What a beautiful day for a British Motoring Club rally! Bill and Barbara ordered perfect weather that was cool but warm on the face as we headed to Pike Road. Pulling in it was delightful to see so many BMCM members in line and ready to go. It was good to see and get reacquainted with a few folks not seen in a while. Once our greetings concluded we gathered around for Bill’s safety briefing. That was mostly about deciphering his “road code” notes. That is sorting out the different levels of “crappy.” Initially laughing – it turns out there was a sobering truth to it. Let’s just say “slow” is the appropriate speed for those roads labeled as “Triple C”.
There we were 10 cars besides Georgia and me. Russell and Cathy, MINI; Hamer and Lalage, Miata; David, MGA; Bob and Marion, MGB; Pam, MGBGT; John and Shirley, Thunderbird; Blitz and Amanda, Spitfire; Hank and Deborah, XJS; Tom, TR4; and Bill, Lexus. With our engines roaring only a moment from popping the clutch to peel out off to find our first piece of the puzzle. Russell and Cathy was the first car out with their puzzle sheet in hand. The second was me with my navigator, Georgia – already fussing about me driving too fast. It wasn’t long before she was driving and me looking for signs and billboards. I will admit slower is better. I’ll even stop if necessary to keep peace in the family. Laughing we completed most of the puzzle and arrived smiling grateful we could get off the road and stand up. Two and a half hours and four pages of “fill in the blank” were just about right. As we arrived at Bill and Barbara’s tree farm in Perote, Alabama, we discovered we were almost last and to think we started second. I guess if we had started later we’d be still driving…
We parked in the shade and walked up the path to the house. We saw Bill and Barbara waiting at the door of their cabin. The breeze flowing through the house seemed as though the air conditioner was on attempting to cool the outside. Nope, it was the breeze off the lake. I guess you could call it a big pond if you wanted. Regardless, the cool air felt great especially after the drive with the sun getting hotter by the minute. Once inside we found everyone on the deck enjoying the scenery engaged in conservation.
Before you knew it Bill announced it was time to eat. Boy, oh boy did we! Barbara told us that a local caterer prepared the food – John Hall Grocery, in Cecil . Just excellent! Barbara introduced her brother Paul Rumph and she also talked about the history of the tree farm. It goes back a ways…
As promised there was fishing and hiking. Also very strong rumors of Native American artifacts. Arrowheads! I think Tom caught a stick in the pond and I didn’t see one arrowhead (of course you have to look – I didn’t very well). Upon returning from a short hike I sampled a couple of brownies. They were Very good! I was happy to meet one of the past members of BMCM – Margaret Adams.
A couple notes about Ron and Joyce. Joyce is wearing an engagement ring. Almost blinded me! Congratulations! Also Ron is very close to receiving a kidney! Really great news! Please wish them well!!
Sadly it was time to get back to Montgomery. After a quick tire kick we were headed down route 82. I really had no idea where 82 goes. I could tell we were headed west by the sun’s position. That was close enough for me. We lost cell service almost immediately and didn’t get it back until we were close the Troy Hi Way – it was a nice day and we plenty of fuel. I figured if we got lost it wouldn’t be for too long. We didn’t!
We pulled into our garage ready for a nap!
Were looking forward to the next outing. Any excuse to drive our British car!
Many thanks to Bill and Barbara for the effort designing the rally route and their generosity – it is unmatched!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Terry
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