Please Note:
The Convention is Tuesday, May 2, to Friday, May 5, This Year
The special convention rate expired on April 14. If you have any issues making your reservation please contact Eva, 760-236-9022 during normal California business hours.
Proposed Schedule is here.
Promo Video is here.
Apparel rendering is here
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Here is the GOPA 2023_PowerPoint (22MB) file, in .pdf (5MB) but without Anne Marie singing. Palm Springs, CA, KUDD
More information will be added here and in the Grumman Star.
Please note the days are Tuesday to Friday this year.
Veni, Vidi, Voli… To Palm Springs for the GOPA Convention May 2023!!!!
by: Anne Marie Radel, Convention Chair
The excitement is building for this epic Convention! All us cats and kittens will be descending into the Valley of Desert Fun in our Grumman aircraft!!!
We will be starting our Convention on Tuesday 5/2/23. This is a slight change from previous conventions due to the monster music festivals being held earlier in the area.
Early arrivals will be on Monday 5/1/23. The convention will continue throughout the week to our culminating banquet day of Friday 5/5/23. Departures will be on Saturday 5/6/23. It is not lost on us that our banquet is on Cinco de Mayo and we will be having an awesome special guest speaker! Arriba!!!
Lets start with the best of the best!
Our hosting FBO is Crown Aero at KUDD, Bermuda Dunes. The airport is nestled just east of Palm Spring International, it is non towered and has a little over 5000 feet of runway and has three approaches. Our hosting FBO will be offering discounts on fuel prices and other fun things. Check them out at: www.crownaero.com Check the airport out at: www.airnav.com/airport/KUDD
Car rentals are located on the airport by Go Rentals. They will be offering a 20% discount on all rental cars for our attendees. Please make all reservations through their service team at atyourservice@gorentals.com . Please let them know you’re with GOPA.
They will have all cars available at the airport (KUDD) or if flying commercially into Palm Springs International, they can make sure your rental car will be there for you. You’ll need to let them know this information when you make your reservation.
Our hosting hotel is the Embassy Suites La Quinta! It is surrounded by the majestic Santa Rosa Mountains and is located within the Village of La Quinta at Santa Rosa Plaza, across the street from Old Town La Quinta, a charming village with unique shops, restaurant and art galleries. Here is a link to see the hotel: www.laquinta.embassysuites.com
This hotel offers some crazy good facilities and amenities. For our group, they are offering a block of these types of room: Standard 2 Queen for $209 per night plus local taxes (currently 14.2%) or Standard King for $189 per night plus local taxes (currently 14.2%).
Here is the list of what the hotel offers as amenities:
- Complimentary full, cooked to order breakfast buffet daily
- Complimentary Nightly Manager’s Reception from 5:30pm - 7:00pm with cocktails, beer, wine, soft drinks, and light snacks.
- Complimentary self parking
- Complimentary guest room wi-fi
- Complimentary business center privileges open 24 hours a day
- Complimentary fitness room admittance open 24 hours a day
- Complimentary local and 800-number calls
- Pet friendly with fees and restrictions
- Non smoking facility
- Outdoor heated pool, hot tub and kids pool open daily 6am - 11pm
- Spa Hibiscus is a full service spa that provides a la carte services and treatments including private steam therapy rooms and soothing whirlpool spa. Advance reservations can be made by calling the spa directly at 760-485-4443
Check in time is 4pm, Check out time is 11am.
You may use this website to reserve your rooms: https://www.my-event.hilton.com/laqcaes-gop-7f0876e5-c94d-4417-a613-66de62c378c7/ or call the hotel directly at 760-777-1711 and let them know you are with GOPA.
We will have scheduled van shuttle service available to and from the airport (KUDD) to the Embassy Suites La Quinta Hotel during convention week.
As we get closer to the convention time frame, look for Convention Registration forms, and new or updated convention information and links to fun things to do in the Palm Springs area.
For those who missed it, here is the link to the PP presentation for GOPA 2023 Palm Springs that was shown at the last Convention-
Looking so forward to seeing all of ya’ll there!!
Anne Marie Radel
gopa2023@grummanpilots.org
Cell 818-429-8663
Our May convention is at the Hollywood Celebs Favorite Desert Playground, Palm Springs!! As promised, here are links to a small portion of the fantastic things to do in the area:
Here are three of our favorite websites for all areas of the Coachella Valley:
https://www.playinlaquinta.com
https://www.Palmspringslife.com
https://www.gpsgetaway.com
Here are a couple of our favorites:
Agua Caliente Casino,
https://www.aguacalientecasinos.com
The Living Desert Zoo/Gardens,
https://www.livingdesert.org
Red Jeep Adventures,
https://www.red-jeep.com
Joshua Tree National Park,
https://www.nps.gov/jotr
El Paseo California Artist Gallery,
https://www.melissamorganfineart.com
Modern Celebrity & Architecture Tours,
https://www.moderntourspalmsprings.com
Here are the websites to our convention tours:
Palm Springs Air Museum,
https://www.palmspringsairmuseum.org
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway,
https://www.pstramway.com
Also, for those who may want to stay in the area before or after our convention and explore cool places that are close (by Grumman flight), here are some distances from KUDD airport (Bermuda Dunes). If anyone needs guidance through any of the airspace around the area, or would like to know about other airports, please feel free to contact me.
Las Vegas (KLAS), 150.4 nautical miles
Catalina Island (KAVX), 109 nautical miles
Santa Barbara (KSBA), 181.8 nautical miles
San Diego (KSAN), 76.3 nautical miles
Van Nuys (KVNY), For those who saw the movie “16 Right”, 113.6 nautical miles
Mohave Air and Spaceport (KMHV), 121.7 nautical miles
Fullerton (KFUL) close to Disneyland, 85.3 nautical miles
Harris Ranch & Hotel (308) For delicious steaks, 338 nautical miles
Let’s have some fun and see some things!!!!
Cheers, Anne Marie and Mike Radel,
GOPA2023@grummanpilots.org, Cell 818-429-8663
