SharkSkin's 928 Pages
Sharks At The Lake (Saturday) - June 16-18, 2006


...Onward to Sunday

I was very light on the shutter over the weekend, I tended to spend more time talking to folks than taking pics. I was late getting up to the reception, and so missed most of the Friday night festivities. I did have a chance to talk with some of the folks as they returned from dinner, and others as they arrived -- I was grateful to simply relax after the 6 hour drive, which should have been 3-1/2 hours with clear roads. I had spent most of my free time in the two weeks prior to the event packing for a move, with the movers due on Monday the 19th, so I was pretty tired as well.... but this is one event not to be missed.

Big, big thanks to Tim and Cheryl Dey, and all of the sponsors of the event -- Directional Media Services, Tahoe Offshore Performance, Devek, Hooked on Cars, Tahoe Biltmore Hotel, 928 Owner's Club, Stockton Sharks Society and local Tahoe businesses.

Also big thanks to George Suennen for doing such an incredible job of documenting the event with photos.

Joe Privitelli and Nicole's friend Amy also put up lots of great pics -- Amy also made a kickass video from footage during the event -- and there are many more pix on this SATL '06 Pic thread on Rennlist

First, a quick note about the trip up on Friday from the S.F. Bay Area. I had a big "Oh Shit" moment getting on the road, as I was giving things a once-over before leaving home and in the process gave an extra twist on the clamp where my top radiator hose attaches to the radiator, since I saw slight coolant seepage there. Six blocks later, at the gas station, I noticed that there was a lot of coolant on the ground after I filled up. Hmmm... I didn't remember seeing that when I pulled in... I had a sick feeling in my stomach.... popped the hood, and the hose clamp had snapped! Oh well, it wasn't so bad, I didn't even have to break out my tools. I picked up a clamp and borrowed a screwdriver from the repair shop that operates in the gas station, put it on, carefully filled up with water(worried about getting too much cold water in the warm block all at once; I wasn't sure just how hot it was and decided to err on the side of caution) and I was on my way. I figured I had my one mechanical issue out of the way and it would be smooth sailing.

Well, it was -- except for the Traffic. Yippie. My plan to leave early didn't work out for lots of move-related reasons, the clamp was just another of many minor delays -- I was on the road at almost 3pm.

By the time I actually began climbing the Sierras though the scenery was gorgeous and the traffic had subsided. I was in much better spirits. I finally rolled into the Biltmore parking lot around 9pm or so, checked in, and chatted with Tim and Cheryl as other folks began to drift in.

The first pic that I took on the outing was this one, early on during the Saturday morning drive, at a point where we had to wait our turn taking the one lane that remained open on this stretch of road due to construction. That's Joe Privitelli leaning on his car, also taking advantage of the photo-op.




A look forward up the line...




OK, now trying for a more interesting angle...




Another low angle...




One last snap as the line starts to move and we all have to scramble for our cars...




Our first stop was on a beautiful overlook, with plenty of parking and a great view. You can see George and -- Steve B I think -- up on the hillside getting some pics.




Besides being a great photo op, it was a chance to stretch our legs and socialize....




...and socialize some more...




These next 4 pics were the view from the above spot. I took them vertically so I could stitch them together below.










The arrows that you see on the left of the picture above indicate directions to points of historical interest, with short descriptions of each on the plaque. If I had been a little less tired I might have taken a pic of it.

The view is simply breathtaking; these pics come nowhere close to doing it justice.

(Mozilla/Firefox users may have to click the image to zoom it before scrolling)

Direct link to image


While I was at it, I took pics to create a panorama of the cars:








.

(Mozilla/Firefox users may have to click the image to zoom it before scrolling)

Direct link to image


There were miles and miles of beautiful highway. I tried getting a few pics but mostly I just sat back and enjoyed the view...




...and the mechanical music.




This was our second stop. Another chance to get out...




...socialize some more...




...enjoy the view...




...even stretch a bit.




A better look at Stan's Elephantbone Perlglanz S4. After hearing of how Stan brought it back from years of neglect, I realize just how special the car is. The color is very, very rare(if not a true one-off) and might have been lost and forgotten had it decayed a few more years in the PO's care.




We stopped in Virginia City so everyone would have a chance to play tourist, have some lunch, etc. We lined the cars up neatly... here's a nice row of shark noses....




...and a nice row of shark butts. Having parked the cars, we headed into town. I didn't take any pics in Virginia City, I was tired and hot -- not very hungry since my AC went inop early in the drive. It was a minor wiring issue, more about that when I get around to updating my AC page. I had a good time hanging out and chatting with Stan and George though.




So, we saddled up, rolled through Virginia City, eased past a hungry-looking Sheriff-type bear, and were soon on the highway again.




As you can see, I had quite a bug collection by this time...




After returning to the hotel, we all had some time to freshen up before the festivities. Here is the banquet room as it looked to early arrivals...




Here's Cheryl handing out raffle and dinner tickets -- with a big, cheerful smile as always. The tickets on the table were for a raffle, which was really a lot of fun. So much fun in fact, that I completely forgot to take any pics.




It was really a fantastic time, with more to come the next day. Before the evening was over we had a video poker tournament which was won by Richard Sanders IIRC, and some of the folks holed up in one of the rooms for cards. I ended up turning in early, around 10 or 11. I really have to try to be in better shape for the next one!

...Onward to Sunday

"Non-Javascript" Home