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8 Vipers traveled north to Page for an overnight visit to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.  We enjoyed a tour of the North Canyon with some of the most talented photographers/tour guides!  There was a great dinner at the Dam Bar & Grill followed by a rousing evening of games and drinks on the hotel patio.  Sunday morning we visited Horseshoe Bend before heading through a tumbleweed storm to get back home.

A few members made their way to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to make a showing at Viper Showdown 2022.

Day drive to Roosevelt Dam with lunch at The Dam Grill and Chill.  Awesome aerial footage capture by a member from the overpass!

Day drive to Prescott through Bagdad, AZ

This year’s holiday party took place at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass.  It was a great turn out with a fully catered dinner/dessert, free giveaways, an extensive silent auction full of member donations, and a 50-50 raffle.  Our wonderful officers and board secured a massively discounted room rate, and multiple members decided to turn it into a weekend staycation complete with Friday night dinner at Firebird’s, a casino visit, and golf at the world famous Whirlwind Golf Club.  We even had a visit from our AZ club members that reside in Southern California!

On February 4, 2023, Concours in the Hills returned for its ninth year.  Every year it is a day of great cars, food and music in the spectacular setting of Fountain Park.

Attendance is free, but donations are welcomed and all proceeds support Phoenix Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and the Cardiothoracic Surgery Support Fund. For the February 2022 event, Concours in the Hills raised over $430,000 for Phoenix Children’s. These funds finance innovative research, cutting-edge technology, recruitment of leading physicians, and child-friendly programs that make the hospital environment more comfortable for young patients.

Concours in the Hills continues to grow every year. The event now takes over the entire park around the lake in Fountain Hills. Because of the spectacular venue, this event is deemed “The Greatest Car Show on Grass.”

Cars come from all over Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico to participate. The event is supported by leading car clubs of Arizona representing Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, McLaren, Corvette, Viper, Ford GT, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mustang, Jaguar, Cadillac, Lotus, and others.  To show cars it is an invite only event, and the AZ Viper Club has been invited for the last __ years.

For over 50 years, enthusiasts from all over the world have flocked to the Barrett-Jackson collector car auctions, named America’s No. 1 Attraction for Car Lovers in the 2019 USA Today Readers’ Choice Contest. Widely regarded as a barometer of the collector car industry, the auctions have evolved over the years into world-class automotive lifestyle events where thousands of the world’s most sought-after, unique and valuable automobiles cross the block in front of a global audience ‒ in person and on live national and international television.  This year’s event in Scottsdale was no different, and the AZ Viper Club made a day of doing lunch at Volanti Scottsdale at Scottsdale Airport and then wandering the auction to see all of the amazing cars.  The top result at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2023 collector car auction was $2,750,000 paid for a 1989 Ferrari F40.

The multi-day trips are becoming popular and this was a fantastic event. Planning for this even started early but couldn’t finalize venues until late due to Covid shutdowns in CA. Our very good friends from So Cal planned everything at Mammoth and everything was phenomenal including the gatherings, food, views, drives, etc; Read on for a day by day breakdown.

Day 1 – Phoenix to Hesperia
8 cars from Phoenix headed up to Hesperia for the first night with 2 others joining us later. As you can imagine just driving down I-10 is no fun, except for a stop we made at the best beef jerky shop in Quartzsite, thanks to a suggestion from Will and Kacey. It was so good, everyone packed extra to sneak a bite for the rest of the trip. I hear most everyone stopped here on the way back too.

Day 2 – Hesperia to Mammoth Lakes
Few So Cal members met us at the hotel in Hesperia and about 14 cars drove up to the main meeting point at Indian Wells Brewery. The So Cal members greeted us with a fine display of Vipers and in all we had 20 cars. After a small tasting of the beer and enjoying meeting old and new friends, we took off to head to lunch at a near by town and then over to Mammoth. The views as you get close to Mammoth were just fantastic. The beautiful mountains, the smooth black tops, and the cool air was a refreshing. We checked in and met up for dinner. It was good timing that there was a margarita festival going on and the drinking, dancing and camaraderie continued until late in the night.

Day 3 – Mammoth Lakes
The day started early for some members who took at hike to Devil’s post pile. The formations were fantastic and drive up there was pretty good too. Everyone was back and ready to leave with the group for a cruise around Mammoth. The roads were windy and the rollers were fun. Some folks said to have got some air on the rollers. We had lunch in a small town and headed back to the hotel to rest some before dinner.
Dinner was an event in itself. With a scare of it getting cancelled due to thunderstorms in the area, the event organizers were scrambling to find an alternative. However, the clouds held and we were able to go up the mountain as planned. All 20 cars drive up to the gondola station to take a ride up the gondolas. To say the views up there were beautiful would be an understatement. At 11k feet and a 360 degree view around you, it was mesmerizing. Dinner was very good and everyone had a great time. As we headed down, knowing we were leaving the next morning to go to Napa, we said our goodbyes to those heading home and called it a night.

