I've met several forum members at roadmeets, mini meets, two person meets, and roads summit meetings. Here's a list of who I can remember off the top of my head:
AJ Bertin
agentsteel53
Alex
Alps (several times)
austrini
bandit957 (several times)
Brandon
brianreynolds
codyg1985 (several times)
corco (several times)
Crazy Volvo Guy (several times)
Dougtone
flaroads
froggie (first road enthusiast I ever met in real life)
hbelkins
kharvey10
Laura
Lonestar14 (several times)
okroads
oscar
Scott5114
SSOWorld
The High Plains Traveler (several times)
US 71 (several times)
If I missed anybody feel free to add to my list.
Who all have you met?
I have only attended one two-person meet and I met US71 at that meet. He's the only member that I have met in real life.
I have met three so far in person. Alex, Flaroads, and Chris from Minnesota (although I am not sure of his user name here).
Then I knew one before I joined via email, but never met him in person. If you want to count Dan Garnell, Doug Kerr, and Adam Prince, they all used my early 2000's road trip photos to help start the gribblenation site, I guess you can say there was four via email as I did have to submit to them my pictures through that medium.
I categorically deny that I've ever interacted with the Stalinist known as "bugo".
Quote from: agentsteel53 on October 24, 2014, 01:48:17 PM
I categorically deny that I've ever interacted with the Stalinist known as "bugo".
Off to the gulag for you, Comrade.
Quote from: bugo on October 24, 2014, 02:36:28 PM
Off to the gulag for you, Comrade.
shit yeah! can I go to Cuba? sunny beaches and yank tanks.
oh, wait - the
American gulag is on that island. crap.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on October 24, 2014, 03:02:26 PM
Quote from: bugo on October 24, 2014, 02:36:28 PM
Off to the gulag for you, Comrade.
shit yeah! can I go to Cuba? sunny beaches and yank tanks.
oh, wait - the American gulag is on that island. crap.
At least there's still the sun and beach.
As for me, I've met more than a few.
I've met Alps several times and Bugo a couple of times (including the recent Roads Scholar Summit). I've also met some of the others here maybe once or twice.
I have not met anyone from this forum, though I live in the same town as at least one other member of the forum.
As discussed at the NYC meet, I believe that Cody and I are the only roadgeeks to have met both Winklers, JN and Adam.
I also have never been to a roadmeet that Cody didn't attend. That's just coincidence, I promise I'm not stalking.
I've probably seen Alps the most- I have encountered Alps on five separate occasions in seven different states scattered pretty well around the country (AZ, ND, OK, IL, MO, NY, NJ).
My list (that I can remember)
AJ Bertin
Alps
apeman33
brianreynolds
bugo
codyg1985
hbelkins
jnwinkler
okroads
jpi
Scott5114
Route 56
Grzrd
Also 4 people not on the forum
-Mark Roberts (of cosmos-monitor fame)
-GRVan (My Land of Misery)
-Alternate 71/Power of 7
-Rich Piehl
And I'm probably forgetting someone. :(
Quote from: US71 on October 24, 2014, 10:05:44 PM
My list (that I can remember)
AJ Bertin
Alps
apeman33
brianreynolds
bugo
codyg1985
hbelkins
jnwinkler
okroads
jpi
Scott5114
Route 56
Grzrd
Also 4 people not on the forum
-Mark Roberts (of cosmos-monitor fame)
-GRVan (My Land of Misery)
-Alternate 71/Power of 7
-Rich Piehl
And I'm probably forgetting someone. :(
corcouch.
I'll list the ones I've met more than once- in the 4 fairly well scattered meets I have been to I've had the good fortune of meeting a large chunk of the meetgoing community at least once.
Alps
bugo
codyg1985
dougtone
GRVan
jpi
oscar
Laura
Sconsin
US71
yanksfan6129
Quote from: algorerhythms on October 24, 2014, 08:19:04 PM
I have not met anyone from this forum, though I live in the same town as at least one other member of the forum.
And at the other end of the Turner Dethpike from a few others.
Everyone at the Binghamton mini-meet in '05. Everyone at the Springfield meet in '10. Everyone at the St. Louis meet this spring.
