GT Getaway Weekend 2 - PHOTOS - page 5&6

[ChipBeck]

Gentlemen,

It's a shame that more members won't be joining us on this trek. Last year was one of the best times I've had with a car!! My son Charley will be driving my Shelby Mustang this year and Renea and I will be in #34. Ralphie and MJ will be in his Red GT, and Barry will be in a Blue/White GT. If anybody wants to join us give me a call at 602-430-4877. Until I leave my home at 6:30 tomorrow morning anybody is welcome to join us, GT or not. Cheers.

Chip

 

[RALPHIE]

I picked up Mary Jo (Piccola) at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon today - she showed up about noon, after she HIKED FROM THE SOUTH RIM TO THE NORTH RIM, in 8¼ hours!! About 25 miles, down 4,500 ft and up over 6,000!!! She left about 3:00 am and got to the bottom while it was STILL DARK!! I can't believe this gal - she's a trooper.

After a nice lunch, we drove around to the South Rim, and picked up her car, and drove down to Williams. We'll meet everyone in Kingman in the morning.

We're looking forward to a great GT Getaway Weekend - if you're not there, you're missing one of the best GT get togethers with great people and GREAT scenery, on roads less traveled that, in the words of "CARS" - MOVE WITH THE LAND! We'll have fun, food, and the best travels and friends. I'll put up some pictures when it's all over.

Ralphie

 

[Colton74]

Last year was great, I am sure it will be so again.

Have fun.

Steve

 

[KJRGT]

Missing you, here in Dallas at SMU graduation.
Pictures!

 

[RALPHIE]

Traveling to the Getaway

I left early on Thursday, 05/16, and drove over to Kanab, Utah, inorder to pick up Mary Jo at the Grand Canyon's North Rim on Friday. My route involved the "Extraterrestial Highway" (Nevada 375) which skirts around Area 51. Passing the town of Rachel, I saw that they had caught one of the invaders -

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and near Crystal Springs, they have a museum dedicated to the area -

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Almost caught a little snow going over Midway Summit (9.896") east of Cedar City, but then dropped down to nice warm temperatures in Kanab, Utah where I spent a nice evening.

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The next morning, I drove to the North Rim -

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and picked up Mary Jo. She didn't look like she had walked more than a hundred yards or so (not the 25 miles that she did in 8¼ hours, going down 4,500' and then up 6,000'). We had lunch at the North Rim's Grand Canyon Lodge.

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[RALPHIE]

Traveling to the Getaway - 2

On this relief map, the yellow line shows the trail that she traveled -

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I loaded her into the #2 car -

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and we drove around to the South Rim to pick up her car. I guess she was a bit more tired than she looked, as she dozed off as we drove to Marble Canyon where we crossed the Colorado River at the Navajo Bridge -

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After picking up her car, we drove down and lodged at Williams, then met Barry (FlagstaffGT) in the morning and caravanned to Kingman to meet the rest of the group.

 

[RALPHIE]

Arizona GT Getaway 2 - Day 1 ( Part 1)

We met the group coming up from Scottsdale about 10:30 am, and drove about 5 miles northwest on Historic US 66 to the Diamond Desert Distillery, where they make some very potent rum and vodka from agave plants -

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The group, parked at the distillery -

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Our leader, Rich Roback (GT Tech) -

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We then drove about 12 miles northeast on Historic US 66 to the Valle Vista Country Club, which Rich had reserved for our lunch -

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Unfortunately, as lunch ended, Barry got an emergency call and had to return to Flagstaff, so here are the gals (& the girls, Renea & Mary Jo) as we all left the Country Club -

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[RALPHIE]

Arizona GT Getaway 2 - Day 1 ( Part 2)

Leaving the Country Club, we rejoined Historic US 66 and headed northwest. After passing a couple of sets of the old "Burma Shave" signs (http://www.sff.net/people/teaston/burma.htm) -

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and traveling about 45 miles past Peach Springs, we turned off the Mother Road to visit the Grand Canyon Caverns -

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They had a nice collection of bikes for Ed Sims to use his restoration talents on -

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Some more projects for Ed -

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Chip & his "family" (Charlie, Renea, Piccola, Chip) ready to start the tour -

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[RALPHIE]

Arizona GT Getaway 2 - Day 1 ( Part 3)

These caverns are completely dry, so there are no limestone stalagtites & stalagmites; the temperature is a constant 56°F; it was one of the caves that was outfitted with food & supplies during the Cuban Missile Crises of October, 1962, as a natural radiation shelter to support 2,000 people for 2 weeks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_Caverns). It is also a natural acoustic chamber. You can also rent a "room" there for an overnight in a completely dark, completely quiet nitght (why?), and is is booked solid! There are also planning music concerts in it. This picture shows the stage they set up, and the open "room for rent" to its left -

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Here are some pictures of the cave structures -

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[RALPHIE]

Arizona GT Getaway 2 - Day 1 ( Part 4)

Returning to Historic US 66 from the caverns, we drove back to Kingman, where they have a spontaneous car show gathering each Saturday evening. So we added the only 2 Ford GT's to the party -

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Renea & Chip -

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Piccola, Chip, Rich, Renea, & Jim (Jim was with us last year with his Cobra, but had to forego the event this year as he had triple bypass surgery only a month ago) -

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Piccola & Ralphie -

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[ChipBeck]

Renea's Photos

Gentlemen,

Renea had a blast on her first Ford GT road trip. Here's a few of her photos.

Chip

 

[ChipBeck]

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[RALPHIE]

Arizona GT Getaway 2 - Day 2 ( Part 1)

Day 2 was fraught with annoying frustrations - yet I think we all had a great time in spite of having to overcome these difficulties. To start with, Mary Jo had misplaced her car key, so while the rest of the group went to a great breakfast at the Hualapai Mountain Lodge, she and I got AAA to (1) open her car door, (2) find the key code for the ignition key & (3) get a locksmith to make and program a new key. The rest of the group returned just as we were finished, so we all proceeded to head west on Historic US 66 over Sitgreaves Pass to Oatman. This year, we only saw one mountain goat, but it was a beauty and quite close. When we reached the top of the pass and pulled over to take pictures, we found that Chips Mustang Shelby Cobra (being driven by Charlie and Royce) was getting a flat tire. Rich determined that it was a bad valve stem (which has a pressure sensor built in) that was leaking. As the Shelby Mustang doesn't have a spare tire, Rich took the spare from his Ford Fusion, and we all changed the tire (how many car guys does it take to change a tire?). Fortunately, Rich always carrys his tool box and all paraphanalia necessary to fix just about anything. So, after a 15 minute pit stop, we continued on to Oatman - the town that has all the donkeys roaming around the streets. Here are some pictures -

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The sign captures it all better than any comment I can make -

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Donkeys (Asses) roaming the town streets. After the local gold rush went bust, the working donkeys were turned loose to fend for themselves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oatman,_Arizona) -

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Mary Jo bought some food to feed the donkeys -

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Oatman Main Street: the Oatman Hotel is a famous landmark.

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