Iowa Road Meet

[SSOWorld]

From Jeff Morrison on MTR

By the time the calendar got around to me again the month of June was
pretty well booked, so that kind of dictated when the meet was going
to be. (Even if my big vacation will be two weeks later.) But I've
scheduled the third Friday and Saturday in July off, and will work on
plans through the spring.

As I have it figured now, Day 1 will be centered on the Lincoln
Highway from Belle Plaine to Colo, including new 30 construction. Day
2 will be a Central Iowa loop that includes viewing the reconstructed
northeast mixmaster and I-235. Ideally, I'll get something set up
online like Scott did for the Oklahoma City meet.

How each day begins may kind of depend on where people are staying - I
was looking at starting in Toledo for Day 1 and Toledo or Marshalltown
for Day 2. Marshalltown has a Super 8 and Best Western; Toledo has a
Super 8. The second day will end in Ames, and obviously there's plenty
to choose from there. It's about an hour between Ames and Toledo.

RSVPs not necessarily yet, obviously, but I did want to get the date
set. (In other news, a severe thunderstorm has been scheduled for
central Iowa on the third weekend of July.)

---

Posting for visibility sake.

[corco]

Any road meet in Iowa, any time of year, and I'm there

[hbelkins]

I intend for this to be my big trip of the year, but like SW Arkansas in August, I wonder how pleasant the weather is in Iowa in July. Maybe it's far enough north not to be plagued by humidity.

[DanTheMan414]

That's a possibility for me.  Iowa in July can be pretty comparable to Indiana in July, so I think the weather should be bearable for the roads meet purposes.  I would be curious to see what kind of things Jeff might have planned for featuring the "local flavor" of Iowa in the evenings, a la Ed Debevic's & Navy Pier from the Chicago meet.

[hbelkins]

I would be curious to see what kind of things Jeff might have planned for featuring the "local flavor" of Iowa in the evenings, a la Ed Debevic's & Navy Pier from the Chicago meet.

Probably something involving corn. 

[SSOWorld]

I would be curious to see what kind of things Jeff might have planned for featuring the "local flavor" of Iowa in the evenings, a la Ed Debevic's & Navy Pier from the Chicago meet.

Probably something involving corn. 

Beer!!??

Oh wait... that's wheat and barley

[froggie]

Upper Midwest weather in July can range anywhere from dry 70s to humid 90s, and occasionally 100s.  It's also possible that the road meet could turn into a storm chase.

[US71]

Upper Midwest weather in July can range anywhere from dry 70s to humid 90s, and occasionally 100s.  It's also possible that the road meet could turn into a storm chase.

I assume you mean getting chased by a storm?

[froggie]

Either or.  If I were there, I'd probably be chasing the storm.

[SSOWorld]

Either or.  If I were there, I'd probably be chasing the storm.

Quick - someone put froggie on a leash

[hbelkins]

Either or.  If I were there, I'd probably be chasing the storm.

I still wanna do a storm chasing trip sometime. My wife couldn't find a Dale Earnhardt memorial calendar for me for Christmas this year so she got me a weather calendar instead, since she knows I'm somewhat of a weather geek.

[PAHighways]

Upper Midwest weather in July can range anywhere from dry 70s to humid 90s, and occasionally 100s.  It's also possible that the road meet could turn into a storm chase.

I'd be up for that.

[hbelkins]

Jeff Morrison has posted the Iowa itinerary at http://homepage.mac.com/jeffmorrison/roadmeet10.html

[agentsteel53]

Jeff Morrison has posted the Iowa itinerary at http://homepage.mac.com/jeffmorrison/roadmeet10.html

there's something wonky about the MIME type of that link (set to application/octet-stream??) that defaults it to "download" instead of "view in browser".  I see no need to store the HTML on my computer and then have a pop-up tell me I can invoke Firefox to open the local copy.

[hbelkins]

Jeff Morrison has posted the Iowa itinerary at http://homepage.mac.com/jeffmorrison/roadmeet10.html

there's something wonky about the MIME type of that link (set to application/octet-stream??) that defaults it to "download" instead of "view in browser".  I see no need to store the HTML on my computer and then have a pop-up tell me I can invoke Firefox to open the local copy.

Hmm. Worked just fine for me.

[Alex]

Jeff Morrison has posted the Iowa itinerary at http://homepage.mac.com/jeffmorrison/roadmeet10.html

there's something wonky about the MIME type of that link (set to application/octet-stream??) that defaults it to "download" instead of "view in browser".  I see no need to store the HTML on my computer and then have a pop-up tell me I can invoke Firefox to open the local copy.

Had the same problem...

[agentsteel53]

it is borked for me on both ffox 3.6.3 and 3.5.3.  My guess is that the MIME header is missing entirely.  Firefox defaults to "download", while Internet Explorer tries to guess a match by extension, so I'm guessing HB uses Internet Explorer.

