Cali Meet: Hot Import Nights - 7-13 - Big Plans!

Okay, here's the big daddy meet that I want. Let's see if we can pull it off.

Hot Import Nights, July 13th at the LA Convention Center, 5pm to midnight.

I want to do more than just meet and go to the show. I want to try and entice some people from NorCal, and maybe Vegas or some of the other areas, to join as well.

Here's the idea...

Meet in the morning at Buttonwillow Raceway. We're not there for the track (though I'll give them a call to see if we can do a short club meet in the parking lot... no track driving... that's a lot of $$$). Yeah, it's a couple hours north of LA. Not a typical meet spot. But I figure it's better for the NorCal people here to meet, and it allows us to make our way to this....

http://www.ipdream.net/kaneto/wheeler.jpg

That is State Hwy 33, also known as Wheeler Canyon. A good 70 miles of what's been described as paradise when it comes to scenic, twisty tarmac.

After a bit of driving bliss, we roll south a little and find a good place for lunch/dinner. Hopefully some of the LA people can help with scouting a good place to stop here. There we hang and chat before rolling to the show.

Now I know this is a considerable distance for people to drive. Especially NorCal people. I love driving. I love cars. I dig hanging out with people who feel the same. That's enough for me. However, I do understand that this kind of thing can be expensive for some. So, here's what I'm offering...

I will pay for gas, up to $300, for people who come to the meet and show. (disclaimer... people who drive longer distances to meet get first dibs... and one tank per person max... come on, we drive Hondas here... a tank should go pretty far :p ). I will also pay for one or two (depending on how many people we get) hotel rooms, for after-show parties and for people who have a long drive back and don't want to do it in the middle of the night (no 5-star accomodations... sorry :flipa: ). I'll also probably provide "refreshments"for the after-party. :D

Seriously... I want this to happen, and I want it to be big. Let's do it. I know we can. :sun:

EDIT: btw, this isn't restricted to just Hondas. I know most of us used to be part of the old PH crew (and this is posted in the honda/acura forum)... but we're part of AF now. Gotta broaden our horizens and welcome all who love cars. Same offer applies to everyone, as long as they're a part of AF (or with someone from AF). Only rule... no starting arguments about this car being better than that car, etc.

thats a pretty good plan, but it will be hard to get people to drive all the way down from nor cal. altho i'd love to drive that hwy 33

Originally posted by Kaneto
I love driving. I love cars. I dig hanging out with people who feel the same. That's enough for me.

:D That's my mentality.

I'm down for driving down there, we could even get together with people around our area and carpool if everyone doesn't want to drive down. I was planning on making it down there for HIN as it was, so this would be sweet, especially if we could get all of the PH/AF Cali peeps together. :D
Some guys in my crew were thinking about going as well, so if anyone around the Sac Valley wants to carpool, I'm sure we'll have some open seats. :)

Damnit Shaun, I'm just gonna have to sticky this mofo! :D

D00d, on the real though, this sounds like a VERY do'able and excellent plan. If this doesn't attract people, I dunno what would. Wheeler Canyon is just past Ojai if I remember correct, right? I dunno if I'd make it up to Buttonwillow with gas and all, but I would want to do Wheeler Canyon for sure. :) I mean Turnbull is sweet, but 70 miles of that??? :eek: I'm already wetting myself thinking about it. :o

PEOPLE, let's do this and make it happen. And I don't want to hear any bitching about "oh, that's to far for me..." Save it, because Kaneto lives 4 friggen hours from Buttonwillow. He would EASLY be driving about 300 miles just for the 1st leg of the meet. And keep in mind all that he is offering to get you all to come to it, sounds very fair to me. :cool: No. Cali people, talk to eachother and maybe work out a carpool plan to save cars and lighten gas $$$ expenses. We have 2 months till this gig, let's do it! :D

Actually I picked Buttonwillow for a few reasons...

1. It's fairly central. 4 hours from where I am. 4.5 hour south of San Francisco. Around 2 hours from most of the LA area.

2. It's an appropriate meet spot. Even if we don't actually race there, can you think of any better place for us to meet than at a race track? (This isn't some oval track either... this is a real racing track).

3. Access to Hwy 33. It's 12 miles East of Hwy 33, via Hwy 58. From there you just roll south right into Wheeler Canyon. We'll be exiting the canyon near Ojai, where we just continue south toward LA and HIN.

For me, it just seems to be the most logical meet spot for pretty much everyone in Cali.

Sounds like one hell of a meet. Start a sign up so you know how many people are gonna roll out to it. I seriously don't know if I could make it out that day, or if I really want to. The thing is I still don't have a car, and I don't know how significant I'd be for me to show...

Although, July... hmmm... I actually might have my car then. I'll keep this in mind, and see if I can get Team Legacy out there, (SilverY2KCivic excluded)...sorry Matt, I just noticed you still have "Team Legacy" in your sig. No offence.

Anyway, when do you plan on starting up preperations Shaun?

This is pretty much just a preliminary... to get the idea into people's heads.

