Southwest Caravan

The Southwest Section of the National Corvette Caravan traces its ancestry back to the first National Caravan in 1994. It draws caravaners from southern California, southern Nevada, northwestern Arizona, southwestern Utah, parts of Colorado, and Hawaii. And, yes, Southwest has had Hawaiian Corvetters ship their cars to L.A. harbor on a RO/RO ship, then fly in, pick up their cars, and join the Caravan.

The “Southwest Caravan Organizing Team,” in existence since late 2002, is responsible for planning, organizing, and leading 200-250 cars on the Southwest Section’s fifth trip to the National Corvette Museum.

Commander Hib Halverson, Section XO (’19 XO, ’14, ’09, ’03 Captain)
Commander Tony Megowan, Route Book Project Director, (’19 Captain, ’14, ’09 Team Member)
Commander Paula Megowan, Section CFO (CFO ’19, ’14, ’09)
Commander Doug Campbell
Commander Loretta Campbell
Commander Lawrence Pittman

Several Feeder Caravans of 10 to 40 cars are will be organized in areas of Southern California.
They will travel to Pasadena, California for Caravan Kick-Off Night at the Westin Hotel in Pasadena.
Organizing these Feeders are:
Lieutenant Janet Cherry, Orange County Local Leader
Lieutenant Alex Best, San Diego Local leader
Additional Feeder Caravans may be announced in the future.

“PreRun” trips are a key part of how the Southwest Caravan Organizing Team ensures a safe and pleasing experience for all Caravaners. PreRuns for the 2024 Caravan began in February 2022 when Section Captain Bill Herold dispatched XO Halverson on a two-day recon into southern Nevada. PreRun1 inspected streets and parking lots at The M Resort, both of which will be used by Southwest Caravaners when they arrive at the end of the first day and depart on day two.

19FEB2022. Four lanes and a 70-MPH limit mean a quicker trip to Spring Mountain. The
2012 ZO6 is XO Halverson’s “Blue Bullet” which also was a pre-run car during 2104 planning, the
Lead Car for the 2014 Caravan, and a prerunner during the run-up to the 2019 Caravan. Image
Southwest eNews Staff.

Additionally, Halverson drove Nevada State Route 160 which runs between Las Vegas and the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch. In mid-2021, it was under construction. There were numerous delays due to trucks pulling two 45-foot dump trailers and making 20 mph at best uphill on a twolane road. Such traffic would make caravanning unpleasant. Fortunately, six-months later, Halverson found the construction complete and reported to Capt. Herold that SR160 is now four lanes with a 70-mph speed limit.

3APR2022, On PreRun2, at a turnout west of the junction of the SR2 and SR138 near Phelan
CA, Bill Herold views a distant part of the highway with binoculars while conferring with Campbell
about a location for a possible Caravan reform. Image Southwest eNews Staff.

The three-day PreRun2 took place in early April 2022. Led by Captain Herold, three Organizing Team’s Corvettes left the departure site in Pasadena, CA, and tested alternate routes for Caravaners who would rather not drive Angeles Crest Highway on Day One of the Caravan. After that, they continued to Las Vegas to try out rooms at the “M”. The next day, Organizing Team members met with the staff at the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School to plan the event at that facility. That afternoon, the group drove the route from Spring Mountain back to I-15.

PreRun3 was a visit to Arches National Park. The Organizing Team’s original Day Three plan was to end with a trip through the Park’s stunning scenery. Unfortunately, the National Park Service was unwilling to have a caravan of 250 cars touring the 36-mile loop through the Arches Park, so that plan was scrapped.

11AUG2022, on PreRun4, XO Halverson’s “Blue Bullet” sits at a Cal Trans maintenance facility
at Dawson Saddle, the highest point on the 62-mile scenic drive through the Angeles National
Forest. Image Southwest eNews Staff.

In mid-July, 2022, PreRun4 surveyed the full length of SR2, Angeles Crest Highway. There had been concern among Organizing Team members about the time it would take to run the full length of ACH at Caravan speed and whether or not the route had adequate restrooms. XO Halverson drove ACH at the 40-mph average appropriate for caravaning on a mountain highway. Halverson reported that the time required to drive the proposed route is not excessive and there are numerous restroom stops. Nevertheless, the Section’s run over SR2 is still tentative. Severe weather in early 2023 damaged SR2 such that it has been closed since the storms, remains closed at the time this article was posted and will remain closed at least until Memorial Day weekend 2024. The Southwest Organizing Team plans an additional PreRun trip in the Spring of 2024 to determine if the highway can still be used as a Caravan route.

PreRun5 was an early May 2023 visit to Glenwood Springs CO. Captain Herold passed on the trip due to family obligations so all six of the Team’s Caravan Commanders visited the town that is famous for hot springs and being the gateway to scenic Glenwood Canyon through which the Caravan will drive on the fourth day of the trip.

6MAY2023 PreRun5 Breakfast meeting at the Glenwood Springs Village Inn. L to R: Cmd.
Pitman, Rosemary Pitman, Cmd. Campbell x2, Tourism Director Linda Langer of “Visit Glenwood
Springs” and XO Halverson. Image: Southwest eNews Staff.

7MAY2023 Weather affected PreRun5 leaving the greater L.A. area and, leaving western
Colorado on the trip home. This image was taken just west of Glenwood Springs on the fourth day
of the trip. Image: Southwest eNews Staff.

Led by Section XO Hib Halverson, Commanders Tony Megowan, Paula Megowan, Doug Campbell, Loretta Campbell, and Lawrence Pittman, met with the Glenwood Springs Police Department and “Visit Glenwood Springs,” the town’s tourism promotional organization. The PreRun5 group visited hotel properties, tried out restaurants, inspected three different locations to use for Caravan departure staging, and visited some of the stores and shops on downtown Glenwood Springs’ famed Grand Avenue. The bottom line is that Glenwood Springs will be a great choice for a Caravan overnight stop. In fact, it’s a cool place to vacay for a long weekend or even a whole week because of the hot springs, a mountain-top amusement park, all the available outdoor activities and old west historic locations. Also, foodies and shopaholics will find lots to do in the town.

25SEP2023 PreRun 6, found this arch over Utah State Route 12 between Cedar City and
Bryce Canyon City. Image: Southwest eNews Staff.

PreRun6 took place in late September 2023. Leading PreRun6 was Section Captain, Bill Herold and his Wife Viola. Also on the trip were Commanders Doug and Loretta Campbell. Section XO Hib Halverson, recovering from bronchitis, sat out PreRun6 in California. A key objective of PreRun6 was to visit Ruby’s Inn for a site inspection. After spending a night there, Captain Bill Herold sent Halverson a short email. “This place rocks!” he said. “It has plenty of parking. It has comfortable rooms in a park-like setting with beautiful views. There are two restaurants on the property and a third restaurant within walking distance. There are several gas stations all within a block or two of the property.” The other important PreRun6 task was to drive the 75 miles from I-15 to Ruby’s Inn which we’ll do at the end of Day Two. The trip also preran the drive from Ruby’s Inn, 108 miles north through the Dixie National Forest to I-70 east which we’ll do in the morning of Day Three.