Alps may have been the first road enthusiast I ever met in-person, in Boston, but I can't clearly remember if the Binghamton mini-meet was before that or not.
It took me getting into trucking to finally meet bugo; and, interestingly enough, I met him during my first solo trip after finishing training.
I met Alex last year, and we inadvertently clinched Historic US 6 in Iowa.
I met US71 a couple years ago, I think, in Fort Smith.
Those that I remember from the Cincinnati meet that I hosted:
Bandit957 (Tim)
A.J. Bertin
Brandon
jpi (Jason Ilyes)
Amroads17
I would still like to meet many more of you, of course, including fellow Kentuckian H.B. Elkins.
I've met a metric fuckton of y'all. The latest is Kacie Jane, 2 hours ago.
Forget whether bugo or Alex were the first one I met. Have met many since then...
Sherman only
Quote from: corco on October 24, 2014, 10:15:09 PM
Quote from: US71 on October 24, 2014, 10:05:44 PM
My list (that I can remember)
AJ Bertin
Alps
apeman33
brianreynolds
bugo
codyg1985
hbelkins
jnwinkler
okroads
jpi
Scott5114
Route 56
Grzrd
Also 4 people not on the forum
-Mark Roberts (of cosmos-monitor fame)
-GRVan (My Land of Misery)
-Alternate 71/Power of 7
-Rich Piehl
And I'm probably forgetting someone. :(
corcouch.
Sorry, Blonde moment :( :coffee:
East: Almost everyone.
Midwest: Almost Everyone
South and West: Almost no one (Just lonestar14, agentsteel53, Andy)
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 25, 2014, 04:23:25 PM
East: Almost everyone.
Midwest: Almost Everyone
South and West: Almost no one (Just lonestar14, agentsteel53, Andy)
I may live in Oklahoma, but I'm a southerner.
Did you not meet Cody?
Good points Jeremy (I mistook that - and forgot - sorry) 8-) (meant to reply - my bad)
Just agentsteel for me so far. There are a few other Oregonians here I'd like to run into so long as I literally don't run into them...LOL!
Rick
Jeremy - Yeah you're right.
Corco, Scott5114, sdmichael, and Steve Riner (High Plains Traveler?) as well
I was at a LAN party :P
Steve (Alps), Laura, and pghgal_90.
I've met so many that I could never list them all.
First ones I ever met in real life were Sherman Cahal and Pete Jenior.
Also had lunch with Bruce Harper and Rush Wickes from the MTR days of yore in Blacksburg, Va. 11 years ago.
I've been to two weddings involving three forum members. (Three weddings if you count my own.)
bugo i can't believe you don't remember our momentous summit in St Louis.
It would be difficult to generate a complete list since there are some people who I know by their real name who probably have an account here but rarely if ever use it and I don't know what it is.
Not to mention that I've been to 35 road meets (3 of which were organized by me), in 13 states and 2 Canadian provinces. So, there are certainly people I've met at some point but don't explicitly remember who they are (sorry, not everyone gets to be special!).
I've met so many of you in real life, with many of those meetings forming into friendships outside of roads.
The first member that I met in real life was conveniently my husband Mike (mdroads). We met on February 2, 2010. Had we not met as co-workers, we would have definitely met at the Baltimore meet on April 17, 2010. Amusingly, had we met at a meet, I still think we would have married - I think us being the two closest attendees would have had something to do with us continuing to meet up to check out roads.
Excluding Mike, the two members I've seen most recently are Duke87 (Anthony) and Roadgeek Adam. We met up on Friday evening in Brooklyn.
