2004
Fall Fun Run
The Lone Star Region
visits the prairie to the west of Houston
settled by German immigrants in
the mid 1800's.
We started out from Katy
High School on a warm (and getting warmer) Saturday morning on September
18th. There were about 25 Porsches of all descriptions, five of our friends
from the Ferrari Club, and two outliers (from the lands of one liter beers
and the rising sun). The objectives were to (a) follow the cryptic directions
to navigate the route, (b) record the answers to questions about the route,
(c) count the number of water towers, historical markers, and cemeteries,
(d) record the names and population on each city limits sign passed on
the route, and (e) arrive at the end point for some real good BBQ
Besides covering some scenic and very drivable roads (OK, so DOT had undertaken a massive construction project on the way into Fayetteville) there were stops at two museums - the JJ Josey Museum Store at the Early Road to San Felipe Historical Marker just outside San Felipe, and the Sterling McCall Old Car Museum in Round Top.
By early evening, much to the relief of the Rally Committee, all but six of the starters had arrived at the Millheim Harmony Hall. Surprisingly (to the Rally Committee) only a hand full of drivers had resorted to the "bail out" map thoughtfully provided for the directionally challenged.
The drive was followed by refreshing beverages, BBQ brisket and German sausage, and the awarding of door prizes (provided by Momentum and Advantage Porsche dealerships in Houston) and prizes to the driver / navigator team traveling a distance closest to that measured for the course, getting the most correct answers to the questions on the course, and traveling the furthest to cover the course (the Mille Miglia - or "thousand mile" - trophy).
|
The Distance Trophy for the team traveling a distance closest to that measured over the course by the Rally Committee. |
The "Most Lost" award (with compass) awarded to the team who manages to cover the most miles to complete the 114.8 mile course. |
The Scavenger Trophy for the team that answered the most questions on the route correctly. |
Prior to getting underway, drivers and navigators registered, then discussed (what else) their cars!
 |
 |
 |
 |
Here are (most of) the cars as we got underway (click for larger image):
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The cars start arriving (even the Ferraris).
 |
 |
 |
 |
The crowd gathers, waiting for the stragglers and dinner.
 |
 |
 |
|
Dinner is served...
 |
 |
 |
|
...and prizes are awarded by Rally Master Bud Walters.
|
The Rally Master builds up the suspense and harangues the crowd, before presenting the trophies in the next three photos. |
The distance award was won by Tim and Karen McKeand (right), who tied (even on the tie-breaker) with last year's winners. Mike and Cindy Shassere (left) graciously allowed the McKeands's to lay claim to the trophy. |
The "Scavenger" award went to Burnell and Zo Curtis (left). Unfortunately Burnell was driving one of the outlier cars (think large beers from southern Germany), but he assured the Committee that his Porsche will be back on all fours soon. |
The "Most Lost" award went to Nick Snyder and Heather Rainey (right) for their epic journey of nearly 210 miles to reach the end point, which was just under 115 miles from the start. |
Have any photos from the event? E-mail them to me for posting (no guarantees, but you can see the level of professionalism (or not) in the above), or at least for consideration.