On Saturday, November 7th, Loma Prieta Region staged a tour dubbed “The Hills Are Alive” (to the sound of Porsches ?) by John Reed who is never at a loss to name an event. It might just as well have been named “Covid Be Damned”, for it was held during the Pandemic, with 28 people taking part, all of them anxious to get back to socializing once again for which this region is justifiably famed. Nevertheless, gloves, masks and social distances were maintained at the start, and even individual and personal pens used to sign the required waivers, which were treated with disinfecting wipes for additional safety. For those in need, other protective material was thoughtfully provided. And for the first time in about six months rain was promised, but the day still dawned with beautiful sunshine, even though some hefty clouds threatened.
Organized by John and Angie Reed, along with co-tour masters Ken and Marge Jensen, a brief drivers’ meeting took place of course with social distancing, and many newcomers were present. Well, maybe it seemed there were several newcomers, but with masks on it was sometimes difficult to know who was who. Voices were heard to say “Have we met” ? Or “Do I know you” ? even among friends who might have known each other for years. Several people not seen for a long time included Dick and Mary Wallace, who presented June and myself with a couple of cans of pre-mixed Gin and Tonic. So sweet and thoughtful of them, but they warned the contents were not to be consumed while actually on the tour, – dammit. And it was good to see George and Virginia Jansen again, although George these days is unable to be his usual mobile self. Anno domini catches us all eventually. And the squeeze-box maestro himself, Mike Zampecini, also joined the group, along with Peter and Jacqueline Ridgway, Steve and Lori Douglas, Doug and Dana Ambrisko, Bob and Debbie Frostholm, John and Kathy Musser, Hugh Calvin, Gary Goelkel, and new member Mike Humphries. Kevin Hill was also a new member who brought along his wife and two daughters, and when introduced it was mentioned that it was his birthday, so naturally the whole group sang Happy Birthday to him.
CB radios were not used on this tour, or even mentioned at the meeting. For some reason the use of CB radios on tours seems to be waning these days, which puzzles me. Its personal and oral communication is an ideal medium that is guaranteed to be 100% free from Corona 19 Virus transmission, and so logically CB use on tours would therefore be expected to increase, not decline. One of those mysteries of life I guess. I miss the good old days of good natured leg pulling jokes over the CB while on tour, after all, there’s no shortage of material for this kind of bantering with the Reeds. But I digress. The group was then herded up, and led out of the parking lot by John and Angie Reed, with Ken and Margie Jensen operating the caboose.
And so we were off. Almost immediately in hilly terrain we faced a lengthy road-work traffic jam that the authorities deemed a “follow me” sweep car was necessary to lead us through. Seemed a bit incongruous that a Porsche group thoroughly used to evading pylons should need this sort babying and be led by a big ‘ole truck through fairly simple road work, but we obeyed nevertheless. Much of the stop time was spent waiting for what they considered a large enough group of other cars to assemble in the other direction. A couple of temporary traffic lights at each end with CB radio communication would have been much simpler, and quicker.
This short tour of about 40 miles was indeed pleasant, through lovely scenery, passing shimmering waters of Uvas Reservoir, and with just enough road twists and turns to satisfy Porsche pilots. Even the height of the familiar Hecker Pass was not shrouded in low cloud fog, affording great views of the flatlands below. No stops were made en route, only one stop finally ending the tour at Watsonville Airport. Here we reluctantly waved our goodbyes through open car windows, and individually made our own way home. Ah yes, it was great to be on the road again on a club tour with good friends. Thanks tour leaders, let’s do another one like this soon.