The list of enthusiasts that I've spent time with outside of meets (in no particular order): MDRoads (Mike my husband), Duke87 (Anthony), Roadgeek Adam, Alps (Steve), Dougtone (Doug), mtantillo (Mike), cpzilliacus (Patrick), Tollbooth Rob, jpi (Jason), HB Elkins, Lou C., froggie (Adam), Canesfan27 (Adam), Dr. Frankenstein (Carl), codyg1985, Brian Reynolds, Mark S., Ian, Michael TS, Keith T, Allen Seth, Corey Dukes
We've also met if you and I were at the following meets together:
Baltimore (17 April 2010)
SEPA (Phoenixville) (19 June 2010)
Springfield, MA (13 November 2010)
South Jersey Invitational (18 December 2010)
SWPA XMAS Meet (26 December 2010)
ICC (hosted by Froggie) (March 2011)
Northern NJ (19 March 2011)
Central NJ (Turnpike) (13 August 2011)
Williamsport, PA (17 September 2011)
Bennington, VT (12 November 2011)
ICC meet (hosted by me: 2nd leg, first meet) (26 November 2011)
Richmond, VA (13 October 2012)
Doylestown, PA (8 December 2012)
Ashland, KY (6 April 2013)
Portsmouth, NH (1 June 2013)
Brick/Wall, NJ (29 June 2013)
Lebanon, NH (21 September 2013)
Pikeville, KY (19 October 2013)
St. Louis (15 March 2014)
Hampton Roads (22 March 2014)
Delmarva (23 March 2014)
NYC (28-29 June 2014)
Quote from: yanksfan6129 on October 26, 2014, 12:18:06 AM
bugo i can't believe you don't remember our momentous summit in St Louis.
I had a summit with him in Tulsa that the Poo Kroo missed.
I've met a few forum members outside of road meets:
andy3175, in San Diego (before I joined the forum)
sdmichael, in Santa Clarita CA (ditto)
cpzilliacus, at the Roy Rogers restaurant under I-68 in Cumberland MD (but we wouldn't have recognized each other had we not met at a road meet -- I very briefly mentioned this chance encounter in my Manitoba meaderings post (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10403.msg246503#msg246503), but the ensuing discussion wound up being more about that encounter than about Manitoba)
lepidopteran and his wife, at some non-road-related social events (he also went to one road meet I attended)
There's still a Roy Rogers in Cumberland? I thought that place closed years ago.
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 10:59:03 AM
I've met so many of you in real life, with many of those meetings forming into friendships outside of roads.
The list of enthusiasts that I've spent time with outside of meets (in no particular order): MDRoads (Mike my husband), Duke87 (Anthony), Roadgeek Adam, Alps (Steve), Dougtone (Doug), mtantillo (Mike), cpzilliacus (Patrick), Tollbooth Rob, jpi (Jason), HB Elkins, Lou C., froggie (Adam), Canesfan27 (Adam), Dr. Frankenstein (Carl), codyg1985, Brian Reynolds, Mark S., Ian, Michael TS, Keith T, Allen Seth, Corey Dukes
What, you've forgot about me? :P
Quote from: rickmastfan67 on October 26, 2014, 09:41:15 PM
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 10:59:03 AM
I've met so many of you in real life, with many of those meetings forming into friendships outside of roads.
The list of enthusiasts that I've spent time with outside of meets (in no particular order): MDRoads (Mike my husband), Duke87 (Anthony), Roadgeek Adam, Alps (Steve), Dougtone (Doug), mtantillo (Mike), cpzilliacus (Patrick), Tollbooth Rob, jpi (Jason), HB Elkins, Lou C., froggie (Adam), Canesfan27 (Adam), Dr. Frankenstein (Carl), codyg1985, Brian Reynolds, Mark S., Ian, Michael TS, Keith T, Allen Seth, Corey Dukes
What, you've forgot about me? :P
Oh no! I thought I added you and pghgal_90! That was a really fun evening (and so delicious!)
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 09:59:05 PM
Quote from: rickmastfan67 on October 26, 2014, 09:41:15 PM
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 10:59:03 AM
I've met so many of you in real life, with many of those meetings forming into friendships outside of roads.
The list of enthusiasts that I've spent time with outside of meets (in no particular order): MDRoads (Mike my husband), Duke87 (Anthony), Roadgeek Adam, Alps (Steve), Dougtone (Doug), mtantillo (Mike), cpzilliacus (Patrick), Tollbooth Rob, jpi (Jason), HB Elkins, Lou C., froggie (Adam), Canesfan27 (Adam), Dr. Frankenstein (Carl), codyg1985, Brian Reynolds, Mark S., Ian, Michael TS, Keith T, Allen Seth, Corey Dukes
What, you've forgot about me? :P
Oh no! I thought I added you and pghgal_90! That was a really fun evening (and so delicious!)
