The Pit

It's that time again to fire up our cars and seek a little adventure out on the open road as our IL VCA summer cruise takes us south to enjoy several very special stops we think you'll enjoy! Thanks to two of our club members (Kim Peterson and Roger Dittrich) we'll enjoy quite a great day as they've helped to assemble a fantastic cruise. We'll have a factory tour of fellow club member Roger Dittrich's business - T&D Metal. We'll also visit the Rantoul Chanute Air Base Museum. We've also planned a great lunch as well as a last stop in Morris, IL for a very special dinner. So let's gather in numbers and burn up some pavement!

Our cruise will have two meeting places to help facilitate those who are already located further south. Our first (and main) gathering place will be at Interstate 355 & 75th street in Woodridge. We'll meet in the Jewel/Osco parking lot on the corner of Janes Ave & 75th Street (1 block west of 355). There is a McDonald's, Duncan Donuts, and 2 gas stations nearby for your convenience. We'll meet there at 8:00am with a prompt departure at 8:30am.

Our second meeting place will be at RT 50 and RT 30 in Mattson, IL. Go east from Interstate 57 to RT 50 Cicero Ave (1 Block) & RT 30 Lincoln Highway. Meet at the Citgo gas station on the corner (address is 4728 Lincoln Highway). If you choose to meet the group here, please arrive at 8:30am and plan to leave at 9:00am when the main caravan passes. Regardless of whether to meet up at the 1st or 2nd meeting spot, PLEASE be on time and remember to fill up before you arrive!

Once we pause to pick up the 2nd caravan, we'll then head to our first stop, T & D Metal! Roger Dittrich has arranged a great tour of his metal fabrication company. We'll get an up close and personal tour of his business as he leads us through the various facets of this large company which includes metal fabrications, tool and die making, graphic printing, fiberglass manufacturing, and plastic/fiberglass creation. It's one heck of an operation and we'll have a good time as we get a personal tour by Roger himself.

Chanute Field was established on May 21, 1917, being one of the initial World War I Army Air Service installations. Here we'll explore the large grounds and hit their aerospace museum! We'll have a great time as we peruse the many artifacts, pictures, and especially the wonderful planes on display.

We'll finish up at the museum and head out to our last stop for dinner in Morris, IL. Since it's on the way back, it'll be convenient for many as not only a good place to make a pit stop, but also grab a bite with the gang. We've arranged for dinner at Chapin's. The menu is not set, everyone will order from their menu and pay individually. They're going to hold some parking just for the Vipers. After dinner we'll hit the road again and head home!

The cost for this cruise is only $10.00 per person which includes the Rantoul Museum (we'll pay for lunch and dinner individually). Our club photographer will also make available all the days photos for $10 (on CD, mailed to you) if you elect to order them.

As with every cruise I will remind you of our usual disclaimers... we generally cruise with the speed of traffic and each Viper follows the Viper in front of them. This helps make for some care free cruising without having to follow a map (though maps will be provided as well). It’s important to stay together, while the route has been selected to take us away from traffic where possible, let’s not allow too much traffic to break us up since we’re following each other with line-of-sight. Please remember to have your cell phone with you. We also encourage you to bring your walkie-talkie's since we use them to coordinate and chat during our cruise. Sunglasses are always another good idea. Definitely don’t forget your camera and also comfortable shoes!

We request that all registrations are received by July 27thth. Once we receive your registrations, you’ll get a confirmation email (or phone call). Please get your registration forms in to us as soon as you can.  If you’ve never taken a cruise with the club, you don’t know what you’re missing.  We’ve taken care of all the details, just come along and have fun. We’re looking forward to the day and think you’ll find this trip very enjoyable!  Thanks to Kim and Roger for helping to put this all together for us! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to just call or e-mail.

Our plan is to meet at 8:00am at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg near the South-East corner of the Sears Parking lot. The streets right at the corner of that lot are Woodfield Road and West Frontage Road, it’s in fact in the same general direction many of you travel for our meetings. We’ve used this location to meet in the past, it's fairly easy to find.

The cruise leaves at 8:30am! PLEASE be on time and remember to fill up before you arrive! We have some decent miles to cover, we'll start out on i90 West toward Rockford and we'll head to Beloit for our first stop for a break/potty. From there we'll head out on a specially chosen cruise route that will take us through some extremely windy roads and a remarkable backdrop for cruising, you'll love it! Our next stop will be in Spring Green which is actually our main destination and also our lunch stop.

First up is a 2 hour visit to Frank Lloyd Wrights home. We'll be boarding a bus which will take us all up there as a group. This is Frank Lloyd Wrights first real home and remained his dwelling for 50 years! This is where it all started, it's the place where all the ideas, concepts, and theories had their genesis. We'll walk through his courtyards and gardens, stand in the studio where he designed Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum, sit in his magnificent living room, and we'll see many of his private rooms.

We'll then take a 30 minute break after we return. Our next visit will be another tour, this time we visit Hillside! This tour provides an intimate look into 60 years of Wrights life and the lives of the family who inspired him. We'll tour his studio, where many of his apprentices learned their craft. Highlights of this tour include the charming Assembly Hall, the dramatic 5,000 square-foot drafting studio, the Romeo & Juliet Windmill Tower, and the jewel-like Theatre. This tour will last one hour and then we return to the visitors center (around 5:00pm).

This is the end of our daytime cruise, however as always, we've arranged for a special dinner for those who want to take it easy heading back and take time to sit with friends and enjoy a bite! We've scheduled dinner in the town of New Glarus. From there we head home with tummies full!

The cost for this cruise is $55.00 per person which includes all tours, busses, and lunch (for dinner, each person pays his own check). Our club photographer will make available all the days photos for $10 (on CD, mailed to you). As with every cruise I will remind you of our usual disclaimers... we generally cruise with the speed of traffic and each Viper follows the Viper in front of them. This helps make for some care free cruising without having to follow a map (though maps will be provided as well). It’s important to stay together, while the route has been selected to take us away from traffic where possible, let’s not allow too much traffic to break us up since we’re following each other with line-of-sight. Please remember to have your cell phone with you. We also encourage you to bring your walkie-talkie's since we use them to coordinate and chat during our cruise. Sunglasses are always another good idea. Definitely don’t forget your camera and also comfortable shoes!

We request that all registrations are received by April 26th. Once we receive your registrations, you’ll get a confirmation email (or phone call). Please get your registration forms in to us as soon as you can. If you’ve never taken a cruise with the club, you don’t know what you’re missing.  We’ve taken care of all the details, just come along and have fun. We’re looking forward to the day and think you’ll find this trip very enjoyable!  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to just call or e-mail.