Memories of Indianapolis - MV 7

[Bluerauder]

MEMORIES OF INDIANAPOLIS, IN
MARAUDERVILLE VII (MV7), 30 Sep 09 – 4 Oct 09
“Back to the Brickyard” (The 7th Annual Marauderville)

Wednesday, 30 September 2009

• 621 miles one-way total. Left at 8:45 AM about 45 minutes behind schedule. But, the timing allowed me to jump on to the I-95N HOV lanes right at 9:00 AM and save half that time. Indianapolis here we come.
• Got a call from Ms. Denmark as we passed through Hagerstown, MD. Ladyhawke/Haggis, Ms. Denmark/Mr. Man, and MyTMerc were about 1.5 hours ahead of us. Rain and fog ahead just before the West Virginia line.
• Ran the first 2 hours in nice weather right up to Cumberland, MD. Holding steady at 75-80 MPH.
• Stopped at Sideling Hill cut for a pit stop and bathroom break. Took a few scenic photos before hitting the road again.
• Got an update from Ms. Denmark by phone. They stopped at a winery enroute and I am closing the gap between us. They are stopping at Exit #155 in Morgantown, WVa to hit the Cracker Barrel for lunch.
• Pull off at Exit #155 but I must have missed the sign for Cracker Barrel. Went about 1-2 miles before turning around. Headed back toward I-79.
• Hey, there’s the restaurant up on that hill. Turn left. Guess who is sitting at the light exiting Cracker Barrel? I wave as we pass and then make a quick U-Turn and fall in on the tail end of the 4 MM mini-convoy.
• We run with the group for about 50 miles until the wife says that she can’t hear the radio over my growling stomach. I thought it was hers.
• Reluctantly, we leave the group at Washington, PA for gas and food with promises to catch up. We never did.
• Ran through about 300 miles of rain enroute. It cleared up just past Columbus, OH. One more gas stop to top off before arrival. The car looks like crap.
• Pulled into Mike’s Car Wash (I know) to knock off 10 hours of road grime before going over to the hotel. Very nice car wash.
• Arrival at the Cambria Suites at 7:30 PM. Leave the MM out front and check in.
• The hotel has sectioned off the entire back parking lot for us. No Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans or Kia’s allowed.
• Popped into to Marauderville VII registration to pick up name tags, goody bags and check-in with MM03MOK. About 1/3 already registered.
• Lots of folks milling around in the Hamilton registration room. Our official “private” conference room in the hotel. Pops, Fordfrk, 03MMmonroe, Ms. Denmark, Mr. Man, Ladyhawke, Haggis, MyTMerc, MM03MOK, RF Overlord, MERCMAN, Mike Poore, and others are there. N40GL is checking in at the hotel desk.
• Some of the gang is headed over across the highway to Mo’s Irish Pub for dinner. “You can’t miss it.” Yes, you can …… we spend about 20 minutes taking a grand tour of the Town Center. We caught up a little later than expected.
• Back to the hotel to hang out in the hotel lobby/lounge until about 11:30 PM.

