NorCal Caravan to SLO

How about where (and when) I had suggested earlier: Monterey Starbucks in the Del Monte Shopping Center. There's plenty of parking, several gas stations nearby, and it's right off (and back on) Hwy #1 heading South towards Big Sur.  Wouldn't your ETA be about 11AM?

Hey Paul, I'd say our ETA would be right around noon, if we take off from Vacaville between 9-9:30.  We might want to consider lunch right there in Monterey?

Hey @montereybrian! How's the Lalla grill for lunch? Someplace better for a group of 12 or so?

Personally, I think your suggestion is spot-on!  Leaving Vacaville @9AM should get your "conga line" into the Del Monte Shopping Center (that's where both the Starbucks AND the Lalla Grill are) right about Noon. From there, it's probably 3-1/2 hrs. to SLO...so leaving the Grill @ ~1:30pm would get us to Happy Hour by 5pm. Wow! Can you imagine what Ryan's drone movie might look like with Speedsters, Spyders, and a RSK cruzin down one of the most famous and beautiful highways in the world?! Hopefully the weather will be nice enough to see Japan! 

We’d be absolutely thrilled to meet in Monterey for lunch...if the drive includes going down Highway 1 to SLO.  Going inland from Monterey just keeps us in the sun longer!  Last year I caravanned down from Fresno with @Robert M and @Former Member .  It got a bit hot for us through Paso Robles so I’d like to try the coastal route if possible.  

@Robert M : do you have a plan of attack for the trip from Fresno yet?

Don’t know if you’re planning on heading down 680 and cutting over 24 to get through San Francisco, or 680 and cutting over 92 to Half Moon Bay, or 680 to San Jose and heading over to Santa Cruz via 17;

.....or heading down 80 and cutting over. 

I’m right off 680 at Treat Blvd; but can time it to connect with you anywhere-relay style. 

Traffic is congested until 10:30am at 680 / 24 merger; then again at the MacArthur Maze until around 11am. But you will find phones out galore snapping photos as we wait to go through the Bay Bridge toll (if that’s the route you choose). 

Looking forward to finally being a part of this event. 

Thanks for putting this together, Terry. Here's how I understand the plan so far. Is this correct?

NorCal Caravan Stage 1
9am Start: Starbucks, 1110 Leisure Town Rd #10, Vacaville, CA 95687
12pm Lunch: TBD (currently set at Lalla Grill 1400 Del Monte Center, Monterey)

Google estimates 2h20m - 3h, leaving at 9am on Friday, June 7. Depending on traffic, you could arrive in Monterey early.

NorCal Caravan Stage 2
1pm Start: TBD (currently set at Lalla Grill 1400 Del Monte Center, Monterey) 
5pm Finish: Quality Suites Downtown, 1631 Monterey St, San Luis Obispo

Google estimates 3h - 3h30m, leaving at 1pm on Friday, June 7. Expect another hour for photos and winnebagos.

@Kevin - Bay Area, @TheMayoMachine, we would come via 80 west to 680, to 101 south, to 156 and on to hwy 1.

@Ryan (formerly) in NorCal, we're used to you springing up, out of the blue, wherever suits your fancy. I have no doubt you'll be tracking the caravan with some super-secret drone and will pinpoint your insertion into said caravan when the time is right. 

I would love to join you guys (and gals!) but I couldn't talk my wife into 3 all day drives in the speedster, so my plan is a little different. We will be driving our motorhome down towing the speedster and we will camp somewhere down by Morro bay, drive with all the knuckleheads on Saturday, party that night and come home Sunday. But I will be joining you in spirit!  

I'll "assume" (something I usually try NOT to do) you won't be driving down Hwy #1 to Morro Bay. It would be "funny", though, if our caravan came up behind YOU....after cussing out and passing any "winnybaygoes" previously encountered. 

I'm super excited for this drive!... I've been waiting to do Hwy 1 for the SOC since the last time we had the chance to do it back in 2010 for the SOC meet. Granted I have done Hwy 1 many times before after 2010, but not with a gaggle of Spyders and Speedsters since then.

@Ryan (formerly) in NorCal If you do Nacimiento on the way back up you can count Vanessa and I to follow you up ;-)

 

I will join you in Monterey as I have an hoping to meet up with with Paul so he can provide a meal at the Sardine Factory. I know he owes me for something. I have to convince Paul it is OK to spend more than $39 for a Motel. I know his proclivity toward staying in dumps from his stories about his time in Anchorage. I will join y'all at the Starbucks. Hey Paul isn't the Del Monte Lodge next door? Looks like an epic caravan down the coast. So cool!

 

sherco_chris posted:

I would love to join you guys (and gals!) but I couldn't talk my wife into 3 all day drives in the speedster, so my plan is a little different. We will be driving our motorhome down towing the speedster and we will camp somewhere down by Morro bay, drive with all the knuckleheads on Saturday, party that night and come home Sunday. But I will be joining you in spirit!  

Chris, make sure you're at the host hotel for Friday happy hour. It's a meet and greet affair and required attendance!

@BADSPD - Stephen @hotrodstitcher @brucec @Gary P @Theron @Blake @RONSTR @Anthony @SteveF @Rick C. @barncobob @Tbone @calmotion

Let's make sure the other NorCal folks know about the drive too. It's going to be great to get all these Speedsters on Highway 1.

