Wouldn't you just about have to plan the meeting in advance and exchange phone numbers or set something up? I guess, if you have one of the new phones the size of a small chalkboard like my wife, that you could connect that way via Facebook or one of the other groups like that couldn't you?
Seriously, it could really come in handy to be able to contact others on this site, especially if you have a problem. If nothing else, someone local or that's real familiar with the area could make suggestions on where you could get a part or a service. In case y'all haven't figured it out, I don't have one of those phones, I just recently got a new flip phone (my 4 th. ?) and still can't work half of it. Is there any way that someone that's real tech savvy, such as myself, to contact other members without prior planning?
My meds have taken effect, can't you tell? Again, I'm sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes too hard, Paul
I have arranged meetups both with and without a smart telephone. For 3 years now we have taken a trip out west each summer and met up with CK5 guys along the way. It hasn't always been organized, and this past summer the plans pretty much disintegrated while we were en route. But we still met some cool people and had some good times. And, of course, took lots of pictures.
Here are some links if you want to see how we organized it.
2014
2015
2016
It basically started out with a "Who wants to meet up?" posting in the Lounge and then one by one people started sending me private messages about the details of the meetups. I've met people at restaurants, gas stations, and borrowed a number of guest bedrooms & couches. This has also yielded a large number of route suggestions from people who know an area much better than I did. For example, Eric told me to stop at a random rest stop in Idaho, one that I never would have thought to stop at. Turns out this one sits next to a whole bunch of really neat lava flows, things that I could never see in Wisconsin. That simple suggestion, costing me zero extra miles, turned out to be a really neat stop.
This last weekend I arranged to meetup with
@GWeakland620 in Topeka, but when I got there he had a church commitment that he had forgotten about.
So we met up at church instead, and had a nice (if short) chat there. I recently got a phone capable of accessing CK5 on the road, but prior to that I brought a laptop and used free internet at rest stops or fast food joints. So I could still get messages out, it just wasn't as easy as it is now. Although most on-the-road updates happen via calling or texting people directly.
I haven't personally needed to call for help, but there are folks who have called out and gotten roadside assistance from club members. It just depends on where you break down.
And then, as this is a truck club, folks often get together to do truck club things. There are CK5 wheeling groups in a number of places, wherever there are multiple folks with similar interests. Last summer in our area we did a 5-day overland camping trip (
link). I didn't do the primary planning for that one, but it was great fun and we plan to do it again next summer.
So meetups are definitely doable, you just need to get out and do it!
