Who's interested?

on a Friday Saturday or a Sunday We would probably be willing to travel down to see the group on the left coast of the USA Post some times and lets see if it works. Sould be able to make it down.

 

Since I still have to drive my mega-gas-guzzler (trade someone for a Prius? LOL), I am at the moment going to say Fall City, Issaquah, Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue area is fine with me (after I get a Prius, I won't care where we meet!). I get off work by 5pm Mon-Thurs, and I'm off at 8pm on the weekends (Fri-Sun). However, Sunday's are pretty flexible, so I can usually squeak out of work on those days. (Note: Aug 8th is a no-go)

 

Dave!
Glad to see someone's gonna be setting something up. I was curious if there was anything going on in WA with Prius owners yet.

For myself personally, escrow is set to close around August 27th, possession can happen as early as September 2nd. That means I'll be at my new condo in Everett (Eastern, near Lake Stevens) and settled enough to go out in the world :wink: by September 15th or so. I grew up in Kirkland from age 2-19 so I know the eastside like the back of my hand. Seattle metro, east of Redmond and into the foothills, north of Everett or south of Bellevue starts getting a bit sketchy.

I would say with the exception of an occasional "Hey, let's all get crazy and venture out to Snoqualmie Falls/Ocean Shores/somewhere else that's touristy and not a typical weekly "locals" destination" that we try to find central locations so people are going maybe 20-40 miles TOPS. Keep in mind, the closer and more convenient you make it for people, the more likely it is that more will come, EVEN if they have other things to do that day. Follow? :tongue:

Since the MAJORITY of WA's population falls around Lake Washington and the south sound (mostly Tacoma and Olympia) and as far north as Everett, I would say we should either go in the vicinity of Redmond (just make everyone go east and to a central (North/South-wise) location. Lots to do in Redmond from golf courses, to Marymoor Park, the Burke-Gillman (sp?)Trail, etc.

Another idea would be to always at least have the PARKING take place in a huge touristy spot in Seattle. Near the Space Needle/EMP/Science Center, Pike's Place Market, the Stadiums, Pioneer Square, Kerry Park (Queen Anne Hill) or Alki Beach... Perhaps the Ballard Locks... Places where we'd have a great social setting that either has a touristy or environmental "theme" so we can just meet and do our thing, and should someone come up and say "Hey is that one of those...?" we can engage conversation with a prospective buyer (it's Capitalism boys and girls... EVERYONE is a prospective buyer...). Currently here in Orange County, I've seen people that go around with business cards they've had made up in order to bring awareness of this board and www.priusonline.com In addition, John-1701A's website has info sheets we could carry in our cars (and don't EVEN say you don't have a storage location to put them in. :wink: ) and hand out to anyone that's curious.

The main thing here is to come up with things that a lot of people can get together and enjoy regardless of age, gender or very specific interests (if most WA owners in here happen to be 60+ for instance, Gameworks in Seattle may not be the wisest choice out there) Come up with a backdrop where we could enjoy ourselves, talk about mods to our cars, mpg experiences, good/bad dealers, etc.

And remember, in the early days, recruitment may be a big factor. Come up with something we can pop under the windshield wiper of a Prius we see in a parking lot at the store/gym/university/worksite/whatever... "Hi fellow Prius owner! First off, great car! Second, if you're interested, have a spare 2-4 hours 1 weekend a month, contact ______ at (xxx)xxx-xxxx and find out when other Washington Prius owners are getting together to do everything from ask questions to just meet and talk about a great car! Hope to see you there! Sincerely, ___________

See how easy that was?

Okay, I think I may officially be rambling now, but I want to see this happen as much as it sounds like you do, and was fully prepared to start something up should I have made it to WA on schedule and there was no mention of a Washington group.

Hope to see you all there in the not too distant future!
(I'm going to post this thread into Priusonline.com so that WA owners that only use one board/know of one board can be made aware as well.

Until then,

 

Rally in Redmond?

If there is a rally in Redmond on a weekend I would be glad to attend.

 

Sure!

Rally on!

