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As we look back now on this years Rallye we are in awe that it goes by so quickly. There is so much time spent putting it together that it is like a great meal that takes hours to prepare, but only minutes to consume. Now it is over. Our wonderful friends, old and new, are gone and we are left pondering the special time that we had.
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In the beginning we scheduled twenty-two cars. But with only a month before the Rallye was to begin we had five last minute cancellations. On our list of back-ups we were only able to get one replacement. The end car count was eighteen. Our goal is to have twenty cars, as more than this take away from the intimate atmosphere and comradery we have with one another. Included in the eighteen entries we had three from England, one from Ecuador and the rest scattered from various States in the United States.
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A week prior to the Rallye, Keith Fell and Karen Moore from the Manchester area in England, came and stayed with us and were such a great help in getting ready, as well as, XK members Paul Abadjian and Fiona Bayne who came early to help. Karen worked right alongside Keith preparing some of the cars, Paul loves to wash the cars and Fiona, well, Fiona was busy as a bee getting travel arrangements for her worldwide clientele for her travel business.
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Most of the people going on the Rallye ship their cars to our place in Salt Lake City. So we had fifteen cars travel down with us from Salt Lake to Moab, Utah, the start of the Rallye, a distance of 358 miles. After an early start we took a scenic route that day through some magnificent mountain scenery. The changing colors of the trees were as brilliant as I have ever seen. On the way down we stopped and had a picnic lunch on the mountain top. Windy, but gorgeous views! We traveled the Mount Nebo Loop, over the Skyline Drive, down Huntington Canyon, through the San Rafael Swell, and along the Colorado River. Finally arriving at our lodging, Red Cliffs Lodge outside the town of Moab, at about 5:00 pm. with not even one incident with the cars! (As the organizers, our thought is wheew, good start!)
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The location of our lodging is on the spot where several John Wayne westerns were filmed. There is also a museum in the lodge of all the westerns and movies filmed in the area. The majority of westerns were filmed in Southern Utah, and many films and ads are still shot there.
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That night everyone got a chance to introduce themselves and get instructions for the official start of the Red Rock Rallye at a wonderful Cowboy dinner of grilled steaks, chicken and all the trimmings, on the patio overlooking the Colorado River at Red Cliffs Lodge. The evening, with the majestic back drop, had a special atmosphere and all seemed excited about the days ahead. Each participant was given a weather-proof jacket, blanket and canvas bag. After a great dinner, introductions and gifts, we have a tradition of giving THE ROCK to a participant from the previous years Red Rock Rallye. Terry Larson came up with the idea initially 11 years ago, so he, therefore, awards the new recipient. This year THE ROCK went to a “couple”, Dick DeLuna and Denise, oh I mean Dennis Varni. (You had to be there) We had a lot of fun last year at their expense, these two guys traveling together from the 'Bay' area!! The rule is you have to carry THE ROCK with you everywhere and display it on the table at all dinners. Dennis let Dick take charge of it, and as a side note may I say he did very well! (Thanks, of course, to Matilde!)
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The next day everyone was on their own to explore the countryside. There are two National Parks in the area, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, as well as Deadhorse Point and the town of Moab. Every turn is beautiful. To get to any of the sites you drive along the Colorado River with red rock cliffs on both sides of the road. In an open car it is breathtaking.
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We have another tradition on the Red Rock Rallye. Rookies (those who have never been on the Rallye before) are encouraged to make the hike to Delicate Arch, which image is part of the logo for the Red Rock Rallye. We all gathered at Red Cliffs Lodge for hors d' oeuvres before an Italian Dinner on the patio overlooking the Colorado River! It became the unofficial evening for the men to wear their Hawaiian shirts and will probably become another tradition that we carry forward. And, of course, we love contests, so guys be prepared for next year! (It was suggested that the women wear Moo-moo's, but Debbie vetoed that one) After dinner all those who made it up to Delicate Arch and back were given a special “Arches Award”. Our rookies this year were Fiona Bayne, Karen Moore, Keith Fell, Jim & Marcia Pease, Allan & Carla Price, Mary & Bruce Robertson, David Glueck & Brooke Bremner, Les Dergan, Phillip & Yvonne Haslam, and Diego & Helena Ribadeneira. Linda Phears, who was not a rookie, but was so proud of herself for hiking to the arch, got a special award! Wayne Phears hiked to the arch last year and encouraged her along this year.
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On Tuesday morning we took our departure from the lodge and took a route out of the warm red rock country up over the LaSal Mountain Loop into high alpine scenery. This provided quite a gorgeous contrast for everyone, as you could see both the alpine scenery around you and in the distance the majestic red rocks. Upon arrival at our pre-arranged picture spot, we waited and waited and then waited some more for three cars that were trailing behind, I am sure taking in the view, but they never showed up. We took pictures and then checked our route books, which is when we noticed an error we as organizers had made on the map. Easy if you are following along, but not so if you get out of sight of the car in front of you! I instructed the others to go on ahead and we would meet up at lunch. Debbie and I raced back, driving as fast as we could along the mountain trail, got on to some dirt roads, getting on four wheel drifts on the corners and still could not find them. We went back to Red Cliffs Lodge just in case they decided to come back there and eventually we met up with them. They had gone over 50 miles out of the way in an area I had never been before. The only consolation is that it was very beautiful. They were very good sports about the whole thing and we took a short cut through the town of Moab to meet up with the rest of the group. They were just finishing lunch as we arrived at Cottonwood Steakhouse and consequently we were always just about one hour behind them, though that time shortened as the day progressed. All those on this unintentional detour were awarded a special “Explorers” award the last night of the Rallye. Our Explorers were Allan & Carla Price, David Glueck & Brooke Bremner and Wayne & Kay Wagner.
