Merlin in Moab!

[nocturnalVX]

I just got off the phone with Merlin from St. Charles Isuzu. I told him how some members of this board wanted to show our appreciation for all that he has done over the years by hosting him in Moab next year; and he said that he and his family would love to join us. I know we haven't picked which hotel is going to be ground zero for 2009 (unless the Red Rock is still open), but what I was thinking we can do is get a couple extra rooms so he, his wife and 2 kids can hang out with us. He said that they will drive themselves to Moab, so we don't have to worry about transporting them there. Maybe pick up their dinner tabs a couple nights? Once I figure out where we are all staying, how much the room rates will cost, and how many people are willing to contribute to this good cause, so we can figure out what we need to raise to make it happen.

[JoFotoz]

YUP..he's saved me more than a couple of bucks...I'm in.:)

Just FYI..Red Rock WILL BE THERE!!

I have been talking with them , they are not being bulldozed..yet!
And...they have agreed to a 15% discount ..

...confirmation of this will be in the form of an advert on each page of the VX "PIN UP" calendar.
Ask for Jeremy Day and reference the advert when booking.

PLEASE SUPPORT THEM!


jo

[nocturnalVX]

BUMP!

I'm calling Merlin tomorrow to tell him to make plans. Thanks to those that are going to contribute to getting him & his family out to Moab. I'm not certain if he will be wheelin' his own ride, or if they will need to hitch a ride with VXers that have the room... if that's the case, we will need volunteers, but can work that out later. We will post details as Moab gets closer. I know Merlin & his family will have a blast, and it will be cool to meet the man that has helped us so many times!

[pbkid]

gill did you get it all organized??? the room for them and something to drive and whatnot?

[tomdietrying]

Just a thought......If he's coming with his family, the Red Rock probably is not the best place. There are better places that are more kid friendly in Moab.
Peace.
Tom
012009

[Scott Harness]

Just a thought......If he's coming with his family, the Red Rock probably is not the best place. There are better places that are more kid friendly in Moab.
Peace.
Tom
012009

Are you saying "we" who stay at Red Rock are degenerates?;)

[Ldub]

Are you saying "we" who stay at Red Rock are degenerates?;)

Probably not...but I will...:smilewink

WE'RE DEGENERATES...:naughty:

As an aside, I would like to help Merlin & fam get there, but at the rate things are going for me lately, I'll be doin' pretty good to get ME there this year...:(

[Scott Harness]

If Dub's not goin I'm not goin! :p

x2 Yea,I will be cutting it close this year also. Depends on how business goes the next few months. I did find the cash for a ring job or rebuilt motor.

[Ldub]

If Dub's not goin I'm not goin! :p


x2 Yea,I will be cutting it close this year also. Depends on how business goes the next few months. I did find the cash for a ring job or rebuilt motor.

Aw, now cut that out youse guys...:rolleyesg

[tomdietrying]

Let's see............. Dub isn't going, Zues isn't going, Scott isn't going.....THEN I'M NOT GOING!

JKjust kidding

Peace.
Tom
012009

[pbkid]

whoa whoa whoa lets not get all outta hand...

pretty sure ive heard the dub say he would do a lot of things before he would miss moab so i think he's just yankin our chain....

but in all seriousness i think we all will be scrapping to get to moab

[etlsport]

wait if all you guys arent going.. i definitely AM going! ;Db; sorry someone had to say it ;Db;

[pbkid]

no no you misunderstood me, all of us dig the dub, but....this is my favorite vacation of the year, ill be there... :)

[nocturnalVX]

So... we might have to start a Get the Dubster to Moab thread? At this rate, we'll get everyone there except me... :disturbed

Back on topic though...
I talked to Merlin, and he'll take the week off to hang out with us degenerates! He is going to drive to Moab with his wife and two daughters. Anyone that has dealt with him knows he's a cool guy, and talking to him about this has made it even more clear to me. He is very flattered that we are doing this for him, and does not care much about where we put his famliy up for their stay in Moab, but I'll reserve him a room at a place just a tad nicer than the Red Rock (however, Cece & I will be there at ground zero for the parties/wrench-fests). More than likely, they will need to hitch rides for the VX run (at least), so we'll line up volunteers as needed. We are going to solidify plans as Moab gets closer, and make things up as we go along a little too. I know $$$ is tight. Heck... Cece & I are still paying off LAST year's trip to Moab! When I find out how many nights (and where) he's staying, I'll let people know how much it's gonna run. If anyone wants to pick up meals, or buy him a drink... that will be cool too! This is a great vacation. I love getting together with all y'all! Getting Merlin to join us out there is gonna be kick a**!

