Taking Turns

Anyone who does not appreciate the efficacy of starting a British car event at a foreign car parts store has never had A Turn.

For the uninitiated, A Turn goes something like this: The LBC that owns a slot in your garage and your heart has been behaving just fine, thank you. You dust or wash it, depending on the paint condition and/or the seriousness of the grunge on said paint. You add vital fluids, maybe re-tighten that one contrary Whitworth, and wash the windscreen if dusting wasn't sufficient. You double-check the event postcard and load the requisite beverages, picnic lunch, and (for non-saloon owners) gather Gatsbys, gloves, and goggles. You fire up and are away - this is going to be a great run!

Somewhere between Point A (your home) and Point B (the aforementioned car parts store), it happens. It may seem innocuous enough -- a cough, a hesitation, a barely perceptible vibration -- but it is a portent of things to come. You press on as that early warning sign grows into a full-fledged problem. Though still optimistic (what are British car drivers if not that?), the briefest thought of having to abandon the run crosses your mind. You coax and cajole the cantankerous thing into the parking lot where several bodies patiently await and fling up the car's bonnet. Several heads peer inside and momentarily conclude that . . . this car wants a part! Well, here we are at the foreign car parts store, owner at hand, no problem!

Part goes in, bonnet goes down, smug looks prevail all round. Only slightly off-schedule, the cars begin to peel out, you join the line, and life is good. For three miles. It is Your Turn.

The May 8th Picnic and Wine Tours

It was Phil's Turn. Dusty Galland, Wally Wallace, Tony Rodriguez, John and Evelyn Rehklau, Mark Wallace, Jim and Mary Johnson, Stephanie Yule and sister Jacki Vaughan, Frank and Pattie Moran, and Gregg Mowers played the roles of the "several patient bodies" on that glorious May morning. Phil and Susan Schouboe were the last to arrive in Phil's new Healey 3000, which was sounding as though it had either a really radical cam or only two sparkers. The several heads quickly found fried points, Economy Foreign Car Parts supplied a replacement set, the bonnet was slammed, and at 10:30 we loaded up. We were to meet Roy and Jaydee Carter and Bob and Linda Oslin at Spring Valley School at 10:15.

With host Dusty in the lead (we left Tony peering disconsolately through his barred window, staying behind to mind the store), the line snaked south on 99 and on Midway, one long, more-or-less-gleaming stream of British cars -- punctuated with a Pantera --until the turn onto Durham-Pentz, when the snake disjoined. Phil Report 1: Points. The lead cars led on, crossing Highway 99 with an eye on the school target, when Giddyup Scout Mowers screamed up in the Pantera, flung Phil Report 2: Points at us, and disappeared over the rise to report troop movements to the patiently (we hoped) waiting group at the school. Nearly 11:00 by now, a few of us pulled in to join the folks in the school parking lot and to wait for Phil and Susan and their Dusty/Wally/Mark pit crew. That assemblage eventually joined us to deliver Phil Report 3: Points and Report 4: Camber/left front. The pit crew went to work, Roy left on a parts run to Carter Hardware, a few of the gentlemen went for the ice chests, and the rest of us loitered about, reassuring Susan that there is no guilt necessary or permitted when it's Your Turn.

As noon approached and passed, Tour Leader and Head Mechanic Galland suggested that the plan for picnicking at Loafer Creek be abandoned for a more direct route to our first winery appointment at 1:00. Sensing an earlier opportunity to eat we all readily agreed and, once Phil had installed another of what was evidently an inexhaustible supply of new point sets (Tony must have sold him a case) and pointed the left front wheel correctly down toward the ground, we were off and away. For a while. At the top of Table Mountain (which, some of us noted with dismay, does NOT have restroom facilities and therefore did NOT qualify as Dining Location) we pulled up again, and waited some bit of time for Phil, et.al., to arrive and deliver Phil Report 5: Points Again. Fiddling and kibitzing re-commenced as Dusty rang up the Long Creek Winery, reported our delays, and respectfully enquired if we might eat our picnic lunch in their driveway before coming in for the tour. Though much complicated by a weak cell phone signal, the conversation established that we may do so and several hungry people piled back into cars for the twisting, turning, tailpipe-dragging descent from the mountain.

Arriving at Long Last at Long Creek, we surmised Phil Report 6: Phil and Susan had gone missing. Also Wally and Mark. We were lamenting this loss of companionship as winery owners and hosts Lou and Yola Cecchi came out to greet us. Imagine our delight as they invited us to bring our picnic inside to tables prepared in the cool confines of the barrel room . . . we wasted no time gathering baskets, boxes, and bags. While we dined, vintner Lou - in his fifth or sixth successful career incarnation - regaled us with a full vine-to-bottle description of the winemaking process. Long Creek is an all-cask boutique winery and, once the grapes are harvested by a group of loyal friends and supporters, all of the wine preparation occurs in the room in which we were dining. And what a room! With a good portion of the building embedded in a hillside and an extensive water circulation system in the slab floor, in the walls, and on the sprinklered roof, the building stays at a constant, wine-friendly temperature, with barely a spin of the electric meter. In spite of being a production hub, the interior was immaculate, well-organized, and welcoming. We had a thoroughly educational and entertaining time while we dined, then moved to the tasting room for dessert. Yola poured generously and encouraged trying any and all of their offerings. We did, and left with a fair number of bottles to register our approval and thanks.

While this one stop alone would have been sufficient unto the day, a meandering drive through Oroville took us to stop-number-next, the Grey Fox Vineyards off Olive Highway. Grey Fox features four estate-grown varietals and grows a number of other grapes for blending with Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Merlot grapes from Mendocino. Our hostess, Pat, laid out such a feast of fine finger foods that even those of us too full from lunch could not resist. She was equally generous with the winery's products, taking us on a graduated tasting from the mildest of whites to the most robust of the reds. Needless to say, we were becoming a more and more appreciative group as time passed and we once again showed our gratitude with our wallets.

After some seven hours of driving, dining, and tasting, we scattered to the winds from the winery parking area. Dusty and Tony planned well, it was a great run for most, and we all - having been there ourselves - sympathized with Phil and Susan for the angst of it having been Their Turn.