Relationships
My PCA travels in June led to the idea that the PCA motto, “It’s not just the cars, It’s the people” could be boiled down even further. While it’s nowhere near as fun to say, “It’s about the relationships” may be an equally accurate way to describe both the interpersonal and the intrapersonal relationships we have as club members and car owners.
Who needs Match.com when you have PCA?
At a June “Show ‘n Shine” in Salt Lake City, I came upon a printed history displayed in the windshield. Seems typical, but this history was not that of the car. Rather, it was about how the unplanned purchase of the car, that led to autocross, that led to meeting a spouse, and finally to what today is a two Porsche, one child family.
Later in the month is attended a social in Colorado Springs with the Alpine Mountain Region. The social was moved forward one week to avoid conflict with car prep for the annual Pike’s Peak Hill Climb. Timing allowed us to meet and hear from three Pike’s Peak competitors who spoke about the hill climb. Fred Veitch and Robert Prilika have attacked the mountain for many years. We also have a new PCA participant, George Hess, who this year is going to make his inaugural run. Congratulations, George. But as you talk to long-time “hill-climbers” you’ll hear that it’s a 3-way relationship that changes continuously. The relationship is between the mountain, the car, and the driver. Every single one of these variables is subject to change daily in the lead up to the race.
Finally in June, Rocky-Mountain celebrated its 60th anniversary as a PCA region with a multi-day event in Vail Colorado. Socials and tours were the order for the weekend. Corresponding to the 1958 start of the region, a 55 year member of RMR arrived in his 1958 Porsche 356. At the closing ceremony for the weekend, owner King Clemons regaled us with stories about travels through the 48 contiguous states and most of Canada, with his wife Carol and his husky named “King”. The car now has 887,000 miles. King’s passion for the road, and his hopes to reach the million-mile mark define his deep relationship with car, America, and his family.
For some of my PCA travel, I drive and bring Julie. On rare occasion, we will also travel with the unofficial zone mascot, Max. (This is on my own dime of course.)The multi-day event at Vail Lodge was a highlight of my activities since becoming your zone 9 representative. The tours and socials made for a first-class weekend put on by a crack team of professional volunteers. Thanks to all of you who pulled this together. And in addition to seeing parts of the mountain west that would normally be out of the way, we even got to visit some PCA friends who moved in the last year from Utah to Colorado. From the perspective of our dog Max, this week was clearly a high point for him as well. After 3 years, he finally learned to like long trips, getting in and out of the Porsche dozens of times without getting sick, hanging out on outdoor patios, smelling all kinds of new smells, and furthering our relationship as a pack. His tongue is panting, and he has a big smile on his face!! Me too.