The NAMGAR Experience, GT-49

By Morris Garagian

As Yogi Berra once famously said “It’s deju vu all over again”. As in 2022 for NAMGAR(North American MGA Register) GT-47, the California Caravan of Scott & Cathy Johnston (’58 MGA Twin Cam), Mike Jacobsen, this time with Navigator Elaine, (’60 MGA), and Morris (’61 MGA) decided to travel to Welches, OR, for GT-49.

This was going to be a relief for Green Goblin after elevated temperature gauge readings of +220 F every time a ride/run was made throughout the month of July with any amount of stop & start traffic. Morris had planned on leaving the San Joaquin Valley around midday for the first leg of the journey to meet with Scott & Cathy in San Jose, however, with the temperature for the day forecast to be 105 F and Midwest type humidity arriving, the decision was made to leave at 6:00 a.m. Morris figured that would give plenty of time to help Scott with any last minute maintenance items with Tinkerbell.

With any new trip, especially one covering the distance anticipated, there’s always the lagging questions: Were all adjustment nuts tightened after the valve adjustment? Did I replace the brake/clutch master cylinder cap? What about the oil drain plug? And what is that infernal ticking noise I’ve been hearing the last 25 miles?! Arriving in Los Banos with a rain squall moving in and Goblin starting to feel like a sauna chamber, a quick check assured Morris that things were okay and that ticking noise disappeared after the removal of the hard plastic I.D. that was attached to the luggage attached to the rack. Continuing westbound and making the climb past San Luis Reservoir, the temperature started decreasing slightly and by the time we hit Gilroy, it was downright comfortable. (Note to self: pick up avocados for Beloved Navigator on return trip: 20 ea. for $1.00!)

Arriving in south San Jose, it was great seeing Scott & Cathy and visiting with Molly, their 80#   Rottweiler. Later that evening, Morris was treated to an outstanding Korean BBQ dinner with Scott’s men’s church group and later we decided to get the ‘A’s filled with petrol. After a few hours of sitting, the choke cable was pulled and no resistance felt! A quick exam showed a broke choke cable and after a quick repair and some T.L.C. on the Twin Cam due to a timing issue, we got gassed up, and hit the sack for the trip northbound.

Next morning, the MGAs proceeded on I-280, then to 19th Ave into San Francisco to meet with Mike & Elaine. After greetings, now 3 MGAs strong, we were off and as we approached the Golden Gate, Morris was reminded what Mark Twain said over 150 years ago: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”. After the +100 deg F in the San Joaquin, Morris had no complaint and neither did Goblin; 170 on the temp gauge looked a whole lot better than 220+!

Continuing on US 101 we rapidly made progress on the Redwood Highway. The last time Morris & Beloved Navigator were on this stretch of road it was two lanes all the way through Marin County and continued that way until the Oregon border. Not anymore. 101 had become a 4 lane superhighway. Great for covering a lot of territory quickly, but not near as much fun in an open roadster as the old route. The 4 lane continued until Cloverdale.

Mike mentioned a luncheon meeting with Joel & Betty Johnson, fellow members of Mike & Scott from the Northern California Centre of the M.G. Owners Club. We met Joel & Betty in Laytonville and proceeded to Leggett where we had a great lunch at the Peg House with some good, live c.w. rock music. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long enough to hear my request for “Orange Blossom Special”. As we were leaving, Mike spotted that someone had written in Gothic script “Goblin” on a concrete retaining wall and I coerced an unsuspecting admirer of the 4 wheeled Goblin to snap a quick photo. (I should have opted for a closeup).

After lunch, the caravan continued our journey which, by now, had gotten into the California redwood country. Morris was having all kinds of fun jockeying Goblin through turns as well as taking in all the beautiful scenery, but not having a photographer was a real bummer. Cruising through Humboldt Redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods, and Del Norte Coast Redwoods, we eventually arrived at our destination of the very quaint Curly Redwoods Lodge in Crescent City for our overnight stay.

The next morning the traditional coast fog had rolled in and the day stayed very comfortable along the California and Oregon coast. Again, great scenery and regrets for not having a means of capturing it. Our group of intrepid travelers had decided to enjoy the cool weather as long as we could so we decided to stay on 101 until northern Oregon. At the small town of Otis we started heading inland toward our destination. We soon discovered how much we missed the coast. Towards McMinnville, home of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose, the temperature started rising. After an ice cream stop at Elaine’s favorite, Dairy Queen, the ladies consulted their GPSs and discovered major stop & go on the planned routes of I-5 & I-205. That left using the surface roads through the small towns of the southern Portland area. No big deal, right? Wrong! We were soon bit by the trifecta of 100+ deg ambient temperature; bumper to bumper, stop & start urban traffic; and 10% ethanol gasoline. Baby G, Tinkerbell, & Goblin were not happy campers! Burping, snorting, gagging along with the temperature needles threatening to creep into the oil pressure arenas made things extremely uncomfortable all through the towns of Tualatin, Lake Oswego, Tigard, and a few others I’ve forgotten. After an eternity we were able to get to US 26 and got some air passing through the cell core radiator which got the temp gauge back to normal. Arriving at the host lodging, all got checked in and Morris headed for the Hospitality Room to get an end of the road cold one and to visit with other MGAers.

