New Englander Prius

I'm in too. I'm very near Boston so any place around here would be great for me SomervillePrius is right though about not feeling totally special driving a Prius around here, since there are SO many of them.

At the very least, think of it as a PriusChat meet, since being on PC sets you apart from "ordinary" Prius drivers

If we're gonna be doing mod installs I might have to buy the OEM EV button first though because I keep thinking about doing that.

I suggest we meet in a nice place conducive to taking good pictures. I'd recommend either Prospect Hill Park in Waltham, which has a great view of Boston from the top, or one of the parks along the Charles River closer to Boston.

 

I'm trying to think of a place that would be easy to get to for people from out of state, like right off a highway. I grew up in Waltham but haven't seen Prospect Hill since before it was a park! All it used to be was a downhill for skiers. But it is easily accessable from 128 (AKA I-95).

 

Prospect Hill Park is less than 1/2 mile off of I-95. It's very easy to get there, so it might be ideal. Here's a map.

Other suggestions?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Jun 20 2007, 07:28 PM) [snapback]465490[/snapback]</div>

The park along the Charles on Soldiers Field Road across from WBZ? There's usually plenty of parking there and it's not too hard to get to from the Allston/Cambridge exit on the Mass. Turnpike.

 

I'd be down with that too... isn't there canoe rental at that location as well? Not that I'd put my life in the hands of any of you lunatics by rowing out on the river with you

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Jun 21 2007, 12:31 PM) [snapback]465787[/snapback]</div>

I got my EV button from Sigma in hand now, so I'm all set. Can we set a date/time?

 

How long did delivery take for your EV button? I guess if we do one install and I don't have mine yet, I can watch and learn. It doesn't seem too terribly difficult, but I'll be happier if I can at least see how it's done first.

I'd suggest next weekend, or the weekend after, but I'm concerned that people will be traveling because of the holiday that's positioned unfortunately in the middle of the week. So maybe the weekend of July 14? I'm not going anywhere though, so if everyone wants to meet earlier, speak up.

In the interest of getting people together, maybe everyone who wants to meet up should either email-subscribe this thread, or we should organize an email list.

And unless just shooting the sh*t and doing some mods is enough, we could also put together some sort of agenda of activities... Hmmm... it almost sounds like I'm volunteering to coordinate. I suppose unless anyone else wants to, I'll appoint myself Boston-Prius Supreme Chancellor.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Jun 24 2007, 09:03 AM) [snapback]467216[/snapback]</div>

It took me about 3 or 4 weeks to get the EV button, but I think Edward says they are in stock now. I harvested 3 pins too from my steering wheel column! I need to get 22gauge wire and some wire taps and I'll be all set. I'm thinking I want to shave the button so it fits in the far left slot.

 

SO..... ???

Come on guys, get it together!! I still say you should all email-subscribe to this thread so we can actually plan an event. The California Prius clubs are making us look bad.

It reminds me of my broad generalization of the difference between east and west U.S.:

On the west coast, everyone seems friendlier on the surface, but it's harder to make *real* friends, whereas on the east coast, people seem colder and more distant, but are also better/more sincere once you break the ice.

 

I tried writing my name in one of the blanks... now there's magic marker all over my monitor

Add your name! I'll add my available dates for the next few weekends too. If other people add dates, maybe we can narrow down the date too.

New England Prius owner gathering sign up list :-
Date: TBD
Location : Prospect Hill Park, Waltham, MA or Charles River Reservation, Boston, MA

1. chinalfr2
2. ichabod - Available 6/30-7/1 : 7/7-8 : 7/14-15

(it's not that I have no life, I just have a life with a very flexible schedule )

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Jun 26 2007, 07:16 PM) [snapback]468538[/snapback]</div>

Hope I did this right!

