~ The 4th Annual Pumpkin Run ~

Missed you, MAN!
You WERE charged with a birthday in absentia.
(Which was duly toasted!)

~WB

Thanks Alan and Kim!
we had a great time!

Greg & Linda

Had a great time! The weather Gods graced us with some fine cruising weather. A bit of a chill at first, but all tops were down at the first stop. It was fun meeting a few new people who we "Welcomed to the Madness" in good order and we missed a few of the "regulars".
Alan had a great new tour route that was a sure task for our steering boxes and suspensions this year. Twisties going up and down mountain passes with some hellish grades that'll make a man outta ya! All cars survived.
Great Job Al & Kim and Doug....Many Thanx!

~WB

Chuck, Kelly and I made it home.
Pics tomorrow.
Awesome job this year, Alan, Kim and Doug!

Good to see all you guys again!

Pumpkin Run? I don't see any #$%!& pumpkins!

Testing ... If this is too grainy, I'll try something else later.

Nolan: see below

Runners, & especially Alan & Kim: thanks for a PISSA run! I haven't worked so hard behind Bridget's giant tiller ever.

Cory: I bet you were trying to get a shot of Karen hanging on to the grab handle and me all squint-eyed & elbows out at one of those uphill off camber switchbacks (I saw you pop up and turn around in the Hoopty's right seat). Sorry I screwed that one up. Missed second gear.

Sounds like everyone had a great time - so glad the weather held up for you guys!

Hoss ~ Love your book sooo much. I read it as soon as it arrived. Lots of kids (and adults!) must benefit from it. We are going to get another one for the grandkids so they can have it to keep, because selfish grandma didn't take it to them over the weekend. Congrats on the 5K :)

Toni

LOL, I think Vince once posted a picture of a pumpkin making that one looking like an acorn.

What a great day!

My pal Chuck came along this time, since Teresa's out of town this month. We went up the night before, hung out with Rocky and Linda, Alan and Kim ... and some bald guy from New York who drove 280 miles one-way IN A SPYDER to get there this year.

Remind me never to carp again about how limited I am for space in the Hoopty. Chuck and I only had about a 300-mile trip -- including the run. Bonus, I think we managed to steer Chuck away from a Cobra and into a Spyder. Good job, Danny!

Anyway, Chuck and I had a great time. It was good to see some first-timers as well as the Old Guard; nice, interesting mix of cars there this year, too, from Alan's sleek red "Two-Timer" (second time the custom Intermeccanica has been new to him), AMUN-RA, Blackie, Bridget, the FDNY Ambulance, the Red Baron and a pile of others. Everybody was able to arrive without incident, and we only had one minor electrical gremlin among the lot of us.

It was good to see some new right-seaters, too. Hopefully a good time like this brings them out more often to these things.

Enjoy the pictures -- these are really small, just for posting clarity -- but I can send specifics to folks or post a link to the photobucket account later today.

Here are my "Greatest Hits" from the run:

Three more

Alan, Kim, et al.,: Great day, great hospitality, great frineds, old (who you calling "old"??) and new. The day was breezy and cool, but dry and sunny and very twisty up in the PA hills. The itin'y was superb, great fun. I will have to go underneath and make sure all the nuts and bolts are tight after many hair-raising miles on some "interesting" pavement. Chasing the white Spyder was fun. Top and windows were up on the way in in the AM (started at 7:00) and also on the way home in the PM (back in the barn at 9:30). Had a very quick scoot down the interstate to return home chasing the Hoopty most of the way.

Hey Corey, Your pics show you benind the MG replicas quite a bit. Problems with the HOOPTY??? Now don't try to tell me they ALL had twin turboed quad cammed 3.8 litres stuffed in the boot.... 8 - ) Nice collection of cars, looks like good weather, and I'm stuck here.... DAMN.

Alan has some lucky neighbors...it's gotta beat hearing lawn mowers running on a Saturday morning.

Alan and Kim,

Thank you for your warm hospitality. Everyone made me feel very welcome. After the great spirited run that you led, I now have the confidence to push my car. In fact, I made it home in four hours driving time Saturday night.

I look forward to joining the group at Carlisle 2012.

Joel

way to go Joel.

Thanks for all the pics, Cory. Here's one of Cory & Hoopty from before the run.

And one of Dale and Lois with the better TD.

Looks like a great turn-out and awesome route/scenery! Wish I coulda been there!

The cavity search, that was funny...BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

They always are!

Cavity search victim with his girlfriend, who told me her name twice but I'm such an idiot I forget.

I did spend a lot of time behind the TD guys, but not because I was slow. Danny was slow. I figured for most of the ride, I'd hang out behind the other open cars (sorry, Kim and Doug -- open AIR-COOLED cars) in order that everyone might be able to breathe.