Sounds like I missed something ;)
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 26, 2014, 10:34:43 PM
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 09:59:05 PM
Quote from: rickmastfan67 on October 26, 2014, 09:41:15 PM
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 10:59:03 AM
I've met so many of you in real life, with many of those meetings forming into friendships outside of roads.
The list of enthusiasts that I've spent time with outside of meets (in no particular order): MDRoads (Mike my husband), Duke87 (Anthony), Roadgeek Adam, Alps (Steve), Dougtone (Doug), mtantillo (Mike), cpzilliacus (Patrick), Tollbooth Rob, jpi (Jason), HB Elkins, Lou C., froggie (Adam), Canesfan27 (Adam), Dr. Frankenstein (Carl), codyg1985, Brian Reynolds, Mark S., Ian, Michael TS, Keith T, Allen Seth, Corey Dukes
What, you've forgot about me? :P
Oh no! I thought I added you and pghgal_90! That was a really fun evening (and so delicious!)
Sounds like I missed something ;)
Hehe. On the evening after the STL meet, Alps and I met up with them in Pittsburgh at Primanti Brothers, a classic Pittsburgh food institution :)
Cutting & pasting from Laura's meet list; I met you if you and I were at the following meets together:
Doylestown, PA (8 December 2012)
Monticello, NY (23 March 2013)
Portsmouth, NH (1 June 2013)
Brick/Wall, NJ (29 June 2013)
Note: If I don't remember talking to you, you might not appear on the list even though we've been to the same meet once. If we did talk, my most sincere apologies, my memory is failing me! Like some people here, I'm including roadgeeks who aren't AARoads.com members. Italics denote either that, or that I don't know their username.
Northern NJ, March 2011
Alps (Steve Alpert)
Dougtone (Doug Kerr)
tollboothrob / Rob Sargent
Lou Corsaro
Roadgeek Adam (Adam Moss)
Laura (Laura Bianca-Pruett)
MDRoads (Mike Pruett)
Duke87 (Anthony Costanzo)
mtantillo (Mike Tantillo)
Michael Temme-Soifer
Keith Thomas
baugh17 (Mark Sinsabaugh)
hbelkins (H.B. Elkins)
yanksfan6129 (Scott Davis)
dlainhart (Dylan Lainhart)
Compulov (Leigh Koven)
Daniel Case
A tow truck driver
Montreal, May 2011
oscar (Oscar Voss)
webfil (Félix)
New Haven, July 2011
vdeane (Valerie Deane)
Doug Krause
Bob Malme
Central NJ, August 2011
Ian (Ian Ligget)
Janko Dialnice (John Housty)
Adam Winkler
Kevin Brownlie
jeffandnicole (Jeff Taylor)
Watertown, NY, September 2011
brianreynolds (Brian Reynolds)
Philip Cousin
Chris Jordan
John Krakoff
Golden Horseshoe, ON, December 2011 (not a formal meet)
AsphaltPlanet (Scott Steeves)
Bennington, November 2011
Zack Lewis
Delaware Water Gap, March 2012
Travis Fuguet
Sarnia/Port Huron, August 2012
DanTheMan414 (Dan Garnell)
rawmustard (Brian Rawson-Ketchum)
A.J. Bertin
cbeach40 (Chris Beach)
Brandon (Brandon Gorte)
getemngo (Sam Scholtens)
haljackey (Ryan Stubbs)
Richmond, VA, October 2012
Shawn De Cesari
wriddle082 (Billy Riddle)
Takumi (Michael Elmore)
Sanctimoniously (Elric Naslund)
jpi (Jason Ilyes)
WillWeaverRVA (Will Weaver)
Chris Curley
Potsdam, NY, November 2012
cu2010
Rochester, November 2012
Nick Dubanow
Portsmouth, June 2013
PHLBOS (Chris Commans)
cpziliacus (Patrick Ziliacus)
adamjackson (Adam Jackson)
Brick/Wall, July 2013
dgolub (David Golub)
Upper-Middle St. Lawrence, September 2013
Thomas Westphal
place-saint-henri (Serge Del Grosso) (I'd actually met him long before, but not in a roadgeek context)
Lebanon, NH, September 2013
deathtopumpkins (Connor Lauzon)
Burlington, VT, November 2013
froggie (Adam Froehlig)
New York, June 2014
codyg1985 (Cody Goodman)
SSOWorld (Scott Onson)
corco (David Corcoran)
C.C. Slater/Otto Yamamoto
Dan Murphy
...I just surprised myself with how long that list actually is. Holy shit. That's 63 roadgeeks, 17 road meets (Quebec City is not mentioned because I met no one new there), and at least 3 informal gatherings!
