Autogeek Road Trip

Meghan

Meghan

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Well I know no one noticed that we were missing but Colin and I took off a couple days this past week. And I thought I would share our journey with you all.
Tuesday morning, same as usually we both get in nice in early, but at 9am we get moving... to the Palm Beach Airport!
Love that place! Not really but they seem to love me! Good news is I make it through security with no problems... that was a first!:dblthumb2:

So we meet up with our UPS reps from the area and a few of their bosses.... and off we go!

We had the honor of going to UPS Worldport in Kentucky. If you are not familiar with that you really should take a look, it is an amazing operation! So off we fly, have a two hour lay over in Atlanta, and then get on one of those smaller planes! Not my favorite, it was like riding a bull, you had to really hold on to your seat!

Well we arrived at the Louisville Airport and grabbed a car with UPS and headed to the hotel...

Let's say a really nice hotel!

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Go on up to our rooms and look what we have... goodie bag!!
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Very nice welcoming letter....

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We go up stairs to the OakRoom for a wonderful meal where we really get some time to share some thoughts and discuss giving the best shipping service to our customers.
Then we had about 20 minutes to spare so Colin and I stepped outside into the cold and I mean cold air and took a look around our hotel...

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But this was a business trip and there was not a spare hour to play so we rushed off to the UPS WorldPort and was greeted by this amazing sign.
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Re: Rough Draft- Autogeek Road Trip

Due to security reasons we could not photograph much at the WorldPort Center but they did let us take a few of the planes coming in at night.
They are the largest airline company, yet they do not take any passengers! We got to see UPS planes land all night, it was amazing!

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Re: Rough Draft- Autogeek Road Trip

Now on to the fun... UPS ran us around like crazy, they obviously do not believe in sleep! After being at WorldPort to 230am we headed back to the hotel for what you would call a nap... because we had to be up and out the door before 8am!
And when visiting the track where do you eat breakfast... Well Wagner's of course!

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Here is a little history on Wagner's

A Louisville Tradition Since 1922
Wagner’s is Churchill Downs; Churchill Downs is Wagner’s.” That sentiment, or something close to it, is echoed by almost everyone who walks in the joint — both regulars from the old school of horse racing and first-timers there to join the club, if only for a day. It’s a history written all over the walls, which hold a collage of past Derby winners along with famous figures who have graced the pharmacy’s fountain through the years.

What started out as a low-key meeting spot for coffee and conversation among horsemen and racing writers was eventually “discovered” by the mainstream media and now has been written about and videotaped by everyone from the Los Angeles Times to Southern Living to local TV news crews. It’s become another stop for out-of-towners in the whirlwind of activity that is Derby Week, but through it all has retained its unassuming, down-to-earth character.

Wagner’s opened in 1922 when Leo Wagner bought Hagen’s Pharmacy on the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Central Avenue, where he had worked since he was 14. Threatened by the presence of another newly opened pharmacy on the block, Wagner looked for a market to corner — and found it at Churchill Downs. He let the horsemen buy their cigarettes and other weekly staples on credit and generated a friendship and loyalty that has lasted for three generations.

You can get breakfast, Racehorse Liniment adn Jockey Silks all in one stop!
 
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After Wagner's it was off to Churchill Downs! UPS had treated us to an upclose view of Churchhill Downs and a very nice tour of the stables.. all 47 of them!

Amazing place to visit.
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Outside of the Museum.
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The Twin Spires Flag! In the summer of 2002, this early 20th century flag was found in the North Spire of Churchill Downs during the Phase I renovation project. With an estimated creation date between 1905 and 1914, it is believed that the flag was at some point flown from the top of the Spires.
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These were neat, had them set up as you walk into the museum with a film of racing horses behind them.
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Lots of trophies on display.
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Some of the guys enjoying a little horse racing.
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We got to see a few warming up for a race.
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This is the "locker room" where the horses get ready for the races.
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Twin Spires
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They have to change this little guys clothes each time someone wins the derby.
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Someone got some new shoes!
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Now its not that I don't love horses but I was very impressed to get a glimpse of these stadiums too!

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Re: Rough Draft- Autogeek Road Trip

Now for a little info on UPS Worldport, its actually very interesting to read about. The operation was completed in April 2010, has 5.2 Million Square Feet, to you boys that is 90 Football Fields!
They move 416,000 packages in one hour, have 70 Aircraft Docks, 31,578 Conveyors reaching 155 miles worth of distance.

Worldport is the largest fully automated package handling facility in the world. The operation currently turns over 130 aircraft daily, processing an average of 1.2 million packages a day with a record 2.5 million packages processed on Peak Day 2009.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DguuX3TJJ0]YouTube - UPS Worldport[/video]
 
WOW, talk about the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!! :bowdown:

Awesome Meghan!! Im the MAN

Man, I should work for Autogeek!! :props:
 
Awesome pictures! I missed you while you were gone Meghan.
 
Bobby B. said:
Awesome pictures! I missed you while you were gone Meghan.
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Its a little hard in this day to miss someone too much, with internet and phones, its like no one ever really leaves! :props:
But we had fun, forgot to mention the best part.... we go to fly in a UPS 767 Airplane simulator. Of course I crashed us but I did get to try to fly. Im the MAN
 
What, no exploding toner cartridge pics? :laughing:




Sorry, couldn't resist. :nomore:
 
Cool Meghan. Thanks for sharing with us. First FedEx and now UPS. Looks like UPS stepped up the bar and FedEx has a bit of work to do to top this trip next year, eh?
 
The way you were treated by UPS:
I think the Geek does much more shipping thru UPS than F/E.

Nice trip,thanx for the pix:xyxthumbs:
 
Yep I know alot of those pictures really well. I didnt know you were going to be in my neck of the woods
 
And to think UPS started out delivering packages by horse in Seattle a gazillion years ago...whoda thunk.

Bill
 
Fly bye said:

Did you get a pat down?
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Not this time but on the way to SEMA I was profiled for sure, must have been those socks!

FastZR1 said:
Cool Meghan. Thanks for sharing with us. First FedEx and now UPS. Looks like UPS stepped up the bar and FedEx has a bit of work to do to top this trip next year, eh?
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Well both of them treat us very well, we just sent two employees to Nascar races last Sunday and they got to meet Joe Gibbs and hang out in the garages thanks to FedEx.

PAR Detailing said:
Yep I know alot of those pictures really well. I didnt know you were going to be in my neck of the woods
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To be honest it was a last minute thing, I wasn't really sure where we were going to be.

Wendell Jarvis said:
My thoughts too....we could have invited her out to Dinner.
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We did not have a second to spare, trust me I even missed out on all my beauty sleep!

BillE said:
And to think UPS started out delivering packages by horse in Seattle a gazillion years ago...whoda thunk.

Bill
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UPS story is very amazing! It started in 1907 when a 19 yr old borrowed $100 from a friend to start a messenger business. They started on foot and using bikes, then moved to horses. James Casey is the founder and six years after starting this company it became UPS. Funny thing is their biggest client was US Mail!
 
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