We are lucky enough to have two stories about this rally, one from Kevin Purdy and another from Barb Radmacher. Photos follow the stories. To get an idea of what everyone did, here are links to the directions (1.6 MB) and answer sheet for the rally.
Story by Kevin Purdy
The weather gods were not smiling on Sunday March 19 but all the participants in the Fun Rally certainly were smiling over drinks and snacks at the City Grill after the rally. Wendy Walker devised a very enjoyable route along which we all learned more about some out-of-the-way but fascinating places across the city. The instructions were clear enough that nobody got lost but the questions to answer along the way were challenging enough that nobody got a perfect score. The winners received prizes of some great books on Tucson history and Arizona place names, and the last place team got . . . a 2006 Tucson street atlas!
The rain and sleet (and a little hail!) didn't dampen anybody's spirits and the Porsches didn't even look dirty at the end. A few of us with older cars drove Other Makes as a concession to the need for heat, etc., and you could tell we had been out on a bad weather day. Maybe dirt doesn't stick to Porsches. The Radmachers had the oldest car on the run, a 1974 914. The sun came out briefly and Barb said she was just getting ready to take the Targa top off when it started raining again. Hardy souls!
Four of us (yes, me too) ended up taking a wrong turn early in the rally because we missed a crucial detail in one of the photos in the instructions. We arrived at various times in the driveway of a private home looking for a large sculpture of a feline. Three cars gave up and decided we must have made a mistake after failing to find anything like that in the front or side yards. The rain helped us give up a little sooner, too. Only an anonymous committee chairman had the persistence to go around back, where he found himself face to face through a patio door with the owners, oblivious to the traffic in their driveway, watching TV. They said they would meet him at the front door. You see, the house is for sale, and they thought he was a potential buyer! After receiving a negative response to the question "Do you know Wendy Walker?" the somewhat sheepish PCA explorer pressed on and discovered the correct route. Given the Rolls Royce in the garage area, it was just as well, as the house was likely priced above most of our pay grades. The way our friend told the story at the City Grill gathering brought the house down.
Everybody had a great time in spite of the weather and we hope we can persuade Wendy to put together another event sometime soon. Good times like this take many, many hours of hard work to create and hopefully other members would like to help with ideas and leg work for all our benefit. Those who missed this one missed a nice time, and we hope to see even more of you at the next one.
That's Fun Rally with a capital "F-U-N"
By Barb Radmacher
On the second rain of this winter we found ourselves in a sea of clouds spiraling Sentinel Peak. We began to think that a compass might not have been a bad idea. There was not a mountain to be seen and very little of the town was visible. Just what puzzle did Wendy have in store for us on this most unusual day for weather in Tucson? With our headlights on at 12:50 P.M. and having switched the wiper blades for more action on the left side, we were ready to find out. There at the top of A Mountain she stood in a bronze full length rain-proof duster. I was excited to think that perhaps we'd have one of the old west shoot-outs until papers begin flying by. Release forms, then three pages of Directions and another two of Answer Sheets. Surely we had left the paper shuffle back at the office for this FUN RALLY. About four lines into the directions I read: "Drive off "A" mountain." Already baffled at the thought of "navigating" Dave anywhere, there was no way I was about to suggest that the 914 was going to fly. About that time he pulled over, grabbed the clipboard and all that paper and shot out into the rain and wind to read one of those plaques touting the credibility of this place. Windows fogged and dripping rain, I opened my door to get a better look at the city and locate a tree down there as indicated in the "Fun Rally Directions". Hitting the door on the stone retaining wall (I would have known about that but he took the directions that warned of it), my head on the roof of the car and getting both legs out of the vehicle without slipping convinced me to stay put until we were off the mountain. Boy is this proving to be "fun" or what?
Well then, progress was made. Questions one and two completed and info revealing that our town has been called some funky variations of 2Sun, 'Sluyk-son' definitely being one of the racier. Now it was on to that tree. I had no idea there was a tree that big in the heart of town. HOW BIG WAS IT? 13 feet circumference and 4 foot diameter. I'm telling you that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to regional facts gathered. Did I mention ice? Yes, the rain turned to ice. Not sure what to call it, but along about question number eight I found myself in a residential front yard looking for a feline sculpture. The pilot of our ship was off in the back yard about to get spotted by the homeowner who was trying to enjoy the U of A game. Meeting us near the carport next to a sparkling Rolls Royce (did I mention the New York & Nevada plates?) in his heavy New York accent asks, "Whada ya lookin fha?" Not wanting to irritate, but I probably did by returning a question, "Do you know Wendy Walker?" Inching my way back to our humble '74 914 I hear Dave, in his oh-so-cool negotiating manner prattling about car clubs, scavenger hunt and a feline statue. Eyeing the stranger's east coast/Italian attire and both his hands this whole time, I hear his final response: "NO." I think that was Dave's cue that we needed to move on. My Mr. Logic relieved me of the clipboard again, explaining how one must "pay attention to detail and read all the instructions", bla, bla, bla, "it's just like racing", bla, bla, (just when I was really having an "out of office experience" it always comes down to racing, team and details). Momentarily, sparked with the competition bug and believing it early in the rally, we could recover, after all we had escaped Guido back there.
Studying the directions and a picture of the sign we were to find next after "turn left on the street that is another name for 'rock'" I shrieked, "I know where this is, let's take the back way!" After 30 years Dave still shows signs of appreciation for my judgment in directions and agreed. Being a native of Tucson and the fact that "Leo's Auto Supply" and its sign are in our neighborhood had little to do with his confidence in me (ya think?).
Question #10 wanted to know how many buttons this big guy's shirt had. Recalling my attempt to i.d. a bird bath with a mermaid in Guido's garden as a "Feline Sculpture" (fish, cats, it all made sense to me) I counted his pant's buttons too. With all the detail and precision Wendy had put into this I was hoping for her awarding extra credit points.
The sun was out and the air clean and crisp as we counted lobes and 180 degree turns on a labyrinth, located the National Register of Big Trees prickly pear with "Keoki's" name carved in its pad, discovered that a tornado destroyed the chapel in 1929, and counted fish in the Rose Hill Wash. I kept wondering if Wendy was on the hysterical register for "best kept secrets of Tucson". What an outstanding effort of organization and planning! And all for our enjoyment and pleasure. Exactly as she planned, we were all thoroughly entertained and pleased with the day as we reunited at the City Grill for food, libations and awards.
The tie breaker between Liz & Gene Isaak and Connie & Tom Sherman was the lowest total mileage going to the Isaak's. Each winning team received their choice of some very special books featuring Tucson that Wendy had selected. The book which went to the official photographer team of Claudia Stone & Ken Hollett was a deluxe city map of Tucson. Is there a message there? I say pictures tell the story.... Dave received a special etched stone for putting up with me....or persevering in the presence of Guido.
Perhaps I don't get out enough. Perhaps it was merely spending a few hours with my best friend. Or was it the company of our club family, playing a wonderful game so thoughtfully arranged by Wendy, that took me to a Neverland-kind-of-Tucson, away from the office, taxes, kitchen, kids and dogs on a misty moisty day that could have been a thousand of miles from here? Finding in our backyard the stuff we journey for.....not the destination.
