After our meet here in Jax yesterday we realized most of us were planning to leave on Friday before the meet and stay somewhere else for the night. One of my favorite parts of going to meets is cruising in with other Gs so I was hoping to hook up with other Gs from around the state to drive to the meet together.

To make it easy for out-of-towners, like myself, I think we should meet at a rest area. Easy on, easy off, plenty of parking, and you can relieve yourself after your drive from your house/hotel. There are 2 rest areas on I-4, one near Altamonte Springs at mile marker 94 and one near Lakeland at mile marker 46. You have about 20 miles left of your drive after you get off of I-4 so it would be 114 and 66 miles from the rest areas, respectively.

If we get enough members interested I'm not against meeting at both to pick up more people that are west or south of the Altamonte Springs area.

Next question would be what time to meet. The meet starts at 8:00 and from 8:00 to 11:00 is mingling time. Lunch is at 11:00 and the raffle is being held at 12:00. It's about a 2 hour drive from the Altamonte rest area and 60-75 minutes from the Lakeland rest area.

I was planning on being there around 9:00 so my vote is to meetup and leave Altamonte at 7:00. Then if we decide to hit Lakeland we would meetup and leave there at 8:00.

After we get everything ironed out I will PM my cell phone # to those interested.

None of the above is set in stone. I am definitely looking for some input/ideas here. To make things a little easier here's the basic questions we need answered.....copy and paste and add any other ideas below:

Where would you prefer to meet? (Altamonte, Lakeland, both, somewhere else)

What time do you want to be at Lokey?

I'm not sure which day I'll be driving down there yet.

Russ,

This post basically covers all of the NFL people heading to Lokey, PLUS the later crowd from CFL, right?

Yeah that's what I'm hoping for. As well as anyone coming from Melbourne-Cocoa area. Pretty much anyone planning on taking I-4 that's not leaving at 0 dark hundred (military for way too dam early).

lol Russ...

I would love to be in that caravan because im sure it will be bigger than the one I have to drive in...but yeah I need to get there around 7:45-8am

Russ, those times seem fine for me. More then likely, I will be leaving Jax Sat. AM, so if anyone is planning on leaving Sat. also, and wants to meet locally (early!!) first, then head on to the rest area, let me know.

i live 5 mins from the Altamonte Springs rest area. i would be up for meeting at 7am but i dont have a G yet so taking my current ride, hope thats ok?.

there is also a panera bread right before the Altamonte rest area. 1/2 mile off of I-4, so easy on/off. good place to use the restroom and grab a coffe/bagel while waiting for others to show up.
http://www.panerabread.com/Map.aspx?LocationId=141

You may want to consider getting a ride with one of the other NFL or CFL G35 owners. Parking will be "tricky" at Lokey Infiniti and we'll have a hard enough time fitting in all of the G's. Initially John asked us to keep this a "G-only" meet, so if you do decide to drive, you will not be guaranteed parking on the Lokey lot. FYI, there are other places to park near by, but Lokey's lot is not very big and last time we had ~15 G's and we were doubled up, parked along curbs, etc... John will try to move cars around for this event, but if 40 or 50 G's show up, we will not have room for non-G's to park at this event, heck I'm really wondering how John plans on handling the parking to be honest. I'm hoping that they clear out the front of the parking lot and maybe even park some of their dealer cars at LOKEY Mercedes next door.

Just so you don't feel bad, we've already turned down several 350Z owners with HEAVILY MODDED CARS, a TL owner (who's a good friend of the clubs) and even a club member Finiti35 was told not to drive her Maxima simply because space will be tight and this is a G35 meet, right? If you do drive I'm sure you could park nearby and walk, but what fun would that be? Best bet is to catch a ride with another fellow G owner!

as of right now, we are planning on going through that area around 8 am...traffic permitting. But if you are planning on leaving there a 7, it's ok, we would just do our best to try to make it earlier and if not see you at Lokey.

What really happened is that Finiti35 was going to take the Greyhound, but was consequently blackmailed into catching a ride to Lokey in a G But seriously, do the same as me, have someone give you a ride.. I'm sure a lot of people will offer you a ride and you'll have a blast on the way there and back

my guess is that we will have to use that back lot for a bunch

I'm always down for meeting where ever.

However, I'm not sure, but probably most of us will already be in the Orlando area so it would be kinda unnecessary to "back-track" to the Altamonte Springs rest area. However if everyone decides to meet there I'll be there. Longer ride time with my fellow G'ers

Here's another possibility; meet at the Millenia Mall? Its more centralized in Orlando. We can meet there at 7. Just a thought.

Either way..I'm there anywhere

I mentioned the lakeland rest area as well for anyone staying west of Altamonte. It would still be an hour long cruise.

So am I the only Jax G that will actually be leaving Jacksonville Sat. AM to meet @ the AS Rest stop?? Sounds like all the rest of you will already be out of town. Looks like I'll have to leave no later then 5:15AM to make A.S. by the 7AM meet time.

BTW, got my new tires on Monday, so I'm ready to go!

Yeah that's why most of us are leaving the night before. I wasn't thrilled about leaving at 5 am either.