[MSHardeman]

This is a great idea. It will be great to finally put a face to the voice that has saved me a ton of time and money. I will gladly chip in for his room, some drinks and some food.

Gil, as the time gets closer we'll need to see if we can get Merlin and his family to join the CoZuvoy so we can get him to Moab in style.

[nocturnalVX]

Gil, as the time gets closer we'll need to see if we can get Merlin and his family to join the CoZuvoy so we can get him to Moab in style.

Absolutely, gotta have him and his family cruising into Moab with as many VXes as we can get together!

[nocturnalVX]

Looks like we have about 7 members willing to chip in to cover Merlin's trip to Moab. Before I start booking him a room, etc, etc, I need to know what everyone is willing to contribute. Rather than post it here, send me a pm so I can figure out what our budget is. Merlin might be willing to fly into SLC without his family, maybe we can have him fly into Grand junction so he can convoy with the bunch of Midwestern/Southerners/Texans (yes you're that special...).

Anyway, I need to know what we are working with here. He would rather bring his family, but knows that we do have a budget on our end too, so he is willing to fly solo if necessary. Plus, then he can get WASTED! Put him up at the Red Rock with all of us alcoholics. :bgwg:

[crager34]

x2 Yea,I will be cutting it close this year also. Depends on how business goes the next few months. I did find the cash for a ring job or rebuilt motor.


Hell... if Dubs not going, then I am going twice!!:p




Just a reminder that I live in Moab, so if you want me to do anything with this.... holla!!

[nocturnalVX]

Cool! We are up to 8 contributing members!
Just to make sure there is no confusion here... there are no set plans yet. Whether or not Merlin comes with his family, comes alone, drives, flys into a nearby town & joins the VX convoy, stays with the wild bunch at the Red Rock or something a tad nicer... all of that will depend on what we raise. I don't expect anyone to give more than they can afford. I just want to be able to tell him we've raised $x so he can figure out his next move.
Merlin helped you out in the past, and you feel like chipping in even though you are not going to Moab yourself? Saved on parts? Got some part super fast? Got something that you were told was no longer available? These are all great reasons to treat this guy to VehiCROSS-mania Moab style!

[Marlin]

I dont know him at all, but so far everyone here seems like good people. I will be rolling through St charles,Mo via I70 with the wife and kids, and I will be dropping them off in KC,MO. I would be more than willing to take him from grand junction. I will be in an 07 expedition, with the VX on a trailer, and just one friend with me. He could watch dvds in the back, lots of baby einstein...lol. Maybe some Monsters Inc.

[Scott Harness]

I talked with him the other day,he wasn't sure if he was coming or not.

[VXIRONwoMAN]

There seems to be some confusion as to what is going on here. We want to bring Merlin to Moab. Merlin loves the idea of joining us in Moab. He has a family and would like them to join him if possible. He is on a parts guy budget, so like us, his funds are limited. Whether he can join us or not depends on what we can raise. This is a vacation and he needs to know what he will have to spend and work into the budget. But we need to let him know what we have raised, so he can make his plans accordingly. Basically, give what you are comfortable with. We will collect the contributions once we are all in Moab and present him with the cash.

How is he supposed to know if he is going, if he hasn't been told the plan yet?

I hope this helps.

[blacksambo]

While I've never been to Moab, and it's a long way from home, the pictures look spectacular. I think what you are doing for Merlin sounds great and you should all be commende for bring the VX experience to life for this guy and his family. He must surely love this circle of VX enthusiasts and their PUV's.

[nocturnalVX]

UPDATE...

I talked to Merlin earlier today, and told him that we have pledges allowing for a donation of $1000. Looks like he & his wife (but not his daughters) will be joining us in Moab and staying at the Red Rock Lodge! I tried booking thier room, but nobody answered at the Red Rock. :confused: Plans are still being made, so no other details have been worked out. However, they will be joining us for the VX run on Tueday at least.

[Scott Harness]

Excellent news!!:cool:

[MSHardeman]

That is great news. Can't wait to meet Mr. and Mrs. Merlin.
Keep on calling the Red Rock because it took me a couple of weeks to finally get through to them to book my room. I don't know if they go for long walks in the desert or what, but they do seem to be absent a lot. Maybe Darrin (crager34) could roll by while he's out in town to book the room?