Thursday, 1 October 2009

• Up early and in the lobby at 6:10 AM. No one in sight. Some folks start drifting in around 7:00 AM
• Breakfast and coffee in the hotel lounge with 03MMmonroe and his dad. Ms. Denmark and Mrs. Fordfrk drop in for coffee. Seems Mr. Man is enjoying his beauty sleep and Fordfrk is laying in bed playing with the TV remote.
• Out to the rear parking lot to begin wiping the dew off the Bluerauder. The MM gang is starting to stir … very slowly.
• Do a quick wipe down, ICE shine, and wheel wipe before 8:30 AM.
• Departure for Old Metamora is 8:30 AM Sharp. Yeah, right …. This is the Marauder group. Actual departure is closer to 8:45 AM.
• One large convoy to Metamora. About 25 MMs.
• 75 miles one-way to Metamora, IN. We took the 90 mile scenic route via I-74 then through Oldenburg. Pit stop at Shell and McDonald’s for gas and rest breaks.
• The last 15 miles was a twisty and winding 2-lane road with a posted top speed of 45 MPH. What a thrill ride. Just like Mr. Toad’s Wild ride. Wheeeeeeee! Following Ken all the way from the Shell station.
• Arrive in Metamora, IN about 10:30 AM. The entire town is getting ready for “Canal Days”. Most of the shops are putting out their wares and others are setting up tents/booths. They are expecting attendance over the weekend of abut 100,000. Today, we have the whole town almost to ourselves.
• Visited some of the shops and picked up some gifts and souvenirs for the kids.
• Mongoose and his buddy are milling around on Main Street.
• Stopped into the local coffee bar and chatted awhile with Blackened300a and Susan. Cougar_Marauder and his folks drifted in a little later.
• Headed back to the parking lot with Blackened300a figuring the others had already departed. Where did they all go?
• Still lots of cars in the parking lot where are all the people? Started to touch up the car a bit and check under the hood to see what damage the rain trip made. Not TOO bad but it needs work.
• Convoy departs at 12:30 PM for the Pizza King in Rushville, IN. Took the trip back up IN Route 52.
• Did you see the Castle up on the hill for sale?
• Police escort for the ride into Rushville, IN drops in on the tail end of the convoy. ??? Oh well, he was in a Dodge Charger anyway.
• Got lost within 200 feet of the restaurant due to some confusion at a 4-way stop. Lost sight of the others. Was able to find the correct lot with the help of the FRS radio.
• Ordered lunch using a phone in the booth.
• MM Group 2 shows up about 40 minutes after MM Group 1.
• Back to the hotel about 2:30 PM. Group splits in two going though the festival zone in Greenfield. I stay with the group headed to State St/IN Route 9. The group behind me turns left and gets lost according to Crownvic.Net observers.
• Pull off I-69 at Exit 5 behind James79Stang to top off with Shell gas before heading back to the hotel around 4:00 PM
• Departure for Hotel Park Raceway and Casino at 6:00 PM. Decided just to hang out at the hotel.
• Dinner at Hoolihan’s with BigDogJim and the MyTMerc’s.
• Back to the hotel around 8:30 PM and waited for the folks to drift back from the casino. Pops and Linda were the first to arrive. Seems he hit the TriBecka big and decided to walk. Others came back later. Mike Poore broke even using the casino coupons. I suspect that others were not as lucky.
• Off to bed around 11:00 PM.

[Bluerauder]