Quote from: Dr FrankensteinCentral NJ, August 2011
We actually met at this one...I made an appearance for the lunch but did not go on the tour.
Quote from: Dr Frankenstein on October 29, 2014, 11:55:49 AM
A tow truck driver
It's not a laughing matter, but I couldn't help but laugh at this.
List of meets I've attended:
Highland NY, 10/03/2009
Baltimore, 04/17/2010
SE PA, 06/19/2010
Providence, 08/07/2010
Springfield MA, 11/13/2010
Kearny NJ impromptu, 02/05/2011
ICC take 1, 03/06/2011
Newark/Northern NJ, 03/12/2011
Montreal, 05/28/2011
New Haven CT, 07/23/2011 (hosted)
Central NJ, 08/13/2011
Watertown NY, 09/10/2011
Williamsport PA, 09/17/2011
Bennington VT, 11/12/2011
ICC take 3, 12/04/2011
Utica invitational, 02/11/2012
Stroudsburg PA, 03/24/2012
Ottawa, 08/25/2012
Rochester invitational, 11/24/2012
Doylestown PA, 12/08/2012
Monticello NY, 03/23/2013
Portsmouth NH, 06/01/2013
Brick/Wall NJ, 06/29/2013
Cleveland, 07/13/2013
Binghamton NY, 08/10/2013
St. Lawrence Valley impromptu, 08/31/2013 (co-hosted)
Pikeville KY, 10/19/2013
Burlington VT, 11/09/2013
Delmarva, 03/23/2014
Nashville, 03/29/2014
Corning NY, 04/05/2014
NYC national, 06/28/2014-06/29/2014
Appleton WI, 08/16/2014
Quebec City, 10/11/2014
Merritt Parkway, 10/18/2014 (hosted)
NJ Turnpike impromptu, 11/01/2014
Quote from: yanksfan6129 on October 26, 2014, 12:18:06 AM
bugo i can't believe you don't remember our momentous summit in St Louis.
I don't remember a lot of things about that weekend. My short term memory was impaired.
My meet list (* means mini meet):
Syracuse, NY* (Aug. 2009)
Rochester, NY (Sept. 2010)
New Haven, CT (July 2011)
Central NJ (Aug. 2011)
Watertown, NY (Sept. 2011)
Montreal* (May 2012)
Ottawa (take 2, Sept. 2012)
St. Lawrence County, NY (hosted; Nov. 2012)
Rochester, NY* (hosted; Nov. 2012)
Monticello, NY (Mar. 2013)
Brick/Wall, NJ (June 2013)
Binghamton, NY (Aug. 2013)
Lebanon, NH (Sept. 2013)
Burlington, VT (hosted; Nov. 2013)
Corning/Elmira, NY (hosted; April 2014)
NYC (day 1 lunch and start of tour; June 2014)
Quebec City (Oct. 2014)
Merritt Pkwy (Oct. 2014)
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 11:07:12 PM
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 26, 2014, 10:34:43 PM
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 09:59:05 PM
Quote from: rickmastfan67 on October 26, 2014, 09:41:15 PM
Quote from: Laura on October 26, 2014, 10:59:03 AM
I've met so many of you in real life, with many of those meetings forming into friendships outside of roads.
