May 13,14,15 2011 – On May 13th, we set out on our overnight road trip to Oakhurst and Mariposa.  With the weather being cool for central California, it was a mixture of tops up and tops down.  We had a group of 5 British and 1 SOB consisting of: Dennis and Monica, Rick and Betty, Richard and Marta, Bruce and Nancy, Larry and Julie, and Doug and Anne.  We headed to O’Neal’s for a wine tasting appointment with Ray Krause at Westbrook Winery.  Ray remembered the club from a few years ago and was happy to see us return.
After tasting some excellent wine, we headed to John and Jody Woods’ home in Oakhurst for a potluck lunch.  Everyone brought something for wonderful variety of food.  We ate on the deck and admired the view.  I want to thank John and Jody for their hospitality.
Our next stop was Idol Hour Winery.  They offer a variety of very nice wines.  There were arts and crafts, lamas, and music to enjoy with the wine.  I don’t know if we wore Monica out, but she and Dennis called it a day and headed home.
With the weather holding out, John and Jody lead the group to Bass Lake to see the last of the Wooden Boat Show.  After taking pictures with 4 Chinese tourists in the parking lot, (you know how people are when a group of British cars pull into a parking lot) we headed down to view about a dozen vintage boats of various sizes and designs. Read the rest of this entry

On March 27^th 2011 there was a special event which took place in Tulare, CA. The local Veterans Association held a” Welcome Back to Vietnam Veterans”. This was the first time they held the event. There were live bands playing all day. There was a flag ceremony, as well as several groups entertaining with dancing & singing. Lots of food booths as well as crafts and military displays to go through. There was even a George Patton impersonator walking around yelling orders.

There was also a small car show, so I invited some club members as well as other friends to show up and help support the Vet’s. I took my MGB GT, Wes Fulton brought his MGA, Stew Elkin zipped in, in his MG Midget, Monica Hubanks brought her TR7 Spider, and Dan Warren brought his 240Z. We looked good all lined up. We had a lot of people checking out our cars.

It was an honor to help out our Veterans—thanks to my club members and friends who were able to make it and show their support.

By Richard Thornberry

On April 2nd and 3rd the Valley British Auto Club set up a run to Paso Robles. Bruce and Nancy Pitman live in this wonderful area and set up our run. This was an over nighter, with myself and lovely co-pilot/navigator/wife Marta heading over on Friday night as well as Rick and Betty Rogers, who we met for dinner once we got in. We did have some delays a couple wrecks had traffic backed up, but we made it through unscathed.

On Saturday morning we met up with Bruce and Nancy, Rick and Betty, Doug and Ann Gerdts, Russ and Tammy Weber, as well as Loren Allen. We met at the park where they were having a small farmers market that we enjoyed going through. The plan for the day was to go to a few of the wineries in the area. (Who needs Napa, we have Paso Robles). The weather was great. Everything was green and absolutely beautiful. My wife and I love driving in this area. Saw some wild turkeys, deer, wild flowers, lush green hills…is anybody on the East Coast jealous yet? After a couple of stops for tasting we went to one winery for lunch, which was fantastic, not to mention sitting outside enjoying the vineyards and grounds around us. After our lunch break we were off again, a couple more stops for tasting, and lots of great driving, (these cars were made for these roads or maybe it’s the other way around..don’t know, just love it). We made it back into town and had dinner together, then headed to our lodgings of choice to rest up for the next day. Read the rest of this entry