Back from Carlisle

What a great few days! Home safe and sound, wobbly back and all. Thank you Bruce for all the hard work you put in. Everyone who had a hand in planning this event derserves a big round of applause. Thanks for the meds to get me through( next year I'll bring a DEA pad) just in case I can return the favor. Great fun, great people, excellent weather, good roads, food and grog. Thank you all. Gordon and Chris were missed, but there in spirit. What a GREAT group of people. Matt says he'll be there next year. On to Pebble in August....Get ready El Guapo!!!!!!!!

I will second the message. Thanks Cory for the fun time with your photos. All went well until Sunday morning. Travis and I awoke about 3:30 AM to get home for the kids musical program at church this morning. We shook the rain off the "blue tarp car cover" and hit the rainy road about 4:00. We arrived home just in time to get to the 9:45 program. We drove out of the rain after about an hour or so... then into fog where the pike speed limit eventually went down to 35 MPH. It looked for a while that we may not make the first curtain for the kids, but then some blue sky near Pittsburgh and back into clouds as we crossed the big river. I just got the car opened up and drying (after a well needed nap) and hung lots of stuff out to dry. Andy was still sleeping soundly when we left--I hope he wakes before checkout time. Thanks Alan, Bruce, Wild Bill, Cory and all the group that made a weekend really great.

I'm not home yet (that happens tomorrow) and the drive today was a bit of a bummer with all the rain we hit, but that can't dampen (heh heh) my enthusiasm for yet another great Carlisle extended weekend. Kudos to all who arranged the lodgings, meals, cruises, and the Rolls Royce Museum tour. What a blast!!!

Terrific weekend.

A huge thank you to all who put this weekend together. And on behalf of the few MG TD (all VW powered!) guys that registered for the show with the Speedster/Spyder group and joined SOC for dinner...am even bigger thank you.

Just like the old New Jersey Replicar Club hosted the early Speedster/Spyder gatherings, the SOC now hosted the first mini MG-TD replica gathering. We would have had four, had my TD not developed engine trouble. And on that note, thanks to all who offered advice.

So far, it looks like a bent valve. If not that, then somehow I could have sheared off a cam lobe. And Al & I cannot believe that would have happened so suddenly. Plus the push-rod ends are not scarred. If it were a cam problem, I'd think the push-rod end would be fouled up too.

On a happier note, two out of three brothers surveyed think the third brother needs a haircut. You decide which one!

https://www.speedsterowners.com/files/view.asp?sf=PMossberg&f=Brothers%20Three.jpg

Ok, I'll say what no one else will..... I think it's time we find a different location for Carlisle. Bruce did a great job coordinating it this year but it's getting to be old. Ahhhh, I'm just F'ing with ya ;) (Ya get it? Every year after Morro someone starts that post.... ahh, I kill me!)

I had a great time yesterday. I got back last night and was still dumping ice down my pants from the drive in Dammy P's Spyder so I didn't have much time to post.

The weather was perfect. It was nice to see everyone and meet some new folks. The replica field seemed a little smaller this year (aside from the great turn out from our group). Manx had a good group of about 15-20 buggies. Maybe it was just me but I remember more replicas in the past. The import field was great. There was a Mclaren Mercedes and tons of great british cars, german cars, a Renault R5 (one of my favorite cars), Citroens, I even was eyeing a 308 for sale ($39K) but got distracted by some blonde girl walking by which snapped me out of my delusion. I should thank her for that :).

Didn't get the Speedster up so I ended up taking the 911, it needed some more break in miles anyway so all was good.

Some really, really nice speedsters and spyders represented. It seems like there used to be a clunker or two but now every car is nice.

Very cool to see my west coast buds Jimbo and Ginny. Also got to meet Marty and Sandy out from the Windy City (very sweet widebody, and yes I mean the car). "Ironman" Jack Crosby should win some kind of an award - Morro AND Carlisle within 2 months, driving!!!!

And seeing the regular east coast contingent is alwaya a treat. One of these days I'll stay for more than a few hours, but with the wifey working saturdays it makes it tough.

Thanks Bruce, for putting it together!!

MUSBJIM, Ginny, Kelly, Cory and Teresa all back via Gettysburgh in good order. MUSB riding shotgun in the Hoopty -- got the total experience as it did rain a bit on the way home, heaviest while we ate at the Lincoln Diner, so he missed it "up close and personal", except for a few other sprinkles here and there. Jim discovered the little known (?) truth about open cockpit traveling in a Speedster in the rain: you only get wet if you stop.