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The day was mostly sunny and a little cool. But after climbing the Moki Dugway there were some scattered showers and if we drove fast enough the rain went over our heads. The sun would come back out of the clouds in just a few minutes and all was well and everyone kept their tops (hoods) down. As we were getting close to Capitol Reef National Park and close to our destination there was a true cloud burst. Between the sun in our eyes, and the heavy volume of rain visibility was limited. Most stopped to put up their tops and subsequently got drenched! A few minutes later it had ended and the clouds left. So we stopped again and put the tops back down! It was fun, funny and exhilarating. Makes for a good story in years to come.
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The Lodge at Red River in Torrey was our destination for the next two days. This is a magnificent log cabin and for most participants is their favorite place to stay on the whole route. We rent the entire lodge and it becomes our haven for gathering in the three story high lobby with fireplace, game tables and beautiful antiques and art pieces. We become a big family, sharing jokes, stories and practical jokes.
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The next day everyone had a day to relax and be on their own, to enjoy hiking at Capitol Reef National Park or taking a fly fishing expedition. That afternoon we held our first annual Red Rock Croquet Tournament. Everyone participated and had lots of fun. The sidelines were full of spectators enjoying hors d' oeuvres and rooting for their favorite team! Dennis, of course, enjoyed watching from the hot tub! The championship game was very lively and the eventual champions were Phillip and Yvonne Haslam from England. Diego & Helena Ribadeneira gave them quite the competition with some pretty outstanding shots from Helena and Tom & Daria Durham were right on their tail. Haslams won a Jaques Richmond Croquet set. Jaques America supplied all the prizes for the croquet tournament winners, as well as, the daily quiz winners.
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This day we also had a contest for drawing a Kokopeli. For those of you who do not know what a Kokopeli is, it is an ancient American Indian Flutist. We had some really good drawings and some really funny ones, too. Bruce Robertson's was absolutely professional looking. We will be using that one in the future! Everyone was very creative. Francoise Reyns actually bought glue and brought back sand from her hike and made a sand painting. It was great! A couple of extra funny ones were the likeness of Paul Abadjian and one with a likeness to Wayne Phears. Good work by all. The many contests of the day and the croquet tournament were a great deal of fun and afterwards we all enjoyed a wonderfully prepared meal at the Lodge at Red River.
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In the morning we lined our cars up in front of The Lodge for some picture taking and then we were off for the drive over Boulder Mountain. This is where we reach the highest altitude on the rally which is 9,603 feet. There was plenty of spirited driving on the twisting road and all wanted to know what Dennis Varni had under the bonnet of his 100 – 4 Healey!
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The drive along route 12 has spectacular scenery! I was told by one first time participant that “one runs out of superlatives to describe the scenery”.
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We stopped at Bryce Canyon National Park where we had lunch at the Lodge. Afterwards we spent a few hours hiking and just enjoying the hard to describe spherical formations and breathtaking views.
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Then on to Zion National Park and our lodgings for the next two days in the town of Springdale at Majestic View Lodge. I am not going to say the views really are majestic again!!! (But they are)
Swimming, enjoying each others company and dinner were all inclusive for this day. We also had a little birthday party for Helena Ribadeneira. 29 and holding!
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Zion National Park has some of the most spectacular hikes in the world. Many took advantage of this opportunity. Some of us even braved the “Narrows” with rock walls straight up for hundreds of feet on both sides, with no place to walk but in the COLD Virgin River. After reaching a spot with the water up to our chests we wimped out and went no further. We had a great adventure and with a little embellishment caused the others, not along, to be quite impressed with our accomplishment!
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Our final night we had a cocktail hour (well actually it was half hour) with large prawns and also artichoke heart dip on toast for hors d' oeuvres. This was followed-up by a wonderful dinner of prime rib, carved to order and lobster tails. After dinner we gave out our final awards and prizes and had a tie for the overall quiz winners between Philippe & Francoise Reyns from Arizona and Jim & Marcia Pease of Alabama. We also gave a special award called the “Tops Down Award”, to those who kept their tops down the whole Red Rock Rallye. These were Phillip & Yvonne Haslam, Terry & Darlene Larson, Dennis & Kathy Varni, and Philippe & Francoise Reyns. The last award was the “Spirit of the Rallye”, which went to Les Dergan of California, who came in his E-type Coupe all alone when his navigator bailed on him. He was a great addition and made friends with all.
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While this was the end of the official Red Rock Rallye, we had a majority of the cars follow us back to Salt Lake. We took a scenic route, which was different from the one going down, taking us to Kolob Canyon and to Cedar Breaks National Monument at an elevation of 10,300 feet. The cars made it back without incident. Back to the Marriott hotel where we began just 7 days before and time for our final goodbyes, yet most looking forward to next year.
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Because of the somewhat intimate nature of the Red Rock Rallye, we only allow 20 cars. All have the opportunity to get to know each participant. Many new friendships are made, and we have many who come year after year. It was a fun and satisfying Rallye this year and we are looking forward to next year when we mix things up a little by starting at the Grand Canyon September 15, 2006.
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