T.O.O. October Opel Meet

[opelgtguy]

Duane, everyone:
I'll be bringing the pasta salad, as requested, as well as two party hoagies from Sylvio's - Italian and American - with the fixin's on the side.
See you tomorrow.
Rick

[MantAscona]

Sounds yummy, thanks Rick.


Duane

[Mach1Tom]

To go with the Italian hoagie, pasta salad & ziti, I'll be bringing some homemade wine, Fresh cured olives, pizzelles (Italian cookies) & an apple cake from the last of the apples on our tree.

I just finished checking over the GT. I'll pack the cooler in the morning & be on the road by 6:30am. I'll be meeting up with Ron about an hour into the drive at the Donegal exit of the turnpike.

We'll see you all tomorrow afternoon,

~ Tom

[Lottie]

The ziti is all ready to go in the oven tomorrow morning. I also got a half bushel of delicious New York State McIntosh apples. Jordan and I will be leaving around 8 so we should be arriving around lunch time. Everyone have a safe trip!

Moderator interjection: we are leaving at 7:00am

Jordan is funny -- I am up getting ready and he is still snoring.

[MantAscona]

Once again our annual October meet has come to an end. We had a smaller turn out than last year, but it it was pure fun from start to finnish.

Bob (rallybob) arrived late Friday afternoon and we had pizza and relaxed until Dennis (nhopel) arrived a bit later. We sat around and talked until about 11:00pm then Bob left for his hotel and Dennis slept at my house. Saturday brought Rick (opelgtguy), Tom (mach1tom), Ron (gtopeler), Todd (neuropel), Jordan (jordan) & Lottie (Lottie), Dave (jerseydave) & daughter Jennifer and Jim (timemachine) roughly in that order. We all had a fun and relaxing time of eating (a lot) drinking and conversing. Funny thing is we got more food this year and had less people, but by the end, the food was almost gone. We went through 4 dozen rolls, 8 pounds of roast beef and 3 pounds of provolone cheese, two giant 2 foot long hoagies (or subs or heros for those who call them that), a big baking dish of zitti and unknown pounds of pasta salad. Deserts included homemade apple cake, pies, brownies, peanut butter cup bownies, pixels, cup cakes and pumpkin bread. We also had snacks including chips, cured olives, soft pretzels and assorted chocolates. Now that's a lot of food for 16 people!

We had some great conversations about Opels, but most of the talk was about non Opel related topics which is always the best kind. We get to know eachother a little more everytime we get together. We lined all of the cars up out front and had a photo session which may have included disrupting the flow of local traffic. I'll post the photos at some point. Later, Todd shared his new fuel injection set up with all of us and we mocked it up on his 2.4 cylinder head. There was lots of interest in this casual tech session. We all enjoyed ourselves and eachother until about 2:00am when we called it a day.

Sunday morning started around 9:30 when Rick, Tom, Ron, Bob, Jordan and Lottie arrived. Dennis and Todd had spent the night at my place. Dennis started a bit earlier than the rest of us by repairing his drivers side window regulator in his GT. Something about the trip from New Hampshire being cold and wet due to a cable jumping off the pulleys. We were hanging out and eating some more when a very nice fellow named James stopped in and introduced himself. Turns out he's from nearby New Jersey and has been following this thread and decided to take a drive over to check us out. Based on our time spent talking to James, we believe he's going to fit in just perfect with our gang. He's a fun guy with a very nice GT. Looking forward to meeting again James! Things wrapped up around 5:00pm when the last of our guests left to make the trip home.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to spend together and for making this a fun and much anticipated event. I also want to thank you all for bringing along all of the wonderful food and new beverages to try. You're all the best bunch of people we know and there's no one we would rather be with. Please have a safe trip home and don't forget to post to let us know you arrived safely.

Duane

[neuropel]

Truly an awesome event Duane - and that's mainly because you and Lynn are always excellent hosts. Nothing better than hanging out with friendly people, eating good food, and all the while having some great laughs and sharing a cool hobby.

It couldn't get much better!

Todd K.

[jerseydave]

Another great gathering of opel friends at the Foley's. It was nice to see that Duane has a GT in his collection again, of course it is only there for a short period of time

Thanks for all the great food, beverage and conversation. Jennifer was asleep 10 minutes after I left Saturday night, she said she had a good time. Who knows another few months or years my GT may be on the road to the next T.O.O. outing. Seriously I will be back to work on it any day now.

Remember only 7 more months to Carlisle!

[Mach1Tom]

Originally Posted by neuropel Truly an awesome event Duane - and that's mainly because you and Lynn are always excellent hosts. Nothing better than hanging out with friendly people, eating good food, and all the while having some great laughs and sharing a cool hobby. It couldn't get much better! Todd K.

Exactly what he said!!!. Duane & Lynn thank you so much for opening your garage & home for these gatherings. The 6 hour drive & outrageous PA Turnpike tolls are well worth it when you get to spend time with some truly great people I've had the pleasure to meet over the last 6 years. Thanks to Rick for always having a place for me to sleep when I'm out that way too.

