[chopper]

Mikie:

Jan and I very much appreciate the invite. I must say that both of us have thoroughly enjoyed all of the events which we attended with all of the club members. Even the one run to Tortilla Flats with the "mini-Cobra" was a blast because of the club folks who are, IMHO, some of the greatest folks we have met since moving to AZ four years ago. I fully intend to get back into this in the future; it'll just take us a little time to get cleared with the clinic and all.

Seeing the car leave was one of life's bittersweet moments. I bought it eight years ago, thinking it was the last sports car I would ever have to buy. I felt I had done my homework and all, including doing things like compression checks on the engine, etc, etc, and felt I had covered all of the bases. Eight years, one engine rebuild followed by an engine replacement, a five-year battle (eventually successful) against the FE-overheat monster, a differential rebuild and a bizillion other little projects later found us at a new fork in the road, one which offered a different direction in our lives. Throughout it all, Jan has been nothing short of spectacular. Even when the engine overhaul resulted in a complete failure only 1100 miles later, her only input was "Just get it done right this time." The transport picked up the car last Wednesday, and I took it out to the truck, outside the gate, so the driver didn't have to try to maneuver a tractor-trailer through our little streets. After he had departed, I walked back to the house and stood in front of the garage, thinking how empty it looked. Jan came home and observed the same thing, then asked "What are you going to get next time?" How can you beat that?