Official Ohio Neco CougarFest Thread; See 1st page for packing list etc.

[Madcat]

EDITED:
Okay here is some new information about CougarFest 2K4.

First off, please check out the caravan proposal and respond to that, however ONLY respond to the caravan about that, and everything else in here.

For those of you whom have never been to CF let me begin with a list of items that some of us recommend(sled who is the all holy CF VET).

-Car Cleaning Supplies both interior and exterior, such as wash, sponges, towels, rags, etc. Whatever you usually use, BRING IT and bring a bucket too, thats one thing alot of people forget, so BRING ONE. Fix A Flat might be a good idea too. You never know what will get dirty so I recommend bringing anything and everything you use on a regular basis.

-Any tools you think you might need, several of us always have our smaller tool boxes with us, but the tools are limited so if you think you might need something extra, bring it just in case.

-Clothes for rain, and swimming gear, basically at this point in your lives Im sure you know what to pack when it comes to this :)

-FRS radio, and BATTERIES!!!! Lots of batteries, FRS's are life savers when you get bored/tired, trust me they make the long drive soo much better.

-Cameras/Video Cameras, if you can borrow one do it! You wont regret being able to tape the caravan and the event itself both. Sometimes I dont know which is better, the caravan or the event.

-Preferred FRS frequencies; Caravan Frequency-hmmmmm how about 4.0, no sub-channel as of yet. I dont know if it matters what channel we choose so 4.0 sounds good as of right now.

-Bring some extra cash too, theres always people selling things, and you never know once you arrive what you'll want to do during the weekend, so having money is good. Just dont lose your wallet like I did with the majority of your cash in it... It sux trust me.

-Cell Phone numbers will be handed out on a paper when we meet up, or exchanged at the meeting points, because well, most of you have mine, and I'd rather not post it on here right now.

If anyone has anything else please feel free to add it.

-One last thing that everyone should bring, a HOTT GIRL!! :naughty: Okay sorry, I m still just the average college frat boy. :shrug:

[silverkat]

Well I guess I'll mention it again. Apparently some NJ people were planning on hitting Cedar Point on the way back thru. Talked to Mary and she asked if we'd want to go too. Wouldn't Empire and Keystone be coming thru too? I'll probably be driving since it isn't far so we'll have more Ohio representation. I guess I'll be on whatever schedule Slade is on since we live so close to each other.

[Bexcat]

I'll have to start looking at this a little closer now. I'm leaning towards leaving Thurs. late afternoon so I only have to use 1 Vac. day. Since it will only be myself, it should only be about a 6hr. drive. I'll deffinetly be open to room sharing (crashing). I have friends near Indy and I might try combine the weekend into a visit w/ them.

I'm all for people saving gas with these high prices, so that would mean trying to meet at a central location and not having people go to far out of thier way.

I'd be honored to lead.

As far as route planning I could do that but I will wait to see how many are going and from were to plan that. Tentively I would see swinging thru C-bus and then heading west. Indy is pretty much directly west of C-bus.

[Cat88Extreme]

EDITED 06/07/04
1 Queen suite reserved Thursday through Sunday
EDIT DONE

Lisa and I will be going. Not sure what day we will leave, probably Thursday, but I doubt we will be caravaning. We will be staying through Sunday and then coming back. When our schedule becomes more finalized I will update this post. I doubt very much that Lisa and I will be going to Cedar Point afterwards since we will be going for Mini-Fest III.

That is also a good idea for everyone else to do to keep the amount of posts down - if you are just updating your info please just update your original post by click on the "Edit" button. Just put in bold "Edited **/**/**" at the top of your post.

