(Continued from page 17)

Dinner at the Shed.

Besides the fabulous driving in between highlights, that was about it. We didn’t hit any cows this time.

Beer, brats, wine, cheese, and great roads. Perfect sunny weather (maybe a little warm!) With that many people and cars, and a complicated three-day route, and so many stops (and what great, well-planned out stops they were!) – that is a lot of moving parts to manage. We were closing restaurants and filling hotels. Russ & Amy Mehaffey and Ralph & Susan Arata deserve the highest accolades and our wholehearted gratitude for organizing and managing the whole thing with as few hiccups as there were. Hats off! If Juliana liked it, it had to be good!

There were a few hiccups. There might have been a few missed turns by part of us, no problem. I think a lot of the cars were idling badly because of the heat. A braided fuel line that runs between the carburetors across the manifold? Sure. Thanks to Steve Skegg

Doug Clark among the huge copper brewing kettles at the New Glarus Brewery.

to ride along on some problems, particularly with the Austin Healey

Elvis made a stop at the Shed to read from the Book of MG.

driven by Drake van Beek. The only break down was Steve Sparks blew a head gasket in his Midget, so unfortunately he and fiancé Jody Simons had it towed out of the Rockford La Quinta (I guess) and missed the rest of the trip. Fortunately, that cloud had a silver lining because that enabled them to make it to the Ravenswood Gypsy Jazz Fest the next day after all.

Alpenhorn players at New Glarus Brewery.

Jody is a “glass-half-full” type of girl. Otherwise, everybody made it. Otherwise there were Triumphs and Ts, Bs and the Mehaffey A, and then some civilian cars that rode tail. (Some people enjoyed air conditioning!) It was very well-run.

This was the first multi-day tour for my wife, Juliana, and she bore it surprisingly well, in fact, enjoying it immensely and appreciating all the new friends she made. She is really looking forward to the next Wisconsin ramble, and so am I! It is a social event with a strong group of really good people. And what a driving event! And what a tour! Great food, great drinks, great friends, a really great time! We look forward to seeing these friends and rambling about the Wisconsin dairy country twice per year! I don’t know about wine – you don’t go to Wisconsin for the wine, but the wine stops are great – but AMEN for the Beer, Brats, and Cheese. And the friends, and the MG-perfect driving roads! Well, I’m off to scrub the dust and the Wisconsin bugs off my roadster B. See you next year!

Editor's Note: The WCB will be looking for a new Tour Leader for next year, so keep in mind everybody takes a turn for these multi-day Wisconsin ramble tours. If you have any suggestions to improve it, here is your chance! It is a lot of fun to organize one of these tours, but it is a commitment. If you have any interest, please talk to Jamie Lazar Schafer, our new Driving Events Coordinator.

~~ John Kearns