The 2010 FGMCC Western Meet was nothing short of a great success. Ever since the inaugural Western Meet in 2004, one of our goals was to eventually have 20 plus members in attendance. That goal was realized this year with 22 members and 20 cars! This is a great accomplishment for the club, and we thank all who have made efforts to attend meets over the years.

Members and Monte Carlos in Attendance

Thursday

For me, the meet started at 11AM on Thursday morning when I met up with Chris Steiner in Tacoma, Washington. We did some catching up, and I checked out his Monte while we waited for Jake to arrive. It seemed that Jake was already in contention for the Hard Luck award, as he was having problems starting his car. After he got it running, he caught up with us in Tacoma and we began our drive south together toward The Dalles. 

A highway road trip with two other first generation Monte Carlos was a lot of fun. We took turns leading and captured some pictures as opportunities arose.  Doug Cameron joined in for the final leg of the journey when we stopped to meet with him in Troutdale, Oregon. The four of us cruised along the Columbia River Gorge and we rolled into The Dalles around dinner time. 

Several other members had already arrived, and a few more arrived that evening some of them having started their journey on Tuesday.  We had a great, relaxing night catching up with old friends and getting acquainted with new ones. What a great day.  The weather was excellent, and the fun was just beginning!

Friday

The Cruise the Gorge event didnt start until evening, so Friday was a casual day of car cleaning and preparing for the weekends events.  More club members also arrived on Friday as well.

Garrett showed up late in the evening with his parents and brother in tow, along with a compelling story of his eventful drive from Kelowna, BC.  First of all, he had just rebuilt the engine in his 72 Monte and installed it on Wednesday right before the meet.  During the trip, his right front tire separated and did some damage to his fender, inner fender, and the wiring for his electric fans.  After spending some time to retrieve wiring, electrical relays, a center cap, and other parts that were scattered along the roadside, he and his family had to limp into the next town on the spare tire. In addition, Garrett was dealing with overheating problems due to damaged fan wiring. Once they fixed the wiring and put on two new front tires, they were back on course to The Dalles. Needless to say, he was another Hard Luck award candidate.

The Neon Cruise around The Dalles downtown commenced at 8PM. There were cars of all types and car enthusiasts were everywhere along 2^nd and 3^rd Streets.  Our hotel was located between those two main streets, so we were in the thick of it all!  Our group cruised around the block, and we were getting some noteworthy attention from spectators and other cruisers alike. Ill never tire of seeing multiple Montes through the windshield and in the rear view mirror. We then parked our cars and watched the cruise continue late into the evening from the comfort of our chairs in the hotel parking lot.

All lined up for the evening cruise

Mark in his 72 Monte during the cruise

Garrett in his 72 Monte with his younger brother Owen

Relaxing at the hotel watching the cruise

Red goes out for one more lap in her 72 Monte

Saturday

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to stage for the show n shine in Sorosis Park.  19 of our Montes cruised up the hill to the park with my car leading the pack.  We were parked in a long row down the street just outside the park entrance as we waited for the park to open.  The line of Monte Carlos that seemed to go on forever and the spectacular view of the gorge from the park made for some great photo opportunities!

When the gates opened, we rolled into the park and found a nice, big shady spot under the large pine trees which were scattered throughout the grounds. Although the temperature was reaching a very hot 100 degrees on Saturday, we managed to get quite comfortable in the shade of the trees and under our canopies once we got set up.

The show n shine awards ceremony commenced in the afternoon, with four of our club members walking away with some well-deserved hardware. In addition, the FGMCC won the Club Participation award beating out the local Corvette club that had 12 cars in the show.  After the show closed there was a little time to relax before driving over to Cousins Restaurant for our FGMCC banquet.  Rodney and his girlfriend, Lisa, arrived prior to dinner after spending some extra time in Spokane dealing with alternator issues.

Our group enjoyed good food & drink at the banquet and then we had the presentation of club awards and door prizes.  At banquets end, we gathered all the members for a group photo shoot.  This process is taking longer as the number of members attending the meet increases.  It seemed like there were more cameras than people, and each one had to take several photos.  And just outside the restaurant door awaited more photo opportunities that we just couldnt resist!

Back at the hotel, Jake changed his starter and fan clutch to ease some of the issues he was having. Steve (Cameron's son), Robert, and Chris provided their services during the swap. The remainder of the evening included more chit-chat, as usual, in the hotel parking lot. For some it continued until the early morning hours!

Sunday

Sunday offered everyone a choice of what to do.  Some chose to attend the Threshing Bee car show in the nearby town of Dufor, and others opted for drag racing at Dallesport.  We discovered that the trees in the park had given off a fine mist of sap on Saturday and had left a light coating on the cars.  Some detailing took place.

With the temperatures expected to be in excess of 100 degrees on Sunday, some of us decided to skip the drag racing and take a nice cruise to the Threshing Bee car show. After a very nice drive through the windy highways, we arrived in Dufor and parked together on the shows grassy field.  We found welcome shade at a nice nearby creek and spent some time soaking our feet in the cool water.  The poplar trees overhead were literally raining sap on us due to the high temperatures, which is something Ive never experienced.

Later on, some of us chose to head out to a war memorial that is a replica of Stonehenge. This was another excellent photo opportunity not just for the Stonehenge memorial itself, but also for the view of the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood.

Those who attended the drags had an even hotter day than the rest of us.  To quote Doug; We must have been less than a mile from the sun!  Red and Tim prepared their cars and represented the club proudly throughout the eliminations.

Alas, the meet was coming to an end.  But many of us enjoyed each others company for one more evening before the drive home on Monday.