The
Yellow Swarm

Member Car Club Council of Greater San Diego

By Yellow Swarm member Mark Ruhm, Chevy SSR & BMW R1 200GS

Showing up without pre-registering, I didn't know what to expect. I drove past Macaroni Grill ( I still haven't figured out how they keep the macaroni from falling through the grill) at Westfield's North County Fair and there they were. Must have been a thousand Miatas (actually about 25) and lots of yellow cars of various incarnations too. I parked and was promptly greeted by Nanz Zekela from The YELLOW SWARM and Maryanne Garon, one of the main organizers of the Scrabble for Scholarships Rally. Knowing nobody in the crowd, I was made to feel welcome and was quickly registered and handed a yellow T-shirt and info packet.

Next order of business was the driver's meeting which informed us that half the cars would be departing south and the other half would be running the route in the opposite direction departing north. We were given pictures and locations of each checkpoint and told for a nominal fee/bribe, the checkpoint volunteers would give us a route map at each stop with directions to the next stop. At the end of the meeting each driver got four scrabble pieces (two vowels and two consonants) and we were informed we would get two more at each stop with the chance to get an extra two if we could come up with the right answers about route landmarks and features from questions asked by the volunteers at each stop. A possible total of twenty four pieces could be won.

So off we went. First stop Kit Carson Park with "soccer" as one of the magic words. On to Ramona via Highland Valley Rd. with excellent twisties. From Ramona we traveled over Old Julian Highway to Dudley's Bakery at Santa Isabel where I was asked if I saw anything interesting. I replied that I saw a Harley rider in shorts and flip-flops but I don't think that was the response they were looking for. Oh well, maybe better luck at the next stop at the Lake Henshaw Resort Restaurant. By now we were starting to see cars from the rally coming from the opposite direction through Mesa Margarita. Once at Henshaw two of the magic words were "Biker Bar". Last stop cruising past Palomar Mt. to Valley Center was Bate's Nut Farm. Everything was literally down hill from there. We were all left to our own devises as to which route to get back to Escondido and the Banquet site, Cocina Del Charro. So I chose Lake Wolford Rd. with some more curves and a nice view into Escondido.

At Cocina Del Charro the approximately thirty five cars that started seemed to have all found their way back. Inside everyone was busy trying to make words out of the pieces that they had gathered along the way. Oh, one thing I failed to mention, all the words had to be soccer or car related. "The decision of the judge/s was final". There were door prizes and awards handed out with the scrabble winner actually spelling out "Penasquitos", hmmm.

The Mexican buffet was excellent (I ate too much). The company was great and very entertaining. The eighty plus people there all seemed to enjoy themselves. All in all a most excellent day.

The best part of the day was knowing we helped donated more than $1600 to scholarships for some deserving soccer players in the name of Gregg Garon, Dennis and Maryanne Garon's son.

Maryanne told me after all was said and done, she and Dennis thought "never again" but that's what they all say. I think they are already thinking up new twists to throw into the next rally. Let's hope it will be as successful as this one. You will definitely want to join us for the fun and camaraderie.

See you there next time,

Mark Ruhm
markr@yellowcars.org