 

Yay, right in my backyard! My mega-gas-guzzler won't cost me an arm and a leg for our first meet! LOL. Lots to do in Redmond, so I guess we should find out what most of us are interested in and then pick the best spot, because as bradca21 said: you don't want to pick Gameworks if most of us aren't into that sort of thing.

 

Well, like I said, I won't actually be there until about the middle of September, but you all could set up something like a picnic at Marymoor Park. From what my friend in Lynnwood was saying, sounds like there's no problem re: clear skies right now... 100+ degrees a couple days ago?!? :Wth: Other decent spots around the eastside could be Juanita Beach or Marina Park in Kirkland (GORGEOUS spot of beach in downtown!) If not familiar... take the 520, exit for Lake Washington Blvd, go down until it dead ends, take a left and as you're going straight, head in the general direction of 11 o'clock. You'll see a big gazebo and there's lots of parking behind some shops. I *THINK* it was free parking whan I lived there a few years ago (not that that means very much) lol...

There's also some patio dining at the Beach Cafe in Carillon Point. Take the same exit as for Marina Park (520... Lake Wash. Blvd) just don't go as far. You'll see some taller office buildings on the left and a circular drive. There is valet parking (so you can make use of those cards) or garage parking. There's also a fair amount of shopping in there for afterward. Call 425-889-9052 ext. 4. (It's one floor below the Yarrow Bay Grill which is what you'll see at the main driving level)

If that's a little pricy (when I worked there avg price for lunch was about $11-13/person there is also a Cucina Cucina right there. Both spots have AWESOME lake views (you are RIGHT on the water) and great food. Might even be possible (if you valet park) to convince the guys to line all the Prii along the circular drive so they'll be on display... (Might get some people wondering about 'em)

So, although it sounds like this initial meet MAY happen without me, I hope you all have a lot of fun!

Anyone with Q's about stuff I mentioned, the 04 Prius or anything else, can reach me at [email protected]
I'm also not opposed to providing my phone number (just won't post it on a main topic chat on a message board so if you're like me and prefer HUMAN contact (at least of the voice variety) when having an in depth discussion I'd be happy to provide that as well!

Talk to you all again soon!

 

Would be interested in a get together. Live part time in Roy and the rest of the time in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, Canada. Also am going to drive to North Carolina in September, home to Roy in mid October. Looking forward to putting about 7000 miles on the Prius. Bought my car in Olympia in November 03. Looking forward to meeting more owners. Bob

 

I am to be a Prius owner as of August 13th!!! Can't wait. I would be happy to help if I can. My schedule can be problematic but when I am off I can help. I am getting my car out of town. I have had good reports on the Olympia dealer from the 3 owners that I know, do you think that there will be any problems when I take my name off the list and go in for service? From the way I have been treated I would guess not I got good vibes from the place.

 

Wherever we go, I just want shade! It's too hot out these days... Should we wait for bradca21? I feel bad about him not being here in time....

 

Awww.... Now I feel all warm, fuzzy and awkward... That would be cool, but I'm not gonna say either way. I know how exciting it is to have one of these cars and meet other owners.

I guess my official response would be:
"SHOULD you all be able to contain yourselves until my arrival, I would love to be there with you.
SHOULD the excitement take hold and you just can't wait, if we decide to have 1 per month I'll for sure be there for number 2."
Thanks for thinkin' about lil' ol' me all the way out here in the land of silicone (not the valley) and power lifter governors.

 

Haha, I made you feel all warm, fuzzy and awkward! :mrgreen:

The way I see it, Sept will still have nice weather, but it won't be quite so blistering hot. Probably be in the 70's somewhere. I wouldn't mind waiting for brad to get here before we all invade some unsuspecting park (the more the merrier!). What does everyone else want to do?

 

Yes 72, 20% humidity and 52 at night. A little misty rain from 3 to 5 am just to wet things down a bit. Weather has been a bit too weird for me this year.

 

Somewhere between Lynnwood and Renton? that's about 2 1/2 -3 hour drive and I'm fine with that. Maybe longer with the "border issues" but I'm still fine with that. I might go as far as Spanaway