Ron & I left Duane's about 1:30 & got on the Turnpike at 2pm. I was back in Pgh at 8pm after 2 coffee stops & just as many restroom stops. Ron & I parted ways at the Donegal exit after gassing up the GTs. Hopefully the last couple hours of his trip went OK.

I didn't take many pics since everyone else did. But I will post a few in the next day or so when I get a chance.

Thanks again,

~ Tom

[jordan]

We made it back just fine, It was a great meet and a lot of fun like always, like many others we are looking forward to the next meet which will probably be Carlilse. Great people, great food, great time, thanks again to Duane and Lynn for hosting such a great event.

[opelgtguy]

Duane, Lynn, Shelby & Erin:
Thanks for hosting another great event. As always, I ate too much, laughed until my asthma was choking me, and got too little sleep - a perfect weekend
I'm glad to see everyone checking in after safely returning home. I'll post a few pix later (maybe at lunch tomorrow).
And remember ......... "CORVETTES SUCK !"
Rick

[RallyBob]

I had a great time as usual. The hosts are the BEST, and the entire Opel gang is like family. Every time we have a get-together it's like being a kid again and visiting relatives (except the aunt with the mustache doesn't kiss you...).

Riding the bike up wasn't quite the same as driving an Opel, but who can argue with only using 9 gallons of gas over 500 miles of driving? And except for the final hour of riding home (42 degrees @ 10 PM), it was an interesting trip since I rode about 95% backroads. I just need thicker gloves!

Bob

[nhopel]

What can I say that hasn't been said by so many about such a great time with great company. Now the wait begins until next year (that is if I can make a reservation for the couch now). I'll say it again....had a great time with wonderful people thank you for a great time.

Dennis

PS Sorry I couldn't be there.
Debbie (the other woman in Dennis' life...Opel being the first)

[RallyBob]

Dennis, how did the oil 'issue' go on the return trip?

[MantAscona]

Originally Posted by opelgtguy And remember ......... "CORVETTES SUCK !" Rick

Oh yeah, an amusing little story. We were out front by the road standing next to the GT I have for sale when a car with three 17 or 18 year old kids drives by. As they passed by, the kid in the passengers seat hangs a bull horn out the window and yells "CORVETTES SUCK!" We all pretty much agreed and went back to what we were doing. Smart kid.

Duane

[MantAscona]

Anyone hear if Jim or Ron made it home safely? Everyone else reported.

Duane

[nhopel]

Bob, the oil issue was under 1/2 qts much better than the drive down.


thanks for the help

Dennis

[Lottie]

Big thanks to Duane, Lynn, Shelby, and Erin for a wonderful event.

It was lovely to see everyone. We kept our promise to Lynn on not leaving many leftovers!

I will have the pictures uploaded in the next couple of days. I am glad to hear that everyone had a fun time. As always, it went too fast and I was sad to say goodbye to everyone.

I can't wait for next year!!

Meanwhile, I wish everyone a fun and productive winter with their Opels!

[gtopeler]

I made it home about 11:30 pm after a short stop at Mom and Dad's house. So I was a bit tired, BUT what a GREAT weekend !!!!. The GT ran well, no problems. Lots of food and wonderful people made for a great time. Thanks to Duane and Lynn for opening up their house and to Rick and 'Grandmom' for a place to crash(sleep). It was great to be with people I only see at Carlisle once a year. Is a date set for next year? I'll be there!!!!!!

Ron M.

[MantAscona]

Everyone has now reported via posting or telephone a safe return home. I'm very glad that everone had a good time and left with good memories and a full belly. Next years event will be held either the first or second weekend of October as that's what we have done traditionally. Mark your calenders now!

Thanks again to all for taking time out of your lives to make ours better.

Duane, Lynn, Shelby & Erin

[timemachine]

Duane, Lynn, Shelby and Erin throw the best parties in Bucks County by far. I still can't believe how my Opel nostalgia trip two years ago led me to all these great people and times. It's like finding my family and just as good as having the car. Almost as good. No, just as good. Almost as good. (I love my car.) Better! Whatever. No wonder Todd's moving in.

Just 56 miles home but it took me two hours to unfold my recently aching back Sunday morning. (When did I get that? Oh, about a week back.) Totally worth it though, and I stayed away from Doctor FeelGood on good vibes alone - though he was on call.

Duane even provided a big fireworks show to follow up on his clever Noble Racing demo of a year ago. Shelby kept the firepit blazing to a sometimes alarming degree. Warning to all - she'll be driving soon. More lessons from Bob to chuck into the noggin. All the food and hats (thanks Rick!) were great with a special nod to Mach 1 Tom for the totally authentico cuisine. Mmmmmmmmmm, Olives. Ohhhhhhhhh Apple cake. Dennis buys good beer.

T.O.O. should have a spring event to bookend Duane's bash. Maybe I can host something like that next year, though I don't have seven Opels or a Garage Mahal to offer. At least I'm hoping I don't by then.

Jim

[Lottie]

Pictures have been uploaded!

Facebook | Lottie Mae Watts's Photos – T.O.O. Opel meet

and

Facebook | Lottie Mae Watts's Photos – Jordan's Fancy Opel Meet Pictures

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by Lottie Pictures have been uploaded!

Man, those throttle bodies are pure sex!
Todd, you really MUST have that car running for Carlisle...