My original thoughts were to first meet around the Grapevine Lake area as
there are several ramps close by, a good selection of restaurants in town
(1 to 2 miles from the ramps), and hotels and ample trailer parking for any
out of towners. As I'd like to encourage the people in the area who are
working on amphi projects to come, we could start the day off with a good
"get to know you" breakfast, share things/tips/experiences about our cars,
etc, and divy up extra riders for a swim in the lake, going in and out at
several ramps, maybe even take a longer swim around the lake to Sneaky
Pete's on the lake for a lunch snack of some Alligator or just ordinary
burgers. (That could be a nice hour cruise along the shore with several
exit strategies should the need arise, or for the adventurous, 20 minutes
straight across the middle). On Lake Grapevine, I could attempt to reserve
a campsite/group table at the campground by one marina (which is a short 10
minute swim from another marina and within a 10 minute swim of several
other ramps) as a "base area" camp. Nice quiet water in the marina bay(s)
even if the wind is doing obnoxious things on the main body, but typically
as wind blows out of the south and lake is east-west, the south shore is
normally pleasant. Basically, these marina's are 1 to 2 miles from
"restaurant/hotel row" in Grapevine. The only drawback to the camping area
is the "gate attendants" who seem to think Amphicars "disturb the guests"
as the "other camping guests" usually come down with cameras in hand to see
the amphis. (Amphis are seen quite often on Grapevine, so the sight is not
that unusual to many people...) These are the only set of gate attendants
that I have ever seen react this way, but there are other picnic tables on
the water at several of the the other nearby ramps that could be an
alternative if I can't get a better understanding with these folks.
However, restaurants directly on the water are quite limitted.
Steve, ... Question.... would the Dallas DUKW club want to adventure into
Grapevine, or in the afternoon should we try nearby Lake Lewisville (20-30
minute drive east) and check out the other Sneaky Pete's on that lake with
Steve as a guide. I hear he's good at driving around picnic tables....
I'm not at all familiar with nearby Lake Arlington, but should we choose to
adventure down there, perhaps Dan could be the guide ... I'm estimating
that is about a 40-60 minute amphi drive south through the traffic. I've
also been on Eagle Mountain and that is on the west side of the metroplex
about 40-50 amphi minutes west from Grapevine if Jack would like to share
some interesting things he's done with electricity. However, I think two
different lakes would be the max on any given day. ... Grapevine and one
other, or just Grapevine. I may be prejudiced as I swim Grapevine more,
but tend to think the wind driven waves situation, multiple convenient ramp
locations, and nearness of town favor Grapevine Lake. As for media, I
could go either way. I just want a good time with our friends and
encourage the folks working on projects. As for media ... Unless the
Democrats leave the state again, or the military situation takes another
twist, I'm sure we could get the media for a spot of swimming with the
Dallas DUKW club if we wanted the attention. Saturday night there are
usually several car shows in the area should people want to invade a show,
but the majority of the ones I know about would be about a 20 minute drive
from Grapevine Lake and consume the early evening. If there is interest in
socializing at a car show (as opposed to more swimming and socializing at
the lake), I could see about making arrangements for a group entry. I'd
like this to be "our swim-in" doing what ever the majority would like to
do. With the preliminary announcement, there are already a half dozen cars
that are interested. If other out of towner's want to do things on Friday
or into late Sunday, we can do that too! There is a good quantity of
quality rooms in the area so reservations will not be a problem as it is
every year in Celina. Just let me know.
Lets keep the suggestions flowing.
Al
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