[JONAT-chat] Arizona Sector Report -- Final day and return to Phoenix

Bob England jonat-chat@autox.team.net
Tue, 4 May 2004 23:36:49 -0600


Mark

Another great report worth reading cover to cover.  Looking forward to
photos.

Hopefully the other SC's will provide reports just as exciting!

Bob


-----Original Message-----
From: jonat-chat-admin@autox.team.net
[mailto:jonat-chat-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Mark Stephenson
Sent: May 4, 2004 2:02 PM
To: jonat-chat@autox.team.net
Subject: [JONAT-chat] Arizona Sector Report -- Final day and return to
Phoenix


Final Day - 90 miles
Kingman, AZ to Lake Havasu City, AZ

The Phoenix TV stations in Kingman reported that the predicted high in
Phoenix would be 97F Sunday. That meant triple digits in Lake Havasu so
we didn't dawdle in Kingman. At that temperature, pain, death, and
general crankiness await those traveling in poorly insulated open cars.
After our freezing ordeal just a couple days earlier, eighties in
Kingman felt hot.

We took off at 8:30 a.m., but lost one participant overnight. A fan in
Greg Meyer's E-type was blowing fuses, which also takes out the brake
lights, tach, and something else important. Rather than head into the
heat, he beat an early morning, hasty retreat to Phoenix hopefully
before it got too hot.

The drive over Sitgreaves Pass was almost as much fun as the first time
I did it this spring, just not quite as quick. Andrea snapped some great
pictures as I drove and we took some classic shots at the Cool Springs
(former) gas station, but Dick Hauger got what will undoubtedly prove to
be the best shot of the day. He took a picture of Jim Baum behind him in
his side view mirror at the same time as I was crossing in front of him
on a switchback down the back side of the pass. Posed? No.
Serendipitous? Definitely. Did he see it coming and take the shot? I'm
giving him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

Oatman was wonderful. As we approached town, traffic came to a halt. Two
burros were ambling side-by-side down the middle of the road. We had to
wait for someone to distract them with a carrot before we could pass.
Oatman's claim to fame, besides being an early 20th Century mining town
that pulled about 16 million in gold out of the mountains, was that it
was where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon night in
1939 after being married in Kingman that day. They say love is blind,
but if the room is preserved in it's original (ahem) splendor then I'd
have to conclude that all that romantic stuff in Gable movies stops at
the edge of the set. This would be like taking your new bride to a Motel
6.

We pulled out of Oatman about 11:30 after a little over an hour of
sightseeing and shopping and headed down the hill to Golden Shores, the
official end of the Route 66 Fun Run. Route 66 Fun Runners, by and
large, aren't that young, but the average age of the town probably
dropped by 15-20 years when the Fun Run people assembled. The
picturesque Old West flavor of Oatman is replaced by the flat blandness
of 1970's vintage mobile homes. We took a bunch of pictures of Jay and
the JONATers passing through the finishing line.

After a quick stop at the Trails Arch bridge for a Kodak moment, we
headed to Havasu, land of bronze babes, burly guys, and big boats. Yes,
it's a testosterone-laden land in which our Jaguars fit perfectly, even
if us bulbous, balding, middle-aged guys didn't. We sat down for a
relaxing lunch by the London Bridge. Afterwards, Dick Hauger and Jim
Baum headed back to Phoenix with the tops of their XJSes up for the
first time on the trip. Gary Singer had what sounded like throwout
bearing problems on his E-type, so he decided to head back up to I-40
and return to Albuquerque. The XK120, his first choice for the tour
wasn't finished but should have been close when he got back. There might
be a few finishing touches required, but his plan is to hop in that and
rejoin the tour in the Northwest or western Canada. (If so, I think he
will steal from me the honor of driving the oldest Jaguar for a complete
segment as his is a 1950.)

As we were hanging out in the lounge at the Nautical Inn waiting for
Pete and Donna Hilgeman's room to be readied, my cell phone rang. It was
Paul Novak letting us know that they would be arriving just before 6. My
plan was to leave at 6. Oh well. Right on new schedule, Paul Novak,
Katherine Partain, Dave and Pat Lokensgard, and Hazel Beck showed up. We
spent over an hour swapping stories, showing pictures and performing the
official handoff duties. It went off without a hitch, except that like
me and Robert before me, Hazel forgot the exchange form. So we signed
the Arizona Sector packet, listing what was being passed along. Also a
missing sticker which Robert couldn't account for magically reappeared,
so all was right in the world.

The Return Trip - 200 miles
Lake Havasu City, AZ to Phoenix, AZ

Finally by 7 p.m. the temperature was cooling down and Andrea and I were
confronted with our big decision. Leave tonight or in the morning. Dick
and Jim had already left. We lost Greg at Kingman. Pete was planning to
head back in the morning about 8. Andrea was no help at all -- 50-50 as
she put it. The cool air was inviting, but our headlights that
illuminate things about 100 ft ahead and getting run over by a truck
because we have fifties taillights, gave her pause. A second vehicle
with us on the road would be a plus. In the end, we all decided to leave
at sunrise. We awoke at 5 a.m. with the sky barely lightening in the
east and were on the road at 5:30, headlights on, but so people could
see us. Rather than the freeway, we decided to take the pretty drive
through the Harquahala Valley to Wickenburg and into Phoenix. I cheered
when I passed the sign that said Phoenix was 101 miles -- that meant
that my AAA plus coverage would tow me home if anything happened the
rest of the way.


It was a great trip. Despite the temperature swings, in my mind (if not
Andrea's), top-down is the only way to go. It's not just a visual
experience -- it's a complete sensory experience. The sounds, the wind,
the 360 degree view, looking up and seeing the stars or the clouds, even
something as simple as leaning forward on a warm day and having your
whole back cool as the sweat evaporates adds to the experience. I'd draw
the line at rain, though. You need a top for that. The 120 made it
nearly 1500 miles with only small whimpers like the effect of altitude
on the carbs. I'm still concerned about the low oil pressure, but will
take that question to Jag-Lovers. No one in our sector had any
on-the-road catastrophic failures, however I did end up making a couple
quick stops when my carbs started running so poorly that I couldn't
stand it anymore.

Mark - AZ
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