[VX KAT]

Sounds like they go on "walkabouts".....

[tomdietrying]

That $1000 is getting me a little nervous. Please could you make sure I'm on your list as "buying a beverage". Thanks
Peace.
Tom

[JoFotoz]

Great news Gill...good job getting this organized.

jo

[crager34]

OK.... Merlin has a place to stay at the Red Rock Lodge and Casino all for nothing..... SO..... someone convince him to come out here. :cool:

[JoFotoz]

Nice....


OK.... Merlin has a place to stay at the Red Rock Lodge and Casino all for nothing... :cool:


...how'd ya swing a freebie?


jo

[nocturnalVX]

OK.... Merlin has a place to stay at the Red Rock Lodge and Casino all for nothing..... SO..... someone convince him to come out here. :cool:

He & his wife are coming for sure. Figure on Saturday to Friday, but it's still being worked out. One of the guys he works with is taking the end of that week off, so Merlin might cut his week short. Right now... the plan is for them to rent a car & drive out, but fly home so they have more time to spend in Moab. I told him today that the room and $1000 (now $1100) was all set. That way he knows what extra $$$ he may need depending on how plans go. He is amazed that WE are doing this for him. I can't wait to meet the guy. We have a great group of people here. No doubt!

[pbkid]

never met the guy...nor have i needed any parts from him...but he seems to help everyone else A LOT, so its gonna be great to buy him a beer for helping our community

[Ldub]

OK.... Merlin has a place to stay at the Red Rock Lodge and Casino

There's a casino now too?

SWEET!...do they have soup?

[VXIRONwoMAN]

There's a casino now too?

SWEET!...do they have soup?

OR an all you can eat breakfast buffet for $.99 at 2 a.m. ??? OR the hotties walking around in skimpy lingerie serving free booze??? OR an exploding volcano every hour???

Wait a second... isn't gambling addictive??? Mormons can't gamble... or drink... ???

Where's this Casino?

[CrnCnn]

OR the hotties walking around in skimpy lingerie serving free booze???


If so I am definately making it this year....

[crager34]

Nice....




...how'd ya swing a freebie?


jo

Ancient Chinese secret.

[nocturnalVX]

Just got this email from Merlin and wanted to share it with everyone. This is easier than giving you the Reader's Digest version of it...

"Just wanted to touch base with you again to make sure I keep you updated and on the same page with me…

My wife and I are planning on flying into Denver on Saturday, and driving to Moab from there. It’s a 6-hour drive, as opposed to something like 3 ½ hours from Salt Lake City, but I want Lori to see Pike’s Peak, so we’re stopping there along the way. It was also about $100 cheaper to fly to Denver, so that worked out really well!

Unfortunately, for a few different reasons, we’re going to have to leave early on Wednesday to head back home. My wife doesn’t earn a great deal of vacation, so taking the whole week would have made quite a dent in her allowed time. Also, another parts guy here will be at a family reunion in Alabama that week, which will make things real tight for five remaining guys that have to cover parts departments in all three of our dealerships.

The other problem we had is that my kids are still in school that week, so we’re utilizing friends and neighbors to watch them and make sure they get to school and bed on time and don’t kill each other. My 6 year-old is awesome and can practically take care of herself, but my 15 year-old requires a close eye to make sure she’s getting homework done, catching the bus on time, etc. It’s so close to the end of the school year that we don’t want her getting off task and screwing up her grades! For both of us to be gone the entire week would have been difficult.

I really hate feeling like we’re cutting the trip short, but I think it’s still going to work out to be a great time as we’re planning on spending the entire day Monday and Tuesday doing whatever your fellow VX’ers want to do! Hopefully that will include a lot of trail-riding, rock-crawling, and scaring the crap out of my wife! She’s nervously looking forward to that part J

You mentioned that our Moab friend was taking care of the hotel, so I wanted to make sure that he only reserved it for Sunday through Wednesday. We might take our time getting to Moab on Saturday, so we’re planning on just crashing in whatever city or town we end up in that night!