Depending on how work goes, and if I can get my alignment done by then, I'll probably take a trip up there on the June 1st weekend. I'll cruise the route and take notes and pictures. Following that I'll start a rollcall list.

2 months should be a decent amount of prep time. Also remember this isn't a contest or anything. You don't need a show car. Hell, last meet I went to (and next one in a couple weeks), my car looked like crap. White CRX, black fender, red door, bad tinting, hood doesn't like up right. I still had fun. We're not all Silverbolt, after all. :D

This meet is all about meeting some new people, chatting about the cars we love, taking a run down some scenic curves, hitting the show, partying, etc. It's about having some fun.

If you don't have a car, hitch a ride with someone who's coming. If you drive a piece of shit, bring it anyway. Anyone who can come is significant. It doesn't matter what you drive or don't drive.


On another note... if anyone in the LA area wants to help out, I could use some info on routes, good places to stop and get a bite to eat or to hang out, etc. Just let me know if you'd like to help (post, IM, or email me).:cool:

Well then, if it all goes well I'll have my 91-94 240SX Fastback. If not, there are always other options.

I'll keep in touch about it.

yea, and the location of any close and cheap accomodations like the roach motel 6 would be nice too.

Damn... sounds like a slumber party at my place!

Damn Cali Meet sounds tight! Any chance any of you wanna organize or FL meet? :hehe: Have fun at the meet though! :D

if it's not till july i think i can scamper up some money for gas and whatnot... if i can swing it i'll take the s2k.... so if someone around sd wants to just roll up with me... say like split the gas or sumthin.. assuming i will make it.. then by all means... but again we'll have to see how the timing goes...
i'm not a huge fan of the drive up.. but if i had some company or perhaps someone to follow... well you get the idea...

Well no matter what I'm going. My friend and his girl are also going to be going up. Your S2K might stand out a bit next to my CRX and his pos Accord, though. :cool:

Long live POS Accords!

dude nevermind that it's an s2k it's yellow it tends to stand out a lot of the time...
and if it makes ya feel better i could take my si ... but i would prefer the s2k... just seems like more fun on windy roads...:)

Originally posted by THE4TH
dude nevermind that it's an s2k it's yellow it tends to stand out a lot of the time...
and if it makes ya feel better i could take my si ... but i would prefer the s2k... just seems like more fun on windy roads...:)

Yeah, definitely bring the s2k. After all, I need to have some sort of challenge through Wheeler Canyon. :cool:

i don't know how hard i'll be pushin it, but we'll see... i'll bring the s2k tho ... as long as i'm there of course....

I can't imagine the corners being that bad. It is a highway isn't it? So I'd imagine it's intended for speeds of at least 60MPH.

Have any of you guys driven it?

Well, it's not a interstate-like freeway. It's more of a local highway route, and they can get pretty twisty. I haven't driven it yet, but I will in a couple weeks when I'm done with my suspension work.

where is Hwy 33 anyways? Ever driven Angeles Crest Kaneto? If you havent...i have some buddies who would love to bring you for a ride through there...they drive crx's and civic's too and take it at 70mph as a morning cruise. If you are up to it this upcoming weekend...since im gonna be down in LA ...i can intoduce you to them...well...i wouldnt be attending though...hehe...still trying to get used to my integra :D

I'd be down to mob down there and I am from Napa (50 mi north of SF) but I would need to get some people to roll with me, (me being only 17 and parents may be an issue)

I'm going to start a roll call thread on Sunday, after I have the final route details worked out. You should then be able to see who's coming from where, and find some people to roll down with.

Going to post this both here and at PH.

Okay, drove almost the entire route today. Just got back... it was a very long day. I'll include final meet plans/schedule, and driving impressions (short and long version).

Meet Info
Okay, we're going to meet at Frazier Park. The Frazier Park exit is a few miles south of Grapevine, and a few miles north of Pyramid lake. We will be gathering in the parkinglot for the Flying J gas station. I picked out a spot that should, hopefully, have a decent number of parking spots for us.

Planned meet time at this location will be 11 : 00am-1 : 00pm. This will give a couple hours for latecomers and what-not, and will allow us to hopefully grab a bite to eat (selection is not great there, though). It took me approx 3.5 hours to get there from SD (not including an hour stop in Irvine for lunch). This was with a considerable amount of LA traffic. I figure it would take 3-4 hours from San Diego, 1-2 hours from points around LA and Orange Counties, 4-5 hours from the Bay Area. Obviously there's going to be very little traffic coming down the 5 from NorCal.

At around 1 : 00pm, we will roll out toward Wheeler Canyon. I covered the entire route in just under 2 hours, but I would up pushing myself more than I thought I would. I think this stretch would take us max 3 hours. Read my impressions below for more info.

We should arrive in the Ventura area between 3 : 00 and 4 : 00pm. I was not able to find a decent spot to stop between there and the Convention Center. From Ventura it's roughly 1.5-2 hours (depending on traffic, or course) to the LA Convention Center. Basically we just need to decide if we'll want to stop at another spot to chat and maybe get some dinner, or just roll straight to the show.