The list of enthusiasts that I've spent time with outside of meets (in no particular order): MDRoads (Mike my husband), Duke87 (Anthony), Roadgeek Adam, Alps (Steve), Dougtone (Doug), mtantillo (Mike), cpzilliacus (Patrick), Tollbooth Rob, jpi (Jason), HB Elkins, Lou C., froggie (Adam), Canesfan27 (Adam), Dr. Frankenstein (Carl), codyg1985, Brian Reynolds, Mark S., Ian, Michael TS, Keith T, Allen Seth, Corey Dukes
What, you've forgot about me? :P
Oh no! I thought I added you and pghgal_90! That was a really fun evening (and so delicious!)
Sounds like I missed something ;)
Hehe. On the evening after the STL meet, Alps and I met up with them in Pittsburgh at Primanti Brothers, a classic Pittsburgh food institution :)
It was so delicious. ;)
For my first couple years, every single meet I went to had Brian Rawson-Ketchum, AJ Bertin, Dan Garnell, Brian Reynolds, and H.B. Elkins in attendance. The only roadgeeks I've hung out with outside of meets (or meet weekends) that I can think of are AJ, both aforementioned Brians, Alps, Cody Goodman, and Brandon (since Flint wasn't really a meet).
Going by my Facebook friends list, there's around 30-35 roadgeeks I've met in person.
I can't even really keep track...I've been going to meets since 2000. I've met quite a few people. I only recently started becoming much more friendly with people and doing stuff outside of formal roadmeets within the past couple of years. Many of you may know I'm a cancer survivor...and that kind of changed my outlook on life. After that point I decided I didn't really care if other people didn't think being a roadgeek was "normal"...it was normal for me and that's all that mattered. Also, on my off-weeks of chemotherapy, I took a few roadtrips those were some of the happiest times of a rather low point in my life, so I've embraced the hobby more so as a result now that I'm all better...especially since the first thing I did the day after I learned I was officially in remission was go to a road meet (Richmond).
Meets I specifically remember attending and approximate dates:
-Raleigh, April 2000
-Utica, October 2001
-Greensboro, Spring 2002?
-Raleigh, October 2002
-Raleigh, Summer 2004
-Gastonia, Spring 2005?
-Pikeville, Spring 2005
-Albany, Spring 2006
-Elmira/Corning, Fall 2006
-Poughkeepsie, Spring 2007
-Greensboro, Fall 2007
-Milford PA, Spring 2008
-Providence, Summer 2009?
-Baltimore, April 2010
-Phoenixville, June 2010
-Springfield, Fall 2010
-Rochester, September 2010
-Northern NJ...Fall 2010?
-New Haven, June 2011
-Central NJ, Summer 2011
-Williamsport, September 2011
-Bennington, November 2011
-Richmond, October 2012
-Doylestown, December 2012 (Santa holding a Send Help sign on my birthday...a memorable meet)
-Ashland, Spring 2013
-Portsmouth, Summer 2013
-Chattanooga, Summer 2013
-Lebanon NH, Fall 2013
-Pikeville, Fall 2013
-Maryland House (unoffical impromptu), January 2013
-Hampton Roads, April 2014
-Delmarva, April 2014
-NYC/NJ National Meet, June 2014
-Stamford, October 2014
-Quebec City, October 2014
-NJ Turnpike "invitational" meet, November 2014
For those that forgot - I'm actually going to mention the meets you may (or may not) have met me at as well. It's a much shorter list since I kept away for most of the early years of the hobby (doing my own thing)
2008 - Chicago/Milwaukee Day 2
2009 - State College
2010 - Providence, RI
2011 - Wausau, WI
2012 - Joliet, IL, St Louis
2013 - Dubuque, IA, Los Angeles (US 99 tour)
2014 - St. Louis, IL Valley (Starved Rock), NYC/North Jersey, Appleton/Green Bay
Thinking some more about this topic....there are at least 6 hobbyists where the first time I met them WASN'T at a road meet: bugo, Alex, Steve Riner (HighPlainsTraveler), Steve Anderson, Scott Kozel, and Darkchlyde. I have NEVER seen the first four on the list at a roadmeet. Not to say that they haven't attended meets...just that I was not present at whatever meets they may have attended.
