In a moments enthusiasm I have made reservations for the May 2012 Deal's Gap Trip for the week after Mother's day.

Apartment Room Reserved: Sun May 20th to Thursday May 24th.
Standard Room Reserved: Thursday May 24th to Saturday May 26th.

The Apartment rooms were already booked for Thursday and Friday, hence the switch on Thursday.

We have to move all of our gear out of the apartment on Thursday by 11AM and will have to carry it with us until 3PM when we can check into the standard room.

The tentative plan is:

Out of towners arrive on Friday the 18th or the morning of Saturday the 19th.

Leave College Park sometime on Saturday May 19th. Have a nice leisurely trip down to get into the swing of things since most of us will be rusty.

Arrive in Deal's Gap Sunday May 20th around 3PM when we can check into the Apartment.

Leave Saturday early to superslab it back to College Park in one day. Arrive in College Park in the last afternoon.

We'll attempt to coordinate those that might need to leave early so that no one needs to ride alone.

If you intend to join us on this trip, or would like the schedule adjusted please reply to this thread. Let's try to get this locked down soon so I can plan to have bikes, gear, etc ready.

This sort of advance planning is unprecedented! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

I'm a little confused, though... at what point do we get to camp in the rain?

I'm planning on attending. Hopefully, the weather will be a touch better this year.

@Ian You mean the freezing rain, hail and 35mph winds? Yea, I haven't told them about that yet.

Josh was saying he really wanted to go camping so I figured we'd get the two of you together so you could show him how it's done correctly.

Looks like no camping this time.

I just reserved a standard room for May 20 - 26. If we don't need it I will cancel but for now we are covered if everybody shows.

Oh, and don't forget the single malt!

I'm seeing what can be worked on the schedule for this...the date change moved it to our anniversary week and I'm trying not to mess up our 20th too badly. Would be a first

Sorry about the miscommunication. I think the first year we did this as a group outing I had mistakenly planned it on Mothers' Day.

So, I agreed not to do that again. Unfortunately, there'd be no way for Bruce or Ian to fly out the Monday after and get a full week down there so when I said "week after mothers day" I meant "first full week". Sorry about that.

Which day is your anniversary?

LOL, Mother's Day would have been easy. We usually forget about the "tier 2" holidays until someone mentions that they happened the day before (apologies to anyone who thinks these weren't created by Greeting Card distributors). Anniversary -most def real- is the 22nd but we're planning a week or two in Paris. I'm sorting schedules now to see what the solution landscape looks like. I may still be able to make 3 or 4 days of the trip (may have to *gasp* do some work while down there). I could probably go down there with all of you on Sat then come back Tues/Weds. Please don't take my schedule into account at all for the planning of this trip, as Josh can attest to my calendar is a little chaotic right now and for about the next 6-9 months. I'll be happy to tell you all about it over the appropriate beverage, as a technologist and tech start-up guy you'll fully appreciate it. If there's more than one beverage I'll even tell you about all the different ways I've grenaded various Anniversary trips, you'll laugh I promise.

Rob, it's difficult to work there without internet access and without cell phone access. The other place to stay, the Fontana Resort, does have these amenities however but it is nowhere near as convenient to the dragon (about 10 miles away) but the food is certainly better there. But the fire pit and fun people stay at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort...decisions, decisions...

Would be super difficult to go during the week without access of any kind. I'll look at some options (we do have SATCOM gear). I'll see what's in the realm of doable in that time period.

Wait... you mean I'm not the only one who's been on a camping trip like that with Ian?

Is there any other kind of camping trip when Ian's involved?

Yeah, that's just good stuff.

Maybe when it comes to camping I'm like the opposite of a guardian angel.

Then again, Yermo and I had a pretty good campsite last year in Washington state:

And don't forget how deftly we were able to get that initial fire started ...

What an awesome camping spot!

I don't deserve my wife...she's totally ok with me going the week of 22nd. The office is going to curtail the leangth of the trip but will definitly be there for the first half. Sounds like fun.

Awesome!

We are T minus 3 months until the trip.

Thought I would post something to keep this thread at the top.

Scary videos aside, I am REALLY looking forward to this trip. Now, which bike to take...

Yea, I can't wait. Hopefully the weather isn't quite as bad as last year.

Yep, nicer weather would be a plus this year

I stare longingly at the "12 Classic Deals Gap Motorcycle Rides" map this morning.

I might as well come out and say it... There's no way I'll be able to fly out and join you guys for the trip to Deal's Gap. Between work demands and financial constraints, it just won't happen this year, as much as I'd like to. Maybe next year.

@Ian, dude, I was only kidding. You don't have to ride the Harley!

Bummer. There are going to be a few trips to the Gap this year. Maybe you can come out for one of the other ones.

Oh, well in that case...!



Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. What I should have said was that I won't be able to make it for the MAY trip. If you're going to make another trip or two later this year, then there's still a chance. Regardless, I hope you guys have a great and sunny trip in May!

The rate we're going here, it will be 90 degrees by May 19th.

Yea, I fear it's going to be one crazy hot summer this year.