Spring FestivaL 2011

[htchbck]

haha, yeah tearing cars apart if ya'll ever want to have a meet here we can rip them down to the empty shell, leave it like that for a week, and noone will care I don't have parking for more than about a half dozen cars though, unless I leave my half dozen over at dad's lol. But yeah, I agree that we should respect the campground, and also Clemson.

[Pu241]

I don't think anyone intends to "tear a car apart".
But minor repairs and diagnoses will likely take place and I have no qualms about doing that.
I suspect I'm not going to be the only one, who after a 500 mile drive, will not want to drive some more so we can trade/barter/sell/buy parts.
I can post bail if the city of Clemson has an issue with that.
It's not like we are going to be bringing in trailer loads of stuff anyway.
Hell, after tools, cloths, computer, cooler, etc.I don't have a lot of room to bring or take back stuff.
It's just asinine that we are going to come into their area and spend money and they're going to be upset if exchange a few parts.
So Clemson has all the drug dealers in town taken care of and have nothing more important to do?
Its not about respect it's about common sense!

[fastivaca]

http://www.facebook.com/video/video....39468&comments

http://www.facebook.com/video/video....99762&comments

Two videos for those wondering about the tent camping area...

Videos not working... get this message "This video either has been removed from Facebook or is not visible due to privacy settings."

[Pu241]

Pre- meet update

Myself and Kartracer46 zeroed out the inertial reference frames and had almost a simultaneous launch for the first leg of the drive to Clemson.
Kart was somewhat side tracked due to having to stop for parts to work on a few festives and making a stop so his gay friend Will could follow him to Raleigh, NC.

Kart and his gay friend Will arrived 30 minutes after myself in Raleigh.
We had a quick lunch at Chargrill and all of us (Kartracer, Smedley, myself, and Kartracer's gay friend Will) headed out to for a running meet with Britstiva.
We intercepted Britstiva outside Sanford without a hitch at which point we all (Kartracer, Smedley, Britstiva, myself, and Kartracers gay friend Will) became North Carolina crew. We headed to Ladyblaster and Motoexpress's residence for a pre-meet get together as it always turns out.
Next morning we are rolled out of bed and were greeted with coffee and begun packing for the final leg of the trip to the meet.
After a breakfast stop and fuel stop I was designated Blue Flight Leader for the fleet, which at this point was Smedley, Britstiva, Kartracer, Orange Crush, Motoexpress, and Kartracer's gay friend Will.
The fleet arrived at the meet site at nearly noon on the dot.

[htchbck]

So far so good, everything's quiet at the KOA now except for the people in the cabin next door trying to set fire to the whole place... Though oddly enough they aren't even anyone from our crew lol. Got some trading done, and a few parts installed. Today was a good day

[Team Lightning]

A photo of some of the attendees.

[Team Lightning]

Link to my Photos on Photobucket

http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae265/bebandit/Carolina%20Spring%20FestivaL%202011/

[kumalaba]

just got home from the s.c. meet & it was a absolute blast! i enjoyed meeting everyone & the cookout @ koa was perfect! tks dustin for having meet, ill be back next year.

[Smedley]

Been back a couple of hours. Meet was great. The KOA was an awesome idea. We could all hang out, cook out and tinker on cars. The management loved us. They took pictures of the cars when we were checking in and when the cars were parked at the kabins and had them posted in the office on Sunday morning and we were invited back. We took up six of eight kabins and several folks who came as visitors want to stay next year, so looks like we will have them all filled with Festiva folks. Thanks for everything Dustin and Jerry.

[Smedley]

kumalaba - it was great to have more time to talk to you then we got at Madness.
htchbck - great to see you again. hope the rest of your vacation is as fun.

[kumalaba]

kumalaba - it was great to have more time to talk to you then we got at Madness.
htchbck - great to see you again. hope the rest of your vacation is as fun.

tks see you at fm5

[DriverOne]

