Knocking on Knoxville's Door--Part I



I forgot to post these series of emails to the blog!! Below is a  I have since been to Knoxville and back! Since this was written before  the trip I decided to do a number of posts about the epic trip I took to the 65th ALPCA Convention in Knoxville, Tennessee. I will devote a few posts to include the road trip with Ed Butler, a fellow New Jersey ALPCA member, the convention itself and the achievements I had along the way. Ed and I joined  ALPCA around the same time so we grew in the club together. He knew I wanted to go to this convention because the next convention is in Tulsa Oklahoma, a lot harder to get to from Cape May!! Knoxville was hard enough!! Like in previous post about travel I will break this down into multiple posts Ed and I casually talked about driving to Knoxville together  dates back to early April! As he mentioned in his e-mail we did indeed do some sightseeing, but more about that later!!!1


Ed's Original E-mail:

 Hi Justin,

 I hope you've been well these last number of months.  Since you couldn't
make it to Pennington last October, I haven't seen you since Valley
Forge last summer!  It's been too long man!

 I thought it would be easier to convey my thoughts in an email about
Knoxville than in a text; it allows for more space than a text.

 To get to the point - there could be room for you in my BMW going to
Knoxville in late June.  Some thoughts below.



 .         I am not going straight to Knoxville.  I have a planned
sightseeing trip through West Virginia and Kentucky on my way south to
Knoxville.  I am leaving the Friday night before the convention with a
drive
 out to Carlisle, PA to tee up my trip.  I will be travelling through WV and
 KY that Saturday, Sunday, and Monday on my way to Knoxville.

 o   Are you interested joining me?  If so, you would need to find a way
to
 get from south of Exit 0 and meet up with me in SW NJ.  I believe your
brother lives somewhere south of the Trenton area.  Can your parents
take
 you to your brother's that Friday before the convention?



 .         How much will you be bringing?  Reason I ask is I am going to
be
 selling off virtually all of my New York non-passenger plates at the
convention, so I will be more packed with plates than I normally am.
Hopefully I won't be bringing them home with me.  I will likely be
packing
 my hand truck.  Another important question: How much room does your
electric
 scooter require?

 .         Since I am driving to Knoxville, I may be taking off either
late  Friday or by daybreak Saturday morning.  I don't have an exact timetable
for  when I'd be back in NJ other than my ETA in Jersey would be likely early
Sunday, with an overnight stay somewhere.  If you came with me, I again
would ask that you arrange to be picked up somewhere in SW NJ.



 Justin - you're more than welcome to join me if you are open to making what
 I said above work for you.  With that said, I don't want to force you
into any decision.  I just wanted to make all of my thoughts clear to you.  I
encourage you to talk it over with your parents / brother / etc. and
make
 the decision that's best for you.  You're still my friend one way or the
other!



 Give it a think and get back to me when you can.



 Take care.



 Ed


Post to the ALPCA Discussion List:
Define an accomplishment---  Well you folks who know, some many not, know getting to conventions has been tricky for me, some more memorable than others. I got my folks to go to Niagra Falls in 2002. I then convinced them to take me to Providence over their anniversary in 2004 . I met a good friend Rick Kretschmer for the first time in 2007 when we bunked in Huntsville in 2007. For my 30th birthday in 2008 my folks said I could go anywhere "within reason" I chose the convention in Salt Lake City. I dragged them out to Erie in 2009. I flew through a tornado to get to the 2010 convention in Dallas. My folks again took to the road to drive me to the convention in West Virginia in 2011 barely got back from Des Monies in 2012. I had trouble getting home from Rochester in 2014. I fought for Rogers Arkansas in 2015. I went from Rome Italy right to the 2018 convention in Valley Forge Pennsylvania! Without making this post long I can just say I AM IN FOR KNOXVILLE, 100%!!! SEE YOU THERE!!!

--
Justin Mattes 6748



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