Gala Dinner Evening

In short, the purpose of the gala event was to raise money to help a few local charities. Over the years there was a good turn out but this years was a sell out with several hundred people in attendance. The other purpose was to honor Hershel McGriff not only for many of his amazing accomplishments but also for winning the very first La Carrera Panamericana. Hershel was amazingly humble but he had a little surprise of his own as you will see in the photos below.


Hershel having some fun as he stands in the exact same position as he did in the photo of him 58 years ago as he accepted the winning check of $17,000. But if you look closely you can see he's not wearing the same dinner jacket.



Left to right, Hershel and his wife Sherry and Gary and his wife Mari Chris.


Hershel waited for the right moment to ask one of the benificeries to come up front and then told everyone that since everyone else wanted to "give back" to the great people of Mexico that he too wanted to take part. Look at her expression as Hershel said, "I would like to give you this check for $10,000.00." You could not believe the jaws that dropped.



Even I got some well appreciated recognition as Gerie said, "I would like to ask all Olympic Atheletes in the room to stand up and be recognised." and then spoke about how well Jon and I had done last year and thanked me for bringing Hershel.



Hershel being awarded a solid silver plate by the citezens of Mexico and people of San Miguel de Allende.



Some of the beautiful ladies in attendance.


Left to right, Angelica Fuentes, Gary Faules, Hershel McGriff, Doug Mockett



What would a La Carrera party be without Coop?

La Carrera Car Show

There are far too many to post so I have picked just a few. There were also motorcycles.


This is a 1935 Hercules


My aunt owned one of these and hit a deer and lived to talk about it.

La Carrera Cars On Display in El Jardin

Backing up just a tad I need to explain how busy we were all week. On Friday there was a Poker Run that covered a huge area which was attended by people from all over Mexico and it began and ended at our hotel. There was a lot of involvement and some beautiful cars.

Saturday there was a car show with many very interesting cars and motorcycles so I will create one blog post specifically for them.

Saturday was the day the Coyote Convoy (parking lot photos) and a special Gala evening not only as a fund raiser but also so that Hershel McGriff could be honored by over 300 guest at $150 each all of which went to charities.

Sunday was the day of the car exhibition in El Jardin.





Hershel sitting in Doug Mocketts car with co-piloto Angelica Fuentes.





Gerie Bledsoe and Hershel McGriff with Gerie's car



Ron Lee can't believe it's really happening as Hershel signs his beautiful Curtis

Keeping A Promise... One of the best ever

Last year when my son Will and I spent a few days in San Miguel de Allende I made a promise to myself that I would return with my wife and I can't begin to tell you what a worthwhile promise it was. If I had only known what an amazing event it would turn out to be... Never could I have imagined. I need to start off by explaining we got home at midnight after a world wind week and as yet I haven't come back down to earth let alone get any long overdue rest.

What I can tell you is, even as much fun as this was it was a very emotional time for me and almost impossible to explain. My biggest regret where that Will and Jon where not with me. Besides spending a week with Hershel McGriff and his wife I was able to personally welcome almost every single team as they arrived in San Miguel de Allende and I even directed them as to where and how to park in the hotel parking lot. Even though the majority of them had been on the road for 4 to 6 days pulling 600 miles a day I could see the looks of relief and their smiles as they realized they had made it half way and knew a few days of relaxation where in order. Many of these faces and cars where familiar while some where knew but for the most part I had been corresponding with many of them over the last year.

To explain the hundreds of photos I have would be near impossible and so what I am going to do is try to break down the next few blog entries into basically three entries. First I will show some of the cars as they arrived in the hotel parking lot in San Miguel de Allende. Then I will post a few from the car show in the beautiful city square called El Jardin. (The Garden) Last will be an entry of some of the things Hershel and myself and our wives enjoyed. What I am not going to post is all the photos I took at 7AM on Monday morning as I waved good bye to every single one of them. You have no idea how difficult it was to deal with the lump in my throat as I wished them all a safe trip and watched their taillights fade a way in the dark and then walk into the empty parking lot. All of them waved and yelled out in return but when Gerie Bledsoe's tow rig got to me they stopped as Gerie had a few very special words of thanks that I began to lose it.

7's Only Is On Their Way To Mexico

Two fully loaded trailers left under the watchful eye of Tom Dragoun and crews from Buttonwillow Raceway and headed for Mexico. On the way there they will join the Coyote Convoy. They are hauling 12 cars total in all 6 in the big white enclosed trailer and the rest on the open three axle trailer. Having seen Tom drive that rig for 2000 miles last year I can tell you he knows how to get'er done!

One of our good friends, Carson Scheller has his beautiful Original Paman Ford #433 loaded up with them and the # 365 red Chevrolet that was owned and driven by Richard Row and Ernie Harris which ran against us in Historic C class is as well however it has been sold and is now driven by David Geldreich of Canada and Wilhelm Ostrop of Germany. Another car on the trailer that also ran with us last year is the #375 Sunbeam Tiger driven by Miles Jones and Robert Gehlan. The Original Panam #427Lincoln driven by Christian Reichardt and Daniel Roche is also on board.




We had the pleasure of meeting Tom last year and several times since. All anyone can say about Tom is, To know him is to like him and if you want someone you can count of he's the man." Tom's big rig has a full boat machine shop and just about everything you could possibly want when your over 2000 miles from home. I have seen first hand Toms no nonsense way of taking care of his clients and when they need something it doesn't matter what he's doing it's all about taking care of his customer first..

Looking Back One Year Ago Today

It was exactly one year ago on this day that I made the following post. It will be an instant replay of sorts for many teams as they begin the trip of a lifetime and I remember it as if it where just yesterday...

CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL POST


And the day before when we had our first video shoot for the teams send off.

CLICK HERE

Leader Of The Pack (Or Coyote Convoy)

Tomorrow morning Gerie Bledsoe the North American La Carrera Panamericana Director, towing his brand new Durango Duece II number 395 will be pulling out from Half Moon Bay California on his way to Laredo Texas where again this year he will be the leader of the Coyote Convoy. Gerie's co-piloto again this year will be Chris "Coop" Cooper and riding along as team support and crew chief will be our best friend Canadian Al Cox. Boy are we going to miss being with Al on the drive.



If I had any regrets at all there would be two. One would be that Jon, Will and I are not running this year and the other is that we are not going to be on the road with the Convoy and all that that journey encompasses. If it were not for Gerie, we may not have ever made the journey to take part in La Carrera Panamericana an adventure that will last us a lifetime. If it were not for Will the adventure would never have been as successful of pleasurable as it was and if it were not for Jon Emerson my navigator and friend we would never have been as successful as we were. Yes, we are the Three Amigos and I am so fortunate to have shared this adventure with them.



I can already feel the lump forming in my throat that will surely lodge as I watch the Convoy Convoy leave the hotel on their way to the south of Mexico for the beginning of the race and there I will stand for the most part all alone. It's not at all unlike watching your kids move away except these will not be coming back.