A sad start to the rumble
 

I didn't spend the night with the others, so I thought I'd give a rumble update: we had two bad incidents with two of our favorite Rennlisters with damage to their immaculate cars. The good news is that no one was hurt in either incident. One was a NorCal Rennlister, the other a SoCal Rennlister. I won't identify them or tell their stories... that's up to them. Let me just add how upset everyone was to hear about the damage, and how much you guys are cared for here on the Rennlist. Best wishes to both of you and your passengers.

On the lighter side... Fred did an amazing job with the "tour director" role. We even had personalized mapquest instructions... six pages of details on the route. And the route... what amazing and beautiful and mostly empty roads. I've lived here all my live, and never knew those roads existed. Great job by Fred.

John (JRGordonSR) did an wonderful job orchestrating this event... complete with personalized name tags. The lunch was great (I personally didn't care much for the wine... but I don't trust any wine that doesn't come in a box). We then got a tour of the "caves", and more wine tasting. I turned around and came home... using some of those newly discovered roads again. Very "brisk" driving.

I'll post these pictures, but these are just temporary until our official team photgrapher (mnmblu) gets back and posts the real deal. These are just a teaser.

Once again... my best wishes to the wounded, but soon to be made better than ever, Porsches.

Cool! Can't wait to see (and hear) more. Wish I could have made it. :banghead:

Scott :roflmao:

Steve,

It was very nice meeting you today. It was sad to hear/see those beautiful cars receive battle scars. But nobody was hurt and that is what counts. Plastic and metal can always be replaced/repaired.

Other then those bad incidents, blasting through the back roads was great fun. On the lighter side of things, I had to make a few double takes during the run: once for the roaming cow on the side of the road, and for the dogs that like to chase flying pcars and the wild streams that happen to cross the road every once in a while with pot holes that suck up entire 18" wheels (ask me how I know) :rolleyes: .

Best wishes to those fallen Rennlisters and a "hats off" to the organizers of this great event.

Thanks for sharing, Steve. I so wish I cudda been there too...

Looks like quite a gathering! Sorry I missed it. Best wishes for our fellow rennlisters. Thank goodness no one was hurt.

Steve, oh my god, I saw those wheels on the way up and said to Jan, what a great photo opp that would be. You stole my pic! Nice work old boy.

GREAT fun today, what a unbeliveable ride. The sceanery and weather was heaven made, man what a day. A pic or two soon.

Steve, here is the real deal.

An early morning start as Commander Fred leads the way up the vine.

Now here's little Mckenzie. She is the cutest little thing you ever want to see. She is a bit grumpy so early in the morning at the paddock.

And some more meet and greet in the wee early morn.

More later

The official team photographer is always on the back end of the camera... no one gets to see his mug. So here he is: Alan... our very own mnmblu:

I love these coming attractions pics ( I gotta go on a diet! Alan, can you photoshop me a few inches off my gut - sheesh! I'll get you for that Steve).

I was a great day all around - the people were the best, the cars were the coolest, roads were open, the sceanery was fantastic, the food was outstanding, weather was cooperative, the wine sucked, the caves were overrated, the outdoors setting for lunch and mingle was perfect. Overall, on a scale of 1-10, the day was a 9 - dampened only by the mis-haps and the resulting absense of some of our friends I was looking forward to hanging with.

The So-Cal pace was brisk, and the driving was responsible and appropriate for public roads (which we had to ourselves for much of the time).

Warpman, mnmblu and I took the long way home and found some great roads (thanks JR and friends) - Old Creek Rd was fantastic and then it was Hwy 1 all the way to Santa Barbara for dinner on the pier. The driving stats for the day round trip door to door:

Hours: 14.5
Miles: 463
Roads: 10
Fuel Stops: 1

Thanks to everyone involved (especially JR) for making this happen.

I started a new assignment at work this weekend and had to miss this one. Just my luck. Next year perhaps. Keep the photos coming!!

:crying:

I wish that I could have been there this week.. It looks like a great time with great folks. Hopefully I will be able to make the next one if I am not moving again.

Nice to see everyone and meet some new people. Great lunch and venue, JR. Stupendous wheels shot, Steve. Made me think of Fill's car for some reason. My car will be done this week, and I am getting the urge to join the SoCal group for a Malibu Canyon run. Not till June, as I have some other travel in May. Alan, nice to finally meet the team lensman.