EDITED 06/07/04

[LinkMan]

Yo! 'Sup?
- Already registered! Just waiting for the hotel info to reserve a room.
(Smart, funny, attractive, single & available women, reserve your space now :))
- I'm a three time CF veteran, so feel free to put me on the PM with questions list.
- Already asked for Thursday and Friday off work, plan on leaving Thursday whenever the caravan rolls through.
- Probably leaving Sunday afternoon, but that's flexible based on what's going on at the time.
- I'm in Columbus, so if Bexcat needs a contact in C-Bus for meet points, etc. feel free to hit me up for help.
- I also registered for Auto-X and the dragstrip. First time for both!
(So I might embarrass myself mightily, but plan on having fun doing it!)

[Bexcat]

I definetly can't get days off... so if anyone is leaving on Friday (I may be able to get a half day off at best) and would be in Cleveland or willing to come to the Cleveland area - I would love to hitch a ride out!! Jeff's going either way and I don't want to hold up his trip, so if I can't grab a ride then I'll party at home I guess ;)

Becky

[JAMallott]

i havent registered yet, but will soon! i dont know who else is comming with me. my mom wants to wait until after my mod meet to decide if shes ok with letting me go down there without her, and rooming with someone from ohio neco. so if anyone is willing to let me room with them, i would greatly appreciate it! i know my mom wont have a good time at CF, so i really dont want to drag her along. but i will be caravanning down and back with all y'all. very excited!!

[B3NN3TT]

We will be able to hit the road from Columbus on Thursday afternoon, whenever the caravan rolls thru. Mark and I are both on the far west side of Columbus, pretty much EXACTLY 3 hours from Indianapolis. I'll have the room thru Saturday night, and will leave for home on Sunday afternoon.

Lisa and I will be getting our own room - sorry everybody.

I'll be registering for drag strip, but probably NOT for autocross. Hope my car is running right by then...

[Sare]

Undecided on if I am going or not, its still depending on whether or not the project for work is completed by then. Im sure it will but its cutting it close.

- If I go I might just leave late Thurs and stay untill saturday night or sunday morning.
- Anyone need a roomie?
- No drag strip or autocross running for me, I think dk will die if I do that.

Again nothings finalized untill about mid-june (when I find out how far our project is coming along since deadline is end of july.)

[fauna01]

Hi all!!! Just popping over from keystone to try to organize the caravan and see if we can't all meet up at some point. I can't quite tell if you guys have one person in charge of the caravan or not. If someone is planning, please PM me so we can try to get together at some point during the trip!! Can't wait to see you all there!!

Kelly

Edit: Tentative Schedule (http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=47&threadid=99712)

[jlcamp7]

This is my first one I will be going to. I will be caravaning. I am reigstering next week. Anyone interested in rooming together or allowing someone to crash and help pay for the room let me know. As for my personality I get along with literally anyone!

Jamie

[gyger]

Brooke and I really really wanna go (our first FEST)
but I'm not going without the Cougar.
Haven't registered yet because I want to make sure the car is done.
We plan on leaving Thursday with the rest of you guys and then come back Sunday
whenever the rest of you leave.
Deffinetly worried about the ride height of the front end driving out though.
If we do go I WILL be Drag racing but no autocross for me.
We'll be staying in a room by ourselves.
I'm anxious to see what state has the fastest Cougar.
(yes everything is a contest with me):)

[Sled]

Yes, it is definitely that time again. I will be there, will be caravaning, I'm not registered yet, and no plans have been made. I am off work the entire week for cougarfest so whatever the caravan plan is I will be there. There is still a ton of work I need to do just to be confident with driving there but as long as she still runs the coug will be there.

John- get the maps, times, dates, and tentative plan for us done and get the info to me and Jeff. We will put it together in a helpful packet format and distribute them to everyone so we all have the same info. This will be very helpful for a couple reasons:
- If anyone gets separated from the pack they know where we can all meet up.
- Other caravans will have access to our info so if they want to meet up with us they can (keystone is a badass group!)
- Anyone leaving at another time such as later Thursday night or Friday will have the same helpful info to make their trip easier.

