Hopefully, everyone had a wonderful holiday season. My holiday was great except for the fact that Santa missed one small item on my Christmas list. The Cayman R w/PDK was missed! When I confronted Santa about this small oversight, I was given “the look”. Oh well, maybe next year.
I don’t know about you, but January is always depressing. “Why?”, you ask. For starters, all of my holiday bills come due in January (ok, call me Scrooge). Second, I start receiving W2’s, 1099’s, etc. which reminds me of what looms ahead. And lastly, it is usually a dismal month to drive a Porsche although this is not always the case, so read on. Enough of my grumbling.
I attended three very nice Shenandoah events that were held in the fourth quarter of last year. I was able to make the Fall Foliage Tour, the New Member Dinner/Social, and the Holiday Party.
The Fall Foliage Tour was postponed one week from its original date due to a early-season winter blast that hit western Virginia in late October. It was unfortunate, because the planners and hosts, Phil and Susie Audibert, were unable to attend the re-scheduled event. The tour started with a wonderful reception hosted by Weldon and Phyllis Scrogam at their G&W Motorwerkes showroom. If you have never been to G&W Motorwerkes and you are in the Waynesboro area, do yourself a favor and stop in. You will not be disappointed.
It was a beautiful day for a drive in the country. As in years past, we were treated to a scenic route through the central valley area and ended up at the Fareways restaurant located in the beautiful Massanutten Resort. The weather actually was warm when standing in the sun, so I removed the top from my Targa. All was well until we got out of town and starting traveling at highway speeds. The radiant heat of the sun was replaced by a brisk wind chill. Ever try to put on a coat while driving a Porsche? It can be done, but I recommend you stop when making wardrobe adjustments. In summary, it was a wonderful event and one that I look forward to every fall. Again, my thanks to Phil and Susie.
Our Region had a Member Social/Dinner Party in mid-November that was hosted by Flow Porsche at their Pantops showroom. A special effort had been made to get new Shenandoah members to attend. Based on some unfamiliar faces, I think they were successful in getting some new folks out for the event. The buffet dinner was prepared by the C&O restaurant; it was fabulous. On a side note, I highly recommend the C&O for a very nice dining experience; the restaurant is located in downtown Charlottesville across the street from the old C&O rail station.
The staff at Flow Porsche treated us to a guided tour of their facilities, and I must say I was impressed by their service area and overall operation. After dinner, the Sales staff entertained us with Porsche-related trivia questions; correct answers were rewarded with a door prize. I won a very nice Porsche 918 hat after correctly answering the question, “How many M8 bolts are used in a 1957 Speedster engine?”. Just kidding…
My final event of the year was the Region’s Holiday Party that was held at historic Michie Tavern. We were treated to a wonderful private dinner party that was hosted by fellow Shenandoah member Sam Morris. Sam just happens to be the General Manager at Michie Tavern, so you know we got the VIP treatment!
Michie Tavern is a wonderful venue for a Holiday party with its colonial (real stuff!) decor, holiday decorations, large cozy fireplace and gracious servers. The food is served buffet style, but “seconds” are brought to your table by the numerous servers. The food is a traditional southern feast! I doubt very many folks leave Michie Tavern still hungry.
After dinner, awards were presented to several special individuals for excellence on the Auto-X circuit. The evening concluded with the awarding of a bounty of door prizes. It appeared the vast majority of folks left with a prize, which is nice. Mary Jean was unable to attend the party because she had left earlier in the day on a business trip. A couple of weeks later I treated her to a surprise lunch at Michie Tavern while we visiting some wineries in the Charlottesville area. It was not the same as the private Shenandoah party, but we had fun and enjoyed the lunch.
This is the time of year that most PCA activities slow down, unless you live in California or Florida. That does not mean you are forbidden from taking the car out on a nice day and enjoying the winter here in Virginia. So far, this winter has been fairly mild and there have been ample opportunities for me to take the Carrera out for a nice drive in the countryside. I hope you have similar opportunities.
I hate to admit, but I am thinking about selling my wonderful ’84 Carrera and trading up for something newer. We bought the Carrera in 1997 and it has become part of our life. We would love to be able to keep the Carrera and buy something newer, but honestly we can not justify that scenario. I am still “on the fence” with this wacky idea, so I will keep you posted. Not sure what I would buy, but I was very impressed by the Cayman R that I drove at last summer’s Parade.
I am planning that my next installment of “Russ’s Ramblings” will start you thinking about getting your car ready for the Spring driving season. I will share some of my tips for making the interior and exterior sparkle. I will also share some preventative maintenance tips, so until then…enjoy Winter.
Drive safe.
