2024 National Corvette Caravan (Pacific Northwest Caravan)

2024 National Corvette Caravan
Pacific Northwest Caravan
August 22-31, 2024

All Roads Lead to Bowling Green

ARE YOU READY? HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING LONG ENOUGH? All aboard for the 30th
anniversary celebration at the National Corvette Museum. As the Captain of your Pacific
Northwest Caravan, I’m excited to introduce our team, our route and some of the preliminary events during the course of our drive across the country to Bowling Green, Kentucky. There will be many more details to follow as time goes on, but this will give you some of the basics of our caravan planning to date. The most common questions are: 1) What is our route, 2) What will we see as we cross the country, 3) What are the hotels available, and 4) When can we register?
As I’ve stated before, this is YOUR caravan and our team’s goal are to make this journey fun,
interesting, safe, make memories for a lifetime and to make new friendships while
reacquainting yourselves with old friends. It’s an honor and a privilege to be your PNW Captain and be with you on what is referred to as the world’s largest moving automotive event!
So, let’s get started! I’ve attached a link that should get your juices flowing. Many of you may have seen this YouTube video, but for those that have not, it will give you an excellent idea of what to expect. So, enjoy and watch in full screen. https://youtu.be/rRjK6FEuJDE

Meet Our Team
PNW Captains: John Warren and Patty Haas. I am new to the role of PNW Captain but have
been on the 2014 and 2019 caravans in my 2006 C6 convertible. Both Robin in 2014 and Ken in 2019 as Captains did an outstanding job. We have big shoes to fill! You can follow Patty and I across the USA in our Arctic White C8. You’ll know it’s us because our Oregon license plate is 4EVR 39…trying to stay young at heart and doing a pretty good job at that! Both Patty and I are members of Rogue Valley Corvettes in Southern Oregon. I was Chairman for years of the Fall Classic Car Show in Southern Oregon and have good knowledge of planning…what can go right and what can go wrong. Some of the best made plans don’t always go as you wish…like rain! If you have any questions as time goes on, please contact me at 2024PNWcaptain@gmail.com. If you wish to talk directly, please send me an e-mail with a phone number and we’ll talk live to discuss the trip and answer questions that you may have. We are very excited about this caravan and hope you will be also. We invite you with open arms to join us on the PNW caravan.

PNW Co-Captains: John and Ann Elegant. John and Ann have vast experience on past caravans
and Corvettes as they have been on many and have owned many! John is a walking talking
Corvette info machine! I am so very happy to have them as Co-Captains! John is the founder of the Mid Engine Corvette Forum and has more knowledge of the C8 than anyone I know. They have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles across the USA and have vast knowledge of our highway system. They own a C8, which will be sold to make room for their Z06 this coming summer. Did you notice their license plate? John is also coordinating with Suburban Chevrolet for our kick-off meeting in Sandy, Oregon. You can contact John at john.elegant@gmail.com.

PNW Oregon State Regional Leaders: Jim and Nancy Garboden. They live in Eugene, Oregon
and are members of the Cascade Corvette Club. Jim is Vice President and Nancy is Secretary
while also taking on the responsibilities of co-editors of the club newsletter. In addition, they are Lifetime Members of the NCM and NCM Ambassadors. 2024 will their sixth caravan, each one in a different Corvette. Jim has owned 3 Corvettes before meeting Nancy, but Nancy holds the record of owning over 35 Corvettes between 1972 to 1985! That just makes my head spin!
Together they have owned another 7 Corvettes since 1985! I simply don’t know what to say
about that. It’s mind boggling! They currently own a 2019 Shadow Gray Grand Sport Convertible with Blade Silver stripes. We are very blessed to have them on our team!
Jim and Nancy will also be arranging the hotel blocks for our reservations. Almost all hotels will not start taking blocks till about a year in advance. Stay tuned, more info to come as we get it.
A huge “Thank You” to them for managing our hotel information.

PNW Washington State Regional Leaders: Shaun and Cheryl Hayes. This is Shaun’s first
caravan and I’m so very happy that he has volunteered to lead and organize our Seattle area for the 2024 PNW Caravan. They are job sharing with Steve and Jean Yabroff. This job takes a lot of time and effort…so many thanks to them. BTW, Cheryl hopes to be retired by the time our caravan starts in August of 2024. They own a brand-new Torch Red C8 HTC that arrived the day before Thanksgiving at their club sponsor, Evergreen Chevrolet. On top of that, Evergreen Chevrolet will be hosting the Seattle area send-off breakfast for the 2024 PNW Caravan. How cool is that! So, their brand new C8 will be starting the PNW Caravan in the very location where it arrived. Shaun and Cheryl are members of the Corvette Marque Club of Seattle and he is the current President. They currently live in Sammamish, Washington. Shaun’s email is shaunhavt@hotmail.com. Please welcome them to our team!

