Hemis and Cudas and Chargers Oh My!

This past weekend, we loaded up in our car and headed to the 18th Annual Moparty at the Blvd, hosted by the Antelope Valley Mopar Club. While we have participated in a small Cars and Coffee meet with the same group, this was the first official car show that we had the opportunity to participate with.  We went in knowing that our car would not win any of the awards (our car is completely stock) but was a fun time none the less.

We had been invited to participate a few months ago, shortly after we had gotten our car, but it almost did not happen as poor Garrett has been feeling extremely under the weather for nearly a month now.  He had gotten a case of strep throat which had made him miserable. After two rounds of antibiotics, he was finally back to what resembled his normal self and we felt comfortable enough to take him out.  

While the show didn't officially start til 3pm, we arrived much earlier to get our spot and to allow for last-minute detailing on the car.  Driving from base to Lancaster means plenty of road grime which is not acceptable when showing a car.  So, the Wasp got plenty of TLC right up til start time (after already having the interior detailed the day before as well as a good wash). 

We weren't alone in our last minute detailing.  Prior to the start, I took a walk to look at some of the cars and saw lots of people doing the same thing.  You can expect that at a car show, especially one that hands out trophies, everyone is going to be working hard to make their car look as great as possible. 

And there's our baby, all ready for show. (We did end up opening the hood a bit after taking this photo). 

Two things that go well together are Cars and American Flags. First was this patriotic display from a man who had served in the US Army as a tank driver who proudly displayed his American Flag and a POW-MIA flag.  

Second, the Los Angeles County Fire Department was on hand for a flag display during the singing of the National Anthem.  

With our car prepped and the show in full swing, we left our car and walked around to admire all the other participant cars.  From new to old, there were so many wonderful vehicles that were well taken care of.  There were 13 categories for participants to compete with well over 200 cars entered. 

Here are some of our favorites from the show (not including the Yellow Beauty we brought with us - we're pretty partial to that one  lol)

This beautiful 1970 Barracuda took home Best in Show, which was well deserved.

And this Charger Scat Pack won in the catagory for top Club car from 1984 and up. (And just so happens to belong to a friend of ours, so we were thrilled to see it win.)

This car was 2nd place in the Club category. 

While not 100%, Garrett still managed to have a great time and enjoyed all the cars. But it was obvious that he still has a bit of healing to go, as he had a number of meltdowns, mostly over wanting cold water to soothe his throat.  Still, we managed to get a few smiles out of him. 

Alyssa really enjoyed looking at all the cars as well.. She's grown up around car shows and drag racing, so this was right up her alley.

Not sure if Ashleigh is giving me a thumbs up, or trying to hitch a ride with one of the nicer cars ;) Also, somehow, she managed to end up looking like a grease monkey.

 One of the entries had a RC car that looked like his Dodge Ram truck and he zipped it up and down the line.  The kids got a real kick out of watching it each time it zipped by where we were sitting.

As the sun went down, it meant that it was getting closer to time for the handout of the awards. A few people left at this time which made for a really great backdrop.  I love this particular picture as it is probably my favorite that I took the entire night.

And here's everyone waiting to find out which cars won their catagories as well as to find out if they had won the raffle.  This was a charity event, so all prizes were kindly donated and all raffle tickets went to support the local AV Children's Charities :)

We did not expect to win anything, after all our car is absolutely stock with only one modification that is not even noticeable, but it was so much fun to get out and see all the cars and visit with other car owners.  And while we didn't win our catagory, we did enjoy seeing people stopping to take a close look at our car.  A few people even stopped to take pictures of themselves with our car.  Something about a bright yellow car I guess ;)  We were the only yellow Challenger in the show, so that was something unique about us ;)

With prizes handed out, it was time to head home.  If we're still here next year, you can bet we will be entered in the 19th Annual Moparty.  We had so much fun and there's a real camaraderie between owners. It's also a very family friendly event.