My hat is off to the organizers of Encounter. It was a fantastic four days.
The hospitality was phenomenal. The host Philadelphia section went beyond the
call to welcome us and other newcomers. It was the first time since college
that I had been back to Valley Forge, and I was struck by how much more
beautiful the area is standing up.
The events were particularly well organized, and went off seamlessly. The
rally was organized around finding clues from pictures matched against the
surroundings, which sounds easy, but not quite so! The Autocross was humbling
- my first in three decades. We even had a drive-in movie in the parking lot.
Stuart Turner spoke twice, and showed the audiences how the British Teams got
through 96-hour non-stop drives -- laughing gas.
We also enjoyed an incredible 225-mile journey to and from the Encounter
through the Delaware Water Gap on secondary roads of unsurpassed beauty,
taking frequent stops for a walk at Bushkill Falls, a picnic in an abandoned
19th century village, and a 30-mile passage over an abandoned mining "road" on
the Jersey side of the gap(not highly recommended for lever-arm shocks).
I look forward to Encounter 2006 - next time a member of the Club.
Allen Miller BN2M
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