Friday, 2 October 2009

• Up at 6:05 AM. Not a creature stirring in the lobby. I think LCR games ran until 2:00 AM last night. There will be some dragging MMers today. Still raining. Should clear up by 8:00 AM.
• Breakfast in the hotel lounge with 03MMmonroe, Mrs. Fordfrk and Ms. Denmark again. Where is everyone? Wake up sleepyheads.
• Departure delayed until 9:00 AM to allow things to dry up some and let city traffic die down a bit.
• Clouds start to break up, sun comes out. Gonna be a little windy today.
• Out to the back parking lot to dry off the cars. Me and Gryphonzus are among the first to start wiping down the MMs. Ken, Blackened300a, Fordfrk, and others join in. Embassy and N40GL are under car covers. The guys in the back row including Daily03 and SC Cheesehead have leaves on their cars.
• Line up in 2 rows in front of the hotel. Gonna depart in two back-to-back convoys for the 27 mile convoy to the Indianapolis Zoo.
• Departure around 9:15 AM or so.
• Convoy number #1 catches number #2 enroute. I am behind Pantheroc and get to listen to those sweet pipes. The light on the Exit ramp off I-65 chops the convoy up into three pieces. Lots of chatter on the FRS radios. Where is convoy #2. Hey, we are now convoy #3.
• That Silver Birch MM didn’t miss the exit. That was Mr. and Mrs. Fordfrk headed to the Children’s Museum. They will meet us there later.
• Do not turn right onto W. Washington Street. It is under construction. Convoy #3 continues past Washington Street to Kentucky, McCarty, and White River Parkway to a left on W. Washington Street.
• We arrive at the Zoo without a problem. $5.00 to park. Sign says …. “This is a No Smoking Zoo from this point”.
• Very nice zoo. We visited the seals, shark tank, fishes and jellyfishes. Saw the largest walrus ever …. He was 10-12 feet tall if he was an inch. At first I thought it was just a rock formation running from the bottom of the tank to the top. But it was a full grown walrus nearly twice the size of the others just standing on his tippy-toes (fins or whatever) very motionless. Got a pic but it does show well.
• Walked the entire park including The Plains where there were elephants, rhinocerusesesses (rhinoceri), giraffes, lions and monkeys. Bernie and I took a little train ride around the park with Mike Brown and his granddaughter.
• Stopped into the Park Café for a quick snack to quiet the stomach rumble. Got a soft pretzel and a coke. Ran into Blackened300a and Susan who had the same idea.
• DOOM arrives at the hotel about 12 Noon and parks under the canopy. Where is everyone?
• There’s a 1:00 PM departure from the Zoo parking lot to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for those going to see the King Tut exhibit.
• Convoy of Marauders leaves a 1:00 PM sharp includes Bluerauder, MyTMerc, Ms. Denmark, Ladyhawke/Haggis, Embassy, Daily03 and Blackened300a. Parked up on the level 4 roof to stay away from other parking traffic.
• Catch up to Fordfrk at the Food Court for lunch. Run into SC Cheesehead and Mike Poore inside the King Tut exhibit. No pics allowed inside the King Tut exhibit. Lots of really old Egyptian stuff. Can’t pronounce or spell most of the names.
• Fascinated by the water clock in the main atrium. Missed the big dinosaur exhibit ‘cause I was all walked out by that time. Was able to get pics of the outside dinosaurs though.
• Walked out into the garden for a “break” and saw the garden exhibit of miniature replicas of the sphinx, pyramids, Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, Colliseum and Parthenon.
• Nearly everyone was gone when we made it up to the top of the parking garage. Arrived just in time to see Ms. Denmark and Blackened300a depart headed to the hotel.
• We leave about 10 minutes later and listen to GPS-Jill who takes us to the Fall River Parkway. This goes into Binford Boulevard and then merges with I-69. I come up on Blackened300a’s left side. Seems that GPS-Jill does know the quickest way around town.
• Accident and traffic stopped on I-69 so I decide to pull off at Exit 3 for gas at the Marathon station. Blackened300a sees me and thinks I know a shortcut. He follows.
• Back at the hotel around 4:45 PM. Up to the room for a quick nap.
• Wake up just in time to catch some pics of the convoy departing for Muncie Dragway at 5:45 PM about 15 minutes late. Does anyone see a pattern here?
• Dinner at Olive Garden with Ladyhawke/Haggis, The Pantherocs, Mrs. Bradley G, The MyTMercs, and Razzberry. Back at the hotel about 8:30 PM.
• Drag racers start coming in around 10:30 PM. Pops ran some 11.2 runs. He also got a chance to line up against the Shermanator. Sherm blew a belt on his last run. Locates a replacement belt Saturday morning. SC Cheesehead has some recurring LCM problems and leaves his MM at the track.

