This
Year’s Western meet turned out great. We had plenty of “bumps in the
road” getting things arranged and getting tied in with a car show event,
and after that was all done we had weather forecasters trying to spoil our
weekend. As it turned out, there was a slight drizzle early Friday morning
but the clouds were gone by 9:00am, and they never came back.
Friday
was a day for getting registered and finding out where we would be
parking. There were many, many vendors already set up along the beachfront
and the long pier was open for anyone to walk out and get a view of the
beautiful coastline. The surfers were out playing in the waves, and the
families were enjoying the beach. It was peaceful to sit in the soft sand
under the sun and listen to the surf, oblivious to the fact that just a
short distance away the Pismo Beach Classic car show was expanding and
slowly taking over the town, not unlike the blob in Cincinnati. It was
nice to know that the beach would always be there if we needed it, and the
kids especially loved it. That morning the first five Montes showed up:
Wallaby, Mo’s70mcs, Stick, PappaJoe, and BigDaves70Monte. (Mark, Rod,
Mike, Joe, and Dave) We planned to meet at the Motel later then go out for
dinner. (Thanks Rod, for telling me about the Motels’ underground
parking; maybe I will be able to sleep after all).
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Please
click on the image to enlarge
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View of the coast from the pier
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Friday morning we parked near
the pier. Big Dave brought the 3-wheeler
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That
evening we all gathered in front of the Motel in our cars and Stick (Mike)
was leading the column for this fifteen-minute drive. Mike led us fifty
feet, stopped at the first stop sign we came to, and as our motors ran he
stepped out of his car and walked back to ask us how to get on the
freeway. We explained that he just needed to turn left and it would put us
right on the Southbound freeway. He gave a thumbs-up, walked back to his
car and proceeded to turn right. (It was a confusing intersection layout).
Us lemmings had no choice but to follow, and we ended up on the ramp
headed Northbound. We drove quite a ways on the freeway in the wrong
direction looking for an off ramp where we could exit and turn around.
Suddenly we came upon a break in the center divider and there was a
left-turn lane for U-turns. This feature wasn’t noticed until the last
minute and we were all in the right-hand lane so we all jammed on the
brakes and changed lanes in a crazy dash for the turn lane. Somehow nobody
was lost or injured in this maneuver that took considerable skill what
with the 4000 lb cars hurtling in single file at highway speeds and all. I
was at the rear of the column and it looked as if there was a fumble ahead
and everyone was trying to pounce on the ball.
The highway at this
location was curved and we were poised to turn left near the base of a
valley. The visibility was poor and the oncoming traffic was oncoming
rapidly. One by one the Montes zipped across the opposing lanes to a dirt
clearing on the other side and positioned themselves side-by-side along
the shoulder ready to merge back onto the highway. Of course visibility
was even worse here on the inside of the blind curve, so they waited for
the last Monte to cut across and everyone took a leap of faith and nailed
the throttles at the same time. I was the last Monte. I never made it to
the dirt. I nailed the throttle as well and used the left lane to pass the
group of maniacs that were throwing dirt and squealing tires. Had there
been aerial photos, it would have looked like the start of a LeMans race.
I was in the lead after that and we somehow made it to dinner without
further incident.
Once we arrived at the restaurant we took some nice
photos of the group and went in to enjoy dinner. This was good timing for
pictures, as I think we all still had grins on our faces from the drive
over. Prime Rib was the house specialty and most of us ordered it. Mrs.
Wallaby (Beth), felt the creamy horseradish just wasn’t good enough and
ordered the grated stuff and other lemmings followed. Beth tried hers
first, and it was quite the show. It was a reaction that was somewhere
between standard convulsions and a call to 911, and clearly alerted the
rest of us to the severity of the situation. Of course, others followed.
We had a nice evening of pointing and laughing.
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Here we are waiting as
“Stick” climbs out to ask directions
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Mark, Rod, Joe, Mike, &
Dave. We pose near the restaurant
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Saturday
was the big day for the show and we had to be there early. We had heard
about the troubles Rich (Rich72Monte) was having with getting his Monte to
Pismo, and he was still trying. Ray (MC350), was in town somewhere but we
hadn’t met up yet. Ramon and family had come in during the night. That
morning in the Motel lobby we decided we weren’t hungry for breakfast
after the feast from the night before, so with stomachs still loaded with
masticated beef marinating now in fresh coffee we formed a column
six-Montes long and made the fifteen-minute drive to Pismo in the early
morning light. Driving in formation this way is one of the highlights of a
meet, and we really turned heads wherever we went. The Montes looked
great, and everyone was having a good time already.
