By Collin Fat
Photos by Collin Fat

Nearly 40 drivers braved the weather on New Year’s Day by participating in the club’s annual New Year’s Day tour. Drivers weathered the rain and wet roads that welcomed the start of the tour at Fix Auto in Rocklin.

Members listening to the morning driver’s meeting

After complimentary morning snacks and beverages at Fix Auto’s facility in Rocklin, we headed west along the Sacramento River making our way north for a halfway stop at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for bathroom stop.  The casino will be the headquarters for CRAB 39, the club’s big multi-day multi-event Porsche extravaganza scheduled for April 17-19^th.

Members assembling for the mandatory driver’s meeting

The tour route covered approximately 89 miles on some of the best roads in the area. The scenery along the Garden Highway was a little earie with a little fog, overcast skies and light rain as the tour route led us west from Rocklin.  From the Garden Highway we headed northeast to skirt Camp Far West Reservoir and head back down to Catrina’s Cantina for lunch. The road surface for a great deal of our tour along the river was less than perfect as my GT3 RS suspension was tested to the max. Luckily, I did not bottom out and there were much smoother roads encountered heading east back to Rocklin. At the final stop in Rocklin at Catrina’s Cantina, I observed a lot of smiling faces and conversations going on about their holiday activities, scheduled improvements for their beloved Porsches, and getting to know one another. I think there must have been 15 to 20 new members who participated in the event.

Porsches navigating the Garden Highway

Members enjoying lunch at Catrina’s Cantina

A big thank you to the owners of Fix Auto Eric and Rick Dunivan for providing the morning pastries and coffee as well as letting us use part of their spacious shop to stage some of the cars participating in the event. I believe Eric mentioned to me that the shop is more than 10,000 square feet in size in just one of their several buildings. I would also like to thank Rick Duste and his team (Michael Born, Collin Fat, Vern Rogers, Rik Larson, and Tina Talamantes) for putting on another wonderful event. Rick’s next tour is scheduled for March 22^nd and is by invitation only for new members of the club who have joined in the last 1-2 years.

L/R; David Thompson, Eric Dunivan, and Rick Duste