Info packets, which will be vitally important for first timers, will include but is not limited to:

- Routes and maps
- Required travel gear
- Suggested travel gear
- Suggested extra supplies
- Other members' cell phone numbers for trip use
- Prefered and alternate FRS frequencies
- ...and maybe some bonus footage, games, jokes, topics, and suggestions for making this the best cougarfest ever. Some of us have been doing this for a while now and have pretty much made lots of mistakes so learn from us! :biggrin::beer::banghead:


(oh yeah, and Jeff, I am not volunteering you but I will prolly be aksing a few opinions on this stuff so at least indirectly you will be doing this :tongue: .

[imgeorge78]

**EDITED***
if anyone needs a roomie, let me know......i'm easy going pretty much get along with everyone...hate to spend all that money for a room for myself
------------------------------------

Second Newbie heading to cougarfest too...........New to the whole thing looks like a blast though, I took the thursday till sunday off work already so I can head out with a caravan too..Might do the dragstrip just to see what the coog can do....Im in Independence so i f ne one close to me can pm me with the plans for caravan that would be great

[Pyro81]

I'm alreay registered and i'll be hitting the strip but no autocrossing. I wanna see how much i suck at dragracing...lol. I will also be needing a roomie. So if anybody doesn't mind a bit of snoring (apparently, i can get pretty loud...i'm sometimes quiet though) i'll share a room with ya.

[Sled]

John- My computer access is back thanks to the temporary stay at my parents for most of June. Brother and I got the cable internet rollin now so send me anything you have for cougarfest. Dont leave me till the last week cuz you know I work a ton. I'm on vacation next week so I'll be available in the evenings after dark (still building that house).

[racerx]

I'm in, probably leaving on Wed evening after work though. It doesnt matter much when I leave though since I am the slowest traveler of the crew (tow rig and all). Hope to see everyone there...

[BobKaBob]

Hi everyone!

Im from the Mass/Conn neco chapter and we might have a possible layover in OH being planned. Would you guys be willing to meet up with us and we could form one big group before we reach CF? We may be leaving OH mid-morning on thursday the 22nd...

our plans are still tentative but there is a good chance for a stop in your state. I'll keep a look out in this thread.

Bob KaBob

[Sled]

BobKaBob-I believe we may be meeting up with Keystone at some point (maybe Columbus area?) and that would make a HUUUUUUUUUUGE group if you join in! Actually, it would be pretty insane. Depending on your group I can see 20-30 cars easy. We are leaving Thursday so this will probably work well. Stay tuned for details.

[jennaskitty]

I need to find a roomy. My friend Amy and I are planning on attending, but we need to find a way to cut the cots down. Anyone have an extra bed and want to split some costs?

[Sled]

I would offer but I dont think Diane would appreciate me offering that :cover: I bet you could stay with John (Madcat), but only if you want to get no sleep all weekend and want to constantly be tripping over cans of natural light, bush, and milwaukees best. Oh yeah, and you would prolly get hit on constantly by his friends...they are no kind of shy.


(I swear you are such an easy target John...maybe thats why I like you. Easy is good sometimes.:tongue:

[jennaskitty]

LOL! I'll ask Diane if there is room. I don't mind tripping on beer cans and getting no sleep is normal for me! Amy is a bit of a party animal so i don't think she'd mind! LOL Just let me know if anyone has room for 2 more!

[silverkat]

I dont think Diane would appreciate me offering that
It's not that, but it's kind of a vacation for us so we're wanting alone time - even though we may not be able to stand eachother by Sunday. But if you get in a pinch or you've had enough of beer cans, it's cool. Plus sometimes, I can be a crotchety b!tch when I wake up :tongue: But I'm working on that.

[jennaskitty]

LOL!:wiggle: Diane, i think we are all aware that all woman are b!tches in the AM! :crazy::rofl:
But that's fine. As long as I can find someone to bunk with Amy and i will be fine. I just don't feel like sleeping in the car! LOL!Mad Cat do you have room? Anyone else?