In only it's second year, I'm proud to say that this fledgeling meet has indeed received its wings and will in fact return for another event next year. Many people came from some very great distances to descend upon Clemson, SC, including an almost legendary convoy that arrived in style led by the Blue Flight Leader, Mr. Pu241! The original plans were simple, and the original meet spot was a decent-sized one, but with an unusually hot April and a severe lack of shade, some of us were "soaking in our pants," as one member put it. Children (and those soon to have children) were too hot as well, and the next move was obvious: Get to the KOA!
With the exception of Sparky and his great family (who, although they were celebrating his sister's 50th birthday Saturday drove from the middle of GA the night before to be at this meet - Thanks, guys!), a convoy of 12 Festivas and one CLEAN 323 wagon rolled in on a largely unsuspecting campground to convene in their 'kabin' area. Mr. Rivera and his wife who joined us from Columbia, SC had chosen to eat in Clemson and had just missed our entourage, so Bebandit jumped behind the wheel of his Festy and went to bring them in!
A quick meeting pooled together money for supplies for an impromptu cookout, and Kumalaba had his chance to shine as we loaded all the supplies that Ladyblaster, Kumalaba, Neanderpaul, Htchbck and his wife, Will Jarvis, my wife MadScientist, our good friends Michael & Jennifer (who love all hot hatches, and pitched in for drinks, buns, and chips) managed to pile together in a whirlwind into his car. Thank you to everyone who contributed either financially and/or joined the food run!
Upon return, I was happy to see that everyone was relaxed and settled into their 'kabins', and that front porch swings were full of friends. I have to say, it's amazing how many Festivas you can pack into a tiny place and still have room to drive through! Will Jarvis was quick to light the grills, and he got his burger and pork chop grilling on while MadScientist took the dogs to the next level with all the fixin's you wanted. Special thanks again to Ladyblaster for becoming Mary Poppins and pulling a whole picnic setup from the back of her Festy! Kartracer46 was up to his elbows in Festiva grease again, and disappeared for a while.
As darkness fell, even more friends arrived, and Bebandit found it fit to mention the ingenious invention of his dimmable LED gauge cluster illumination mod, something Ladyblaster is sure to bring to the table in whichever event she chooses to attend next! If you haven't seen it yet, you will!
The morning of the 10th introduced cool pavement to the tires of a hungry convoy led by Mr. Bebandit who took the reins and met my Festy-full of people at the Golden Corral a few miles up the interstate, minus one Htchbck Festy headed towards the beach (Yes, Lanemeyer14, Myrtle Beach). An excellent breakfast aside, a few last pictures were taken and we natives of this stretch of I-85 watched as the last Festiva disappeared up 178 and out of sight. Bebandit said his goodbyes to return to Area Festy1, and I and mine returned to our Outpost.
With an event saved, and a proverbial flag driven into the earth, we now claim Anderson, SC KOA as Spring FestivaL territory! Only two 'kabins' weren't occupied by a Festivian family, and there was talk of having the lane on which the cabins sit renamed to a more appropriate Festiva Lane. Why? Because those in attendance all agreed, next year we'd have them all. A large, covered pavilion with a great commercial grade grill awaits, and promises to add to the festivities next year. Planning has already begun, so if you missed it this year, mark your calendars again for the second Saturday in April, and we'll see you there.
As a final statement I'd like to thank everyone who did what they could to make it to this meet, those who stayed, and everyone who made it what it was. I look forward to next year.

The Final Tally:

Smedley
Bebandit
Kartracer46
Pu241
Ladyblaster + 1 minpin!
Motoxpress, -1 fingertip
Orange Crush
Scoutstiva
Britstiva
Neanderpaul + 2 tiny ladies
Sparky & family
Htchbck & wife (baby not yet!)
Kumalaba
Michael Smith
Jennifer Searight
Jonathan & Ashley Mullinix
Victor Rivera & wife
Will Jarvis & daughter, + 1 superpooch!
MadScientist
& Yours Truly!

[kartracer46]

Had a great time and yes I did manage to work on a few small projects while there. I just had to see and tinker on the rare carby automatic car with htchbck. That car is just gonna be the coolest after a few more bugs are worked out. I also got to tinker on Neanderpaul's creampuff and cruise it for a bit. Nice car! Had a pretty much flawless run home. Arrived here in Hertford at about 8:30 last night after leaving Smedley on 540 just a few miles from her house. Thank you Dustin, Jamie and Jerry Lee for a fun and relaxing weekend.

[kartracer46]

just got home from the s.c. meet & it was a absolute blast! i enjoyed meeting everyone & the cookout @ koa was perfect! tks dustin for having meet, ill be back next year.

it was good to meet you and thanks for sharing the lodging accomodations. keep the wagon the way it is, that was a steal of a deal. hope to see at madness, unless you can make it up for the 30th gathering.

[lanemeyer14]

Sounds like a good meet! Hate that I missed it but I just didn't have things quite ready with my festy and I didn't want to show up to another festy meet in a HONDA! Haha