 

Eep, I lost track of this thread for a little bit because I was
woken up early one morning last week by the tiny, pitiful sound of
my laptop's hard drive in its bad-bearing death throes, and I've
been recovering from that! [There *will* be a full autopsy and
webpage, because some of the data-recovery techniques have been
amusing to say the least..] Anyways ...
4. Hobbit -- available most any time except 7/6-7/8 [green grand prix]
and 7/19-7-23 [hybridfest]. Have EV-wire kits, will travel.
I'm intrigued by Prospect Hill; I've never been to it and I drove
by the Totten Pond gate a few nights ago. Not much info on its
interior roads on the GPS; is there a place to legally park cars
somewhere where said view of boston is visible? Do arrangements
need to be made with DCR or Waltham or whoever's in charge of it?
I also couldn't imagine how anything that far west could have a
view of boston, but it looks on the topo map like it's far enough
south that it peeks past that huge hill that rt. 2 comes down a
little farther north.
.
Know whatcha mean about New Englanders. I've tried on numerous
occasions to reach out to people and help 'em out with Prius projects,
but it seems like as soon as the idea of actually meeting in person
happens, they just clam up. Weird.
.
Pix from the prius/hybrid gathering two years ago, Jordan's furniture
lot in Framingham: http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/nepg-0508/
The old topic link is busted, but you can use this.
That gathering is also where I first met Mike Dabrowski, Insight
hacker extraordinaire.
.
_H*


oops, I forgot to add that I've got a tentative conflict for Jul 14,
too, but I'm more flexible on that. [Sunday Jul 15, on the other
hand, would rock]
.
The other question is, I expect any gathering would eventually want
to migrate toward food. So nearby eating establishments should be
scoped out as part of the planning...
.
_H*

 

Prospect Hill Park does have a parking area near-ish to the nice overlook. It's a tiny bit of a hike to the overlook, but by "tiny bit" I mean like maybe 100 yards.

I'm not certain about reservations, but have a feeling they're not so formal about it. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to check that out. I bike past said gate twice daily, and there's a variety of signage and even some pamphlets, so I'll try to find out today.

Food near Prospect Hill Park:

* Naked Fish: between gate and I-95 ramp, so it's easy... not spectacular food, but edible.
* Moody St., Waltham: a plethora of options, many of them delicious.
* Dominic's (getdoms.com): on the other side of the park from the Totten Pond gate, and they have the best Eggplant Parmigiana sandwich in town.

So far July 15 is looking promising.

 

New England Prius owner gathering sign up list :-
Date: TBD
Location : Prospect Hill Park, Waltham, MA or Charles River Reservation, Boston, MA

1. chinalfr2
2. priusFTW
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

And I have this thread on email notice.

 

Here's a bad map of the park, with the main vehicle access road highlighted in orange. Totten Pond Road is at the top, and near the spot titled "Picnic Pavilion" is a decent amount of parking, and the scenic overlook. It's a little steep, so I don't think you'll make it all the way through the park on EV mode alone

It's possible to obtain a picnic site permit, but in the absence of a permit, the sites are first-come. So we could either reserve a spot and haul in coolers, pot-luck style, or we can plan to eat elsewhere. Or we could just cross our fingers and bring food with no permit, and have a tailgate party if there's no free spot.

 

I googled around a bit and couldn't find any website about the park.
You'd think it would have one, possibly as part of whatever info the
city of Waltham hangs out there, with some rules/regs/hours sort
of stuff as well. Maybe I was just asking for the wrong things.
.
_H*

 

There's a city website that lists the info, but I pretty much summed up what little info there is... except hours because I figured that "Dawn to Dusk" would not pose a scheduling conflict. Also, the road is closed to cars in the winter, but I also considered that information irrelevant.

Here's the site. They don't have anchors, so you have to scroll for it... it's near the bottom.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Jun 28 2007, 07:43 AM) [snapback]469287[/snapback]</div>

That site looks good to me. I just did a mapquest, it would take me about 2.5 hrs to get there but that is no problem for me. July 15 would be ok for me or whenever.