Saturday, 3 October 2009

• Up at 5:47 AM. It’s Indy Day.
• Run into 03MMmonroe in the back lot. He is up very early to make the run to Muncie Dragway with Rex/SC Cheesehead to get his car still sitting at the track.
• Breakfast, Coffee & juice in the hotel lounge with the same crowd.
• Departure at 8:30 AM for Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). This is gonna be a huge convoy. About 45 cars for the 34 mile trip around I-465.
• Park in the big lot and get instructions, sign waivers and put on the driver wrist bands.
• About 10 more cars show up before the lap starts. Total of 55 ready to do the Lap around “The Brickyard”.
• Visit the Indianapolis 500 Hall of Fame, take lots of pics, sit in an Indy car ( the MM is more comfortable) and hit the Indy 500 Gift shop for souvenirs and a really cool jacket.
• Pics out front of the Hall of Fame. Line up of the four color set in front of the building. A big photo opportunity.
• Back to the parking lot for further instructions. Keep the lap speed, no passing, no trading paint, no putting people into the wall in Turn 2. I guess it is OK in the other turns.
• Lap speed will be about 35 MPH. I assure the Pace Car driver that we CAN KEEP UP if she wants to step it up.
• Photographer will get pics of each car as it cross the bricks. Windows down and remember to smile and wave.
• Awesome !!!! Got about 30 pics around the speedway. No wrecks and no spinouts as I recall. I came in 25th position.
• Back in the parking lot to line up the car in 2 rows with a tape measure and laser level. N40GL orchestrates the process. Shermanator has the place of honor between the rows in the back.
• Photos, car photos, and group photos.
• Everyone who made the lap of IMS received a very nice certificate attesting to "... the holder's cool daring and nerves of steel required to fulfill this accomplishment."
• Pics from the photographer of each car to come by mail.
• Back to the hotel for less than an hour of prep work to get ready for the Car Show & Shine at Forest Park. Hey, I’m missing one of my valve caps. Good thing I had some spares in the glove compartment.
• Arrived at the show parking lot just a wee-bit after the 2:00 PM start. Not too many cars there so I got a spot up near the head of the lot between Pantheroc and 03MMmonroe. Ladyhawke is on the end. Glad that I didn’t park under the walnut tree.
• Set up the Bluerauder display and do some finishing wipe down on the car and the engine compartment. Emptied the contents of the trunk including the cleaning supplies and folding chairs onto the lawn behind the car.
• Lunch Hog Roast catered by a local firm. Desert provided by Wojodough and Mrs. It really hit the spot.
• Celebrity judging of the car show by Steve Babcock, Kenny Brown, and SergntMac. Nearly 15 minutes per car. This is gonna take a Loooooooong time. But it is gonna be a very thorough going over for each car. Maybe I oughta go back and do a little more wiping and polishing. Nope …. It is what it is.
• DOOM is the last one in line. He starts to set up a 5KW generator with some overhead light sets. It is gonna be dark before the judges can make it to his car.
• Weather starts to get a lot overcast and chilly. Bernie’s feet are numb.
• We decide to head back to the hotel to warm up after the judges do the once over on the Bluerauder.
• Hit the hotel bar for an Irish coffee and some warm up juice with SC Cheesehead and Pops. Pretty soon we have a pretty big crowd gathering and we start to spread out and take over from the soccer Wild Girls.
• Announcement of the results of the car show is scheduled for 9:30 PM in the Hamilton Room.
• We wait, and wait, and wait. Seems that competition is so close that final points are being slice and diced to 0.5, 0.1, and finally 0.01. Man this is gonna be close.
• Insert List of Car Show Winner’s here (or see the separate thread on award/trophy winners >>>> MV7 Trophy Winners Here (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=57422)). Embassy (1st Place -- “Best in Show”) and DOOM (2nd Place – "Best of Show)" took three trophies each. Blackened300a got two (1st Place "Best Stock and 2nd Place "Best Engine"). N40GL also took home a trophy (3rd Place -- Best of Show). FastMerc took home 2nd Place "Best Stock". And the Bluerauder took 1st Place as “Best Display” ahead of Embassy. I was overwhelmed.
* Shermanator and Pops took home Drag Racing trophies in the "S/C - Modified Class". 03mmmonroe and Ken got racing trophies in the "N/A-Stock Class".

[Bluerauder]

