I was really disappointed that Karen and I were unable to make the Rally this year. We had planned to start with a Portland trip to see our daughter and her fiancé, then driving a rental convertible to the rally. We made reservations for the rally, flights, hotels, rental car, and transport and were ready to go.
A month ago my father took ill and we spent each day with him, whether at home, hospital or ICU. The Monday before our flight to Portland he seemed to be doing better so I loaded the car with Passport and we readied ourselves for the following Friday's flight. By the time Friday came around dad was doing much worse so we canceled what we could and ate the rest.
My father passed away last week, his funeral held yesterday. Throughout this ordeal my mind was elsewhere and the GT was an afterthought. So much so, that one of my friends here was amazed I didn't know where my $250K (ok, maybe a little exaggeration, but not by much) car was. I told him that if he met our GT Rally family, he'd understand my lack of concern.
I'd like to give my sincere thanks to Dave Bannister, Bill Dickie, Frank Pikul, and anyone else who took care of my GT upon arrival, while there, and making sure it was loaded for the return trip. It arrived home today, I'm sure it had a much better week than we did.
I'd also like to thank Rich Brooks who I believe replaced the missing Ford badge on the front and whoever did the black shine on the tires. Other than a little dust, it looked better than when it left originally.
On to next year ...
A month ago my father took ill and we spent each day with him, whether at home, hospital or ICU. The Monday before our flight to Portland he seemed to be doing better so I loaded the car with Passport and we readied ourselves for the following Friday's flight. By the time Friday came around dad was doing much worse so we canceled what we could and ate the rest.
My father passed away last week, his funeral held yesterday. Throughout this ordeal my mind was elsewhere and the GT was an afterthought. So much so, that one of my friends here was amazed I didn't know where my $250K (ok, maybe a little exaggeration, but not by much) car was. I told him that if he met our GT Rally family, he'd understand my lack of concern.
I'd like to give my sincere thanks to Dave Bannister, Bill Dickie, Frank Pikul, and anyone else who took care of my GT upon arrival, while there, and making sure it was loaded for the return trip. It arrived home today, I'm sure it had a much better week than we did.
I'd also like to thank Rich Brooks who I believe replaced the missing Ford badge on the front and whoever did the black shine on the tires. Other than a little dust, it looked better than when it left originally.
On to next year ...
