Reno-Tahoe Panteras Fun Rally, June 6-10th.
by Emilia Seiferling
We got to sleep in somewhat on the first day of our mini-vacation. There was no point to getting an early start on our way to the Reno Fun Rally, only to be caught in rush hour Sacramento traffic. The drive was quite easy on a Wednesday morning. Traffic was light and moving well. We had decided to stop for lunch at the Rainbow Lodge. We had enjoyed the joint brunch with the Reno-Tahoe group at the Rainbow Lodge a couple of years ago. We exited Highway 80 to find the Lodge closed for plumbing repairs. So it was back on the road to our alternate lunch stop. It was about this time that we were driving the Pantera in the snow! Granted the snow melted immediately upon hitting the windshield, but never the less we can honestly say that we have driven the Pantera in the snow without either wipers or chains! The snow had stopped falling at about the state line. The weather was now just partly cloudy and cold. We stopped at The Gold Ranch Casino, which is just west of Boomtown. We had been told that it was more of a locals place than Boomtown. We enjoyed a light lunch, which was half price after I got my free members card for the Casino. The coffee shop at the casino served me a very tasty breakfast while Jim enjoyed a pizza, which was also very good. Both entries arrived at the table hot. The food was very good and fairly priced. We would stop there again. We did stop at Boomtown for gas at $3.59/gallon. We arrived at Harrah’s, parked in the reserved parking area for the Panteras, checked in and unpacked. I thought that I had over packed for the five day trip, but with unexpected snow and cold weather, I was smart to bring the extra cold weather clothing. We found the hospitality room, which was very near the elevators to our room. It was nice to be seated and not moving. We enjoyed a cold drink and conversation before heading out to dinner. We had decided to try the Santa Fe Hotel for dinner. It is located next to Harrah’s. The Basque food was plentiful and very good. The nightly menu is written on the wall. They serve you two courses before they even take your order. Dinner that night was: Soup, salad, bread, beans, thick cut lamb loin chops (3), ox tails, French fries, wine (included in the price) and ice cream. The meal is served family style at large tables. Shortly after we started our meal, locals Roger and Gary joined us. They shared a lot of local history with us and insisted that we must have a Winnemucca coffee with them in the bar after dinner. We had a very nice time at the Santa Fe Hotel and would recommend it for the next time you’re in Reno. It was then back to the hospitality room to see who else had arrived before calling it a night.
End Day One.
On Thursday morning, we were up and ready for the driver's meeting in the garage after getting coffee at the Starbuck's located inside of Harrah's. The drive was up the Mount Rose Highway to Lake Tahoe. When we stopped at the overlook, someone told us our right muffler was bouncing. A quick look and the steel mounting tang on the muffler had snapped. We put the word out and Roger Sharp went to his trunk full of parts and tools and found some heavy wire so Jim could tie it up to the hanger bracket. That fixed it good enough for the rest of the trip. Our destination was the Sierra Wooden Boat Works. We toured the showroom full of beautifully restored wooden boats and their work area where there were several boats in various stages of restoration. They are saving a part of history when they restore these vessels to their glorious past. We then drove to a private beach at Incline Village for a BBQ. The food was good and plentiful. The weather was clear, but cool with a slight breeze off the lake. I managed to catch a nap in the sun in my lawn chair. I was truly glad that I had brought the cold weather wear. The coat, gloves and turtle neck top kept me warm and happy.
A perfect place for a picnic
After the drive back to Reno, I needed a rest before dinner. We stopped at the Hospitality Room before going to dinner. We had decided to try an Italian restaurant that our newfound friends, Roger and Gary from the Santa Fe Hotel, had told us about. This is a local dive that has been serving good Italian for over 30 years. They warned us to disregard the exterior appearance and just go in. They were right; it is pretty rough looking! We got to Casales Halfway Club to find it closed for a private party! So again we put plan B into effect and headed for another Italian restaurant that another friend had told us about. We arrived at a strip mall on Keystone at Pierino's Ristorante Italiano. This is a locals place and again our friends have given us a good tip. The food was very good. My porcine raviolis in a mushroom garlic cream sauce were excellent. The only thing that could have been better would have been if we had been there on the first Tuesday of the month. That is when the Silver State Accordions meet at the restaurant and provide live music while you dine. After dinner it is back to the hotel and the hospitality room to see who has arrived and what to be prepared for the next morning.
