(Selected photos from the weekend are posted on 3 pages beginning at
http://members.aol.com/Luigiverco/eventphotos.html)
PT 3
Janet and I decide that we left nothing on the Taos square the last time we
visited and knowing full well that at this time of day on a Saturday it will
take at least half an hour to get around the square, I hang a U and chase
after the Alpine.
I catch them at the turn off for NM 518 where we make a left turn and head
into 46 miles of the finest sports car driving you will ever encounter... 518
is blacktop and pretty narrow, full of twists, turns, and switchbacks, all
before the route shifts over to NM 75 which REALLY gets twisty.
Halfway through the switchback that shifts the route from 318 to 75 the TR4
that buzzed by us a while back is pulled over enjoying the view from inside
the engine compartment. We pull over a hundred yards beyond him by which time
Larry McMillan in the XK-140 has pulled in behind the TR and Larry is out
rummaging through his boot... Knowing the TR is in good hands, we motor on.
The sky is a clear blue studded with fluffy white clouds, the road surface is
dry, the temp is about 70 degrees, the roadway is almost empty of
non-rallyists. Geeez! This is great stuff!
I am sorely tempted to pull over and put the Alfa's top down but feel that
would be rubbing it in a bit too much. And, to give credit where credit is
due, Dana never once says "I knew I coulda took the top off!"
At about 1:30 we pull into the parking lot of Rancho de Chimayo where lunch
has been arranged for the rallyists. The parking lot is full of beautiful tin
and the restaurant is packed with smiling, windblown rallyists but the service
is fast and good and the food is simply outstanding. Despite the presence of
our couple of hundred rallyists, the restaurant is open to their normal
clientele. Instead of a buffet--almost traditional when this many people are
involved--we are able to order off a special menu offering half a dozen
entrees including a vegetarian plate which holds no charm whatever for me.
Burritos! Guacamole salads! Fajitas! Chile rellenos! Green chile to die for!
First class stuff in first class surroundings... Belching discretely and
contentedly, we are soon headed out on the rallye's last 28 mile leg which
gets us back to Ft. Marcy at about 3:30.
Janet and I immediately head into the room to contemplate our eyelids while
Dana and Brian quickly remove the Alpine's top and head out to find a 1-Hour
photo joint and for some more driving... Ah! Youth!
(And doesn't it just really rub you wrong when a 1-Hour joint charges you for
1-Hour service but doesn't do the pictures for 2 hours? Well, if that bugs you
half as much as it bugs me, stay far away from the Walgreen's in Santa Fe. In
fact, stay away from Walgreen's everywhere as a matter of principle.)
The awards banquet is held in the central courtyard of Santa Fe's Palace of
the Governors, the oldest public building in the United States. This sprawling
adobe structure was built, I believe, in 1610 and the courtyard (tented for
this occasion) is full of reveling rallyists by the time we arrive at 6:30. A
local rock band plays in the background while everyone eats. The awards
presentation is both brief and humorous and I am pleased to note that Team
Luigi member Ed Townley and AROC President Ed Mackey drove two of the cars
involved in the eight-way tie for second place in the rallye.
Because of the eight-way tie, the Rallymaster has announced that next year's
event will be considerably more difficult. If that is the case, hopefully next
year's event will have two classes, one for T & D maniacs and one for us fun
loving turistas.
Race driver and automotive journalist Denise McCluggage is in fine form during
her presentation which is all too brief. It is always a pleasure to hear
Denise and I highly recommend her book, "By Brooks Too Broad For Leaping," a
compilation of some of her Autoweek columns dealing mainly with the most
renowned figures in auto racing from 30 years ago (Fangio, Hill, Shelby,
etc.). Good stuff!
Seven o'clock comes awfully early Sunday morning... But, somehow we make it
out of bed and migrate to the wash rack where our cars receive their now daily
ablution. As dawn segues into morning we are once again blessed with a clear
blue sky...
Down on the Plaza at 8:30 AM, we carefully thread our way through the dozens
of cars already in place. Only five Italian cars are on display, two Alfas, a
Lancia, a Pantera, and a Lamborghini. Although the Lambo is a massively
impressive car, the Alfa belonging to Ed Mackey is, in my opinion, the best
Eye-tie on display.
There are a few Porsches on the Plaza, quite an interesting selection of
American Iron of all types and descriptions, and a pair of ancient motorcycles
(actually, a 30's Beezer and (!) a 1951 Vincent Black Shadow). Of the 91 cars
on the Plaza, over 50 are British cars.
And there are some truly wonderful British cars on display, at least a dozen
deserve an award of some type, but I think the nicest is an Aston Martin DB5,
one of two Aston Martins on display. It is a tough call, though. There are two
Lotus Elites that are great, several remarkable MG's, and a couple of
noteworthy Jaguars. At the start of the day the only Morgan is Brad Farr's
1995 Plus 8, a beautiful example of the marque, but later in the morning a
Three-Wheeler arrives.
The morning continues warm and sunny though when a cloud occasionally blocks
the sun the temperature drops 10 degrees in a heartbeat. Around noon everyone
makes their way to the judges' area where the trophies are announced. Best of
show goes to one of the two Lotii and Best British car is awarded to the
wonderful bright red Aston Martin DB5. I am pleased to note that Ed Mackey's
Alfa Veloce, and Larry McMillan and Connie Maxwell's Studebaker and Jaguar all
receive well deserved awards.
Shortly before 1 PM participant cars begin firing up and moving out. I delay
just a bit so I can take a few more pictures (to run my total for the day up
to 150 shots), then climb in the Alfa. At 1:06 PM, as I ease the Alfa out of
my parking spot, I am startled when someone leans on their horn in one long,
continuous, obnoxious blare. I look around and decide it must be a gray Buick
that is busting the barriers half a block to my left. But why?
I head down the Plaza and take the first left. A short block later I take a
jog to the right whereupon somebody honks again... I jog back to the left, go
a couple of blocks and make a left onto Dona Peralta.
A few blocks later I make a left into a gas station and when I veer right to
park, somebody honks again, a loooong LOUD blare... Just as I start cussing I
realize that the somebody who is honking is me... Every time I move the Alfa's
beautiful aftermarket wood rimmed steering wheel to the right, off goes the
horn... Sort of a "I have met the enemy and he is me!" type deal. Sigh...
I don't want to disconnect the horn under the hood so I pull the horn trim
ring, a disconcertingly easy operation, and we head for the freeway. No sooner
do we hit the freeway than the weather goes to Hell in a handbasket. After a
morning of blue skies and sunshine we are suddenly driving through buckets of
rain...
And so it goes... Driving through sunny skies alternating with pouring rain...
Touring down the freeway, the Alfa's horn releasing the occasional joyous
blast... Does it get any better than this?
It is 7:10 PM when we pull into the Raley's parking lot again and Brian takes
in half a dozen rolls of film to be developed while we adjourn to Si Senors
for dinner... Can't get too much green chile, donchaknow!
Just before 9 PM we pull into our driveway, the Alfa horn gives a half-hearted
tootle and I rip the horn button completely out of the steering column, and we
shut the engines down...
The odometer says we have put 790 miles on the car. At an average of 3 smiles
per mile that works out to about 2370 smiles for each of us... Not bad for a
short weekend!
--END--
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