Due to our slowdown and getting into Welches late, Mike (the Registrar of NAMGAR) was not able to meet with the new folks at the First Timers Reception. At the Hospitality Room, Morris visited with Barney Gaylord, the MGA Guru, and we shared stories about high engine heat and ethanol gas. (Note to self: check out Barney’s installation of a bilge pump on his website). Morris was also able to greet and visit with John Dutra, a member of the host club Columbia Gorge MG Club. I had met and talked with John on the last day of GT-42 in Solvang a few years ago and it was great catching up with him.

The next morning was the official start of NAMGAR. First was a visit to the breakfast area to get some needed nourishment. While there, I ran into East Coast friends Al & Cheryl Nosenzo from the Connecticut MG Club. Al & I have grown to be good buds since our meeting at GT-47 through a mutual acquaintance with ties to British Marque, but that’s a different story.

After picking up the registration packet, a quick glance showed a myriad of activities scheduled: tech sessions, funkhana, a guided tour to Timberline Lodge (think Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”), lawn bowling instruction & tournament, afternoon tea, dinner dance, car show, game night, rally, guided tour to the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum, finishing with the awards banquet, winner’s circle photos, and farewell coffee send off. All this and a number of self-guided tours of the Hood River and Columbia Gorge region. So many things to do, so little time!

First thing on the agenda was to visit John Twist at his Rolling Tech Session to check out Goblin after yesterday’s warm up session. John tweaked the SUs just slightly and didn’t even touch the timing, but did announce the left front shock was “toast”. An addition of some hydraulic jack oil from the boot remedied that situation temporarily.

From that time on, there was a whirlwind of activities with the best part meeting the MGAers from all across the U.S. The Canadians were also well represented with a large contingent of folks from British Columbia present with one couple being transplants from South Africa.

Wednesday morning was the car show. Registrar Mike shared with me that an even 100 cars had registered for the show, but it seemed that there were more as we lined up on the field at Welches Elementary School. Here again it was great to see prior acquaintances Len & Bonnie Smith (1600 MGA) and Steve Mazurek, Editor of MGA! Magazine among others. There happened to be one other Twin Cam entered besides Scott & Cathy’s, the #38 Sebring Special.

Thursday was Rally day and Morris was able to convince Cathy to be Goblin’s Navigator. Cathy’s acceptance proved to be a good move. Thursday evening was the Awards Banquet and a great feast. There were too many awards given for Morris’ wee brain to remember all, but Len & Bonnie picked up 1st place in their category and Al & Cheryl, as representatives of the Conn. MG Club, a NAMGAR Charter Club, accepted the award for most outstanding club activities as well as taking 1st in their class. Also, thanks to Cath’s outstanding navigational skills; she, Goblin, & Morris got 2ndplace in the Rally. Michael Tooke received a special appreciation award for all his outstanding work as past Editor of MGA! On top of all this, Morris finally got a remembrance photo of Ed, Coleen, and the infamous Water Baby! The final order of the night was the announcement of next year’s GT. Looking at the history of NAMGAR and the influence of the Michigan Rowdies, Morris figured that the gathering would have to be somewhere in the upper Midwest. Bingo! GT-50 will be in Traverse City, MI, an interesting run for Goblin! Next morning was to be an early exit for the California Caravan, so we said goodbyes to most of old & new friends. Many and much thanks to all members of Columbia Gorge, especially Donna McNabb, Reid Trummel, Ed & Marianne Mullowney, and John & Sondra Dutra.

For the return trip, a minor change. The decision was made to get on I-5 to make some time heading south. Scott & Cathy had a prior commitment in Grants Pass, so we would split with them there. The trip down was good; the horsepower & gearbox challenged Goblin doing fairly well keeping up with the Twin Cam & Mike’s 5 speed. At Grants Pass, Mike & Elaine and Morris peeled off on US 199, a great roadster road, heading to Crescent City. Overnighted there and then down US 101 to Mike & Elaine’s place in the “City by the Bay”. The worst episode was stopping for ice cream in Cloverdale and the ice cream shop running out of ice cream a half hour before our arrival!

We proceeded southbound until the Golden Gate and then some ‘white-knuckling’ while staying with Mike. We had a great Thai dinner that evening and next morning, Morris & Goblin were off for the San Joaquin. About 3 ½ hours later, Goblin was in the stall. A check of the trip odo indicated 2154 miles. Ready for the next outing! And I did remember to get the avocados.

 Safety Fast!