| Saturday, June 22, 1998 | Visit Walt's other Boxster pages. |
It was America's first-ever second Boxster gathering. Just five weeks
after BoxsterFest I, twenty-one Boxsters and some 35 Boxsterowners and
Boxsterwaiters returned to Princeton-on-the-Sea for BoxsterFest II, on
June 22, 1998. There was something for everyone - driving, parking,
lots of Boxsters, a little Boxster, a bunch of BoxstAccessories from Chris
from Germany (thanks to Randy Russell's group order), options to look at,
aspheric mirrors to install, support for waiters, reminiscing for long-time
owners - all this and lunch too.
For
six of us, the day began a few miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, in
Mill Valley. Mark (Mark from Tiburon) and Jane Angelich, Michael
(Michael from Marin) Saal and a friend, and Walt and Nancy Bilofsky converged
in a parking lot in front of the local BMW dealership to see how many Z3's
we could turn green. Walt and Nancy, first to arrive, discovered
a bonus - a shiny white Mercedes SLK whose owner soon appeared, walked
over to the Boxster and declared "Maybe I got the wrong one." (He
had had deposits down on both.) When Michael drove up, the SLK owner
played his trump card - he lowered his hard top. We all gathered
around his SLK and were gracious and kind.
We
crossed the Golden Gate, picked up Leo Kaplan on the other side, and caravaned
over to the Cliff House and down the coast. You should have seen
the woman in the crosswalk in front of us - she turned her head as Nancy
and Walt passed, but didn't turn entirely around until the second of the
four Boxsters. Our route took us along the ocean, right through the
middle of the Olympic Golf Club course and the U.S. Open. Fortunately
play had already started and there was no traffic at all.
The Marin contingent arrived just in time to take possession of the back
parking lot, chasing away a black Camaro whose owner returned to gawk.
As cars arrived, there was greeting of returning friends and introduction
of new ones. Tops came down, trunks opened, and there was much admiration
of custom wheels and options.
Organizer
Randy Russell and wife Amiee pulled in and were greeted with the warmth
and enthusiasm normally reserved for Santa Claus. Could have had
something to do with the fact that his front trunk was full of the first
group shipment of accessories from Chris from Germany - aspheric mirrors,
first aid kits, and other goodies. (Email
Randy if you want to get in on the next order.) Randy kind'a
fits the part, being friendly and jolly, though he didn't bounce anyone
on his knee, or ask if we'd been good boys and girls all year and kept
our spoilers down (and a good thing too).
Randy
was eager to demonstrate the proper installation of the aspheric rear-view
mirrors (pictorial to be posted soon), so Walt and Nancy got the full-service
delivery. Leslie Wallace was right behind, holding glass-cleaning
spray and a wipe. Guess she was happy to get her hands on any Boxster.
Hers is apparently trying to break the "Around the World in 80 Days" record
the wrong way - having missed two boats, it was somewhere in the vicinity
of Atlanta. Real Soon Now.
Remember
all the discussion at 'Fest I about what colors Brian Langley and Marilyn
should choose? Well, two days after they placed their order, their
first choice, Ocean Jade, was un-discontinued, to the cheers of many.
Brian and Marilyn are now awaiting their Ocean/Nephrite build, and will
doubtless be the center of attention at some future 'Fest. In the
meantime, as you can see from the photo, they did not come Boxsterless!
Wish we'd brought ours - we certainly will next time. Expect some
serious mini-race action at 'Fest III!
After
assembling for group pictures, we repaired to the Shore Birds restaurant
for a long, conversation-filled lunch. We learned that the Shore
Birds was where Harry and Linda Schwedock had stopped their Boxster for
the very first time (the brief halt to secure the windstop doesn't count)
after driving it out of Negherbon Porsche in Oakland, eleven months ago
to the day. Jude pointed out that there was over a million dollars
worth of Boxsters sitting in the parking lot. Many of them had their
tops down. We Californians are so laid back.
After
lunch a few of us (including me) took off for other obligations, so if
anyone else wants to help continue the story, please send me some details.
Doug DeVetter was kind enough to permit use of a few of his video
pictures. Anyway, most of the Boxsters headed south along the
coast to Half Moon Bay, planning to pick up route 84 toward Skyline Drive,
and wind up at Malibu Grand Prix. Harry Schwedock's post on Pete's
Board tells the tale of what happened next:
"I've got to start with apologies to all those who were following Randy to 84. When we got to the turn we waved goodbye to Randy since were continuing down 1 to Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, Randy read our goodbye wave as a 'don't turn yet.' The rest, for those of you who were there, is history. I felt a particular twinge since I had led a guy who done the organizing down a garden path, so to speak. I'm willing to perform penance as long as it doesn't involve washing Randy's car."Keith Evans posted:
"So what happened in the end? After a couple of miles past Pescadero I realised we must be going all the way to Santa Cruz, so I turned around. Did you all end-up in SC, and what about the Malibu GP? BTW - Pescadero Rd was a *lot* of fun!"And Marilyn reported from the rear of the convoy:
"By the time our Spitfire got to 84, so much traffic had merged in between us and the last Boxster (which was followed by Lesley and Trygve in non-Boxsters) that we could no longer see any of you. So we went left. No Boxsters. At Skyline we made our best guess and turned South (right).
Passed a SPEED TRAP but still no Boxsters. Got to Page Mill/Alpine and still no Boxsters so we turned around and went back up Skyline to 84. Had
sodas at Alice's Restaurant. Fortunately we paid the tab early so we weren't shot at when all of a sudden 4 Boxsters came cruising through from the
west and we leapt off the porch, drinks in hand... but we couldn't keep up."We were confused from the start because Brian heard 'go to Pescadero' and I heard 'go up 84' ... which of course is 2 different turns. Oh well.
"We had a blast anyway. Thanks, Randy and everyone who helped out!! Great summary, Walt -- and Harry, thanks for the explanation! "
Doug
has this 996 labeled as "the biggest jerk of the day." Perhaps someone
will explain why. Perhaps he was just thinking the same thing as
the fellow with the SLK - "Maybe I got the wrong one." (Later:
Doug says the JOTD was weaving in and out at high speed. Guess he
thinks he got the right one ...)
Future events: Randy has made some noises about a possible technical
session at Stevens Creek Porsche, perhaps around August 15. Walt
and Nancy Bilofsky are looking into BoxsterFest III perhaps up north in
the wine country, at a nicer (and more expensive) restaurant than Shore
Birds, some time in September. Watch Porsche
Pete's Board or email Randy
to get on the mailing list.
 |
|
| Attendees:
(more or less; compiled from registration
list - please email corrections)
Trygve Isaacson - '98 Arena Red/black awaiting new engine |
Leo Kaplan - Ocean Blue/Grey |
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