2019 West Coast Cruise

Somehow it's nice to know even those with oil coolers had to pull over and let it cool down. That was on my "ASAP" shopping list after our trip home. We didn't heed the advice of some of the wiser in the group to leave early. Instead I dropped off my photographer at Morro Rock to birdwatch while I raced around Santa Rosa Creek Road. By the time we got on the road home, it was hot.

We limped to King City, visiting the Missions along the way to cool off, bird watch, and visit the Missions. But after Bitterwater on Route 25, it started to cool off and made it home without much hassle.

After the comments above, I cleared my shopping cart. The oil cooler upgrade will wait a bit longer.

@Ryan (formerly) in NorCal :

I can’t stop watching those videos!

Make sure you’re watching the Challenge Route one! You earned it!

Thank you, kindly!

I also earned a new muffler!

Kevin - Bay Area posted:

In the 27 months we’ve owned our speedster, I thought I was fully aware of the joys these little cars could bring. This weekend I was proved wrong. I found there’s much more the Speedster brings; and that’s comradery.  

This weekend was my first SOC West Coast meetup. And definitely won’t be my/our last. A huge thanks to @Robert M, for doing all the planning and organization. I hope you still had a blast. The drives were amazing.  I was able to push my car harder than I have in the past; knowing that with the brain power around me, any problems I could have caused could be fixed with duct tape and whatever we could find nearby. 

Thanks to those that provided all the cool swag, tour books, the lunch, the dinner, the entertainment ( @Cory McCloskey and @Will Hesch; “Hello Flatbed my Old Friend”), and to the ladies that sang Janis Joplin’s “Oh Lord Won’t you Buy Me, A Mercedes-Benz”. Also, thanks to @Cory McCloskey for educating all of us guys on feminine products.  it was a very educational experience; if only you were in my Safeway, I would have less miles on my car(s) from doing return trips  

I’m happy I met a large number of you; it’s great to finally put a face to the name.  I look forward to joining up with you in the near future (Tour d’Napa??)

If there really is a group interested in a Tour d'Napa, start posting interest. It's not too early (or late) to put together something. Trust me, there are some good twisties with beautiful scenery and ....you guessed it...a "few" decent winery stops!  You can count on great weather in both September and October. 

Boys, it was an absolute pleasure spending time with you last weekend! Just the best!

i don’t know if I ever would’ve treated myself to a 9.5-hour trailer trip, had you all not been at the end of that Uhaul rainbow...😆

@Robert M — thanks so much for your hard work in organizing the prom! It was a yuge success!

California’s a very big state, but this terrific weekend allowed us to take a pretty big bite out of it — high meadows, deep glens, and a matchless seaside... Thanks to all of my new friends for sweetening the trip with so many laughs, and so many Speedsters!

And for all of those who live too far away to trailer yourself out to this amazing event, consider this:

Perhaps you treat yourself to a golf getaway or a ski vacation or a week in a house at the beach each year, but whatever you spend on a typical vacation might cover the shipment of your car out to the West Coast Cruise and back, plus your airfare and hotel.  I believe there would be more than one California club member who would be willing to take delivery of your car so that it would be waiting for you when you got out there...

 Come out a few days early, as I did, and you can log hundreds of beautiful, unforgettable California miles on your car before you even meet up with this terrific group on Friday! IT’S THAT MUCH FUN! And, believe me, there’s nothing like seeing the car you love framed up against the limitless Pacific, on one of the world’s most famous highways…

Consider it!  🏎💨

Well said, and we natives take it for granted. There is still a lot of CA I have never seen. 

NIce hat Corey  

That selfi is priceless Cory.

Those are some calendar worthy shots there Cory. 

Only question i had was it that cold that you needed a hat  

@majorkahuna how was your drive back to Lake Tahoe? 

Left SLO at 8am back to Tahoe by 3pm. I took the 101 to 680 route on Terry’s recommendation. Almost no traffic and the good old SF a/c  was activated in the Valley. I had a fire this morning. 

@@Paul how was the drive back to Napa. It looks like your planning the Napa trip already. 

@majorkahuna are you looking at doing the Napa trip. 

calmotion posted:

@@Paul how was the drive back to Napa. It looks like your planning the Napa trip already. 

The drive back was the Road To Hell! The ONLY enjoyable part of it was the Warbirds Museum: very nice collection of militaria PLUS a fabulous auto collection that includes a 1954 Corvette in 100% original unrestored condition. Even the brilliant red paint looks like it was sprayed yesterday! From there, the ride went seriously DOWNHILL into Hell. First, if anyone is ever interested in seeing what has been done at the James Dean Junction....DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME or gas. There's absolutely NOTHING there except a small state sign! I continued northeast up to Coalinga (originally Coaling Station A) at Noon, and then back northwest through some nice pretty tight twisties in 106 friggin degrees! The temp never went below that number for the rest of my Sunday excursion: 5 hours (including a 45" rest-stop at Pinnicles Nat'l Park) ending up in Gilroy (Garlic Capital) where it was too hot to even go to the pool. I got back on the road Monday morning @ 7am - just in time to hit the morning commute up into San Jose. By the time I got Speedie back into her storage locker and I got home....the temperature was well on its way to 110 F at 4pm. All in all, a GREAT trip Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Sunday and Monday sucked! 

As for "the Napa trip," I'm not getting into it until I know there's some real interest and from how many other "wackadooz." Also, I'm setting my surgery date today (new shoulder) and that'll probably be in October. What about the Annual Tour d'Ho Festival? 

IaM-Ray posted:

Only question i had was it that cold that you needed a hat  

Yeah, I wouldn’t sport this look unless it was absolutely necessary!

I was staying in Morro Bay, right on the coast, and I awoke on Friday morning to a chilly 53° and dense fog (1/4 mile visibility), but I was on a tight schedule. I had to leave by 6:30 to meet Ryan McCarthy up at Bixby Creek Bridge so that we could punish our cars and lungs on the Coast Road that runs behind the bridge and through some beautiful country before meeting up with the PCH farther south.

WORTH IT!

Napa trip is a no go for me. I will be out on the Lake with the new sailboat. 

2 toques and a lined bomber jacket- it's California! You'd think you were in Canada...

majorkahuna posted:

Napa trip is a no go for me. I will be out on the Lake with the new sailboat. 

 

Nice some friends are bringing their boat for the next few weekend (speed boat)  and ask to watch out a 52 footer 👍