[Madcat]

Hey everyone. Im finally back from China, but that isnt relative to CF so I wont post my information about that here.

I will be able to leave mid afternoon(2:30) on Thursday, meaning Cbus about 3:15-3:30. Hope that helps everyone else in planning too. I will begin to talk with the other caravans that posted interest with meeting up in Cbus with us this coming week and then post some more information later.

Im starting to work on the car today and should have alot new stuff done soon, so hope to talk with everyone soon about this trip and my trip to China. Late.

EDIT: Jennaskitty, My bust I didnt let ya know if you could crash or not. If you dont mind sleeping with(in a room that is, most likely you and Amy could share a bed, bcuz my friends and I arent really all that bad) in a room with like 3-5 guys, I know a few of my bros are coming and then I offered to 2 NECO guys that didnt have roomies to stay too, you are MORE then welcome to! We are trying to get adjoining rooms with Hoove from on here because her and I are pretty cool friends and we both like to party. Basically like Slade stated, it will be a party room, but we are actually pretty respectful overall. And can actually be quite grown up anymore, after all our past experiences the last 2 years of college.

And yes, Slade and Diane, believe it or not I did grow up a little bit this year! lol. Actually alot, BUT at CF Im not holding back at all!!
And whats up with ripping on me while Im not even in the same frigging country!! :cry:

[LinkMan]

As long as I can find someone to bunk with Amy and I

Hmmm... define "bunk with" :naughty:









(Sorry, couldn't resist that one... ;) )

[jennaskitty]

BAD MARK! LOL :goofy:

Regardless of where we stay i won't let madcat have a party without me and Amy! It just woudn't be right! hehehe :tongue:

[silverkat]

And can actually be quite grown up anymore
Huh?


And yes, Slade and Diane, believe it or not I did grow up a little bit this year! lol
And how did you know we'd be thinking that?

[Madcat]

LOL, Diane, :mad: Hehe, I miss you and Slade. We need to get together sometime soon and hangout like last summer! Except now I can actually buy my own beer!! Muwahahahah.

Anyways, yeah Jen you can stay with us if youd like to?!? Itll be fun, I promise ;) Plus we make everything fun.

Okay, lets start to make some serious moves to planning all that is going into the caravans and the actual event guys/gals... I know its still a month away, but thats not that far. I ll start working on ideas and meeting times for Cbus and closer to the IN boarder for those of you coming from like the West side of OH etc, but Im not all that familiar with the drive and roads over there so we ll have to see how that goes.

Please keep updating the information so that we can keep track on plans and peoples ideas to make this the best CF yet!! O wait Im 21 it will be reguardless for me, especially if it ends up like last yrs, minus the loss of my wallet and 180bux!

[jennaskitty]

I think a good place to meet in C-Bus is in the Marcus Cinema @ crosswoods. They should have ample parking in the side parking lot for all of us to meet and there are plenty of gas stations around just in case anyone needs to fill up. It's also right at the 270 intersection, so all we will need to do is catch that and it will take us right to 70. What are your thoughts on this?

[Madcat]

Doesnt sound too bad here. I dont really wanna get into the actual city and Id like to stay either before/after/or right at that intersection, so this sounds like a good place. Any chance you can get me an addy?

And ya gonna room with us or what ;) :naughty: JK

[jennaskitty]

marcus cinema addy is: 200 Hutchinson Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43235


:banana:

[LinkMan]

Marcus: Look for the I-270 / US-23 interchange on the map. That's good for those coming down I-71.

My only concern is if we plan on meeting any out of staters in Ohio, that's out of the way for them, so we might end up stopping twice. I-70 & Hilliard-Rome Rd on the West side works for those coming from the East on 70. I guess it depends on the other caravans as well.