Sunday, 4 October 2009

• Up at 5:30 AM
• Just coffee early today.
• Depart for church up in Noblesville at 7:00 AM sharp. Not too far from the park where we had the car show.
• Back at the hotel by 8:40 AM. Haven’t missed a thing. MMers are still drifting in for breakfast. Just in time to grab some breakfast before the awards, door prizes, and raffle drawings at 9:00 AM.
• Our table starts a $1.00 pool on when the raffle drawings will starts. Increments of 5 minutes. Pool winnings go to MyTMerc when the first number is called at 9:29:30 with only seconds to spare.
• Very nice door prizes and raffle prizes. I didn’t win this year except for the door prize.
• Reminder --- don’t sit near Bradley G if he wins a set of black rubber proctologist gloves.
• Goodbyes and See yas in the MM room and in the lobby.
• Pack up and Checkout at 11:00 AM. Car packed and ready to roll at 11:15 AM.
• Hooked on to the convoy of Ladyhawke/Haggis, Pantheroc, Ms. Denmark/Mr. Man, SilverSurfer03/TCBO1, and JCMM leaving the hotel. Meet up with Cruztaker and FastMerc along the way.
• Barry and Mark take I-77 toward Cleveland. Some of the gang stops at Cracker Barrel outside Columbus, OH. The Bluerauders decide to truck on down the road and make the most of the daylight.
• Arrived home at 9:40 PM. Total trip was 1,529 miles in all start to finish. Estimated at 62.4 gallons of 93 Octane and a cost of roughly $156.00.
• What a Blast. We had a great time.



THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES GANG & A SPECIAL THANKS TO MERCMAN, MERC MA’AM, MM03MOK, AND RF OVERLORD AND OTHERS FOR DOING THE COORDINATION AND THE SET-UP ON THIS EVENT. THANKS TO GREEN96/BrianH FOR HIS HELP WITH THE METAMORA AND RUSHVILLE VISITS. AND THANKS TO OUR CELEBRITY JUDGES === STEVE BABCOCK, KENNY BROWN AND SERGNTMAC. WE HAD A GREAT TIME. HOPE YOU ALL DID TOO.

[Blue03]

Nice Posts!! Thanks for taking the time to help us non attenders have a taste of what we missed. It sounds like a great time was had by all... Cheers! :)

[a_d_a_m]

Nice summary.


I am behind Pantheroc and get to listen to those sweet pipes. ...my next mod! :banana2:

[rayjay]

Great after action report as always Charlie! Wish we could have made it. Looking forward to coming in 2011, post retirement.

[Blackened300a]

I was waiting for your "Memories of..." thread. Once again you didnt disappoint. ;)

[Ms. Denmark]

Thank you MM.NET for a wonderful MV7!! Charlie, we're so glad you posted these Cliff Notes! The days were so full and sped by so quickly that it's nice to sit back and read about what we actually did! The many and varied MV7 events and outings ment there was something for everyone to see and do. I particularly liked that so many wives/significant others came a long. It was great to meet Mrs. Pops( Linda). Sorry I didn't get a chance to have one of her cookies! And Mrs. SCCheesehead. We enjoyed having dinner at Rams with them and talk about what we have in common.......Dachshunds! Glad to meet Barb during our trip out to Metamora. It's always nice to see Mike Poore. Enjoyed meeting Gail/Gary Chapel and Mr./Mrs. Bradley G. and JCMM/Hubby.

I loved sitting around in the hotel lobby in the evening having a glass of Rebel Red, or early in the morning for a cup of coffee and getting to chat with TCBO1/Silversurfer, Ford Frk/Connie, Haggis/Ladyhawke, Charlie/Bernie, Doom, Big Dog Jim and all the people we enjoy so much.


Lunch with Green96 and Blackened300a and Susan eating what passes for pizza in Indianna was a hoot! And it was great having a chance to get to know Mr./Mrs. Pantheroc on our 2 car convoy through Ohio! You are right about those pipes. We loved 'em!

A big thank you to Merc Man/Ma'am for putting together that great Hog Roast. We enjoyed sitting with them for the picnic. It was a very successful event!

Now we turn our attention to Louisville! Mike, we can't wait for the dates!!

[Embassy]

I was waiting for your "Memories of..." thread. Once again you didnt disappoint. ;)

+1

That's a lot of details. Some of the events went by in a blur to me. :burnout:

[Bradley G]

(quote)• Reminder --- don’t sit near Bradley G if he wins a set of black rubber proctologist gloves.
Anybody interested?,.. I'm sure we can work something out! :bigcry::bigcry:

[SMOKE]

Soooper freaking post Charlie! Read every line!

LOVE the DOOM Generator bit....too much :)

Best,
Jonathan

[dakslim]

Read the whole post and it sounds like you had a blast...wish I could have been there as well especially for the lap at the Brickyard.:beer:

[CRUZTAKER]

My personal quote of the trip....

