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2011 HALLOWEEN TOUR TO IDYLLWILD
October 28-30, 2011
(Special thanks to Marilyn Balduff, Brian Dunham, and Art & Gail Wilson
for recapping the tour and sharing these photos.)
It`s that time of the year again, when members of the La Jolla and Southern California Regional Groups get together and do battle with the Ghosties and Beasties and Things That Go Bump In The Night. This year, 54 stalwart individuals (6 kids and 48 “kids at heart”) came out in 18 antique cars and several modern vehicles for the occasion.
It was La Jolla’s turn this year to host the gathering, and we chose to return to Idyllwild, after about a 5-year hiatus. Our tour headquarters was at the Silver Pines Lodge, where we were greeted by Chris Singer, the proprietress, and the newest addition to the Silver Pines “family”: an English bulldog named Gus who has developed a taste for the fish in the koi pond.
The tour officially started on Friday morning from Bob Babcock’s ranch in Fallbrook, where we were met by Tour Leaders Chris and Barbara Watkins. We munched on coffee and muffins while they passed out “survival boxes” that contained treats and tour instructions.
Our tour route to Idyllwild took us to the Deer Park Museum and Winery, where we saw an enormous collection of vintage cars, and had the chance to buy a bottle of wine or two for the weekend parties. We stopped in Temecula for lunch and then continued through Hemet and up the mountains into Idyllwild. The weather was perfect for touring – sunny and just warm enough to be comfortable in an open car.
Saturday morning, we were treated once again to ideal touring weather, and Chris & Barbara gave us an excellent opportunity to enjoy it. We were each given one of three different sets of tour instructions. Each route was different, but all of them included trivia questions to be answered along the route. These consisted of such Idyllwild items of interest as the number of the local VFW post (800), the population of nearby Pine Cove (770), and how long the Forest Service has been suppressing fires in the area (over 100 years).
Saturday evening, we met in the main hall for a barbecue dinner and our traditional costume party. There were lots of creative costumes, including Mr & Mrs Goodwrench, four “bed-bugs”, Albert Einstein, and Sadie Hawkins, wearing flour-sack dress from her high school days. There was a prize for the best costume(s), and it went to Larry and Bonnie Shrum, who came as Caesar and Cleopatra.
Chris Watkins also announced the winners of the trivia question contest – Gerry and Barbara Hosterman. They answered all of the questions correctly, and had the closest guess for Google-certified run-time.
Sunday morning, we gathered in front of the Silver Pines Lodge for a group photo. Then, we started our cars – most of us on our own, but Dan Seeman was pushed by three ladies – and headed back down the mountain toward Fallbrook and home with fond memories of another great touring weekend.