End Day Two.
Friday morning we met in the garage for the drivers meeting, with our Starbuck's coffee in hand. We headed out for go-cart racing at the Grand Sierra Resort (the old MGM Grand). The track was opened for our group, for an hour before the track opens to the public. This was only my second time carting. It was a lot of fun! This was not an activity for just the boys; the ladies were out there too. And it was nice that we were not put in our own "ladies only" group. Each time around the course I got more confident and speed. I did four sessions and that really tired me out. Some of the guys got in five or six sessions! By the way, the track is waxed to keep the speeds down. Can you say driving on ice! After the carting, we were off to lunch at Larry Stock's Pantera Parts Connection shop. The lunch was very tasty with sandwiches, salads, fruit, cookies, cheesecake, and drinks. Thank you Larry. Once again there was no shortage of good food at this Rally. Some of the guys took this chance to clean their cars for the car show the next day.
Note how smooth the waxed track is.
After lunch we were off again for a drive. This time we headed to Carson City via Virginia City. The drive would have been really good if there had not been a motorcycle that insisted on driving 5 MPH below the limit and not using the turnouts. He later yelled at our group at a stop light in Carson City that we were on his tail and ruining his ride with his son. If he really had been concerned about his son's safety, he would have just pulled off at one of the turn outs and let us get in front of him. But he was the self-appointed traffic patrol and ended up spoiling the drive for all parties. We finally arrived at the private auto collection of Rich Mason in Carson City. The unmarked concrete block building housed many automotive treasures; among them were a "flip-top" Cobra and a Corvette SR-2. For a more detailed description, see the write up by Jack DeRyke in the POCA Newsletter, July 2007, page 24. We headed home to get ready for a group dinner at the Silver Legacy. The buffet at the Silver Legacy was very good. It was seafood night with unlimited Alaskan crab legs and many other types of seafood. If you left hungry, it was your own fault! After dinner we were off to the Catch a Rising Star Comedy show. There were two different acts and both were very funny. And it was odd that after the show several people in our group commented that the one comic looked a lot like Mike Drew!
End Day Three.
Saturday was the day of the car display at the Plaza of Harrah's. This was another item that changed for the organizers. The Plaza was promised to two different groups. Jim Nowlin was able to work it out with the other group, "AutoExotica", so that both groups could share the Plaza. There were eleven Panteras and seven high-end exotics on the Plaza. We ended up on Commerce St., with three other Panteras. Henry Kirk had driven over to the Rally for Saturday. It ended up that there were more deTomasos in the show than any other marque at this car gathering. Jim handed out three POCA fliers to people that stopped and chatted at length about the cars. He and Jim Murch were truly good ambassadors of the marque.
5 of the 11 Panteras on the Plaza
We had so many Panteras, that we overflowed onto the side street.
After the car display, we had to clean up and go to the final dinner at Harrah's. We were seated at a table with PCNC members, Gary & Mary Ann Kono, Pam & Roger Sharp, and CP members Karen Kimble & Henry Kirk. There was plenty of good conversations. Harrah's provided us with a private room for the dinner and raffle. The raffle had many items and we went home with a set of wrenches and a hat. The target items were big hits. Pam Sharp won the afghan that I donated in the deTomaso colors of black, white, and blue. I'm happy that it went to a good home. The winners of the "Dust Bowl Concours" were announced at the dinner. Everyone had been given ballots earlier to vote for several different categories. We won a very nice plaque for "Most Lived in Interior". I think that we won due to the fact that we carried our own lawn chairs. We used those chairs at a couple of the different events of the weekend. Dinner was another good buffet. Again, we had too much good food. After dinner and the raffle, it was back to the hospitality room. The remaining desserts ended up there and were munched on all evening.
End Day Four.
