Miller Park in Milwaukee 4/25/2004 - Page 2 - GreenHybrid

ericbecky · #11 (**permalink**) 03-26-2004, 01:30 PM

Hooray! Some 2004 owners are able to attend the group. Now if we could just work on a variety of colored vehicles.
We now have 10 hybrid vehicles that plan to attend.
3 Insights
2 Civics
2 Classic Prius
3 2004 Prius

We still have room for more people! If you contact me you can order through our group and get the Terraced Reserve tickets for only $9.00. I can't guarantee their ticket will be directly in our hybrid section, but we'll try to get it as close as possible.

For game day our group has some details to work out.

Some questions we need to discuss (in no particular order)....
- Who's bringing a digital camera?
- Anyone want to be an "emergency" cell phone contact on game day? (This would help those who have to enter the parking lot late find the rest of us.)
- Publicity. With the rising cost of gas all over the news, perhaps local news might pick up the story? It's not often all the hybrids types are in one place and may be a great photo opportunity.
- Any fun stats we should keep? (Like how many gallons of gas were used to get there? Combined miles/mpg of all vehicles to get there? )
- Who's bringing a grill?
- What kind of food are you bringing? Is anyone sharing?
- What to do if it rains? (Skip tailgating and have lunch somewhere else? Tailgate in the rain? Meet inside the Park somewhere?)
- Any fun games you wish to play? (Name that hybrid? Hybrid or non-hybrid?)
- Are you planning on coming to the staging area? What time are you getting there?
Feel free to post more of your own questions and together we can all work through them.

Post your thought here.

ericbecky · #12 (**permalink**) 04-21-2004, 10:33 AM

Here's some "housekeeping" items for those attending this sunday's event.
Please do not let the dry tone of this email be any indication of the actual event.

33 people coming.
A dozen hybrids.

-Depending on the weather, you may wish to bring several layers of clothes so that you can put on/take off clothes as the temperature dictates. An umbrella in case of light sprinkles rain may be helpful, too.
- Please bring your game tickets and Miller Park food vouchers. (I cannot get them replaced.)
- Please plan to bring your own food, drink, utensils, etc for tailgating.
- I will bring a small rectangular portable charcoal grill that can be shared.

To recap the day:
10:00-11:00 Meet at staging area in Wauwatosa. (Those who have said they are coming should already have directions.) Since I am the organizer of the event, I am going to try to get there as close to 10:00 as possible. It doesn’t matter when you get there, as long as you are ready to leave promptly at 11:00. We all must enter Miller Park parking lot together to have any chance of parking next to each other.

11:00-11:15 Drive to Miller Park. We will not be taking the interstate at all. We will take city streets. Eventually we will be traveling on Bluemound Road and turning onto Story Parkway near Miller Park. We hope to park in the “Giants” parking lot that is just north of I-94. Parking is $6 per car, so have cash ready.

11:15- near game time. (Game starts at 1:05) Tailgate in the parking lot at Miller Park. Anyone who did not enter the parking lot with us can call the “emergency” numbers listed above, and we will do our best to describe where we are.

1:05 Game time. Tailgating is not allowed in the parking lot once the game begins.

If for some reason there is severe weather those at the staging area will make a decision for an alternate “tailgate” activity/location. This could involve anything from eating at a restaurant offsite of Miller Park, or heading to a local park/shelter. We would leave for this activity at 11:00. Again, you could contact the emergency phone number for details. If it is a case of just a few light sprinkles that would clear up, we will most likely still plan on heading to miller Park. I want to be flexible to the wishes of the group.

The game itself will go on, rain or shine, since the park has the roof.

Post your comments or questions here.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

ericbecky · #13 (**permalink**) 04-26-2004, 07:12 PM

The event in Milwaukee was a great success! Of 34 people, only 7 were unable to attend. And only 1 of the 12 vehicles missed the event. It was more hybrids than most had ever seen in one place. We all met up at a small parking lot behind Douglas’s home as sort of a “staging” area. Everyone mingled and then we gathered the cars together for a hybrid caravan drive to the ballpark about 5 miles away. As we drove through the streets of Wauwatosa (‘Tosa as it’s called by the locals) I couldn’t help but think of how great it was to have all the hybrids together. We waved to a few people and gave a few honks, but there was nothing but an eerie silence at the stoplights. I got a little ribbing for going a bit to fast for those Prius owners that were trying to stay in stealth mode. (Sorry about that!) We tailgated for a few hours in the parking lot and everyone had a story or two to tell. It’s amazing how far many people traveled to get their hybrids. Some people only traveled across town, but many others travel across the state or across the country to get the vehicle they wanted. Plenty of brats and hot dogs were on the grills, and Douglas had his inverter running the blender out of the back of his car for a pitcher of Pina Coladas. Although some storms went through, we were very fortunate to miss the rain. It rained prior to the meet and again while we were in the covered confines of Miller Park but not a drop fell on any attendees. We misplaced two attendees for a short to time, but we eventually met up with them near the 6th inning of the ballgame. Although the Brewers lost, we all left in good spirits. As I left, a few owners were still discussing hybrid issues.
I, again, want to thank everyone for coming and will let everyone know if more events are planned in the future. I don’t have any pics to post right now, but if anyone else has some, feel free to post them.

xcel · #14 (**permalink**) 04-28-2004, 12:17 PM

Hi Ericbecky:

___About all I can add is that it was too short and it was great to meet you in person as well! Thank you for organizing the event and I hope we can meet for another one in the very near future.

___By the way, how is your brothers Hybrid hunt coming along? Tell him it was great talking military to him. Not many get the chance to drive a SAW … I wonder how many Hybrid owners know what the heck that acronym stands for

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Rick Reece · #15 (**permalink**) 04-28-2004, 01:35 PM

Don't know what a SAW is but I drove a ocean going Hybrid (Diesel Electric Subs). As I recall each cell weighed more than my car. It was very efficient in terms of fuel economy however (roughly 50 gallons per hour on average for moving 2700 Tons). Have fun, Rick

xcel · #16 (**permalink**) 04-28-2004, 02:26 PM

Hi Rick:

___A SAW is a Squad Automatic Weapon. A Bad @$$ one at that! Probably less in the world get to drive that thing into targets then get to drive a Hybrid actually

___In any case, a Diesel boat, yes? Darn quiet when on the packs. How were the acoustic tiles and the low noise prop for masking noise while under way at 3 knots or so? I have always wondered at what distance a sub could be heard at and the Navy Nukes won’t give me an answer … They probably don’t know themselves?

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Rick Reece · #17 (**permalink**) 04-28-2004, 03:07 PM

Diesel boats had very little sound silenceing technology. The main advantage is that electric drive was direct versus reduction gears for a nuke which along with the turbines are noisy. Diesels, are more survivable, far cheaper, have a longer endurance and a longer lifespan than nuke subs. But our government thinks a billion dollar sub is needed for some insane reason. Have fun, RIck