The air was crisp and the sky clear – it was going to be a great day for a drive. I headed out to Scott & Dianne’s home in Lake Villa which was the starting point of our tour. The first thing I noticed in Scott’s garage was an awesome first aid display – Band-Aids and all! I guess his shop is always prepared.

After a quick coffee and breakfast snacks (and a grand tour of their remodeled kitchen) it was top-down to the second stop at George Phariss’ house in Inverness. Soon after my arrival with a couple of other MG’s, the weather turned for the worst with claps of thunder and fierce lighting strikes. There was a mad dash to the cars to put the tops up. Barney was the last to put his MGA top up in the nick of time. Where did this storm come from?

Off we go to the third house - Russ & Amy Mehaffey’s in Wauconda. Russ had left his side curtains for his MGA at home figuring he could beat the storm. Well, that didn’t happen. As he was within a block of his house he called to Amy on his cell phone to open the garage door. As Amy replied from the open garage, Russ makes the turn up his driveway into the garage ‘full-steam’. Slamming on the brakes inside the garage to a complete stop, to Amy’s surprise. There was some discussion about the missing side windows that I couldn’t hear, but I noticed an ‘I told you so’ look on Amy’s face.

The rest of the group navigated the winding roads near Russ’s house in massive storm you couldn’t even see the tail lights of the car in front of you. Everyone arrived safely with no issues although a couple of drivers arrived with waterlogged pants. I guess the leaks will be fixed sometime later.

Another brief stay and off we go to our fourth stop at a new member’s house - Joseph & Rose Scherb of Crystal Lake. This was change in venue and not one of the scheduled stops previously announced. I would like to say a great big ‘thank you’ to them to let us come to their house at the last minute. While enjoying the great snacks, the sun comes out and the car tops come down.

Off to our final stop of the tour to Dino & Lisa’s house in Lake of the Hills a short distance away. Lisa had the grill going and the feast was prepared. Plenty for all!

We had a great turnout of 13 MG's and 4 other foreign cars. Thanks to all for welcoming our club & friends in to your homes.