Day 4 – Mammoth Lakes to Napa Valley
We were unsure until the last minute which route to take to Napa. There were some wildfires in CA which closed a few scenic routes and we were worried we’d have to stick to the interstates. However, news was great that morning and the scenic route through Yosemite National Park was open and that is what we chose to drive through. Again the smooth black tops, cool breeze and fun windy roads welcomed us into Yosemite. Due to Covid, you could only drive through the park with no option to stop for picture. Only hikers with passes reserved multiple months in advance could park. Nonetheless, the drive through was awesome and the views were endless. The twisties didn’t give way even after we left the park. The beautiful roads continued for another hundred miles and it was all smiles driving through. Lunch was a quick stop and we arrived at our hotel in Napa around 3.
We parked our cars for the night and ubered downtown for dinner which was a great location and so was the food. We chose to go to a roof top bar after to sit around a fire pit and relax amongst good friends. Surely the night doesn’t end there. Most everyone gathered around the hotel pool until we called it a night.

Day 5 – Sonoma and Napa Valley
We arranged a bus to chauffeur us around all day. The day started at 9am driving up the farthest winery we wanted to go to and making stops heading back from there. We went to Amista Winery first and while it was still cool outside, the setting was awesome and we started the day with some refreshing bubbly. Back on the bus, with loud music and folks starting to sing already, we stopped to pick up lunch at a bakery for a picnic style lunch at our next stop, Christopher Creek Winery. Sitting up top with a view of the wineries around you is a great experience. We tasted some good and expensive wines here. 3rd stop of the day was at Benziger where they set up tasting inside the cave. The natural temperature inside was a cool 70 degrees and the entire setup was beautiful. Having been wined all day, we went to dine, back to the pool and called it a night.

Day 6 – Napa Valley
Today was the day to drive around some. We left our hotel at 9 am to go through some scenic routes. On our route we found the “Welcome to Napa” sign where we got a chance to take some pictures. Our next stop was the Petrified forest where we did a walking tour and headed out on the first of the routes which was bumpy but boy was it fun. The second route was smooth and also equally fun. We were actually surprised at how good those drives were near to Napa. After a full morning of driving, we headed downtown to get some Napa famous burgers and walked around town for a bit. We then headed to our last winery, Miner, where we got a tour of their facility and another tasting arranged in the cave. This was an even bigger cave and the whole experience was awesome. We headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner and ubered downtown again for dinner. After dinner we said our sad goodbyes as people were leaving at different times the next morning.

Day 7 – Napa Valley to Phoenix
Few folks extended their trip to enjoy what CA had to offer, and others made the safe drive back home.

Overall, it was a very memorable trip. Many strong friendships were bonded and we cannot wait to do this again. Huge shoutout to Amy Vemulapalli and Jennifer Miller for planning the Napa event. Pics below are in no order.

What a fantastic heart pumping and octane filled weekend. 10 cars left Phoenix heading down to Willcox on Friday. We hit some heavy downpour but we made it in time for trackside dinner at Inde Motorsports Ranch. We celebrated 3 birthdays; Jenn, Eddie and Kacey. The tradition of hanging out in the evening with some drinks and laughs ensued right after dinner.

Day 2 started early with breakfast and drivers meeting. The track went hot at 8am and everyone went on a parade lap, followed by lead-follow. Session 2 was open for folks to run as they please and everyone had plenty of fun and most importantly no accidents. Some folks had a chance to take a private 4-5 lap session with the instructor Jake. Lunch was trackside as well and overall the food was delicious.
We wrapped up at Inde and headed over to Hannagan Meadows taking the Devil’s Highway. There were many obstacles in the form of goats, sheep, turkeys and even rocks on the road from the recent rains. Thanks to Peter Miller for doing to dry run the weekend prior to confirm the road was open as the websites didn’t give us proper confirmation. It was a quick drive up to Hannagan Meadows and everyone settled into the front porch with a fantastic view of the meadows with their favorite drinks.

Day 3 started with us heading north on Devil’s highway and over to Payson for lunch. Quick stop for lunch and everyone was home by 4pm to sign off on a great event. Special thanks to Jenn and Peter for organizing this entire event and also for doing the dry run.

The cars needed a break from the heat and so did our members. So, we drove up to Payson for some cooler temps and a club sponsored lunch. 10 cars went on this trip, planned and led by our member Will Coleman. The restaurant had reserved parking and the full patio reserved for us. Great times and great weather. To top it off, a group of boy scouts came in just as we were heading out and we think we made their day. They took pictures, heard the cars rev and could not stop grinning end to end.