Day 7 Friday July 4

This post is long overdue. My mother's health took a bad turn on July 5 and I needed to speed up the trip home. She passed away at age 93 on July 9. Her passing was very quiet and both my brother and sister were there at the time. I found comfort in making it back before she died, I am sure it was helpful for Mom to see all her children while she was still lucid and aware of what was happening. It was important for me to be there, so I am glad the Healey came through for me.

I will continue later with the denouement of the Healey trip.

I are back (7/30/08):

The other Bill Sullivan was not able to return home with me. He decided to stay for a few days in San Diego to help out Joyce who was recovering from a broken arm. We said goodby and I joined Judy and Doug Wrobel who graciously agreed to follow me home with Agatha Healey riding along in her rock star trailer. We also had the Lee's and Kell's taking the same route in their RV's, so there were plenty of recovery options should Healey 100 act up.

We wound through San Diego's freeways to end up on I-8. Traffic was light once we got to the edge of town. Few vacationers (this was July 4th holiday weekend) flock to the Imperial Valley deserts in July and we could see why. When we descended into Octotillo, CA, the temps were around 105F at 11AM.

We continued on I-8 to AZ 85 headed to Phoenix. We stopped often for gas, the Wrobel's rig only had about a 150 mile range. I appreciated the breaks, it was getting hotter and hotter in the Healey. A ton of air leaks around the firewall turned into tiny blowtorches. I thought I should try to track these down and plug them when I get home. Things peaked around the bleak and brown Sunrise, AZ on the 101 Loop road north of Phoenix. Judy said it was 113 F on their indicator. The Healey was running hotter, sitting around 210 F. There was a SW tailwind, this tends to cut of flow through the radiator.

We motored onto I-17 N towards Flagstaff. They we began the longest ascent of the entire trip. This is a very long climb, probably 6000 ft over 10 miles or more. We started hot, with the engine around 210 and the cockpit around 150. There were passing lanes and turnouts on the hill, and quite a few trucks were pulled over with steaming engines, a bad sign. I continued up at about 60 mph, slowly pulling away from the Wrobel's. I did not want to slow down or stop, if I did I was sure Healey would boil and vapor lock. I did crest the hill with the engine at 220F. This was as hot as she ever got and the engine kept running OK. At the top of the hill we were drenched with a late afternoon thundershower. This cooled things off so fast I thought I would crack. My pitiful wipers swiped meaninglessly at the storm, but I could still see and we made it to Flagstaff, rather cold and tired. What an oasis after dealing with Arizona's deserts. Cool weather, cool pines, and incredible mountains, Flagstaff is a treat.

Doug generously provided a frequent flyer room at a brand new Hilton Charter hotel. What comfort and luxury! We crashed early after dinner, satisfied that we managed 450 miles of very hot driving with few problems.

Day 6, Thursday July 3

Today was relatively slack, just a delegates meeting and the awards banquet.

I tried the delegates meeting, it took just an hour or so. The club has lost about 200 members out of 4000. The 2009 and 2010 conclaves will be at Kingston, Ont. and somewhere in Illinois, respectively. 2011 and 2012 are currently open. A couple of members asked me if we would yet consider holding a conclave in Taos or elsewhere in NM. I said it it was not likely, our club is too small to handle it.

I took a break from the event and drove up I-5 to Mission Viejo to visit my Aunt and Uncle Barrett. I was about a 70 mile drive. Lots of traffic, the $4.50 gas in California has slowed them down but folks are still out there. My return was pressed, it took two hours to crawl through holiday beach traffic to get back to the hotel.

Our little club did fairly well for awards. Agatha took a first and Bob Lee took fourth in the Gymkhana. He was in a big class (100-6 and early 3000) with plenty of competition. I didn't see anyone faster, but apparently there were some.

We were stunned to get the Conclave participation award for highest percentage of attendees. We had five registrants out of 14 members. We got to go on the stage and our club will get an official plaque. Bravo!

Joyce Sullivan showed up for part of the banquet, but she was still hurting and needed to keep her legs up to stop swelling. The arm is on the mend, but it is still tender. Bill H decided to stay in SD for a day or two with Joyce. I will be coming home with Judy and Doug. The Kells and Lee/Sprague will be behind, so we have plenty of support if anything goes wrong.