[hbelkins]

it is borked for me on both ffox 3.6.3 and 3.5.3.  My guess is that the MIME header is missing entirely.  Firefox defaults to "download", while Internet Explorer tries to guess a match by extension, so I'm guessing HB uses Internet Explorer.

Nope. Safari for the Mac. Wonder if it's because the host is mac.com and it's more friendly to the native Mac browser?

I'll try opening it in my other browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Netscape) to see what happens.

[agentsteel53]

Nope. Safari for the Mac. Wonder if it's because the host is mac.com and it's more friendly to the native Mac browser?

I'll try opening it in my other browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Netscape) to see what happens.

I don't know anything about Safari, but it may very well guess file name extensions.  I generally just know IE and FF. 

Lemme know what the others do. 

[hbelkins]

Firefox identified it as a binary file and tried to download. Not sure of why.

Anyway, I have copied the agenda and am pasting it below...

Iowa road meet 2010

Here's the tentative schedule for the Iowa meeting. Staging area will be the parking lot of the Marshalltown Super 8, right at US 30 and IA 14.

My Lincoln Highway photo gallery from 2002 includes photos of many of the places we will be driving past or seeing.

Thursday, July 15

Depending on the number of attendees, a potential pre-meeting meeting in Marshalltown is an option. Perkins, Pizza Ranch, Applebee's all available.

Friday, July 16

Meet in parking lot at 9:30, but 10 if that works better.

US 30 east to Tama, including construction of new 30, with stops at least at H Avenue and the US 63 bridge.
East on the Lincoln Highway to Chelsea and Belle Plaine, and the George Preston Service Station
Checking out the famous Lincoln Highway Bridge either before or after the meal, depending on time.
Noon meal: King Tower Cafe, Tama
Lincoln Highway through Tama, including a mural of the bridge
Lincoln Highway through Tama and Marshall counties.
Lincoln Highway through Marshalltown, either the entire route or segment west of IA 14 that includes old IA 330.
Lincoln Highway through Marshall County to Colo and Reed/Niland Corner.
Depending on time and interest, a 100-mile (ish) swing into Hardin and Grundy counties to travel new US 20. (Note: would be lots of two-lane driving.)
Other option: Lincoln Highway through Nevada to Ames, Geographic Center of Iowa
Evening meal: Taylor's Maid-Rite, Marshalltown
Or the meal could come before an attempt to drive up to new 20.
Saturday, July 17

Meet at parking lot at 9:30/10 again.

West on US 30 to Ogden, passing four-lane work on US 30 between IA 330 and US 65
Lincoln Highway Ogden footprints (IF we can find them)
Union Pacific Kate Shelley High Bridge
Lincoln Highway through Boone County
Optional: Stadiums and campus of Iowa State University, including Lincoln Highway marker
Noon meal: Hickory Park, Ames
I-35 to Des Moines (opt. stop at soon-to-close rest areas), go through the northeast mixmaster, then a view of the mixmaster from the north
Clinch I-235, rebuilt in the 2000s, and go east to the EB I-80 rest area to see Alice's Road bridge
North to Granger on IA 141, then east to Camp Dodge, then south on Merle Hay Road
South on I-80/35, then around the Des Moines beltway
Return to Marshalltown via four-lane US 65/IA 330

[agentsteel53]

IE8 brings it up successfully as well.  My guess is it's a missing MIME header. 

I am not sure why Firefox doesn't try extension matching in the case of a missing MIME header - after all, most servers (unless pre-configured to do otherwise) apply MIME header to the HTTP transaction based on file extension anyway!

I'll have to run Live HTTP Headers on the transaction tonight; I totally forgot to do that last night at home.

[SSOWorld]

Has he left anything about RSVP'ing?  I'm within 3 hrs of the meetup site so I may be going Saturday only (not enough vacation to spare)

[hbelkins]

Has he left anything about RSVP'ing?  I'm within 3 hrs of the meetup site so I may be going Saturday only (not enough vacation to spare)

http://groups.google.com/group/misc.transport.road/msg/97098ec9eb71fa6c

[SSOWorld]

found it.

and replied.  unfortunately I have to take a pass on it

My car gave me trouble today (and has a donut on it) and I have to redirect funds.  plus there's a kick-ass fireworks display in a town nearby that night.

[hbelkins]

Jeff posted more details on MTR yesterday.

Meetup will be 9:30 a.m. Friday, July 16, in the parking lot of the Super 8 Motel in Marshalltown. There will be no pre-meet dinner Thursday night.

So far three have confirmed for the full two days, one for Saturday only, and one for part of the day Friday and most of Saturday. So there's plenty of room for more.