
Jeff http://www.travelpod.com/members/jcarter
Anahid http://www.travelpod.com/members/anahid
Ramon http://www.travelpod.com/members/soloflyer
John http://www.travelpod.com/members/moviejcd
Alan (travel writer, formerly of Sun Media)
Peter http://www.travelpod.com/members/pklose
Jason http://spiritsentient.com
Jason +guest http://www.travelpod.com/members/themazeltons

You must let me know if you plan on attending!

louiseb@travelpod.com


P.S. If you can offer four really awesome traveler people some couch/floor/lawn space that would be greatly appreciated...

Aw man! This sounds like so much fun!!

I would totally be there if it weren't for my other trips...

What prompted this trip? I can't wait to see your blog entries from old Route 66!

My friend owns a website www.hittheroad.ca and you can drive fancy cars for rich people. They pay your gas if you deliver it to them without any damage.

We definitely would be interested in this. My wife and I were thinking about driving to at least Chicago in May. Are ya'll flying to Phoenix to pick up the car(s?) or driving all the way out there?

Yep, we're flying out there and then driving back.

Chicago and Detroit would be great.

Do you like those venue ideas?

Your trip sounds great Louise, I'm looking forward to reading about it.

We were planning to go to Chicago anyways to visit Jacqui's grandmother. So if ya'll don't mind, maybe we'd drive back (our own car) with ya'll through Toronto.

And I worked near Detroit in Ann Arbor for about 6 months...but I never got to really explore Detroit, so that'd be interesting.

But this is all dependent on Jacqui finishing her project for work before then. She said she can't run away anywhere until she finishes it. She should be able to though...

OK, keep me posted. I'll leave the Chicago/Detroit/Toronto dates flexible until I know someone wants to meet me there!

Of course you are more than welcome to start a convoy with us, that will be awesome.

[size=5][size=7][font=Garamond]Having lived on Watson Road in St. Louis, I am wondering what Des Moines has to do with Route 66? About three hundred miles too far north, I am thinking. (Watson Road was Route 66 through St. Louis before the interstates took over...)

You're right, nothing...we're not going the whole way. I wanted to see Iowa, that's all.

Can you come to any of the meetups?

Can't come - tied to St. Louis for awhile. Be sure to stop at the Amana Colonies, about 90 miles east of Des Moines on Interstate 80. A unique opportunity. Don't pass up eating at one of the resturants that serve "family style" and feature locally produced foods.

Regards,


Stephen

I'll definitely let you know as soon as I do. And don't wait to lock in the dates for us. If we weren't able to make those dates, then there's no way we'd be able to make it close to them either.

Why are you starting in Phoenix, you should have started in Flagstaff or Kingman which are on Rt 66. Also, there are great restaurants in both Albuquerque and Amarillo right on old 66.

Rodeostore, The original purpose of her trip is to deliver a car from Phoenix to Toronto in 7 days...so she kinda has a set starting point.

We certainly are driving through Flagstaff, Albuquerque AND Amarillo:

Here's our route: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source...ie=UTF8&z=5

You're welcome to come hang out with us if you find yourself anywhere along that route at any point in time.

Bill: I definitely won't "lock in" the dates unless you tell me to!

Too bad you are not coming through Dubuque on your way to Chicago - you could stop by the Field of Dreams. Ok so the corn is not growing yet but he field is still there. As of right now I am not sure I can make the trip to Des Monies - I will let you know if that changes!
Jill

Awesome Jill!
I'll put you on the RSVP list, looking forward to meeting you!

Wow...I just realized what a presumptuous @$$ I sounded like...sorry about that.

Go ahead and put us on the RSVP list though for Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto...

Haha, I didn't think you were being presumptuous hahaha. I thought it was cute. I will put you guys on the RSVP list for sure!

That's great news!

So how many other people are traveling/RSVPing with you? Are you gonna have a good crowd there?

Well, so far there is three in the car, maybe Keith (findingnine) will come (depending on his work)

If you scroll back up, you can see who has RSVP'd at the various meetups. I change it as people are responding.

Awww, now we're on the second page...that means a whole other button to press to see the RSVP list...(said sarcastically)

Is anyone else planning on joining the caravan?

Awww *teary teary cry*

There is no one that I am aware of joining the caravan!

Newsflash: I had to cancel the Albuquerque, Amarillo and Oklahoma City meetups. No one had RSVP'd yet anyway, so we changed our route.... It's no longer on Route 66!

We're going through Denver and Utah now... All the other meetups will proceed as normal!

Woot, Dave, that would be awesome! My people said they want to all stay in the same car...but if you are coming, we could probably share driving responsibilities too.

By the way, is the caravan staying in Phoenix for the night and driving out in the morning?

Next time you hit the Midwest, you have to go to Madison, WI. Maybe you've been. I hope so. Even if, go again. And again. What the heck, one more time for good measure. My hometown to which I am preteniously partial, and I hold it high above other towns and laugh! mwuahahahhaha! On the real though, it's won "best city to live in" by Money Magazine before, and is always cool no matter how many times you've been. After half my life in the South, I still keep looking for reasons to go back....and do every time I can think of one.

We are staying the night in Phoenix after the meetup yep!
Oh my goodness, I have to send out reminders! Ahhh, anybody want to help remind the people on the list by sending them a quick email?

OK, I reminded everyone who has RSVP'd to come to the meetups!

If you want to follow along, you can do that here.

I am so sorry for the short notice but I will not be able to come to Des Moines on Thursday. Things are very stressful at work and I am traveling for work early Friday morning. I would love to come but the 3 hours one way to Des Moines is a little farther when I need to leave at 6:00 the next morning. I hope you guys are having fun. Sorry again.

Jill

I just wanted to say that it was nice to meet the Phoenix crew and our guests from up north.

It was nice meeting you too! Did you see the picture?

aww awesome !!! wish there were lil tags indicating ppls TP usernames hehehe

That's a great idea, Gerre...too bad we don't have a tagging feature in TP...

Personally I am disappointed you guys have left a slice of pizza...

now that you mention it Sian i have to agree

and Judy yes a taggin feature would be great

I think that slice was gone before we left. I heard the pizza was very good. My ceviche was also very very tasty.

Heeeeeeee! Love the picture, Judy!

I'm back, but the blog's not finished

I had an awwwwwwesome time, thank you to everyone who came to the meetups!

I'll have pictures up soon.

I do feel bad that I couldn't make it...but just FYI, I was very, very productive here at home!

Yeah, a convoy would've been fun I think. Oh well. We'll have to get together another time.

Glad you made it back safely :-)
We enjoyed meeting you too! Look forward to reading the blog...

*mmmmmmmwah* thank ya kindly *curtsey*

Oh my gosh that's funny. Poor Jesus.

Jesus and Tina? I assume they were from the midwest part of the meetup? :-)

Trina is the traveling mascot, I gave her to Heather to take traveling somewhere:

http://www.travelpod.com/members/travelingtrina

and Jesus is a long story.

It was great meeting you guys too! I was SO wiped out after that. Thank you to Carrie and Thomas for hosting us at the last minute!

I posted pictures!

http://blog.travelpod.com/2009/05/27/usa-r...p-meetup-recap/