Day 5, Wednesday July 2

Today was RALLY day. Bill S and Bill N entered Healey 100 for a wonderful day of Healey rallying 'round San Diego. We were joined by Bob Lee and Ross Kells in Bob's Healey 3000.

Sorry folks, it didn't work out too well. Bill S and Bill N practically ran over the first check point but did not see it. They spent about 20 minutes retracing steps to discover that they had already been there. No problem, they continued merrily towards the next checkpoint. Unfortunately, they reached an intersection that trapped us like a bad Soduku puzzle: every direction we took from this intersection led to a conflict with the next direction.

Bob and Ross apparently figured out the puzzle, but we wondered. We saw them here and there with a lost and confused look on their Healey.

Bill and I decided to kiss it off and had a nice drive north on San Diego -- taking in La Jolla and Torrey Pines golf course. This is beautiful country folks, we were impressed.

Still, I wondered for a day or two how to solve the rally problem. It had something to do with chinese diagrams, a cryptic tool handed out with the instructions that we could not figure out how to use. Oh well, next year.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel we noticed an angry crowd looking for Rally Master Udo Putze. Apparently he was lost on route and nowhere to be found.

The day ended on a much happier note: an evening dinner cruise around the harbor. Great food and lots to see from this large vessel. Passing by the naval yards south of the Coronado bridge was the best. This city has beautiful lights too, plus a few pre-July 4 fireworks....

Day 4, Tuesday July 1

Today was car show day. The San Diego club secured a beautiful downtown harbor park. This area is surrounded by lush grass, spectacular buildings, deep blue water, and the Coronado Bridge. There were about 120 cars here, arranged by model on the grassy knolls in the park. We had lots of shade and spectators, an idyllic setting. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Bill and John spent part of the day on the nearby WWII carrier Midway. They reported that it was well preserved and interesting. I might try to make that tour myself on Thursday if I can.

The big news is that Agatha A Healey won first in the 100M class. This was no small accomplishment, there were about 10 very nice 100M's there -- though none were quite as red as her! Naturally, Judy and Doug were delighted, they had their trophy signed by Gerry Coker, designer of the Healey 100.

The best of show went to an immaculate 1953 Nash Healey coupe, on of two at this show. It was well deserved, this was a very fine car and a standout amongst so many excellent Healeys.

After the show there was a nice Sprite Beach Party at the hotel. Gerry Coker, who designed the first Sprite prototype just before he parted from Healey Motor Company. His prototype had no "Bug Eyes", just a smooth hood with flush retractable headlamps. He talked about how horrified he was to see the production car with the bug eyes -- but now he appreciates the compromise that ended up making the car more special than ever.

Day 3, Monday June 31

Today was Gymkhana and Funkhana day at the Conclave. The organizers had an outstanding venue for these events: the vast, smooth paved parking lot of Qualcomm stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. This event was jointly run by the Conclave and the local Porsche Club. They put out thousands of cones on a course that was probably a mile long. It had lots of tight turns but also straights that certainly had speeds over 60 mph.

I stayed away from the event, since we needed our car to make it home -- but it was very tempting. Spectators had a great shaded viewing area and catered barbecue. The barbecue was delicious and good idea, no restaurants were within walking distance. About 50 cars participated. In our group, Ross Kells and Bob Lee entered their Sprite and 3000 respectively. The Sprite was fussy in the morning, she didn't want to idle. But after some aimless fiddling, Ross decided she ran OK at higher RPM and off they went to the races. Judy and Doug Wrobel tried out the Funkhana.

Bob Lee seemed to have the fastest time of our group. I think he probably placed, his racing experience did not hurt. But Ross and the misfiring Sprite looked good too. There were some timing glitches.

After a day of racing and talking, we retired for the evening. I met for dinner with my Aunt and Uncle Barrett and my cousins Kathleen and Paul Duke and their kids JJ and Lauren. Once I managed to find the restaurant (this problem does not bode well for the rally on Wednesday), we had a too brief reunion. They enjoyed seeing the Healey, but mainly we enjoyed each other's company. We must do this more often....