PNW Washington State Regional Leaders: Steve and Jean Yabroff. Thank you for stepping up as state leaders and working with Shaun and Cheryl. I’ve only met Steve on a Zoom meeting, and he’s a doozy! Talking about a Corvette fan? He sent me pictures of his past Corvettes and I’m so very jealous!!! Don’t we all want those old Vettes back…like a 1967 427 Coupe with side pipes. Steve…what the hell were you thinking when you sold that Vette? Now they own a beautiful new C8 HTC. They were on the 2014 NCM Corvette Caravan, visited the NCM four times and two of those were deliveries. He was the 2014 NCM Seattle Regional Caravan coordinator and helped on the 2019 NCM Caravan. Steve and Jean are also members of the Corvette Marque Club of Seattle. Steve is currently the CMCS liaison to their sponsor Evergreen Chevrolet who gave them the 2019 send-off and breakfast and will be doing it again in 2024.
Thank you, Steve/Jean for all your hard work in years past and in the upcoming years. They live in Woodinville, WA. You can contact Steve at 427jockey@gmail.com.
So, you’ve met our team to date, but we still need your help. If you would like to help in Idaho, Montana or Alaska, please contact me at 2024PNWCaptain@gmail.com.

Pacific Northwest Caravan Route Map
Day 1 – Issaquah to Pasco to Spokane, WA 351 miles
Or
Sandy, to Pasco to Spokane, WA 349 miles
(Our two originating PNW caravans will join in Pasco, WA for lunch)
(I’m hopeful that the Western Canada Caravan will also join us on this day)
Day 2 – Spokane to Bozeman, MT 400 miles
Day 3 – Bozeman to Billings, MT 258 miles
Day 4 – Billings to Cheyenne, WY 453 miles
Day 5 – Cheyenne to Lincoln, NE 447 miles
Day 6 – Lincoln to Columbia, MO 320 miles
Day 7 – Columbia, to Bowling Green, KY 402 miles
We’ve decided to make this a seven-day trip once again to make it more enjoyable, relaxed and
experience our beautiful country.
Note: Please ignore 2,920 milage noted on the map. Actual mileage is 2,491. I had to
manipulate Google Maps because of two starting points.

Sites and Venues Along our Route
There will be many listed stops and sites to see along the way as we get into more detail. We also plan to encourage more Chevrolet dealerships to open their doors for meals and service if possible. Here are a few of the sites/venues along our route.
• The Beartooth National Scenic Byway is a must see according to Charles Kuralt,
nationally syndicated columnist and editor of NBC’s awarding winning “On The Road”
for 15 years. After traveling the Beartooth Highway, he called it “the most beautiful
National Scenic Byway” in America. Beartooth Highway will be an option for you on Day
3. Check out many of the available YouTube videos regarding this scenic route. You
won’t be disappointed!
• Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. This is also very scenic and historical.
Learn about Lt. Col. George Custer and the Lakota and Cheyenne Warriors on that
battlefield. This will be an option for you on Day 4.
• Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, NE. This is a very exciting venue and will be our
kick-off event on the morning of Day 6. I have negotiated with the museum to have a
private showing for our PNW participants with museum staff/docents available. Many
of the PNW participants saw this in 2014, but there are major changes in the works. In
2014, it was 135,000 square ft and by 2024 there will be an additional 90,000 square ft
of new exhibits. We will also have a buffet breakfast available during our time there.
Our caravan will leave later in the morning from their parking lot. Check out their
website: www.museumofamericanspeed.com
Obviously, you can choose to take side trips and do your own thing during each day or stay with the main group. Any of those options are fun, memorable and acceptable! Remember, this is your caravan!

Hotels
It is very early in the planning process to be reserving hotels. Jim and Nancy Garboden, our
Oregon State Regional Leaders have graciously volunteered to organize our hotels and hotel blocks. Most hotels will not grant us our requested blocks till about one and half years in advance. After that is accomplished, you will be able to make reservations at the suggested hotels on our route. As we gain knowledge of these hotels and able to reserve the blocks, we’ll keep you advised and post the details.

Registration
Official NCM and PNW registration will not be available till a year in advance of our caravan. In the meantime, I will start a list of 2024 PNW participants and keep you advised through
Facebook, emails and the NCM website. To start the registration process and for planning
purposes, please send an email to 2024PNWcaptain@gmail.com with the following
information.
1. Name of each person on PNW caravan (first and last names)
2. Email addresses
3. Cell Phone numbers
4. Mailing address (for window clings, shirts, lanyards, etc)
5. Year, Model, Color, License Plate #
6. Starting Point: Issaquah or Sandy
7. Have you been on previous Corvette Caravans?

There will be more information over the coming months. Again, please feel free to contact
John or me if you have any questions regarding the NCM/PNW caravan and we’ll do our best to share what information we have. We invite you with open arms to join us!

John Warren & Patty Haas
PNW Captains
(510) 418-3006
2024PNWcaptain@gmail.com

John & Ann Elegant
PNW Co-Captains
(503) 510-2808
John.elegant@gmail.com

Find out more information @ https://www.corvettecaravan.com/northwest