PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN THE MEET LOCATION!
Meet-up Information for Sat Feb 23rd: All RSVPed Minis, please meet in the parking lot of the strip mall shown below, on the East Side of Idaho Road, just South of Broadway by no later than 7AM.. It is roughly 1.5 Miles north of the Waffle House on Idaho Road.
This change was made after we received some attendance figures, that are estimated at over 10,000 people for the parade. The Waffle House location is expected to be VERY busy, and we have concerns it will not hold us all. Our group is going to be staged toward the back of the parade, so we will have some donuts and orange juice available in the staging area while we are waiting to be sent onto the route.
If you would still like to arrive earlier, so you have time for breakfast at the earlier chosen Waffle House, please do so, but we need to DEPART ON TIME at 7:15AM SHARP FROM THE LOT SHOWN ABOVE, to head to the staging area for the parade.
Waffle House
101 E 29th Ave
Apache Junction, AZ
Map:
From the strip mall parking lot we will turn right onto Idaho Road heading North approximately 1/4 Mile to the staging area at 112 E. 2nd Avenue, in the large dirt lot on the east/right side of Idaho Road, between Old West Highway & East Junction Street.
Once in the staging area we will receive direction from the parade coordinators, but we will have 2 rows of 16 Minis side by side in one lane for the parade route.
Per the application we submitted: Absolutely, NOTHING will be thrown or handed out from any parade entry to the parade audience. Walkers along the parade route can distribute products by handing them directly to individuals, but nothing can be tossed into the crowd. Offenders will be immediately evicted from the parade.
If our weather holds out, we are looking for a couple volunteers to potentially carry our DMC Banner in front of the group. We may have a vehicle prepped to carry the banner, but that is still in the works. If you have some passengers planning to come that may be interested, please email me: dan@coopahs.com
AFTER THE PARADE
Once we have completed the parade route, and exitted the parade area, we will take the Apache Trail NorthEast out past Canyon Lake, to Tortilla Flat and past the restaurant to the end of the road where it turns to dirt. This is a very twisty, fun piece of road, and we'll stop at the dirt area for a nice group photo.
This route is approximately 20 miles each way from Apache Junction. There is a lot of slow moving vehicle traffic and these are tight and twisty roads in some areas, so please set your pace accordingly. We WILL get split up with this many Minis, do not worry about your pace or trying to keep up. It is not a race, we will all re-group at the end of the pavement.
Those wishing to stay in the area for lunch, the restaurant at Tortilla Flat is very good, but can be very busy, and the Canyon Lake Marina has a restaurant we have also stopped at for breakfast/lunch. Neither of these places can accomodate a group of our size all at once, so you may have to wait a bit since they are already normally busy. Or some may choose to wait and grab some lunch once back into town.
http://www.tortillaflataz.com/
http://www.canyonlakerestaurant.com/
If you have any questions, please drop me an email! dan@coopahs.com[/u]