(During the ride home with 8 or so Marauders in line on I-70 Ohio)

"Hey Jerry (Pantheroc in the lead)...please keep it at 90mph...my car is burning oil somewhere and I am not sure how long I can run this hard..."

That's the first time I have ever asked someone to SLOW down.:P:rolleyes:

[Motorhead350]

That's the first time I have ever asked someone to SLOW down.:P:rolleyes:

It's good that you played it safe so you didn't make the cops come. :lol:

[Vortex]

Sunday, 4 October 2009

• Up at 5:30 AM
• Just coffee early today.
• Depart for church up in Noblesville at 7:00 AM sharp.
• Back at the hotel by 8:40 AM. Haven’t missed a thing. MMers are still drifting in for breakfast. Just in time to grab some breakfast before the awards at 9:00 AM.
• Our table starts a $1.00 pool on when the raffle drawings will starts. Increments of 5 minutes. Pool winnings go to MyTMerc when the first number is called at 9:29:30 with only seconds to spare.
• Very nice door prizes and raffle prizes. I didn’t win this year except for the door prize.
• Reminder --- don’t sit near Bradley G if he wins a set of black rubber proctologist gloves.
• Goodbyes and See yas in the MM room and in the lobby.
• Pack up and Checkout at 11:00 AM. Car packed and ready to roll at 11:15 AM.
• Hooked on to the convoy of Ladyhawke/Haggis, Pantheroc, Ms. Denmark/Mr. Man, SilverSurfer03/TCBO1, and JCMM leaving the hotel. Meet up with Cruztaker and FastMerc along the way.
• Barry and Mark take I-77 toward Cleveland. Some of the gang stops at Cracker Barrel outside Columbus, OH. The Bluerauders decide to truck on down the road and make the most of the daylight.
• Arrived home at 9:40 PM. Total trip was 1,529 miles in all start to finish.
• What a Blast. We had a great time.



THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES GANG & A SPECIAL THANKS TO MERCMAN, MERC MA’AM, MM03MOK, AND RF OVERLORD AND OTHERS FOR DOING THE COORDINATION AND THE SET-UP ON THIS EVENT. THANKS TO GREEN96/BrianH FOR HIS HELP WITH THE METAMORA AND RUSHVILLE VISITS. AND THANKS TO OUR CELEBRITY JUDGES === STEVE BABCOCK, KENNY BROWN AND SERGNTMAC. WE HAD A GREAT TIME. HOPE YOU ALL DID TOO.


You are the kind of guy we hated when we pulled into a good liberty port back in the day!:cool4:

[N40GL]

You always do a great job with this, Charlie, but I gotta ask: do you write this down, or just recall it? It's always so comprehensive!

[Bluerauder]

You always do a great job with this, Charlie, but I gotta ask: do you write this down, or just recall it? It's always so comprehensive!
All from memory Mark. Wanna know what you ordered to eat and drink at Mo's. ;)

[88LTDCV351]

Totally wished I was there. Back in my home town of Indianapolis. Could have visited mom and pop on the east side. Oh well. Next time its in Indianapolis, I'll have to make the long trek out rain or shine.

[1stMerc]

Totally wished I was there. Back in my home town of Indianapolis. Could have visited mom and pop on the east side. Oh well. Next time its in Indianapolis, I'll have to make the long trek out rain or shine.

It's time for us to come west young man. Get ta planning!!!

[1stMerc]

Charlie, you are scary. Hope my memory is that good when i get your age........................... .............................. .............................. .............................. .......what was i saying?????

[twin03]

Vary good post blue..

[FastMerc]

Charlie, you are scary. Hope my memory is that good when i get your age........................... .............................. .............................. .............................. .......what was i saying?????
You should see the size of his note book.LOL.LOL....:D

[DOOM]

BEST TRIP EVER!!! :banana2:

[GreekGod]

Arrived home at 9:40 PM. Total trip was 1,529 miles in all start to finish. Estimated at 62.4 gallons of 93 Octane and a cost of roughly $156.00.

1,529 / 62.4 = 24.5 mpg