Friday morning was clear skies and the temperature and humidity dropped substantially. We all checked out of the holiday Inn Express (because if you stay in a Holiday Inn you can do anything) and loaded our cars. Paul went off in search for a spare fuel pump, Ray found a garage with a lift to fix his exhaust clamp and Bruce tuned his TC Weber carbs a bit. Ted and Debbie pulled out their maps to discuss the next leg of the route. (yes old school but for back road driving it’s actually nice to see the entire route in detail). We had planned on stopping at F40 Motorsports, but we never got a confirmation from Wayne Carini so we decided that driving and extra 3 hours was not going to be worth it (maybe on the return trip).
Everyone was done with the car prep by 8:15am, we took a group picture and off we went.
Glorious drive to Sturbridge. Nice weather, nice friends, nice roads. You couldn’t ask for more.
Ted was leading in his Elan Sprint as our master navigator with Bruce and Debbie in their Elan S2 right behind comparing route notes via walkie talkie. The car configuration was; Elan Sprint, Elan S2, Lotus Cortina, Europa TCS, Europa TC, Elan S3 and Elise. We were a sight to see and there were times when people waved, but mostly stared at the flock of Lotus cars driving by through small towns.
I’ll bet no-one will ever again see two yellow Europa’s together driving through the country side in the North East. Paul’s TCS is very well done and a finely restored car with lots of attention to detail. Plus he has AC! Like most Lotus owners, he knows every square inch of his car having done all the work himself. Very impressive Paul.
One of the nice things about driving with Ted is that he likes to stop at scenic places. We all pulled over at a scenic view stop of a lake and dam and stretched our legs and enjoyed the view. Of course a number of photo ops presented themselves and I took advantage of Ray (RD Enterprises Ray) and I both wearing his logo t-shirt to get a photo.
As we continued our drive Ted located and picked a very nice restaurant for lunch (The Barn). It had a big parking lot and we attracted attention right away from the Restaraunt staff. As the restaurant filled up for lunch people came over to our table of 9 people and complemented the cars.
One and one half hours later we were in the parking lot of the LOG39 hotel. Parked right next to another Europa TC and this guy walks over and says I would know your car anywhere Glen, I’m Tom (Surf Guitar). We chat for a few minutes and then off to registration and a much needed shower (it got a lot warmer later in the afternoon).
Lotus life. Yes, this is what it’s all about. Surrounded by Lotus cars and enthusiastic Lotus Owners. Can’t wait to look at all the cars and talk to the owners tomorrow on the concourse field.
