Whoop! Another Cache Valley Cruise In, in our belts. Three days of heat, people, shinny things, and sun. Oh the sun, blagh. I am not a fan of the sun. I personally think they should do this show in January, or December. Shovel out some parking spots, show off our cars, and let us enjoy some tolerable weather (if you’ve ever been to Logan Utah in the winter, it would NOT be ideal – I am joshin’ about a show there in the winter).
The 3rd and final day of the show goes until 6pm and culminates with the give-a-way car/truck/vehicle. The winner a few years ago was not old enough to accept the vehicle (he was 17), and this year the winner could not drive a stick shift. What a waste if you ask me, but she won fair and square. Maybe they’ll do the “Utah hot rod” mod and put a chevy 350 with a turbo 400 behind it for her. That seems to be what people do here. Make a beautiful hot rod with hard work, custom metal work, beautiful engineering and .. “oh shoot, a real engine and manual transmission would be so difficult for me, I will put a crappy V8 and automatic in it instead”. So frustrating.
At the 2023 Cache Valley Cruise In we had a man come and do a quick interview with us about “National Stick Shift Day”. Here is my blog post about it. This year he found us again 🙂 . Really nice guy, teaches at Weber University, and also owns a classic car. His daughter recently purchased a stick shift in a very similar way to Indy. Find an online classified, search for a vehicle within your budget and put “manual transmission” as the only specific option. She ended up with a Hyundai that was in her budget, and now we have another member of club stick shift. Keep an eye on KSL News Radio for this year’s episode (if it gets selected – last year’s won him an award).
He spoke with Indy, Alyssa, and myself. He should have spoken with Jamie too, but he forgot (She drives a chevy with an automatic, so it would have been fun).
Before that, we were wondering around, looking at the rest of the cars (over a thousand this year), and watching people. My dad swung by and hung out for about an hour, but his sidekick did not have the fortitude to stick it out with us and they left for cooler grass. While he was here I had Jamie drag my camera up to her eye and take a few pictures. I had my favorite lens on which is NOT a good lens for taking pictures for family posterity, but here they are.
During the day I also met and talked to a man that was driving one of “my” cars. A 1967 Ford Fairlane (manual transmission of course). He was here from Kaysville, and we both talked about our cars for a bit before he had to help a kid get his Subaru parked.
Of course, I also took pictures of unique cars with my favorite lens (I say that a lot because it is true).
Of course when it came time to wonder back to the bleachers and wait to hear who won my truck, there were too many people. See!?
Once we were packed up, Jamie took her leave, then Indy and myself headed for the cruise. I went one lap, he continued on and spent one more night in Logan. Here is a small batch of pictures before I jumped in the comet. The family across from the Comet packed up first. The woman in Pink stopped to say high earlier in the day, her husband’s name is Justin, but we never got her name. That car has a heartwarming story and will be in their family for a long time.
Then Indy and me jumped in our respective cars and took off (at 2 mph in the sun and heat with the windows down – it was so wonderful – NOT)
Finally, the random images I just enjoyed taking and seeing.
Images I really like, and a couple people I really love
To get back to Ogden you’ve got to go through Sardine Canyon. It is notorious for the seriousness of accidents, it is easy to haul balls down the wide curving road, and “the cops “Smoky” love handing out tickets along the route! I use WAZE for my GPS navigation when driving any vehicle. This image has markers for the cops people have seen coming around the bend into Mantua Utah.
This year was much like the last few years at the Cache Valley Cruise In. Lots of beautiful cars, very “peopley”, hot as balls, and you cannot win when it comes to parking in the shade. At this moment, I am not inclined to attend next year because I am so frustrated with the parking rules not being enforced. When registering, you receive a packet that has the rules stated very clearly “Do not mark, or park in spots to reserve them or your vehicles will be towed”. We made sure to arrive early for registration, and as we were driving around to the registration building, all of the shaded spots were marked with caution tape, chairs, gazebos, show cars, daily driver cars, and coolers. Parking in the sun because you were late, or it was a one off situation is fine. The last three years have been ridiculously difficult to get a shaded spot to park. If I lived in Logan I would simply come by and mark my spot the day before (like people still do, even after receiving the rule packet).
It has been fun Cache Valley Cruise In Association, but next year I think I will support another club.
Next show is August 9th and 10th in Heber City Utah by IMAFS (Intermountain Mustang). We were invited while sitting behind the Comet at the 3rd annual Youth Impact Ogden Airport car show. I hope it turns out fun, I am ready for some shade, cars, and photo opportunities. This show is for anything powered by Ford (so no gm powered hot rods! I will be one happy camper).
Take care, stay hydrated, and take pictures!
~me
