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AACA Western Division Tour
Sep. 24-27, 2007
(Photo by Wayne Burgess)
A shot of Penny as she leaves Sonoma Coast State Beach,
Bodega Head.
Lynn is driving and Michael Burgess is navigating.
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TOUR SWAG — Lynn scores some event goodies:
dash plaque given to all participants (left); tour cars are given numbered
static cling stickers for their front windows &mdash Penny is assigned number 25 (left-center);
participants in the scavenger-hunt-like questions on the first day of the tour were awarded a "Barkbank" placard (center-right, right).
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Lynn has been waiting over a year for this event, the 2007
AACA Western Division National Tour.
A year ago he thought he would use Bugsby
to participate in this event, but he has since acquired Penny.
Lynn expects that she will be a perfect tour car and he's been working for months to get
her ready for the event.
The tour is sponsored by the Redwood Empire Region of the AACA.
Approximately 30 antique cars will spend three days driving through the wine, redwood and coastal areas
of Sonoma County in northern California, one of the more beautiful areas on the face of the planet.
This will be a real test for Penny.
She will need to successfully travel about 200 miles on the round trip from Livermore to Santa Rosa.
On the three days of actual touring, she will need to travel another 250 miles.
Is she up to delivering almost 500 miles without mechanical mishap?
Lynn has some concern, but she's proven to be reliable enough around town and has driven over 100 miles
in one day to be in other car shows.
Lynn is cautiously optimistic that she will prove herself more than capable of this task.
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Lynn (left) is unaccompanied at the event and solicits a passenger/navigator.
On the first day Lynn is privileged to have David Berg (center) as his navigator.
David is the national president of the AACA and it is quite a treat for Lynn to have David as a companion
for the day.
On day two Michael Burgess (right) is Lynn's navigator.
Lynn was pleased to learn about Michael's love of performing as a musician and his strong interest in
old cars.
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Unfortunately, Jeanne can't get away from work this week and so Lynn arrives solo for the tour.
As he experienced in solo travels abroad, this forces Lynn to be more engaged with the other people
at the event.
Lynn is pleased to find that he already knows and is known by some of the people
from his participation in last year's
AACA Western Fall Meet,
in Sunnyvale.
Having the same last name as his classic Kissel speedster also helps some car people remember him.
Looks like this tour is going to be every bit as fun as Lynn had hoped.
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Which one of the coupes in the left-most photo is Penny?
Lynn is surprised and delighted to find that a red 1938 Pontiac coupe (center, right) is also on the tour.
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Lynn can't quite believe his eyes when he swings Penny into the tour hotel.
There sits a red coupe that looks an awful lot like Penny.
It is a 1938 Pontiac straight-8 coupe owned by Frank and Diane Kilpatrick.
Although Frank and Lynn can easily tell the them apart, it may come as no surprise that others
confused the two cars.
When Lynn asks for copies of pictures of Penny from another participant, Lynn gets
pictures of Frank's Pontiac instead of Lynn's Olds.
The following pictures and captions recall some of the sights and adventures that Lynn and Penny
experience on the tour.
Without a doubt, it was great fun.
Lynn can't wait for his next antique car tour!
The oldest car on the tour is a 1913 Simplex (William and Marilyn Balduff).
This car proudly leads the tour most days.
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Another extraordinary vehicle is this 1925 Duesenberg Model A (Robin and Michael Onsoien).
(See CanadianDriver
for more information about this remarkable car.)
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This 1927 Buick is owned by Dick Ward.
Lynn is surprised to discover that Dick lives only a few miles from Lynn's house.
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Lynn is very pleased to get to know Lloyd Riggs better. Lloyd is a past national president of the
AACA and very involved with the California Region of the AACA.
Lloyd and Jane bring their 1956 Thunderbird to the tour.
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GROUP THERAPY — Four friends pose for Lynn in front of Penny.
Participants on the tour, these fun loving women all wear the same sparkling shirts showing glasses of wine
and baring the caption "group therapy."
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VIEWS ON THE ROAD —
A view out of the front window and over the hood of Penny of cars on the road (left).
The line of antique cars is being led past a Sonoma Valley vineyard by the 1913 Simplex.
Some of the cars pull to a stop to soak up a view of the Pacific Ocean (right), north of Bodega Bay on
California State Route 1.
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BARBECUE IN THE REDWOODS —
Day two ends with a great barbecue picnic in a redwood grove. The cars look absolutely stunning
parked among the giant trees.
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A 1936 Cord (Roger and Pam Von Bergen), 1939 Chevy pickup truck (Whitneye and Diane Haist),
1940 Packard (Norm and Ann Burnett), and a 1952 MG TD (Marilyn and Dave Chiotti) attract Lynn's attention.
The tour gives Lynn an opportunity to renew his friendship with the Haists, who he met at the 2006
AACA Western Fall Meet
in Sunnyvale.
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A 1930 Ford Model A (Al and Anna Gherardi), 1955 Mercury (Duane and Marcia Bennett), 1956 Lincoln
Continental (Jim Sinnes), and a red custom Ford pickup are seen in the hotel parking lot.
Duane impresses Lynn with his knowledge about antique car engines, especially the dying art of
pouring and shaping Babbett bearings, the type used in
Bugsby.
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A bright red Chrysler, a black Cadillac and a 1931 Ford sedan are real lookers.
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Contact  with your comments or questions
Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Lynn Kissel
Last updated: May 24, 2009
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