From Whenever we get there to Whenever we decide to leave, Hot Import Nights.

From Whenever we leave HIN to the next day, I'm getting a hotel room or two, and people are welcome to party and crash there after the show. I'm scoping out a few hotels in the area, I'll have more info when I get a feel of how many people are coming.


Driving Impressions
Short Version

Oh.... my.... fucking... god!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Long version
I have never had so much fun behind the wheel of a car in my life.

As you come off the freeway, the road into Frazier Park is long, fairly straight, and mostly uneventful. A couple small towns border the road. Once you get into the park area, everything changes though. I had the misfortune of being behind a couple slow SUVs. There are a few curves that you go through which I would consider to be "warm-up" curves. I made a risky pass around one SUV on the inside of one of these curves. A van in front of us pulled off halfway, and the final SUV in front of me moved over for me to pass at the end of the warm-up. Basically, I dived straight into the action, which started with a set of tight switchbacks. From there, it's mostly a blur.

This route just has the most incredible variety of driving challenges. Off-camber curves, short and medium straights, curves that tighten deceptively midway through, long sweepers, crests that hide challanging corners, even narrow tunnels.

The first and second parts of the course takes you along the ridgeline of a canyon and through a set of mild hills and valleys. There are some points where the drop-off into the canyon is mere inches from the roadway.

The third part, when you get onto Hwy 33 consists of a couple long straights. We'll probably stop somewhere along this part to regroup, chat, take some pics.

The fourth part basically winds through Wheeler Canyon. The road and the scenery is absolutely incredible. Words just can't describe them.

I did take a few pics, but I can't find the adapter for my digi cam. I'll post them up as soon as I can. I didn't take nearly as many as I had planned, however. I was simply having too much fun driving.

Honestly, if you consider yourself a car and driving enthusiast, I can't see how you can afford not make this trip. Between the chance to meet and talk with people who share the same passion, and the chance to drive some of the most incredible roadway you will ever see, there should be very little that can keep you from coming. I know that nothing short of an act of God or family tragedy will keep me from going.

You don't have to push yourself if you don't want to. In fact, unless you're supremely confident in your driving ability and the condition of your suspension, I would recommend that you don't push yourself. The route can be very tricky in places. If you just want to make a leisurely drive of it, then I would say definitely go for it.

I am going to be leading the pack through the route. My friend, who came up with me this weekend, will be at the tail-end. We're both going to have Motorola 2-way radios so we'll be communicating the whole way through. I know he's not really going to push his car... its stock suspension is not really capable of handling too much. My car, on the other hand, has a suspension that's worth more than the car itself. Those who want to really make a run of it, will be able to. Those who just want to cruise, they can do that too. We'll be regrouping at a couple spots along the route, so nobody will get left behind.

Basically, we're all there for the fun of it. No matter who you are, what you drive, or how you want to drive it... if you come, I guarantee you will have a lot of fun.

Okay, some pics...

The initial meet spot.
http://ipdream.net/kaneto/PH02-pre1.jpg

Shot of the canyon from the side of the road. That little grass patch in the foreground is about a foot and a half wide, and it's all that seperates the road from the canyon edge.
http://ipdream.net/kaneto/PH02-pre2.jpg

A curve
http://ipdream.net/kaneto/PH02-pre3.jpg

My rex and my friend Jason, on a turnout after one of the curves.
http://ipdream.net/kaneto/PH02-pre4.jpg

While we were at the turnout, a couple bikes passed us. A few minutes later I pulled back onto the road, and it wasn't long before I had caught up to one of the bikes. They both pulled off onto a turnout and I passed them, and never saw them again. :D

I signed up on ph as well. But I am up for the trip.

I didnt catch if this was covered at all. But what about hotels, rooms, etc. Are there places to get a group rate, or are we on our own?

This event has been added to the Calendar (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/calendar.php?s=&action=getinfo&eventid=17). :coolguy:

Kaneto:

Love reading your descriptions of the canyon. The freeways down in SD are cool to drive (810?), and that bridge that goes out to that island/miliary base. Crazy. We've been known to drive down there just to cross that bridge, turn around, and drive home.

The stretches of HWY1 from HB to south of Laguna are nice too, best at night when the traffic is lighter. But this Wheeler canyon sounds crazy, 3 hours of pure driving bliss...

Are you bringing your CRX?

Of course I'm bringing my CRX. She goes in for a paint job next week, so hopefully she'll be looking nice and pretty for the meet.

hey what time is the hin show runnin ?
how late will it run.. ??
anyone....?

HIN goes from 5pm to midnight

hey guyz...
more bad news i think i have to bail from the trip... sorry guyz..
i now have 3 friends from out of town here that i have to lug around and one of them has some interview or some crap i have to go to...
but the other 2 hate cars anyway so i guess it's better that way...
anyway i'll miss you guyz whie your away at the show and not posting w/ me.. but someone bring back some pics.. and post of course..