All Ford Nationals at Carlisle, PA
30 May - 01 June 2003
NOVAMOG again attended the All-Ford Nationals at Carlisle, PA. Our convoy gathered at our favorite Roy Rogers in Leesburg, VA on Friday May 30th, proceeding north on Route 15 to our favorite Roy Rogers in Thurmont, MD, where we picked up more NOVAMOGGERS.
We left Leesburg a bit later than our scheduled 11:00AM departure time with 5 NOVAMOGGERs in tow (Rich F, Richie F, Dave L, Jeff W, and Jarvis A). Leaving Leesburg at this time made for lots of traffic all along the route, especially through Frederick, MD. We'll need to make a note for any future US15 Convoys to set our departure time ealier.
We arrived in Thurmont at nearly 12:30PM to find two more members (Greg L and Rob M) patiently waiting for us. Rich F's valve cover gasket started leaking oil (too much boost!) as we approached Frederick, creating a bug smokescreen while giving Dave L's XR (Lil Abner) an oil bath! After fuel and food, we continued on track to the showfield without incident.
We arrived at approximately 2:00PM and headed for the Merkur paddock where we found several other NOVAMOGGERs, to include, Dave C, Dave P, Richard C, Brian B, Jim G and kids, Jason Y and Dad, Larry D and family, and adopted NOVAMOGGER Usuhangy from Miami. It was a beautiful day and most of us strolled the vendor isles getting an early crack at the goods. We eventually made our way back to the paddock, and left the showfield along that beautiful stretch of Route 944 (the "back way") to the Camp Hill Radisson. We checked in and the real fun began!
The Merkur Club of America held its annual meeting that night at the hotel and several NOVAMOGGERs were there for that. As soon as the meeting adjourned, we headed to the parking lot for a long night of kicking tires and swaping stories.
Saturday is the main day for the All-Ford Nationals. Too bad we awoke to soggy weather. Nontheless, we arrived on the showfield to reunite with old friends to the tune of 120 XRs and Scorps on the showfield, narrowly missing the club award to the Ford Galaxie Club by about 8 cars. It really is a sight to behold to see 120 Merkurs in one spot, but its really not about the cars.
Showfield seminars were given on a variety of topics including "Performance Upgrades on a Shoestring Budget" by Dave Planakis, "Mass Air" by Nick Manarino, and "Big Brake Upgrade" by David Godrey. These were extremely well attended and each of the speakers was bombarded with questions from the group.
Back at the Hotel, the MCA Saturday Night Awards banquet had over 200 Merknuts and family members in attendance. Merkur specific vendors donated thousands of dollars in door prizes and it is estimated that over 1/3 of the attendees won something. Several NOVAMOGGERS were lucky winners among the group. As soon as dinner was over, we were back into the parking lot to continue the party with many of us staying out till the wee hours!!!
Sunday on the showfield was also soggy but no less interesting as Ian Glyn Jones from Canada gave a seminar on installing Euro headlights, again a big crowd was on hand for that. Later that afternoon, several of us convoyed back home to NoVA to find sunny skies about 30 miles south of Carlisle!
If you've never attended one of these events, you can only imagine how much fun it is. There's always next year! |
