a great Hank Williams Song:
Your Cheatin Heart" will tell on you
you'll walk the floor the whole night through and so on
OK; my cheatin heart will herein reply to reports that I missed LCD Meet
im Sch'wald last w'end...no 'standard short-visit'.
I'm sure LCD Meet was great as always & that no 1 missed my presence. Weather was "everything but sunshine"; usual in May. I intended to visit; I informally registered ... instead... I made a better choice, although I was 'cheatin', since I wasn't a Lance Event, but it was in the Sch'wald ! Alas !
I attended
131 3ma Meet instead; in Gam (what else?), for 1 chilly eve. Chilly not wet driving to Lossburg, on roads I'd driven before...but never in Gam. Speed restrictions,blind curves, slow tucks = lo-average-speed, however...zoomzoom...when roads were clear I enjoyed sliding on damp surfaces in sure-foot Gam & racing (in gentle manner) a fast BMW Coupe, that I caught each time it got stuck in-traffic
BMW had been stuck behind me; me stuck behind traffic, for some time. It passed in a hairy-maneuver in low-speed zone, where I was driving proper-speed. "Yikes, he's crazy" I thought ! BM Wdriver looked "miffed" when he passed. He appeared to be 35 going on 17 ! e did not escape my fast Gam...thanks to more slow traffic ! Ha Ha !!
I expected a country hotel & landed in a Luxus-Palace. I expected a jumble of jelly-bean-colored 131 & that is what I found; in many many cool colors.
1 particular Blu-Grn Mtlc 131 Volumex was equipped Bentley-like & was (for me) 'creme of crop'; not followed by a no-frill pastel yella Combi. The former I would like to own; the latter not !
I finally met a UK Gamma-Driver (or so its been rumored) who arrived in (what else?) a lovely charcoal Mtlc 131 Sport, nice car Mr. T !
Single Gamma was accepted, as was I, no 1 threw stones
I chatted with every1, checked out 131 in-rain, making plans to steal several of them, someday!! ... I chatted in various languages on Fri eve, with liquid-bread drink-reinforcement til' late in night. Those cars I didn't see in dark, I saw on rainy next morn. I was happy.
I did not join in fun (ha ha) on rainy roads; instead I drove home.
I final-packed a Van for a small trip in a Van & left chilly St. Leon for 2 appointments in (what, again?) the Blck-Frst (Sch*wald) in a packed Van. After these 2 appointments the Van was 90% empty
These appointments were not far off A'bahn & not up in hills toward 3ma
Adolfo, trhe famous Gelato-Expert, was prime Van driver. I was relaxing / recovering from 3ma, as we rode on dry A'bahn/A'route toward sunny sud Fr & points beyond....but thats another story, involvin no exciting cars, involvin 4000km in 6 days; 5 lo-price hotels (lo priced because they were empty; its been too wet & too chilly for tourists), some Pastis (uugggh !), Vin & Vino (Bon / Buon), great food...usually !
Great weather, a bit nippy though...for May in S. Euro ! Always The Sun The Sun!!!, many great people, lots of laffs & no traffic jams.
Still.......I'd rather have traveled in Gam or a 131 V'mex, con Clima !!
I think Adolfo would agree ! He did long straight stints, I did short (windy) stints. His driving style is
too Fiat 131 Abarth-like. In a Van on fun-roads I did the driving. He gets confused shifting shifting shifting!
This trip was not our 1st Magic-Drinks
lungo-'voyage-voyage' together, so I knew, from experience, that he drives "Carriciola-Style"; shifting 35x a minute....always looking for a gear he wants & never finding it ... shifting whether it is required or not, seldom getting it right, cursing (in Ital) to beat the band !
He is over 80 & can still drive like the devil, if he finds right gear & remembers to shift-up when required.
As opposed to me, who is under 80 & drives like Morgan Freeman driving Miss Daisy; who shifts into the highest gear & leaves it there ... for as long as pssble.
I burn 1/2 as much tire & 1/2 as much fuel; he arrives quicker !
A good balance ?
This trip will be repeated...in short form..on 9/10Jun, in a Fiat Stilo
.
Any volunteers to drive fun parts ? long parts ?
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