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This thread is to help me plan shuttle runs for BobNDana Con, April 2005. The wedding itself is Saturday, April 2nd, at 4:00 pm, in Ames, IA.
Ames does not have a major airport. I have committed to organizing shuttles for people coming in to the nearest major airport, which is in Des Moines, IA, as well as anyone arriving in Ames by bus. Since I am also the maid of honor, I will need help with some of the actual driving, as I will need to be at the rehersal and dinner Friday evening, and dancing attendance on the bride at various times Saturday.
I am planning on arriving in IA Thursday evening at the latest. I will do my best to arrange for shuttle runs for anyone arriving before 12:00 noon on Saturday. Since the airport is about 45 minutes away, anything later than that would be pushing it for the driver and passenger.
Please do not post in this thread to say you are planning on coming or that you're trying to figure out which flight you should take and want to know if anyone else is coming in around the same time. Please only post:
1. Once you have bought your tickets and have a firm arrival date and time. (Note: this includes plane tickets to Des Moines, IA, and bus or train tickets to Ames, IA. Please specify which.) (Another note, please specify your departure date and time, too.
2. If you are driving and will be passing through Des Moines and are willing/have space to pick someone up. In this case, please include your planned arrival time and how much space you have. I would not expect this sort of plan to become firm until much nearer the actual date.
3. If you are driving in or flying and renting a car and willing are to make an airport run at a time other than you would be passing through Des Moines anyway. Due to the distance, my goal is to not to have to schedule anyone for more than one shuttle run.
I will bump this weekly until the wedding, so you can find it easily when you make your reservations. I'll keep a nice little table with arrival times once they start firming up, and hopefully everything will fall neatly into place with obvious clumps coming in at the same time for pick-up right as people happen to be passing through. (Go ahead, AJ. Tell me I'm dreaming.)
Oh, also please post if you would be interested in renting a car with a group of other people coming in at around the same time. Just in case that will work out for people.
Yay! It's getting closer! It's gonna be one heckofa party, folks, start watching the discount airfare sites now! Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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We're arriving Wednesday morning, but we already have a car rented. We've also reserved a room at the Union. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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(10:23 PM January 6, 2005)
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Boon
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I'll be driving through Des Moines sometime Friday. The time is negotiable and I'll have (a number to be determined soon, but between 2 and 6) seats available for shuttle duty.
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I live near Fort Dodge, Iowa, so will be driving myself down. If anyone goes through Fort Dodge, I could probably provide a ride. FD does have a teeny airport with Northwest Airlink flights coming from Minneapolis and Mason City.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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ElJay this is a hideous task, that I would sub-delegate if at all possible. However I suspect you probably have one of the best minds available to do the on the fly mental calculations that this hair raising task requires.
Whether you can do it *and* be the maid of honor too is the real test...
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Well, we're driving, coming up on Friday, and we WILL be going through Des Moines to get to Ames.
However, I have no idea of the time of day yet, or how many people (possibly pick up Punwit, etc.) If I drive my truck, I won't have much room for more people. However, I'm not opposed to getting to Ames and getting settled in, then making trips back to Des Moines to pick up people. I like to drive.
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Ryuko, I don't know yet, I don't know how early I'm going to go down. We'll figure it out a little closer, when it becomes clearer how many tasks Dana has for me.
AJ, thank you, but I have no intention of doing it on the fly. I fully intend to have all the arrival times charted out in advance and shuttle runs assigned, with maps from the hotel to the airport for out-of-towners who volunteer. It will be fun. And it won't just be hatrackers doing the shuttling, Dana has in-town friends who will be able to help, too. Then all my plans can fall apart at the last minute.
Farmgirl, thanks, you're on my passing-though-sometime list, along with Boon. We'll work out the details when we get closer.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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ElJay, you are a princess for handling this. Seeing the horror that was coordinating rides at KamaCon is the primary reason I advocate hotels with airport shuttles for gatherings now.
Posts: 1163 | Registered: Jan 2005
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*grin* I know, but it's harder when the town doesn't have an airport. And I'm trying to learn from the KamaCon experience.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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ElJay, sorry to break it to you dear, but it doesn't matter how good your spreadsheet is, you *will* be reorganizing on the fly... Hopefully your in-town friends will help ease the load though, I didn't have nearly the local resources to draw on, I don't think. (Note difference between "nearby" and "local" cause only sndrake qualified for the latter and he did help immensely!)
Departures are a little easier because all bodies are in one place to begin with.
As for me, I *think* we will be arriving late Friday evening. I'm not sure how late though.
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"fall apart at the last minute" I missed that. Sorry I take this sort of thing way too seriously now. I think hatrack has scarred me for life! AJ
Posts: 11265 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Actually, I guess I should check with punwit and make sure a Friday arrival would work with him. Since the wedding isn't until 4 Saturday, we technically could come up the day of. But I'd rather be there the day before to visit.
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No problem, AJ. And I was serious about learning from your experience... I plan on dragooning as many people as possible into helping with this, especially since the drive is so far.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Also, Ryuko, I'm probably going to be going down early, so you shouldn't plan on being able to drive with me. I'm not sure how early yet, though.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Xavier and I are coming from Omaha and will pass through Des Moines. We will get there Saturday and drive home Sunday. We would be more than happy to pick people up Saturday or drop someone off at the airport on Sunday. I have room for 2 people.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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ElJay, would you email me? I have a question that I don't want Bob or Dana to see (even accidentally). My email address is in my profile. Thanks!
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I am officially coming to the wedding! Hooray!
I will be flying into Des Moines airport at 10:50 pm Friday night. I will be flying out at 2:25 pm on Sunday.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Uh, with the addendum that I may or may not have a return trip West. Still, what the hell, a one-way ticket back is cheaper than a round-trip.
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Unless someone else posts awfully soon, it looks like rivka and Shigosei are the only ones flying in and needing a ride. Is this true? I can't believe it will be this easy.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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So, um, eight people are going to this wedding?
I guess I'll scan the other thread.
I'm curious from an activity-time standpoint. We're arriving Wednesday, but it looks like nobody else is coming in this early. :-\
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I count 31. 33 if you count KrabbyPatty and Posable_Nurse.
And Bob and I are planning on hanging out with you guys on Wednesday and Thursday. (Assuming we're not madly sewing bridesmaids' dresses, but that looks less likely than it did last week.)
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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It did. I'm skipping out on the conference, and Bob's trial thing was settled out of court. The mere thought of having such a formidable expert witness left them quaking in their boots and they rushed to settle.
I do have to work on Wednesday afternoon and have a Church Council meeting Wednesday night, but we thought maybe you and Cor could come to the house for dinner and hang out with Bob while I'm at the meeting.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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On a related note -- departure times -- is anyone staying around Sunday evening?
I've got friends in Des Moines I'm going to be visiting after the wedding. If there's folks still around Sunday evening then I'll stick around for that, otherwise I'll head out sooner...
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Hey BobNDana, two questions. What kind of shoes is Cor supposed to wear, and is there a dress code for Friday? (Oh, and that reminds me. The tux card included shoe measurements. Does that mean the shoes will be provided for me and I don't need to pack my own? Now that I think of it, I guess that's how it was at my wedding, so it seems like a dumb question, but better to ask for my own piece of mind . . . )
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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