DriversFest:Wrapup repost [very long]

[Jim Jarrett <jarrett@rpa.net>]

I'm sending this again, it didn't seem to get thru due to the list problems.
Apologies if you are seeing it again.

(originally posted 8:30pm 8/29)

Just got home from DriversFest '99 that was on Jones Beach, Long 
Island, NY....a healthy 7 hour drive..

So:  The trip down started pretty good; Ryan and Scott from London, 
ON, Canada met up at my house in Rochester, NY for the trip down. So 
we set off, me in my Passat GLX, and their Golf TDi...... We had 
talkabout radios, boy, these things rock....as you will see in a few.


We set off from Rochester, down the NYS Thruway to Syracuse, south on 
I-81 to I-380 in PA, to I-80 across the Delaware Water Gap.....very 
scenic, nice twisty roads with a 65mph/105kph speed limit, so we were 
doing around 75/120 easily.  Then my cell phone rang, and it was 
Jonas Miller, who I was going to meet up with at the hotel I found. 
He, as he posted in scirocco-l, got boned big-time by his boss, 
missed the train, wasn't going to make it.  (I should have seen this 
as foreshadowing...).  But, me and the London crew worked out hotel 
rooms, so that wasn't so bad, so on along I-80 to the Lincoln 
Tunnel....

...and thus began the nightmare.

Well, first of all, the directions weren't clear about exactly how to 
get to the Lincoln Tunnel from I-80.  Turns out you have to jump on 
the NJ Turnpike for one exit.  No biggie, it isn't a car show unless 
you get a little lost. Heh.

Oh, but it got worse.  Once we got up to the tunnel, it took over an 
hour to get INTO the tunnel..traffic was horrendous.

I had used 3 different online travel guides to get directions, and 
all three of them gave me the same set of instructions.  All the 
three of them said was to take the Lincoln Tunnel to I-495.  Never 
having driven in, nor ever wanting to drive in NYC, I naively thought 
we'd be on an expressway thru NYC.

WRONG.

WE WERE ON FREAKIN' 42nd STREET IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN!  Oh my GOD was 
this a hellish drive. Taxis cutting you off, people just stepping out 
into the street.... But wait, kids, it gets better!

Anyone know what "Blocking The Box" is?  I didn't.  I do now....SINCE 
I GOT A F&$%ING TICKET FOR IT.  Apparently, if you don't make it thru 
an intersection even if you start thru when the light is green, you 
get screwed for it.  My first ticket EVER.  Two points and some 
unknown amount for a fine.  I WILL be talking to someone about this. 
I think this was really unfair.  I never planned, nor ever plan to 
again, drive on the surface streets of NYC, for reasons like 
this....I mean here, if you start thru an intersection, you make it 
thru.  I was totally baffled by what was going on, and the one 
officer said, "Hey, it's been on the news."  Not in Rochester, sorry. 
If the idea is to deter NYC drivers from doing this, it's completely 
lost on me because I don't ever think I want to go to NYC again, and 
I certainly WON'T drive.  I guess it's too much to ask for a little 
leniency when it's obvious that you're not from around there.  Don't 
get me started on the Downstate NY attitude, because I won't stop.

So, of course, Ryan and Scott have no choice but to keep going. 
While I was sitting there, waiting to get f*^&*&ed, my Brake/ABS 
light goes on.  Oh, SWELL.
I kept in touch with them for as long as I could, but then they went 
out of range.

I set back off down 42nd street, expecting to see a sign for I-495. 
Nope.  Know where the FDR Expressway is?  I do, now.  It's the 
extreme eastern end of Manhattan.  So I know I'm SO lost now, I keep 
going.  I saw an exit sign for 495 BEHIND me on FDR, so I had some 
clue.  I got to the end of it, and looped back around and headed back 
north...Oh....495 is the Midtown Tunnel!  How NICE it's labeled like 
that.

Finally get back on the right road, I'm hitting the "call" button on 
the talkabout....as I get to Queens, I get Scott on the line.  Turns 
out they got really lost too.....so lost, as a matter of fact, I was 
AHEAD of them, by about a mile!  We connected back up and got to the 
hotel, consumed some "Mike's Lemonade," waited forever for some 
clueless yutzes at Domino's to deliver pizza, and crashed.

DRIVERSFEST:

We got to Jones Beach pretty easily (well, in comparison to the 
previous day!).  The parking lot was filling up nicely with 
VW's.....so the first thing we did was go and test drive.  They had 4 
2.0l New Beetles (automatics!  eech!), two Golf's, a Jetta, and a 
Passat with a Tiptronic.  The Beetle definitely needs the stick.  I 
was amazed at the headroom!  The Passat was really warmed up, so 
Scott took the course in 41+ sec, Ryan in 42, and me in 43 (hey, 
that's pretty good for me, since I'm finally shedding my "careful" 
driver image...why not, my license is tainted now, what have i got to 
lose????? )  The test course was a straightaway, a couple of tight 
turns, some bumps, and a wet area for testing ABS.  They also had a 
performance driving course, but the line was too long; it took us an 
hour to get to drive the Passat as it was.

Then I went into the Drive & Shine Car show and met up with some 
Scirocco list members:  Jan Folkson and his wife Susan, Danny 
"XXSpArCoXx@aol.com" and Rob CLaYpOoLME@aol.com(?) There were only 7 
Sciroccos there; I have pictures of the show  part I will be putting 
up on line this week, as soon as I can get them off the camera.


Also bumped into Scott Williams and had a good talk with him -- he 
and I both wore our Scirocco-l t-shirt.  Said "hi" to Jim Buck, but 
he was swamped with people asking him stuff...including the woman who 
was telling him all about her Beetle (old) that had flowers painted 
on the door....DEFINITELY stuck in the '60's....

Swam in the ocean, didn't go to the concert(s), didn't really care 
about any of the groups.  Found out where I forgot to put sunblock 
(eg. the top of my feet!).  Headed back to the hotel, which was near 
JFK Airport.  Tried to find a restaurant...all we could come up with 
was a slightly frightening McD's.....Ryan and Scott headed out after 
that, they were gonna camp somewhere in upstate NY; I think they'd 
had enough of the Big Apple.

So I got up this morning, packed up the car and headed out.  Thanks 
to Jan Folkson, I had MUCH better directions that got me off Long 
Island and into New Jersey on I-80 in about 30 minutes.  See, that's 
what I'm used to here....I estimate distances at one mile = one 
minute for expressway travel, 2 minutes for in-city.  None of this 
one-hour per mile bull!

...until someone had a pretty nasty accident on I-80 about 10 miles 
from the Delaware Water Gap.  THAT delayed things an hour......they 
flew someone out on a Mercy Flight helicopter, tho....

So now I'm back home, sharing my experiences with all you ......

I'm done now.....sorry for the length, and watch for the webpage.
/===============================================================\
| Jim Jarrett                      http://www2.rpa.net/~jarrett |
| jarrett@<NOSPAM>rpa.net                                       |
|                                                               |
|    Any problem can be solved with the proper application of   |
|   Force, Heat, Chemicals, or Money.                           |
\===============================================================/

--
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe scirocco-l" to majordomo@scirocco.org.
If you experience other problems, email: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org