A 'breathtaking' experience and…see you at the 50th!

As you are reading this, I suspect you are taking a brief break from your packing to attend the Club's 50th Anniversary Party in Cherry Hill, N.J. You are coming, aren't you?!

The Valley Forge Region has planned an outstanding event befitting the celebration of this Club's Golden Anniversary and GM's 100th. Hope to see you there!

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Club's National Driving Tour, presented by the Northern California Region. I don't have the opportunity to take time off like this very often, but am very glad I was able to attend. In addition to getting away from work, I got a chance to meet some very nice people, see sites that I have never seen before and have the heck scared out of me; more on that later in this missive.

We started out from Jackson, Calif., traveled to Yosemite; Mammoth Lakes; Minden, Nev.; and Grass Valley, to mention a few stops.

As I mentioned above, I had the heck scared out of me on the trip. Well, as someone dubbed me, being from and living in the Midwest all my life, I am a bit of a "flatlander." Despite having driven to both coasts on several occasions, I was not prepared for some of the roads we traveled upon.

I'm used to guardrails and shoulders wider than the white line on the side of the road. I also don't ever recall any roads in the Midwest, even with those protections, having 3,000-foot drops off their sides.

As I mentioned last month, I borrowed my father-in-law's Cadillac Catera for the trip. For those of you who don't recall, that was the "Cadillac that zigs." Good thing too, as some of those roads had many twists and turns, with the aforementioned lack of the safety features I'm used to seeing. My nervousness was abated somewhat by the fact the car handled beautifully and the fact that almost nobody else seemed to be having trouble with the nature of the roads.

In fact, Gene Calman and his entourage in his 1936 Cadillac Series 7529 Convertible, the oldest car on the trip, was having a ball. Not only was the drive sometimes breathtaking for me, the scenery was incredible. I saw things I had never seen in person, and would not have had an opportunity to see had I not gone on this tour. I also had the rare chance to sit down and engage members in extended conversations about cars, the Club and life in general, which I think helps me do a better job as your president.

Thank you to all of those involved in making this event happen and to all of those whom I met on this trip for their warm hospitality. I want to encourage the rest of you to consider taking the time to participate in the Club's future National Driving Tours. They present a unique opportunity to fellowship with fellow enthusiasts and their cars.

Happy Motoring!

-Glenn