Finally, I’ve been putting off purchasing the plane tickets because the tickets we’ll be purchasing will be non-refundable (it’s half the cost that way) and my wife is worried that if some people didn’t come through we could get stuck holding the bill. Believe me Gill, I trust it’s going to be fine, but I admit that we’re both still a little surprised of the generosity you’ve shown me so far. We just want to make sure everything goes as planned.

So my question is, if I purchase the tickets, would you be able to somehow reimburse me quickly through PayPal or something? I would provide a receipt, of course. I think that would alleviate some of the anxiety about spending that kind of money without being able to actually see that it’s going to be reimbursed. Everything else I’m not worried about- rental cars and all that stuff is quite a bit less expensive than the plane tickets, and we’ll be paying as we go on those things. But the plane tickets are a big expense.

We are becoming rather excited about the whole thing, and I’m going to schedule a meeting with the owner to see about sending some ‘gift baskets’ up to Moab for the week of the meet- possibly some air and oil filters, etc. We’ve done that one year before, so I’m going to see what I can do!

If you’ll check on the hotel situation, and let me know what you think about the plane tickets, I would appreciate it! We’re going to try and do our part to make this years’ event as good as we can, and again, am really looking forward to it!!!

Thanks,

Merlin "

[crager34]

Hotel in Moab is done.... no problem there. Might need to tell Merlin that Pikes Peak is WAAAYYYYYYYYY outta the way to see on their way to Moab. If need be, I am a Colorado native and can give them lots of things to look for on their way out to Moab from Denver. A side trip to Colorado Springs will add a number of hours to their trip for certain.

AND..... and.... if they did see Pikes Peak... they will soon forget it after coming to Moab and seeing what is out here. :p

And.... maybe they should check into flying into Grand Junction, CO if the donation dollars will cover it. If they fly during the day.... OMG will they see soooo much more of the Rockies then taking the trip to the Springs to see Pikes Peak!!

[MSHardeman]

Merlin's coming, Merlin's coming. It'll be great to meet him and shake the hand of one righteous dude.

If they are heading to Moab on Saturday they will miss the convoy heading in on Monday, but that's OK, as long as they enjoy themselves. If they DO join the convoy we can make sure that they see a lot of good Colorado scenery.

[pbkid]

Hotel in Moab is done.... no problem there. Might need to tell Merlin that Pikes Peak is WAAAYYYYYYYYY outta the way to see on their way to Moab. If need be, I am a Colorado native and can give them lots of things to look for on their way out to Moab from Denver. A side trip to Colorado Springs will add a number of hours to their trip for certain.

AND..... and.... if they did see Pikes Peak... they will soon forget it after coming to Moab and seeing what is out here. :p

And.... maybe they should check into flying into Grand Junction, CO if the donation dollars will cover it. If they fly during the day.... OMG will they see soooo much more of the Rockies then taking the trip to the Springs to see Pikes Peak!!

agreed..i would be happy to give them instructions on viewing red rocks (amazingly gorgeous area of colorado, and its on the way to moab)

[pbkid]

If they are heading to Moab on Saturday they will miss the convoy heading in on Monday,


i very likely will be headed out to moab around the same time and i would be more than happy to convoy with them to make sure they dont have any problems with their car, if they would like to join me for the trip...

[nocturnalVX]

Hey ya'll,

Just wanted to share the latest message from Merlin.

21 Days!!!!

"Hey Gill, one more thing…

I’ve never registered to post anything on the forums since I don’t own a VX and really don’t spend much time on the web outside of work (I go weeks without checking my Yahoo mail!)… As such, I was hoping that you could post something in advance of our trip to all the guys and gals that are making this possible and let them know that I’m truly humbled by their invitation and that we really are looking forward to meeting each and every one of you!



If you could post that on my behalf I’d really appreciate it!



-Merlin"

[WormGod]

You guys are awesome.

Sadly, MOAB is really not much of an option for me with my locale so I hope the VX gang can show Merlin a good, solid outing.

Good looking out for the hand that has been feeding us. :cool:

[crager34]

Ok..... just to make absolutly sure: Merlin in Moab from May 10th through the 13th. Checking in on the 10th.... checking out on the 13th. Right??

[nocturnalVX]

Ok..... just to make absolutly sure: Merlin in Moab from May 10th through the 13th. Checking in on the 10th.... checking out on the 13th. Right??

That is correct. He'll be checking in Sunday the 10th, and checking out on Wednesday the 13th. Too bad Merlin & his wife can't stay longer, but at least they'll be on the Tuesday run.