Many gracious thanks to ECB, Wild Bill, Alan (Merklin the Magician) and the others that worked their own kind of magic to pull off our fine social events, eats, cruises, beer parties, etc. Speedster folks are the best, as anyone can plainly see. Mickey: if we move Carlisle PA to San Diego CA (my recomendation as a means to improve the weather), then how are YOU going to drop in for a few hours, then get back to wash the dishes before closing?? I'm just sayin' . . .

MUSB is going to manage some "official" graphics a bit later, meanwhile here are three.

I'd also like to thank the organizers for hosting a great event. With so many different makes of speedster - each with unique build specs and design details - it was a car nut's paradise. It was also nice to meet many of the folks whose posts I've read on this forum over the past couple of years. Many thanks to Bruce, Cory, Alan, Bill and all the other fine folks who hosted this great event. I also got the privilege of experiencing two very fine and unique speedsters in person - Howard's utterly sublime IM6 and Jacks potent T4-powered speedy. Two very great cars, so thank you Howard and Jack!

Not to mention the raffle drawings! Walked away georgeous with Heidi Gallo water color of "Ruby" and Bentley repair manual offering inspiration and needed guidance to get me working to finish my Speedie up.

Kind of funny that of the 6 or so VA based Speedster Owners at Carlisle - only the one built by DrClock (Alan) made it in person under its own power! Being so close to the DC political machine - I have volunteered to be their hill lobby-ist for an Obama bail-out of CMC/FF owners impacted by company going belly up years ago.

Sehr gut!

A big thanks to all the great folks who made this event happen. Mike and I had a great time with the group.
Cory, you put on one heck of a slide show and I love my event bag!!

The return to Maryland was pretty uneventful for Jim and I in the Hoopty. A few rain drops, but They were pretty minimal at driving speeds.
Teresa and Ginny actually beat Kelly, Jim and I back to Kelly's house after a spirited run through the back roads of Kelly's Highland, Md. neighborhood.
Somehow, as if by magic, the Golf dropped in in front of us out of nowhere!
Saturday night's dinner slideshow was a treat for me, especially since nobody fell asleep. I need to give huge props to Teresa for putting the parts together again this year to make it all go well. Bruce was an excellent emcee, and Bill was the man who showed up with the screen. It all worked out very well.
I kinda wish the restaurant was a little more with the program, but they had just gotten done doing the same kind of thing for the Citroen guys. All in all, it was a good night in the middle of a great event.
What a great weekend. It was good to see everybody, and a huge turnout. Lots of tuning, lots of tinkering, good beer, great raffle, excellent dinners, cruises, the itinerary was loose but well-planned and executed ... and I really liked that we started on Thursday.
What a treat. And the rain held off during the event until we were in for the night! How that happened is amazing. Great job on the weather, Jack!
I can't wait to see the pictures everyone took!

Rainy trip home both days, but the truly awful weather was the last 10 miles to the house. I still have some weatherproofing to attend to. By the time I got home, I had already had two showers today. Still, it was a wonderful time, with the rain waiting until the very end. What a hoot!

Y'all be thinking about the Asheville trip in October, and the possible Charleston gathering in March/April of next year.

It's a wrap.......

The weekend ran pretty much on schedule with three cruises, a museum tour, a scenic lake and tavern stop, several photo ops, and much partying and socializing.

The Carlisle meet continues to grow. We again won the 1st place award for the most registrations

Thanks to everyone who made this year's meet a most memorable event. Probably the best one yet!

Stay tuned to Events section for a NY/PA/NJ/CT/MA area meet this summer. I just have to get my butt down to Max's house one more time to get him up and running again. Then the planning will begin.

Bruce---beautiful job on organizing and executing this year's Carlisle event. I especially liked the driver's meetings with handouts each time to keep everyone up to date on each part of the event. Everything about the gathering was fine--thanks for all your work!

Cory's presentation was a treat with just the right mix of technical info and humor. And his artwork is always sensational. The tool bags should be framed rather than used for tools!

Best cruises ever with leaders actually stopping along the way to let the caravan catch up---what a concept. (Thanks, Bill!) This should be SOP in the future.

Many friends, both new and old made this a real treat.

My son, Russ' 50th birthday was Saturday, 5/22 and he had three friends join him for part of Carlisle. These were close friends since his childhood when we lived in CT. One, who has done amazingly well in life, handed Russ a birthday card that contained a key to a low-mileage 1991 Porsche 911. You can bet he won't forget THIS birthday!

That's two things I don't hear every day, back-to-back; my son turned 50 AND somebody gave a 911 away.
Dang, Jack! Great year all around for the Crosby family!

Jack: Was a real HOOT hanging out with you and Russ Sat. Night!
You party animal! Hope you make the next one! Also hope Russ doesn't lose his nuts next time. ;)

~WB