August 21st, 2004 Club Drive to Cool Country

Since the hot weather will still be upon us, a drive to north and cooler country is a sensible one, so that's what we'll be doing. We drive north so frequently and the routes are so limited, it's difficult to create something "different" in the way of a touring event. However, this time, we managed to sneak in some roads we haven't been on before and we're also reversing the route we usually take.

The destination is the Mormon Lake Lodge for lunch on Saturday August 21. Rather than start in Fountain Hills and take the Payson route to the lodge, we'll start at I 17 and Carefree Highway. Please plan to arrive at the Albertson's shopping center on the north side of Carefree Hwy just east of I 17 at 8:15 a.m. with a full fuel tank. The first car there should try to find a shady spot in the general vicinity of the market and the rest of us will find you. This will be the only starting point for this tour; we have eliminated the east side starting point of Pinnacle Peak and Scottsdale Roads.

Our route: North on I 17 past Cordes Junction to exit 278 (the hwy 169 turnoff), west on 169 to the town of Dewey. As best I can tell, it is approximately a 15 mile leg from the I 17 turnoff to the town of Dewey. At Dewey, we will exit 169 which is the terminal end of the hwy and enter hwy 69 toward Prescott. However, we hope to avoid Prescott by turning north on hwy 179 which will come about three miles northwest of Dewey. We will take 179 north 8 miles where it intersects with hwy 89 outside of Prescott Valley and heading toward Jerome. ( if we find that 179 is not paved, we will continue on hwy 69, 5 miles, to Roberts Rd and turn right. This is a paved, 4 mile jaunt that will take us into hwy 89 outside of Prescott Valley) At this point, (either route) we are back on familiar hwy that we have all traveled many times before. (please bring a current map that will make this easier) We'll continue to Jerome, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Sedona by following hwy 89. Stay on hwy 89 out of Sedona and head up Oak Creek Canyon toward Flagstaff but exit at 337 which is Lake Mary Road. (87A I believe) Now we will be headed south in the direction of Mormon Lake and the lodge. The highway is well marked for the turnoff to the lodge which is approximately one mile west of 87A. We're scheduled for lunch at approximately 12:30 and we can order off the open menu. The chances of us having a private room are 90 % so just ask for the BMW group.

We do need a head count for the restaurant and these are the names we have so far: Beveridge, Jackson Schaffer, Ebeyer, Parks, Mion, and Hunt. At this point, I told the restaurant my estimate was 24 hungry souls or 12 cars. We need at least 5 more cars to fill the voids. Please send in your RSVP so we will know what to tell the lodge. If our group is too small, we won't get the private room.

There will be comfort and fuel stops along the way and they will be announced on the club radio or just follow the Z car in front of you.

That's about it...............remember to bring your club radio and do your anti-rain dance before leaving town.

Paul Ebeyer, President

or hit your browser's BACK button to go to previous page

Click here to go to the home page

If you have questions, comments, or problems with this page, Send E-Mail to the Club's WebMeister  

REMEMBER - THE OFFICIAL CLUB POLICY IS TO OBEY ALL TRAFFIC LAWS AND REGULATIONS AND TO BE COURTEOUS TO OTHER DRIVERS