Sunday morning found me sicker than a dog. Jim was just fine. I, on the other hand, slept poorly, vomiting and diarrhea, and a head ache all night long. I know what everyone is thinking, too much food and drink for her. Well, not so. I had only one or two glasses of wine with the meal, then drank either coffee or water the rest of the evening, and only one cup of coffee at that, since their wait staff was not sure if it was decaf of not. One server said it was decaf, so I had a cup. The next one said it was regular, so I had no more coffee! What ever it was that got me, Jim was fine. At least I enjoyed the dinner before it made me sick! Jim even made a trip down to the Sundries shop for medication for me, but the shop was closed. We did find some out of date Imodium in our travel bag. By this point, I would have taken anything that could possibly help me feel better. First, I took one pill, then after a few minutes and I wasn't worse I took another pill. While I was waiting to see if I could sit in the car for the long trip home, Jim made two trips by himself to load up the Pantera. By the time he had the car loaded, I felt well enough to attempt the ride home. We did stop in the hospitality room to say our goodbyes and thank you's. I passed on the juice and muffins and grabbed a bottle of water for the ride home. I would sip water and breath deeply and slowly on the ride home. I made it home without incident. Poor Jim had to unload the car alone. I went right to bed and slept for four hours! That Sunday was a lost one for me. After the four-hour rest, I preceded to rest on the sofa, and then went to bed at 9 pm and slept until 8 AM on Monday. Monday I was better, but still not 100%. I don't know what got my stomach but I wouldn't wish it on any of the other Rally attendees. Hopefully, no one else got the bug! Aside from getting sick at the end of the event, Jim and I had a great time in Reno-Tahoe. We hope to be able to return to another Reno-Tahoe Rally in the future. A big "Thank You" to the Reno Tahoe group for all their efforts. If you have the chance to attend the Reno-Tahoe Rally in the future, pack your Pantera and hit the road! We put on 564 miles for event, so the cars are not garage queens at any of the Reno Fun Rallies! They get driven.
The weather was perfect, but again we didn't have better attendance at the Capitol Pantera monthly meeting. Club cars included three Panteras, a DeLorean, a Porsche and the Bricklin. Members present were:Tom & Kathy Vona, John Worsley, Jim & Emilia Seiferling, Ken Montgomery, Henry Kirk and Lamar Fairchild.
There was a raffle, for a $20 gift card at Kragen's. Our Treasurer, John McNamee dropped off the raffle prize, but was unable to stay for the meeting. Even with the low turn out, we made a tiny bit of money from the raffle. Henry won the raffle. Maybe he can use the $20 toward a new motor in his Cobra. It blew up on the way home from the last EuroSunday event. John also reported that the Club is solvent even after all outstanding bills were paid.
Treasurer John has sent the $100 donation to the Towe Auto Museum to make the Capitol Panteras official members of the Museum. He has given the Towe a list of our members so you should be able to get free entry to the museum by just showing them your POCA membership card. Mike Haney has finished the Club banner. Thank you Mike. Jim and I will be picking it up soon. We plan to use it at the Festa Italiana in August. We will need several cars for the display on Sunday, August 5. Please mark your calendar for the event.
We discussed possible dates for a drive to the Blackhawk Museum. We will attempt to set it up for Sunday, September 16. It will be a tour of the museum, display parking and lunch at restaurant in the center near (walking distance from) the museum. We will keep you posted on weither that date works for the Museum. We will need a minimum number of cars to make this possible. PCNC will be invited to join us at Blackhawk. So you PCNC members who get our newsletter should be aware of this tentative event.
We did our first "Driving for Gas" raffle at the July CP meeting. The $10 was won by Tom & Kathy. Congratulations on being the first winners! We did vote for the money to be spent by the Club. We hope that this will encourage all our members to drive their Club cars to the monthly meetings.
John McNamee needs several cars for a display on Saturday evening, July 28. It is in connection with a Sacramento Capitol's tennis match. It will be in Roseville at the Galleria. There is free food and free tennis involved with this event. So far the following people have agreed to display their cars: Emilia & Jim Seiferling, Tom & Kathy Vona, Karen & Henry Kirk, John Worsley, Greg & Mia Jacobs, and Jeff Budelli. If you would like to join the group display, contact Jim. John will be getting final details out to everyone soon.
PCNC will be doing a "Garage Tour" to visit their members in the Marin area who are missing in action. These members are contacted in advance, asked if it is ok to come over to visit them and their car and then proceed to the next garage. The group visits several garages, enjoys the renewed friendships, the drive and ends up somewhere different for lunch. The Garage Tour will be on July 21. If we hear that it went well, we need to do one for the CP group. All we need is a member of "long standing" to do the arrangement calling, best to have a familiar voice on the phone. Any volunteers?
There was a brief discussion about having the next meeting of Capitol Panteras in El Dorado Hills at a specialty car meeting area. The main response was that no one wanted to fight Highway 50 commute traffic to get there on a weekday. The next CP meeting will be at Mimi's as usual.