I am, and I have an idea how to do it.
I work until midnight Friday, and then don’t need to be back until about noon Monday (though I might call in for Monday if we do this).
I’m willing to drive my minivan from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Washington DC and back, starting from an agreed rally point at 12:30 AM Saturday, with at least three but no more than five GR FReepers (the van will hold seven, but six will be more comfy). Each person should have cash for gas and tolls for the group, and meals for themselves. There would be a fifteen to thirty minute break every three to four hours (that is, at the three hour mark the driver would start looking for a roadside stop with fuel and amenities). Driver relief would be voluntary, but expected.
On arrival, the van would make one complete circuit of the Beltway, and then proceed into the city across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, east along Independence Ave., past the Capitol to First St., north to Constitution Ave, west across the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge, back onto the Beltway.
But wait, there’s more.
We would proceed along the Beltway to the River Road Exit, take River Road until it crosses Nebraska Ave NW and becomes Wisconsin Ave NW, follow Wisconsin to Massachusetts Ave NW, left on Massachusetts, past the Observatory, around DuPont Circle to Connecticut Ave NW, south on 17th St past the White House, to Constitution Ave, left (east) on Constitution to 14th St, left (north) on 14th to Massachusetts, to Wisconsin, to River Road, and out of the city.
And then home.
No marches, no speakers, no bands, few if any signs. No parking. No porta-potties. Just a quick driving tour of the city.
“So what?”
So this. How many others in the Grand Rapids area have cars and can get away from early Saturday morning until sometime Sunday?
How many in Kalamazoo?
How many in Battle Creek? Lansing? Ann Arbor? The Detroit burbs?
How many in Cadillac, Kalkaska, Traverse City?
How many in St Ignace, Sault Ste Marie, even Marquette?
And this. How many in Illinois could do it? Indiana? Ohio? Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia? How about it, Tennessee? Georgia?
Could we get a thousand FReepmobiles to show up in Washington, on the same day, driving the same predetermined route? Imagine the sight, on that part of Constitution Ave between the Washington Monument and the Ellipse, with a line of Freepers completing the first circuit going west, and another line of them halfway through the second going east? And what if they had their horns a-blowing?
Could we get 10,000 cars? A quarter million? Can you imagine a caravan that long, horns blowing, not stopping (except for traffic signals), just looping around the Seat of Government? Just a few minutes per vehicle, but hours on the ground.
No muss, no fuss, and we all go home. Some of us even make it to church next morning.
No schedules, apart from meeting people with whom you would be riding. We don’t want to arrive all at once; just a steady stream throughout the day. I would expect that if my group could leave by 12:30 AM, we’d arrive around 2:00 or 3:00 PM and be back home by 6:00 or 7:00 Sunday morning (that’s a mental SWAG, and I could be way off).
Well, it seems like a good idea to me, and I’m willing to do it.
Not alone.
I’m going to do something I haven’t done on purpose before; I’m going to post this in three or four promising threads, and then I’m going to close my browser, and go do other things, and leave FR alone for 36 hours. When I come back Friday morning, I’ll be looking to see if this idea has taken root and flourished. I’ll be looking for FReepmails from GR FReepers wanting to ride along with me; from other FReepers who will bring their own cars and carloads; a couple thousand posts from several states, each indicating a desire to participate.
See ya!