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2005 Pilgrimage to Lowell Howe's Imperial Yard

Imperial Home Page -> Events -> Lowell Howe Pilgrimage 2005


October 2005, the annual gathering at Lowell Howe's.

Kenyon sent an e-mail to the list, inviting all interested Imperialists to come and be a part of the annual gathering at Lowell's place, or as I like to call it......"The yard of a thousand Imperials".

I was quick to talk my wife (Melissa) into the road trip, especially one to a warmer climate for a couple of days, my son (Jack) was excited, and it was a great excuse for me to meet a few of the guys from the Imperial list. We packed our bags and off we went. From Portland Oregon it's about a full day of driving to the Sacramento Area. It turned out to be a great weekend to be on the I-5 freeway, very light traffic travelling south. We were going to spend a day at Lowell's visiting with everyone, and then spend a day in San Francisco just walking around and sampling the many foods of the city. We stayed at a brand new Days Inn in Tracy (near Sacramento), about a 45 minute drive from Downtown SanFrancisco and also about 45 minutes from Lowell's house. Our day at Lowell's was like an Imperial Dream come true. Lowell was as nice and friendly and welcoming a guy as you could ever want to meet, and he had his ever-present cigar to complete his "persona" as the "King of all things Imperial". We took many pictures, but it was such a hot weekend that two rolls of film didn't survive the heat of the car, but the following photos did survive, and we met many many GREAT Imperial people there. Lowell, Kenyon & Liz, George Norton from Manteca, Chris, Mark from Texas, Ken & Debbie, Denis, Henry Hopkins and Richard Palmer, Pauline, Juaquin, David & Annette................and a few other people I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to talk to. I spent a majority of the time walking amongst the marvellous old Imperials, I think it relates back to my lifelong desire to have my own wrecking yard with unlimited project cars..... I was IN my element. I have seen Nirvana....... and not just the Band.

Our day of walking around San Francisco was also filled with wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and tastes, and we had a great time talking to many people and seeing all that the city of San Francisco has to offer. Please take a minute to enjoy the pictures of our visit to Lowell's.

We would like to Thank everyone for good food, good friends, and more Imperials than I have ever seen in my whole life.

-Michael, Melissa, and Jack (The Howlett's)

 


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