June 7 - 9am Vacaville, 12pm Monterey, 5-6pm San Luis Obispo
June 8 - 9am West Coast Cruise
June 9 - 10am San Luis Obispo, 5pm Monterey

Wow  nice North Cal group. You have the route that will be taken for Vacaville? Hey 92?

Ryan,  Thanks for keeping me in loop.  I was hoping that this would be the year I would be able to make the SLO trip, but my niece is graduating that weekend in Portland.  Hope to meet up with you all again soon. 

Stephen

It’s open now.
-=theron

calmotion posted:

Wow  nice North Cal group. You have the route that will be taken for Vacaville? Hey 92?

@calmotion, here's the current route plan: NorCal Caravan Stage 1 & NorCal Caravan Stage 2. Please join us for as much of the route as you're able.

Note: Lunch in Monterey is still TBD. Lalla Grill is the current placeholder until Terry and the Monterey peninsula locals decide.

Highway 1 would have been nice and maybe cooler / scenic. Like Theron mentioned it open now 👍😇😎

@calmotion, the Vacaville group will be doing highway 1 from Monterey to SLO. We will be taking 680 to 101 to 156 to 1.

@Terry was not able to make the SLO trip but was thinking of trying to join the group to Monterey for lunch and come back home. 

It looks like 680 was the route I read if HwY 1

Theron posted:

It’s open now.
-=theron

> On Apr 10, 2019, at 7:34 AM, SpeedsterOwners.com <**************> wrote:
>

As of 11:45 am, Wed., the 10th of April, the ONLY "bump in the road" on Hwy #1 is still the "controlled traffic due to construction" at Mill Creek Bridge 4 miles north of Plaskettl.  Caltrans says it should be completed by end of day Friday, April 12th.

I'll meet you all at Bixby Bridge at 1:30pm.

The bridge is 30min south of Lalla Grill. I'll check in around lunch time to see how the trip is progressing.

---

 

To those planning to be in Monterey/Carmel by the 6th ( @majorkahuna, @Napa Paul, ???),

June 7 — You're welcome to join me for a full morning of extracurriculars while the rest of our NorCal Caravan races down to meet us. It includes 2hrs of Big Sur Coast and a quick bite at Nepenthe. 9am Carmel start.

June 6 — And if your schedule is a bit more flexible, consider joining me for a more ambitious route down from NorCal to Carmel on June 6th. This includes the Sacramento Delta, Mines Road (the "Nürburgring of the Bay Area"), and Mount Hamilton / Lick Observatory. Let me know if you're interested and we can coordinate times.

Can't/won't speak for the Kahuna, but I'll take a pass on both the "more ambitious route" and the "extracurriculars."
Friday morning, the 7th, I'll be getting up and around at 8am, making sure Speedie is ready to roll for the Pacific Coast Downhill Run, enjoying a nice breakfast, and moseying (yep, that's how it's spelled) over to the Lalla Grill about 11:30am to hold some table places for the motley crew arriving by noon.
Thanks for the invite, though!
Paul

I like to telegraph my punches... On June 7th, depending on conditions, I'm going to try to convince you to take a 5-mile round-trip detour up Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. Trust me.

There's a shoulder at the mark where we could fit a dozen cars, take some photos, and turn around safely. We could also get some fun drone photos & video coming down this portion. As seen here:

@Ryan (formerly) in NorCal said- "On June 7th, depending on conditions, I'm going to try to convince you to take a 5-mile round-trip detour up Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. Trust me."

Looks like a great drive, Ryan!

Great route and drive. We hope all the roads are dry now. Some of my local backgrounds are still wet like Woodside and Portola   

@Ryan (formerly) in NorCal...Dude! All these detours are going to seriously cut into my drinking and socializing time!

As of Sat., April 13th, at 11AM:  Caltrans reports NO PROBLEMS on Hwy #1 ("The" PCH) from Monterey to SLO.

Hurrah! 

Terry Nuckels posted:

@Ryan (formerly) in NorCal...Dude! All these detours are going to seriously cut into my drinking and socializing time!

Don't worry, Terry. By 6pm, Friday the 7th...we should be on the hotel patio and well into rounds of "drinks for my men...and beer for our Pferde!*"

* horses in German 

Paul L. Watts posted:

As of Sat., April 13th, at 11AM:  Caltrans reports NO PROBLEMS on Hwy #1 ("The" PCH) from Monterey to SLO.

Hurrah! 

The Caltrans "GIVETH" and the Caltrans "TAKETH AWAY"....again!

Current conditions on the Hwy #1 route now show the following:                                        1-way controlled traffic due to construction @ Mill Creek Bridge through 04/19;          1-way controlled traffic due to bridge work @ Rocky Creek Bridge through 04/19.

One way control is like a flashing car lead parade!

-=theron

Are you sure, Theron?  I thought "flashing" died out in the '70's!  

@Theron, are you joining us in SLO this year? And the NorCal adventure through Big Sur?

Not sure yet. I don’t currently have a car I can drive, unless I can get the Intermeccanica registered in Ca by then.

-=theron

Theron posted:

...unless I can get the Intermeccanica registered in Ca by then. 

Sounds like paperwork. There's time. Or isn't there a special use permit for events?

I’m also in S San Jose right off 101 if you want to use my house as espresso/cappuccinos/bathroom break. @Ryan (formerly) in NorCal knows where I’m at.

-=theron

@Theron how about we do a short drive wit them to Monterey / lunch and come back.