TireSmoke.org

My Dad is vaccinated and my nephew is vaccinated. But they are telling me they are worried about the other people going. So no sharing wine glasses I guess.

I did just get a call from WXO, he will not be joining us. Maybe next year.

I'm not sure if y'all know about this, but I just discovered that the Carlisle Events guide is available online. You can download pages from it into a PDF format. Better yet, there is a Carlisle app for your phone to help you find vendors etc. It also has the full Events guide. Check it out.

After the rain and mud of the July Nelson Ledges Endurance experience
the Carlisle wagon and trailer were looking just a little out of sorts.
Well after having the tires set to 30 lbs. and the hubs greased and a very serious wash job,
we can take this old workhorse with us with pride for what it's done for us through the years. I'll know what I need when I see it!

We were there! A great time was had by all.

Never was able to find a "shoehorn",
but asking for one always created fun conversation.
Many of the group did find what they were looking for,
or at least what they thought they needed.

The weather was pretty amazing for the whole weekend. It was great hanging out with everyone. The Meat was a little light this year, but probably about 80% of normal, which is still huge. I made the mistake of not taking in the car corral early enough though. By Saturday afternoon, it had all but cleared out. I think this is part of the reason we had been doing the meet on Thursday and Friday the last few years. But I'm sure that the group got better deals on the stuff they bought because by Saturday afternoon, most vendors were packing up. So I might be inclined to do the car corral first next year, then the meet.
We do also intend to upgrade our accommodations. If it means a 10 minute extra drive to get noticeably better digs for basically the same money, then that's what we'll do. I'm sure that this hotel will die like the multitudes of other crappy hotels along the Middlesex Pike that we used to stay at.

I'm glad the Sutter crew made it! That's a long drive for Matt and Alex, and it was cool to see and hear his truck. It's a beast for sure. And Mike is always good for interesting stories.

Then there was Andy making a surprise late visit while I was helping the reception lady kill a spider. This saved Dave from sleeping in the air mattress sandwich next to John on Friday night.

Looking forward to next year's outing.

-BP

We enjoyed the meat, and as BP said, the weather was perfect. I think if I add up the money I spent getting to, from and staying in Carlisle, the “deals” that I got were pretty bad deals compared to Amazon, but Amazon isn’t anywhere near as much fun. I struggled to find any Olds parts that I needed. The only part that would’ve upgraded my 442 was the factory “Sidewinder” tach. The owner of it ( Mr. Roark )was pretty proud of it and the dash piece it was mounted to. He wanted $2000 for both. I declined. Until next year, enjoy my picture of the meat from the grandstand!

Yes the weather was really nice, which was one of the reasons I made the drive. Years past this event has been later in the year and end up being cold, wet, or both. Also I now had some stuff to acquire for my Vettes.

Managed to acquire a set of 17" Vette wheels for $100 which is cheaper than I've ever seen them, and the aluminum heads I got were about $50 under the going rate - not great but it was fund playing hardball with that guy for the last $25. The HEI I got if from a C4 - might be a year or two older, so well see if the inners are interchangeable.

I was a bit surprised to see the halfhearted attempts at selling - with many vendors opening late, closing early, packing up and leaving early Saturday afternoon.

Agree with BP time to upgrade the hotel. This place has no clue how to keep a hotel in good running order. Also in my mind the days of piling 4-5 people in a room are done.

The Corolla averaged over 36.5 gallons for the trip and easily carried the parts I bought home.

Anyway it was fun to catch up with everyone, see the Sutters, and do normal things.

Did anyone else take the PA turnpike? I got a bill for $112 for freeway tolls. They changed their systems to no toll collections and that efficiency cost a lot of money apparently. Looks like it'll be less for e-zpass users but the PA E-ZPass has start up fees and their operating cost is higher than getting it through Ohio.

For next trip I'm thinking I'm going on 80 the whole way its about 30 minutes longer but no fees.

Dad and I were talking about the same thing this morning. He thinks they only scan you going East, but not sure of that. If that's the case, 80 or backroads there and 76 home. That's an INSANE amount of money!

-BP

I got my bill in the mail over the weekend. I looked into getting an EZ Pass and it looks like the
tolls are about 33% discounted if you have it. An Ohio EZ Pass works with a bunch of different states
as well so only one is required, but i too will be going to Carlisle on the cheap road next time.
What bothers me is the fact that you have no clue on what you’re spending. i was expecting the
bill to be about $75. Obviously they’re paying off the new technology that doesn’t require manpower.

GM

I did the smart thing and used my parent's EZ Pass. I wonder if I'll be getting a phone call if the tolls are that much! I'm with John, you should know what you're getting into, toll-wise. Signs posted or something.

-Dave

Mine said the E-ZPass price was $54.

The bill had three line items, two for the trip there and one for the trip home. I assumed one of their cameras failed to take a photo on the way home.