For most of the last 24 years you would have been able to find Darlene and I on the last weekend in April in Moab, UT with an assortment of friends and family enjoying car show weekend there. This year we had 13 family members with us including little Maddie – our first great grandchild – her mom, dad, brother and an assortment of her great aunts and uncles and 2nd cousins.
Maddie above and mom and dad, Ashley and Matt, below.
The weekend draws upward of 700 muscle cars, hot rods and vintage autos from Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Saturday morning the cars line up in long rows in City Park and the public is invited to the show with free admission for all. It’s an energy packed weekend with Main Street cruise nights both Friday and Saturday – Main Street sidewalks lined for blocks with car enthusiasts in camp chairs watching the show – the motels booked for months in advance – restaurants jammed – and the town overflowing with smiling car lovers.
The weekend, besides being about getting to see Maddie, is all about the cars.
A weekend with children, grand children and great grandchildren is special for us. Sierra, pregnant with our 2nd great grandchild, and Micheal came all the way from North Dakota; Marissa and Mandon from Denver: Jessica, Joe and Noah from Pagosa Springs; Ashley, Matt, Austin and Maddie from Grand Junction.
You never know what you might see lined up in the rows of cars. Both the cars and their owners are a diverse group – lots of old guys like me – but both the owners and the crowd in town are all ages – drawn together by a common love for cars and car people.
Joe pays a lot of attention to the rat rods.
We booked a room for next year at the Virginian – am already looking forward to next year. We’ll be thinking about a breakfast of smothered Sweetwater Potatoes at the Moab Diner, a dinner of mushroom or green chile stuffed ravioli at Pasta Jays, stoplight burn-outs at the cruise nights, the gathering of a bunch of family, and a packed full town of smiling, friendly car lovers.
Dad to be, Micheal, getting some practice. Sierra is due early July.
"...and there was evening, and there was morning - the first day." 