[JAMallott]

sweet! 15-20 min from my house!

edit: just so you all know, i wont be caravanning back with the group. im staying 2 extra days to do a college visit to valpo while im out that way. yeah. its that time to do those visits. 4 down, 4 to go. they are SO BORING!!!!!

[DaBlackCougar]

hey

I'll be heading out there i believe. hopefully have cougar painted buy then. I Believe it will be me and my friend with his 5th gen prelude will be out there. my car's pretty much stock and will be from now on and looking purchuse another cougar in coming months. but hopefully i'll see you guys there and finally get to meet you all.

[gyger]

jennaskitty how are the roads out there?
my front is sitting super low


Also are there any other plans as of yet to meet up with other people?
when are you all leaving? I'd like to drive out with some other people it'll
be safer that way.

[Madcat]

Okay, I heard through the grapevine(unofficially) that Bexcat might not be able to lead(or go) for our caravan to Cougarfest, and I m going to try to set some tentative ideas up in this post for the caravan.

Im hoping most everyone can take Thursday off, or else take a halfday atleast. I know that Mass/Conn and Keystone would both like to meet up with us in Columbus and then caravan together the rest of the way, about 3hrs.

The way Im looking at it, to make it easier on those Northerners taking a halfday, if we could plan to meet in Columbus anywhere from 2:30 to 3:00 pm and then take off towards Indy about 3:15pm from our meeting point.

I figure this gives the other chapters plenty of daytime to get to Columbus and gives all of use enough time to work the AM then head out at noon and 2.5 hrs is about the furtherest drive to Columbus I calculated knowing where most of you live.

SO what I am suggesting is that; we meet in Columbus at 2:30-3:00pm Thursday and leave about 3:15, this gives us time to get situated etc, and we arrive in Indy about 5:30pm Indy time, or 6:30pm OH time.

I also would say if we schedule 1 stop on the way, to meet up with the people from like Toledo etc. it would be right around whatever the highway interchange from the North and I70 West is, like the first exit following that(which I will look up next week) and schedule that time accordingly. I believe it was about 45mins away from Columbus, but I might be wrong, this would be the last scheduled stop and we could easily make it to Indy on gas, and food from there.

If anyone has any objections please PM me or post them so we can work around it. I will contact the other people planning caravans and tell them there is some new info posted.

[LinkMan]

John, I'd suggest the first exit on I-70 that is West of the 70 / 75 interchange, though we should check what that exit has available. I'm guessing it would be something like exit 36 (one exit east of the 70/75 interchange) or exit 29 (one exit to the west of 70/75) You can check out the exits here http://www.ohhighways.com/exits/I70exits.html. A little more digging than I can do at work should yield the services available at those exits.

And that will definitely be an hour from the suggested meet point at Marcus, probably closer to 1:15.

HTH

*edit - Yes, 'sposed to be 70 / 75, oops - tide*

[Madcat]

Mark, how bout exit 29. It has gas/food/lodging. It's the Englewood Exit.

I dont actually know how to figure out what food is there, but Im sure if we just make it like a McDonalds or BK it ll have one. Then just go to both places and get everyone, or just post a generalized FRS frequency and tell everyone to get on there.

Also did you get a new AIM name? If so hit me up please, madram02.

EDIT:Mark you mean the I70/75 interchange not I71/75 right?????

[JAMallott]

Originally posted by: gyger
jennaskitty how are the roads out there?
my front is sitting super low


they arent the best. and i know the parking lot for the movietheatre has some HUGE potholes in it. but if you keep your eyes out you should be ok. IIRC, the driveways arent too steep or anything, so i think you should be fine if you take things slowly.

[LinkMan]

Ok, time to bring this one back.

So... what should I bring!? FRS. Tools? Cleaning supplies (usually I just bring Quik Detailer and towels, what else?) Maps of the area? Booze? What's on your list?

I wonder if this ancient laptop will still boot up, hotel has high speed Internet :)

[Madcat]

Please read first post :) I typed up a recommended list there.