The Last day of Our Paso Aventure.......Pacific Coast Hwy and The Blackhawk Muesum

I’ve been pretty lax in making an effort to post our last full day in CA during our Paso adventure but I’m got some other cool events to post so I thought I’d better get cracking.
Day 1
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=186778&showall=1

Day 2
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187048&showall=1

Day 3
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187988&showall=1

Day 4, Sunday
We get up kinda early cuz we know we have a long, eventful day planned. Being the s****booker that I am, I took a few shots of our home away from home for the Paso weekend. Was a very quaint place and with a little sprucing up it could have been quite nice.




Drove thru the town of Cambria, where we slept


And found alittle place for breakfast. It’s probably a good thing none of the shops were open or we might have been tempted to stay longer and spend money….both of which we didn’t have.


Once out on Highway One we headed north. Wasn’t long before we got our first site of the Pacific Ocean during this trip. It had probably been 20 years since I’ve seen it off the CA coast and for OldBobSign it had been about 40 years I think. Not sure if Megan saw it on her trip a couple of months ago or not.


Ok, so we get to the sign that says something about Hearst Castle. We thought we’d pull in, look at the outside of it and move on. We didn’t have time to take the tour. Little did we know you can’t see anything from the parking lot and the security guard didn’t look like he was going to let us drive where the buses were going……so I took a photo of it on the side of the bus and we moved on.


Up the road a bit we see a scenic turnout and decided to stretch our legs and take in the view. Check out those cute sea lions.







I can’t remember which HAMBer warned me about the killer squirrels but this shot's for you.


I wonder why all those other people are walking that way??? We decide to see what all the excitement is over the other way


HOLY MOLY, check all those dudes out!


Yep, even took a few minutes to read up on them and learned a thing or two. Found out they were dudettes

 

Motored on down the road, checking out the sights from the inside of the car. Gotta thank Megan once again for doing the driving and getting us safely around the state.


Our chariot for the long weekend


Megan is as snap happy with her camera as I am with mine.


This was one of my favorite lookout stops






Larry liked playing photographer too




Once again back in the car till we got to Big Sur. By this time I was kind of looking for a place to purchase a diet coke. I needed a little caffeine and all we had was water in the cooler. We also needed to use the restrooms and as anyone who has traveled along the Pacific Coast Hwy knows, there are not a lot of places to stop along the way.

Anyway, we pull into this Shell station that has a general store and some outside hippie type vendors. Kinda a cool looking place. Drained the tank then head inside to purchase a can of diet coke. HOLY SMOKES $2.75! I didn’t want a whole case, just one can. Bought it anayway. Headed back outside mumbling under my breath about what a ripoff. Checked out some of the vendors and their offerings. Made Larry and Megan guess at the price of the diet coke, I’m still mumbling about the cost. Stopped long enough to smell the flowers.




And enjoy the wildlife


And as we were heading back to the car the gas pump price caught our eye! YIKES, it’s a good thing we have enough fuel to get us to a real town……we think.


So as I’m taking this photo I say to Larry and Megan, “I guess I can’t ***** too much about $2.75 for a diet coke huh??”

Megan comes back with “Look at it this way, you paid 50 cents for the diet coke and $2.25 to take a dump….feel better?”

 

Back in the car and continued north. The clouds had burned off and the sun was shining bright. Beautiful scenery






Megan and Larry felt an attachment to this bridge since they both own ‘32’s






Back in the car, we’re trying to make Carmel for a nice lunch stop


Once we arrive we were all amazed at the quanity and quality of the shops. We started walking down one side and up the other. Out of the blue Megan runs into Ted AKA Ratboy and his lovely wife Eva. Stand around and chat for a bit till Ted gets a bit of a present from a p***ing bird. Needless to say Ted didn’t get any goodbye hugs from us. Nice seeing ya again bud!


We didn’t have as long as we would have liked in Carmel. Had a quick bite to eat then back on the road.

A little north of Carmel we split off Highway 1 and made our way to 101 for the rest of the journey into San Francisco. Lucky for us we continued to see some cool sites.

This group had Washington State plates.








Megan had to keep her eyes shielded when we came upon a swap meet.


We then came up on these two. Not sure who this is…


But they were running with Ragdol. It was nice “meeting” you at 75 MPH sweetie. Next time hopefully we can take a moment or two and have a real conversation.

 

Our next stop was the Blackhawk Museum which we missed visiting a few days earlier cuz we ran outta time.




I took a lot of photos inside and since I know KIRK! covered this museum not to long ago, I’ll just include a few of my favorites.

