DUW: cleveland meet 8/9/2008

[a_d_a_m]

pack yourself a lunch, grab an extra drink, clear your appointments and get comfortable. this is gonna be one LONG post.

i started planning this meet back in june, i think. i wish i would have started earlier, because i felt completely rushed during a lot of it, and i think we could have made it bigger/better/funnerest with some more planning. tony (trash), thanks for your help. couldn't have done it without you.

aside from the rain, i'd say this was a pretty successful meet. a few people didn't show up and kinda left us with a bunch of extra food but that's okay. we did alright otherwise. if nothing else, it was a cleveland-area meet which is something that rarely happens around here.

yesterday morning, i met up with tony and his wife to do the picnic shopping. we went to wal-mart and i snapped this picture of his 300A along the way:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1273.jpg

kurt (PantherP74) and justin (93MGMGS) showed up at my house around 1:30 and justin said he needed a car wash, so we headed downtown to the DIY wash. along the way, we get stopped at a light, and on the other side is a white P71 beeping and waving at us. i figured it had to be one of our guys, so i got him lined up in our convoy and found out a few minutes later that it was brett (RAW) with his friends junior and scott. after the car wash, we all ended up at the park.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1275.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1276.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1277.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1278.jpg

at this point, 4 cars seemed decent and if nothing else, at least we had enough to look "official". but then tony and karen showed up in the black 'rauder all the way in the end of this picture and made it a 5some:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1279.jpg

[a_d_a_m]

Stevooo was next with his P74 sport:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1280.jpg

followed by my dad's '03 mustang GT, one of the 'rauders who i think was jerry (pantheroc....am i getting the names completely wrong so far or not?) , and award-winning will (Crabby125):
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1281.jpg

Crabby was followed in by another marauder, and unfortunately i kept getting them confused. that's jerry (i think...black shirt, come on, help me out) talking to tony (red shirt). i think the marauder on the right is Darkside...whose real name escapes me:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1282.jpg

dad's car:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1283.jpg

my mom showed up later in the night, and thought this was my car. she either needs to pay more attention or i need to visit her more often:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1284.jpg

L-R: rick (Reaper383), will (Crabby), mark (dad), stevooooooooo000000000o0o0o:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1286.jpg

[a_d_a_m]

real hilarious, kurt:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1287.jpg

rick's '04 P71 (former broadview heights PD sergeant's car) at the head of the class:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1288.jpg

rick, me, kurt, justin, brett, tony, etc. etc. etc.:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1289.jpg

somehow i've failed to document that we had a real rarity show up, a BLUE marauder. there was something like, what, 318 of them made? barb, who i'd never heard of but apparently is a lurker on mm.net and/or CVN was tuned in and decided to show up. she was only 5 miles away, so the commute couldn't have been that bad. there's a picture of her car forthcoming. also, the license plate on her MM is +10 from the license plate on my '92 firebird, so i was very close to seeing this rarity at the license bureau!

also, at this point i should warn everyone that kurt was taking a million pictures and there's about 100 bad ones of me. i'm sure he also documented our visitor from painesville police department. kurt, whaddya say?

we cruised to annabelle's around 5pm, and i'm really hoping there are some other convoy pictures amongst the participants! i was at the tail end of the line, so there were no witnesses to my mother*****in' powerslide coming out of the park. i'd kill to have video/pictures of it. the only convoy pictures i got were this one, which doesn't even reflect how many we had:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1290.jpg

and this picture of stevo's car, which is what i followed:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1291.jpg

we arrived at annabelle's without incident, unless you count spinning tires and revving engines as incidents. in that case, there were plenty of incidents. we had to rep CVN proper with the banner:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1292.jpg
^(it kept falling off the car)

the first of many confused people trying to figure out why the octagenarian convention is being held at annabelle's:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1293.jpg

we got there pretty early, so there weren't a whole lot of cars there, but some of the ones that follow were neat so i took pictures of them...starting with a '61 chevy rat:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1294.jpg

i'm a sucker for '70's firebirds and this '76 T/A was tastefully trashy enough for me:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1295.jpg

this patina'd chevy was pretty slick, and could be had for the cool price of $18,500. anyone??? didn't think so.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1297.jpg

[a_d_a_m]

see that weird shift knob through the window? if you shift too much, your vision starts getting blurry, because that's an MGD tap handle:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1296.jpg

elvis is back! this time he's in a stingray dolled up in a color i've never seen on a 'vette:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1298.jpg

one of my many vehicular oddball favorites has always been AMC. this gremlin had a hornet front end and looked/sounded awesome:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1300.jpg

back to the panther club...here's junior admiring barb's car (the aforementioned rarity), while barb watches jerry quick-spiff her car up:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1302.jpg

justin's '93:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1303.jpg

the queen '04 P74:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1304.jpg

mat showed up with his slick marauder and perched with us before it got full. his car's pretty bada$$, with 305/45/18's mounted on widened marauder wheels out back. here's tony (trash) and mat (mpearce) parked side by side:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1305.jpg

i got sick of being followed like the effing paparazzi, so here's my revenge on kurt:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1306.jpg

the dust from the park settled on rick's BHPD car and i kinda thought this picture would turn out cooler than it did:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1307.jpg
^(look closely)

stevo and me:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1308.jpg

[a_d_a_m]

R-L is me, stevo, jerry, will, barb:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1309.jpg

i'm sorry that i've turned into a proud parent, but here's another pic i snapped of my car next to stevo's:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1310.jpg

L-R this would be jerry, will, barb, brett, rick...and i can't see past that:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1311.jpg

brett (RAW, if you forgot):
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1312.jpg

the rarest car in the show:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1313.jpg

just hangin':
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1314.jpg

here's justin's wife and child, whose names i have forgotten. i had this picture set up and then she waved at someone and this picture just got WTF'd:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1316.jpg

late arrivals included Jony, Chief, and sicvic. here's sicvic, one of my favorites:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1317.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1318.jpg

storm clouds started moving in:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1319.jpg

[a_d_a_m]

i started talking about funnel clouds, tornados, and regional favorite - WATERSPOUTS, which scared the bejesus out of will. here's his car about to get blown away by a twister:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1320.jpg

and here's me following brett in the rain, back to my house for a gas-lit bonfire (still have a bed of coals at 11am today) that was enjoyed under a 10'x10' canopy during a persistent downpour:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jackiegleason/CVN%2008092008/IMG_1321.jpg

not pictured:
-me getting sideways getting ON the freeway
-me getting REALLY sideways getting OFF the freeway
-brett powerbraking at a stop light
-tony beating me in a quick drag
-justin getting sideways and hopping the curb
-my dad freaking out when i pulled the gas gan out
-plenty of other stuff
(whoever else had cameras, please fill in the blanks!)

all told, i had fun and i'm glad we had a good showing of panthers. we're hoping to do this next year, but make it way bigger and way better. there's even talk of a scavenger hunt. for this year's attendees, i hope you'll come next year. for anyone reading this, get ready to clear your schedules for next year!

[ImpalaSlayer]

cool pics. i kinda like that red vic. something about it reminds me of oldschool cars

[TAKEDOWN]

Looks like you guys all had a good time.

[Rocknthehawk]

looks like a nice meet.

are those chrome mach1's on your dads gt? or are they hotwheels sixtey-eights?

[a_d_a_m]

chrome mach 1's.

[a_d_a_m]

i don't really get why this was moved from the 'pictures' forum...

[ImpalaSlayer]

because these are pics of an event i would guess

[a_d_a_m]

"Photography Forum Share your photographs"

?

whatever, i guess!

[ImpalaSlayer]

:dunno: your guess is as good as mine