My car is set to run a little rich, so, out of courtesy, I thought I'd lag a bit ... but nooooo ... turns out, EVERYBODY was set to run a little rich. I damn near died. Ultimately, each time the cyanosis was about to set in, I pulled out over the line and touched the gas pedal a little.

I guess Greg was a bit surprised at least twice, as Captain Slow and I made a dash for the front on a couple occasions.

Ed sent me this earlier today, and asked if I could reduce it a tad for him. Here y'go, Ed. Nice shot!

Um.... Danny = Captain Slow?

Riiiiiight.

Little windows aka "Brooklawns"

By the way Gordon, the beer was delicious! Thanks again!

Here is a link to my photos:
http://s873.photobucket.com/albums/ab294/hooptypilot/Pumpkin%20Run%202011/

Looks like it was a great day and a great time. Sorry Maggie and I had to miss it.

Chuck

Thanks for all the congratulations, guys. Mom and new grandson are doing fine. Appreciate the birthday salute too, Bill. I felt that year go by around mile marker 291 on I-78. I'm old enough now to remember breaking up with this girl because she wouldn't stop posing nude for Michelangelo. Love all the photos. Toni and I really missed you.

MAX!

Missed ya!

Oh, wait.....I wasn't there either.......

Well.....STILL MISSED YA!

Cory - Glad you guys and gals liked it. I saw it in Massachusetts and couldn't resist - especially since I was already passin' thru...

Some people get a little turned off by blueberry beer or Pumpkin beer but that pumpkin one is a pretty good lot.

Alan & Kim,
Thanks for a great day - great driving time by all and Lois had a good time so hopefully she will join other events as well.
Looking forward to next year!

Kim and I thank you ALL for making the 4th P' Run a success!
So glad to see the ladies participate this year too.


**** 2012 Pumpkin Run tentative date is October 6th. *****


Please take a few minutes to answer these questions to guide me toward improvements for next year:

1) Was the selected route good in terms of drivability ?
2) Too fast or too slow ?
2) Is the actual driving time table of 4 hours 10:45 to 2:45 too long?
3) 3 rest stops and are the breaks too short or long ?
4) B'fast, snack bags and Dilly's comments are welcome.

_____________________________________________________________________

Any chance it'll turn into a two day event, Alan ?

It's a thought however, the single day Pumpkin Run is convienent for all and not sure I want to fix something that isn't broke.
For a two event, I'd have to find a destination venue that would be intersting for all etc.

A big thank you to Alan and Kim for putting up with us. Alan, the route was very good. I enjoyed the sweeping roads up to the park. I also liked the switchbacks on that second leg. Tree-lined "run" was very good speed. Next time, slower drivers to the back, please. It's not the Pumpkin Sunday drive, it's the "Run"! Rest stops were well-timed. Length was good for me, was getting slightly hungry, but REALLY thirsty by the time we got to Dilly's!

Breakfast was two thumbs up!

I like the "blue" room(thanks Kim!).

Captain slow my ASS, Cory! Your nickname is now Sir Scofflaw! Or should it be Left of Double Yellow? I think I was the only one who passed in a legal passing zone.... BTW, your friend Chuck is all right, pretty good driver too.

Kelly, I enjoyed following your line on the way up, thanks.

I ran into a WALL of rain at the PA border on the way there. Rained all the way through Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lots of traffic for some event on Friday night. It took me 5 hours plus to get there. And I forgot the blue tape! Other than the deluge from the windshield header, the top worked well, and the heater/defroster kept the damp at bay.

The ride home was nicer. I saw only three PA troopers. Ran 80 plus or minus the whole way, 4 hour trip including gas and pit stops. 3500 rpm, head and oil temps low, 29.3 mpg too. I even ran it up to 110(top up!) because of a WRX that had a "4" moment. Cory and Russ know what I mean!

I have to admit the cavity search was one of my better ideas. Bwaaaahaa! No harm, no foul, right, Todd?

I had a great weekend! Thanks everyone. Those that weren't there missed out and were missed. Next year!

I heard you were a bit "BLASTED" when you got to Alans..... Hope the car dries out and you recuperate quickly..... Keep it between the white lines Danny.

Two things to note:

As crazy as this may seem, we were just 10 minutes into the Pumpkin Run when a few of us in the front of the group saw two A-10 jets buzz us on the hard deck at 1,500' (or less) then climbed as one A-10 gave us a clear double wing wave ......totally frigg'n awesome.

Thank you Hoss for the phone call wishing us well just as we were firing up the speedster to head out on the run...the call was greatly appreciated.