On another note, I had an odd tendency for awhile to "crash" roadmeets...where I showed up at a meet, announced or unannounced, and left almost as quickly. Two of the SWPA meets between 2003-05, Raleigh Spring 2008, one of the SEPA meets (the one where it took over an hour to take care of the bill), and most recently Nashville this past March are all examples. My personal favorite was Raleigh 2008 where I showed up halfway through lunch, completely unannounced, with SEVERAL surprised looks in the crowd. If only I had a better camera at the time...
Quote from: froggie on November 11, 2014, 09:35:43 PMMy personal favorite was Raleigh 2008 where I showed up halfway through lunch, completely unannounced, with SEVERAL surprised looks in the crowd. If only I had a better camera at the time...
I don't know that your appearance there was completely unexpected. IIRC you had indicated that you would be traveling through the area, so it wasn't a total surprise.
As for crashing road meets, there's only one that I've showed up for unannounced, that being the SWPA meet after Christmas in 2010. I didn't decide until the night before that I was going, and no one would have known I was going to be there unless they were watching Facebook, when I could still post my location -- and was actively doing so during my travels-- via one of the GPS apps on my iPad.
OTOH, I have missed a couple of meets that I had planned to attend. One was the July Columbus meet a few years ago. I was up late the night before and was also sick with either a cold or severe allergies, so I ended up sleeping in. The other was Cincinnati last fall; I ended up oversleeping. I also didn't attend the I-26 Asheville meet that Brian Reynolds mentioned in another post; I was in the area but was on my own itinerary that day.
I've also been to a few meets where I didn't stay for the tour after lunch. That was back when I wasn't doing any overnight travel and wanted to get back home before it was too late.
I tried going unannounced to Starved Rock, but I ended up announcing it. I'll try to troll a meet in 2015.
Quote from: hbelkins on November 11, 2014, 10:31:21 PM
As for crashing road meets, there's only one that I've showed up for unannounced, that being the SWPA meet after Christmas in 2010. I didn't decide until the night before that I was going, and no one would have known I was going to be there unless they were watching Facebook, when I could still post my location -- and was actively doing so during my travels-- via one of the GPS apps on my iPad.
I believe this was the only meet I crashed as well. The surprised looks on everyone's faces were priceless, especially since it was snowing there and that we drove through the snow in Western MD to get there. We were younger and stupider then...there were 13 inches of snow projected to hit Baltimore that day. We had no plan for what to do if we couldn't make it home. By a crazy Christmas miracle, the snow shifted east, hitting Delmarva instead. We arrived home to one inch instead of 13.
iPhone
Quote from: froggie on November 11, 2014, 09:35:43 PM
Thinking some more about this topic....there are at least 6 hobbyists where the first time I met them WASN'T at a road meet: bugo, Alex, Steve Riner (HighPlainsTraveler), Steve Anderson, Scott Kozel, and Darkchlyde. I have NEVER seen the first four on the list at a roadmeet. Not to say that they haven't attended meets...just that I was not present at whatever meets they may have attended.
I've been to OKC, Tulsa (host) and St Louis. Steve Riner has been to at least OKC and St Louis.
Quote from: Laura on November 12, 2014, 07:21:27 AM
I believe this was the only meet I crashed as well. The surprised looks on everyone's faces were priceless, especially since it was snowing there and that we drove through the snow in Western MD to get there. We were younger and stupider then...there were 13 inches of snow projected to hit Baltimore that day. We had no plan for what to do if we couldn't make it home. By a crazy Christmas miracle, the snow shifted east, hitting Delmarva instead. We arrived home to one inch instead of 13.
That's the meet where I was lucky enough that the battery had died on my Vue when I tried to start it that morning, so I ended up driving my old 4WD Toyota truck instead.
It started snowing on me on the return trip somewhere between Clarksburg and Weston. I thought about stopping at Weston to spend the night but ended up going on to Charleston. I-79 got snow-covered real quick and the idiot truck drivers were still blowing by at 70 mph in the dark when most traffic was negotiating the road at 45 mph. It was one of the most nerve-wracking trips I've made. I was thankful to make it to Charleston without having been involved in a wreck.
