[Shotimes] Dyno Don back from CA finally!

[Donald Mallinson]

Jan and I pulled into unusually cool Washington, IL on 
Friday evening about 9pm.

For those counting days that makes it a full 8 days after 
the end of Convention #12 in San Francisco.

We decided to take a couple days to visit friends in the 
Carson Valley south of Reno.  We had to skirt the fires in 
the mountains near Carson City and Tahoe.  Luckily those 
were brought under control soon after we arrived in the 
area, but smoke could be smelled most of each day.

Got to meet some of the pilots and brave firefighters that 
were staying at the same motel we were at in Minden, NV.

Then Starting Monday morning we took the scenic route to Las 
Vegas through the mountains of central and Southern CA. 
finally hooking up with Route 66 (via I-40) for the drive home.

We followed much of the "mother road" and you can expect a 
story on our trip in an upcoming issue of the SHO Club 
magazine (now that the convention is out of the way, I 
expect to get caught up with magazines due our long 
suffering members, by the end of this year).

Total trip for us from Illinois amounted to just under 5000 
miles, I know others had longer trips, and some suffered 
failures both minor and major on the wat too and from the 
convention.  I am not aware, though, of any injuries, and I 
am glad of that, and I think all the cars will be have been 
recovered and are in the repair stage at this point in time.

My 96 V8 SHO got new Yokohama AVS ES-100 shoes before taking 
off, and now 5000 miles later, they are silent and handled 
Thunderhill and heavy rain, heat etc as well as I could ever 
hope.  Stories of these tires turning into noise monsters at 
3000 miles are not true for at least my application.  Wear 
was minimal and behavior at Thunderhill was great.

Burned 1.5 quarts of synthetic on the trip, and only had to 
add about a pint of water to the cooling system on the way 
out.  Tranny fluid is perfect at start and end.  Tranny 
cooler did the job as our car stayed leak/overflow free at 
Thunderhill when some were leaving bright red trails.  Some 
of that could be our slightly slower pace, but we did do 
back to back sessions as Jan and I both drove in classes 
following each other and I even threw in an extra session 
with another driver.

Upon arriving at home the ES '96 was quiet and idled 
perfect, Seeming to say "thank you very much, I'll have one 
more trip just like that right now if you please!"

I have to say, I could not imagine a better pair of 
companions for a trip like this than my wife and our trusty SHO.

The radio and/or CB was turned on a total of about 30 
minutes during the two weeks, Jan and I both preferrring the 
company of the SHO sounds and the quiet sleep we allowed 
each other as we changed drivers every two hours or so.

Thanks to Peter and Jeff Mitchell from Moline IL for their 
copanionship on the way out.  But we did enjoy the freedom 
of travelling alone on the way back, when the sudden stops 
for things like the Cadillac Ranch would have irritated 
people following us on Route 66.

Expect a full write up on the convention and our trip in 
future SHO Club magazines and on the web site.

We are still unpacking but feel rested and ready to get 
going on Convention #14.

Yes, for those not at the convention/banquet, we did not 
skip convention #13, but instead, I declared the "lost 
convention" of Las Vegas an official convention, with no 
official number so that we can have the 2005 convention in 
Indianapolis without the burden of it having the number 13.

Not that I am superstitious, but it never hurts to avoid 
trouble if there is a neat (and sneaky) way to do it!

Convention #14 will be July 18-21, 2005 in Indianapolis, IN.

Host hotel to be announced later.  Events set for now:

Car SHOw on Tuesday
Putnam Park Road course on Wednesday
Drag Racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Thursday
Banquet Thursday night.

We will have other things to announce, we hope to set up a 
day of go karting and crown a SHO Kart Champion!

Location was chosen mainly on the basis of it being close to 
  my home so I can put it on with minimal stress, plus Indy 
is a great town, and the racing will be affordable and fun. 
  Putnam is a great track that is a favorite test track of 
Indy and CART drivers along with Trans-Am etc.  Safe, fun 
and scenic.  IRP is THE US Nationals track for the NHRA. 
There are shinier tracks, and newer ones, but none in the 
country with a better history.

Indianapolis itself is filled with race and automotive 
history and things to do.  Plus we will have available the 
super fun rally course that was part of the 2000 convention 
that we will give out to all attendees so you can experience 
that on your own.  There is great food, great wine and great 
roads you can enjoy all at low midwestern prices.

I hope many of the new friends we made out West will join us 
in Indy in 2005.

Thanks to everyone with BAYSHO and the other great people 
from the West and N.West for making this convention a fun 
and safe event, that was minimal wear and tear on me and Jan.

Some quick numbers:  Total cars registered 102, money raised 
for the Red Cross: $3500 approx, we have a final accounting 
to do yet.  People at the Banquet: 139.  SHO's (and other 
cars) on Thunderhill: 70+ approx.

Amount of salt on Don Mallinson's '96 after driving on the 
Bonneville Salt Flats (at something under the land speed 
record for piston powered cars of 400+ mph) about six pounds!

Thanks again to everyone that helped put on the event and 
that attended.  We made many new friends, and I hope to see 
all of you plus more first timers at Indy in 2005.

Don and Jan Mallinson
SHO Club
http://www.shoclub.com