By the day memories .... the Tradition Continues !!
MEMORIES OF CLEVELAND, OH
MARAUDERVILLE XIV (MV14), 7-11 September 2016
“Cleveland Rocks !!”
Wednesday, 7 September 2016 (On the Road)
• Planned departure of 9:00 AM. The Bluerauder wheels actually roll at 9:15 AM. Not too bad considering my wife’s time and mine are usually off by 30 minutes minimum.
• Should be a fairly nice travel day. Skies are a bit cloudy; but no rain in sight. Might hit some storms enroute. Weather seems to be shaping up. GPS Jill says our day of travel to the Embassy Suites in Cleveland-Independence is 383 miles or about 6 hours. Should get to the hotel right around 3:00 PM according to GPS. Add lunch and gas stops and it will probably be sometime after 4:00 PM. Hammerdown/Fordfrk are a couple hours ahead of us in the DTR. They left early to avoid the Baltimore commuter rush. I am using EZ Pass and should be able to minimize the crush in Northern Virginia and the Capital Beltway. Haggis, Ladyhawke, 05crownsport, MM03MOK, Sergnt Mac, YIMMA, and DWStang67 are meeting at the North Midway Reststop in Bedford, PA on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike and will depart there around 11:00 AM. By that time, I will be about 2 hours behind that convoy and miss the audio/acoustic show in the Allegheny Mountain tunnel.
• Am taking the I-95 North to I-495 to I-270 to I-70. Pick up the Pennsylvania Turnpike I-76 at Breezewood, PA and then I-80 west.
• Total trip estimated at 383 miles one-way (6:15 hours).
• No traffic problems in Northern Virginia. EZ Pass is helping me avoid the usual trouble spots for a price, of course. Hit a brief bottleneck at the American Legion bridge on the beltway but it was only a 5-6 minute delay and we are rolling north at about 10 over.
• Stop at the South Mountain Rest Stop on I-70 for a quick break, restrooms, and a few pics. Back rolling before 11:00 AM.
• Still 300 miles and a little over 4.5 hours to go. We’ve lost only 20 minutes or so.
• Stop for lunch at McDonald’s in Breezewood, PA. No gas needed yet but I do notice that the price for 93 Premium Shell is $2.999 per gallon. Just a bit cheaper than the $4.359 per gallon enroute to MV10 in South Haven, MI.
• Uneventful trip on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. However, we did run into a heavy thunderstorm just after the mountain tunnel that lasted about 10-15 minutes. I hooked on to the back of an 18-wheeler just for visibility but kept rolling. The new Nitto Motivos all around worked like a champ. I like them. Stop in New Stanton, PA reststop to get gas. Lunch, gas, and breaks have added about 1.5 hours to the trip. We blend onto the Ohio Turnpike and I-80. Run 75-80 MPH the entire way except for the frequent 50 MPH construction zones. The “AIR SUSP” warning light comes on about 25 miles from the hotel. Can’t feel any difference but I’ll check later. We hit two more downpours before turning off onto I-77 North headed toward Cleveland.
• Arrive at the Embassy Suites at 4:30 PM and drop off Mrs. Bluerauder under the canopy and unload the luggage. Reset the air suspension (Off-On button) in the trunk and the warning light goes off. James79stang says that reset is the first corrective measure to try. Pull into the side parking lot and squeeze in with Hammerdown, Fordfrk, Mike Brown, and 05crownsport. Notice that Blackened300a and Papillon and talking with some folks near a black Ford Edge. Found out later that he opted for his Edge instead of the Marauder because of all the bad weather enroute.
• Stop to talk briefly with Sergnt Mac who was standing next to a silver Lincoln MKZ in a handicapped spot near the side of the hotel. Seems MM03MOK sold her silver MM “Phoebe” back to Mac.
• Check-in to the hotel and get a room on the 8th Floor overlooking a huge atrium. Three glass high speed elevators take us up to our level in short order. This place looks really nice and I love the atrium design where we can see all of the action below. Notice that Ken, Debbie, MM03MOK and a few others are down below and set up for MM.Net registration check-in, goodie bags, name tags and T-shirts. We opt to unpack first. Our room is really nice despite the non-working refrigerator and no suite number on the door. The things that we had ordered on-line for the room were not there. Will mention that to the desk staff.
• Go back down to the lobby and find out that we just missed MM.Net registration. It will be set up again in the morning after breakfast.
• Some of the folks like MyBlackBeasts, 2mercs, Ken, James79stang, 03mmmonroe and a few others are already headed over to Summit Motorsports Park a little over 30 miles and 45 minutes away for some drag racing. Not sure whether lji372 and RubberCtyRauder were with that group.
• Head down to the hotel bar and restaurant. The Manager’s Happy Hour just started at 5:30 PM. Free drinks until 7:30 PM. I am gonna like this place.
• Haggis, Ladyhawke, Rachel, DWStang67, 05crownsport, Pantheroc, Diane, MM03MOK, Sergnt Mac, YIMMA and Joan and a few others have already scoped out a big table. They are getting ready to head out to the Winking Lizard restaurant down the road a bit. I am done with driving today. Mrs. Bluerauder and I opt to just eat at the hotel restaurant.
• Dinner with Mike Brown and Peggy. Merc-O-Matic stops by to say Hello. Mr. Man and Ms. Denmark show up a bit later. Other Marauder owners milling around in the restaurant, lobby and out under the canopy. Planned departure in the morning from the hotel is 8:30 AM.
• After dinner, I looked up a list of the closest Ford dealers for Mr. Man. It seems that Ms. Denmark’s ride height sensor had gone on the fritz before they arrived and the car was riding harsh and sagging (I meant jacked up fully like a '70 Chevelle) in the rear. They will drop it off in the morning with the dealer and pick-up a rental car to use until their car is ready.
• Talk to WPG Merc and NavySeabee out under the canopy. Kill some time in the atrium seating area that is also equipped with two pool tables.
• See Hammerdown, Fordfrk, Blackened300a, Papillon, BigDogJim hanging out in the atrium.
• In bed by 10:30 PM. Driving all day has really tired me out. Night All !!