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Here
we are thundering into town
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Getting
there early was a good idea. The entire town was closed off to thru
traffic, but still…synchronized parking wasn’t our strongest event. If
we had been scored on our accuracy, I’d estimate that we missed it by a
tad more than a smidgen. We arranged and re-arranged and eventually threw
up our hands and called it good. The driving test at the DMV is easier
because they don’t place 12 vocal people around the car to assist with
the driving. It sure would have been tougher if other cars were on the
street messing us up. We were
parked on Main Street, but the name of the street was misleading. It
should have been named “Side St.”. It was a street that was
residential and was one of many that connected the two main drags. If it
were a ladder, we were parked on the bottom rung. We had plenty of room to
park all the Montes together even though they hadn’t been assigned that
way. It did seem a little weird setting up camp in someone’s front yard,
though. Before long the other Montes pulled in, so everyone was accounted
for. Eight Montes!
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Here is our place at the show.
The pier and the surf can be seen at the end of the street
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Today “Side St” became “Monte Alley”
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The
show was large. There were a lot of very fine cars there. I heard lots of stories from people that came by to share
their Monte memories, and passerby said our street was the only organized
street in the show…it was all Montes! Clearly, we made an impression. I
didn’t see any other groups of vehicles; even the Mustangs and Corvettes
were scattered all over. We did find two other Montes, (both first Gen.)
and made sure they came over to visit and hear about the club. We also
talked to quite a few Monte owners who didn’t have their cars with them.
One guy from Fresno, CA was really upset he didn’t have time to go home
and bring back his Monte. He wanted to join right now!
As
it turned out, our little “side street” turned out to be a good place
to be. Later in the day the wind picked up and the cars near the beach and
pier were being sandblasted and the crowds there were so thick there was
no place to set up a chair. We didn’t have those problems. Most of our
group had brought spouses and family but we had plenty of room, and
something for everyone to do. On one end of our street there were clean
restrooms and a coffee shop, and the other end of the street was a bakery
and a deli. In the middle was Monte Carlos. It was more than once that I
walked past those fine Monte Carlos just to get a coffee and a cinnamon
roll; not to mention the health benefit. Of course just about anywhere you
walked you found vendors selling food or wares. Poor Ramon fell victim to
one of these, we think. He developed stomach problems and had a fever. He
braved it out through Saturday, but Sunday he came out in the afternoon
only when he thought he might be well enough to drive home. He and his
family were great and they showed the same spirit I admire so much in this
great club.
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This Monte (right) was a Second-Generation
First- Generation Monte. It was also a West-Coast East-Coast car. Member
Rich (West Coast) bought the car from member Pete (East Coast). It’s
complicated enough to sound like family.
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When
everyone wandered off, Rod stayed behind to man the phones
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This
Monte was parked on the pier. We made sure he came and heard about the
club. Beautiful car- Fathom Blue.
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Saturday
evening after the show we decided to drive somewhere to get pictures of
the cars. There were some of us that had to leave that evening, so now was
the time. We drove all eight cars through town and down the coast until we
found a spot for a picture. We had no idea where we were going, so the
locals had some entertainment as we drove down dead-end streets, turned
around and drove back from whence we came. At last we found a spot for a
photo and with the usual finesse, we somehow managed to park all eight
cars in a cul-de-sac within 20 minutes without a collision, but it was
close. Everyone had an opinion at this point, and it seemed best to ignore
those. It was similar to a scene from the movie “It’s a mad, mad, mad,
mad, world”. It was here; the last place we would all be together, that
we had our club awards ceremony. As we stood with our cars overlooking the
Pacific Ocean, it was quite an honor to be judged by your friends/ peers
on something they truly know about.
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This was the photo we wanted on
the coast
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More scenery in the background.
This site was bland before we arrived
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Ramon,
Ray, Rich, Dave, Rod, Joe, Mike and Mark
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I
wish they all could be
California
grilles
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Guys
havin’ fun
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Behind
the scenes: Our group tries to decide what a “Big W” is
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We
said our goodbyes, then 5 Min later we were here. (Hi again!)
This kind of parking we excelled at
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FGMCC
Award Winners |
Best Stock |
Ramon 1971 Monte |
George Lines
Best
Modified |
Mike (Stick)1972 Monte |
Members’
Choice |
Mark (Wallaby) 1971 SS454 |
Congratulations! |
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See
you at the 2006 Western Meet in Penticton, BC! |