If I hadn't been in my 4WD I probably would have overnighted at Weston.
Everybody sure was surprised when I showed up at the Ashland meet last year!
Quote from: bandit957 on November 12, 2014, 02:30:28 PM
Everybody sure was surprised when I showed up at the Ashland meet last year!
We knew you were coming. At least several of us did.
Let's see...outside meets I've met only three members (Will Weaver, Sanctimoniously and 74/171fan) and everyone that attended the 2012 Richmond and 2014 Hampton Roads meets.
Since I live on the West Coast, there have been few road meets in California or adjacent states that I have attended. There was one time where Matt, Dale, and I met in Denver in 2002, but that was a one-time visit. I did manage to meet Scott O and Michael a year ago for an LA Hwy 99 tour, but traveling east to all the road meets in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas hasn't really been in the cards for me. Maybe someday I'll show up to one, but probably not anytime soon.
Most of my real life visits with aaroads.com members have been outside of official road meets.
Truvelo is the only aaroads.com member I've ever met in person, although that is because we are both insulator collectors and we first met in Yuma, Arizona at an insulators collector's meet. Later, I found out completely by accident that he is also a roadgeek right here on this webpage! Not long after I joined aaroads, somebody named Truvelo joined from Birmingham, England, but his avatar at the time showed a Phoenix, Arizona street scene just a few blocks from where I live! Ultimately, I queried him about it and after a few exchanges of PMs, we realized that we were those insulator collectors that first met in Yuma! Small world.
Yes, it's amazing how many forum members turn out to be people you know. Incidently my current avatar is also from Arizona. I really do like my Saguaro :)
The only other person on this forum I believe I've met is J N Winkler who is also a member of a British roads forum. That forum has an annual event each April and I'm sure he was there one year.
There are too many people to count on here, and I'm afraid I will leave someone out that I've met. A lot of you have covered me so far. My memory is so ass-tastic that I am not sure I can remember all the meets I've been to, but here goes:
Tulsa (2010)
Morgantown (2011)
Charleston (2011)
Memphis (2012)
Birmingham (2012)
St. Louis (2012)
Ashland (2013)
Wichita (2013)
Chattanooga (2013)
Pikeville (2013)
St. Louis (2014)
Nashville (2014)
Starved Rock (2014)
New York/New Jersey (2014)
NE Alabama (2014)
Quote from: Truvelo on December 05, 2014, 04:52:00 PMThe only other person on this forum I believe I've met is J N Winkler who is also a member of a British roads forum.
:wave:
I've met Truvelo and J N Winkler
The only significant roadmeets I've been to were Ashland (2013), Cincinnati (2013), and St. Louis (2014), plus there was the Roads Scholar Summit recently in Tulsa. But I forgot about the Michigan's Thumb meet in 2003 that the Sesame Street Krew missed.
Quote from: bandit957 on December 08, 2014, 12:44:12 PM
The only significant roadmeets I've been to were Ashland (2013), Cincinnati (2013), and St. Louis (2014), plus there was the Roads Scholar Summit recently in Tulsa. But I forgot about the Michigan's Thumb meet in 2003 that the Sesame Street Krew missed.
The Roads Scholar Summit totally kicked ass. Much strategy was discussed, deals were brokered, and good BBQ was consumed.
Quote from: corco on October 24, 2014, 08:26:01 PM
As discussed at the NYC meet, I believe that Cody and I are the only roadgeeks to have met both Winklers, JN and Adam.
Actually, I'm pretty sure I've met Adam. I think he came to the "Carl got his car towed" meet in New Jersey a few years ago. And I met JN last year at Wichita.
Quote from: bugo on December 08, 2014, 10:36:29 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on December 08, 2014, 12:44:12 PM
The only significant roadmeets I've been to were Ashland (2013), Cincinnati (2013), and St. Louis (2014), plus there was the Roads Scholar Summit recently in Tulsa. But I forgot about the Michigan's Thumb meet in 2003 that the Sesame Street Krew missed.
The Roads Scholar Summit totally kicked ass. Much strategy was discussed, deals were brokered, and good BBQ was consumed.
And the Sesame Street Krew missed it all.