 

Lots of artwork in the building as well








Shortly after 5pm we got kicked out. They were getting ready for a wedding. What a cool location for one if you’re a car person.


The view from where I was standing taking the above shot


Decided to have a few ****tails and appetizers at this little Mexican cantina kinda next to the museum and relax abit. Then headed over to a hotel by the airport, checked in, changed and headed downtown.




Did some walking around on Pier 39. LOTS of shops and resturants for those that have never been.


Ran into Dave from Brizos Shop with his family in this rock and roll store. Had another nice conversation with him. The memorabilia was outstanding. Nothing with a Bob Seger theme though


Walked over to Fisherman Wharf for a WONDERFUL late nite dinner and ****tails.




Alittle more sightseeing




Then back to the room for some sleep before our flights in the morning.




I’d like to thank both Larry and Megan for the great adventure. I had a BLAST with you guys and look forward to us doing something similar in the near future. I’d also like to add that I enjoyed meeting each and every person that I did whether we had the opportunity to chat for quite awhile or for only a short time. Each moment is special in its own way. Next time hopefully we’ll have a longer visit and it will be less rushed.

 

I am going green with envy right now

That trip must have been a total blast, I've been glued to the screen for every part of it.

Great job Denise!

 

Glad you made the Blackhawk....told ya it was worth a visit!!

And those seals stink!!

 

that portion of CA is one of the best spots in the world, every time Ive been to SF I've had a blast. Glad you guys had a good time.

 

We stayed at the Cambria Palms once...Needs updated to say the least......

 

I was being kind.
Me, Megan and Larry were kinda having fun and talking about what a cool place we could turn it into if we owned it. Too bad we live 2500 miles away and spend all our money on hot rods.

 

The final installment - a wonderful conclusion to an amazing journey!

Denise, thanks so much for taking the time to photograph, compile, annotate and post the highlights of the trip. Your photojournalistic skills have created an online s****book. I've marked it as a favorite and will "look through it" often. Megan, thanks for your driving abilities, easy-going nature, sharp wit and vast knowledge of all things automotive - most impressive!

 

Awesome write up as usual...but what the hell is going on with the blurr on your sweatshirt?

 

Nice report, Denise. I'm going to show the wife those coast highway pictures...she would like to drive that one someday. While you were touring Calif, we went to Tulsa to witness the digging up of the buried 57 Plymouth. You've probably heard that report. But we had fun meeting other old car people while there. Bob

 

It's my poor attempt at a paint program.
I just don't need any h***les about the logo I was wearing thats all.

 

Denise,
Just an awesome description of your adventures and the pictures are just super. Looks like you all had a blast. Hands down, some of the best posts on the HAMB are yours. Thanks for sharing with us.
I like having the pics split up by the day. Altogether would be overwhelming. And thanks for ID'ing folks. Nice to put a face to a name. Mike

 

Denise, Thank you once again for the photos and the story telling they were spot on ! I sure wish i could make it to the HAMB drags in a couple of months !
Take care,
Rob (60'Coupe)

 

Another great installment, Denise. Thank you so much.

J.

 

Wow, that looks like a great way to have ended your trip. I can't remember if I said it already, but it's worth repeating- it was nice to meet you three.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

Oh man, great pick of me at the Carmel "blessing of the crows"! Glad you made it to Blackhawk in time, and that the trip was a winner. Also great to see you again & get to meet Larry & Megan, I hope next time you are all out here we get a chance to show you around some more!

Ted

 

Denise,
You've managed to outdo yourself again with your coverage of Paso. Looks like you guys had a great adventure. We drove the Coast Hwy in 2005, and it is incredible.

 

Now that's do***enting a trip, nice pics, thank you, Rags

 

Great coverage. I need to take more pictures. It was cool to see us through someone elses eyes. I was in the gruop with Washington plates. We took that same rout on our way South. Thanks for the post.

 

DENISE,.............

 

Mexican Cantina! No-way Two against one I guess. Great finish to end your trip report. Looking forward to the next one already!

 

Too cool !!! Thanks for sharing..

 

Denise another outstanding thread!!!Thanks to all three of you,for allowing us to "come along" on a wonderful trip.Sharing the photos with us is a lot of effort,which is much appreciated. Look forward to meeting all of you someday.

 

What great shots of the coast! Next time you come, Hearst Castle is worth the visit.

Nice meeting you too at *gasp* 75mph. LOL. Had no idea I was cruising that fast. I felt like I was crawling. That was Gunar (YADLOSE) cruising with us!

Thanks for the pictorials of all 4 days.