Featured member Steve Garrity
October 2013
What a Year - Road Trip 65.
What started out as a road trip to the west coast and the celebration of my 65th birthday turned out to be a true journey along the way. On June 15th I headed west in Red, my '93 Pearl Red Allante. I had no expectations, simply happy I was finally leaving on what became the trip of a lifetime. To give you an idea of my trip, I left Indy for Tucson, then on to San Diego traveling along the Mexican border; once there I met Tom Rohner for the first time.
After a few days it was up California's Pacific Coast Highway with stops in New Port Beach, LA, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, San Francisco and a real surprise, the northern California coast.
For those who have never visited the area, it's a must see! After Crescent City CA, I traveled US101 along the Oregon and Washington coast. WOW!!! The bridge at Astoria is something to see and drive. While in the Seattle area I stayed with Allante’ friends I met at the Indy National Meet last year, and over the next few days they took me on a tour of the sights of the great northwest. From there I traveled north to Washington's State Road 20 and the Cascades Mountains.
As I was heading east, it was only 15 miles to the Canadian border. So I headed north and there it was the northern border of the United States. After leaving the border I continued across Idaho traveling to the big sky country of Montana, Wyoming (Yellowstone National Park and Bear Tooth Pass with elevations of 11,000 ft.) Also visited were Devils Tower, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore Monuments. After leaving Rapid City, SD it was time to head back to Indy, which is still a two day drive.
In September it was time for the National Allante Meet in Washington DC where Red was chosen as one of three cars to visit the Italian Embassy. While there the Ambassador was kind enough to have his picture taken while seated in Red. WOW what an honor…
In October, the journey was completed when I was able to shoot a picture of Red with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. From June 15th to October 10th, I had driven Red from coast-to-coast and border-to-border. Many, many thanks to the Man above for the opportunity for a safe and memorable 38-day, 15-state, 7,922 mile top-down journey with lots of memories.
Since I purchased my first Allante’ in September 2010, I have logged nearly 60,000 miles behind the wheel of this great automobile. I hope this inspires others to gain the pleasures of traveling the highways and byways sitting behind the wheel of their own Allante’.
Steve Garrity
