Finally ready for a weekend of travel now that the pandemic has slowed, and more importantly my newly resurrected '56 Vette is roadworthy, I hope. I had the rear end out of it two day ago, more on that fiasco later. We decided join some old friends in the BSA motorcycle club for their trip up the coast to Ft. Bragg, Ca.. My not so able bodied co-pilots. My wife is paralyzed on her right side from a car accident 30 years ago. Still about the happiest gal I know. Dog is useless. Departure from Novato with the bikes. First stop in Tomales, Ca. and the William Tell, oldest bar in Marin County. Bodega Bay and Potter School from Hitch****'s The Birds. Gas stop in Jenner by the Sea. Picked up a few more riders and an MG. Lunch in Pt. Arena and saw the lighthouse. Spectacular day on the coast, 65 degrees, no fog or wind, empty highway. Made it into Ft. Bragg without turning a wrench. I've been truly surprised how well this car, basically as driven off the showroom floor, rides and performs, able to keep up with modern traffic without breaking a sweat. More cruising tomorrow, not sure where the road will take us!
That is soooooo cool. Really looks like everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Love the look of the Vette without caps.
You have done a great job of bringing that Corvette back to a nice driver. Nice to see them not overdone. Also makes for nice photos in the prettiest part of the US at the best time of the year. Great guard dog btw, Dave
You're right, he does provided a buffer between my right ear and the wife's jabberin'. Another place on my list was Fort Ross, built by the Russians in the early 1800s during their travels down the American west coast. I pulled into the entrance but the ranger woman rattled off so many rules and regulations I said the heck with it and turned around. Been there before anyway years ago, and just drove right in. Interesting history reading anyway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ross,_California
Is your avatar fully grown now? Are all the bikes vintage BSA or did some chicken out and ride their modern one? BTW enjoying your trip and love your Corvette. Seemed unusual to me that Chev with their early Corvette and Ford with their early Mustang used an orange style red instead of a bright red.
I'll get someone to take one tomorrow. It's not too bad unless the dog farts and I have to pull over and bail out. Yep same dog. The black turned to brown as he grew. He's almost 6 now. About half modern bikes., weenies. Yeah the Vette is Venetian Red. Looks like Chevy Orange to me.
That sounds like a great road trip. We drove 101 from the bay area to Florence Oregon after going to Pismo Beach for Trog in 2016. Drove it from Santa Cruiz to Pismo Beach on the way down. I bored my wife by stopping to take about 300 surf photos on that trip.
Raised in Marin and 30 years ago immigrated to Sonoma County....I know those landmarks well. We truly live in one of the most beautiful areas in the country! Your putting some serious miles on the 'Vette this weekend! Enjoy every mile! Where exactly did you find that car?
Love that part of the country. My parents used to fly my Sister and I up there from San Diego on propeller driven planes to spend the Summers with Grandparents in San Rafael. Wasn’t old enough to drive but Gramps had a cool Kaiser and two Uncles ran an auto shop downtown. They had cool cars. A Cord, Model T racer, 36 Auburn Boat tail Speedster and more. There was a shot of the place in American Grafitti.
Your little road trip with your wife in an early Vette is definitely a bucket list item for me. I’m still lusting for a ’55-‘57 T-bird or a ‘58-‘62 Corvette. someday…. My wife spent many childhood vacations in Bodega Bay so it’s a natural go-to spot for us when we need to get away. We still haven’t done the trip in one of the hot rods though, we always seem to have kids or dogs along. Glad to see you’re enjoying your Corvette, I’m truly jealous.
Beautiful pictures! I grew up with Triumph and BSA cycles, all of my buddies had 80’s Japanese bikes but I rode the British stuff. They would out run me but at least my bike was kooler than there’s. One of my bucket list adventures is to drive a hot rod on hiway 1 from Canada to Mexico.
Mornin'. Was in a barn in Sonoma since '74. Still running the old plates and tag. Full story here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/corvette-you-know-what-ykw-find.1218394/ I should mention straight off that the HAMB has given me tremendous help, both online and offline, in getting it back on the road. Thanks Squirell, Scotty T and all! Since the wife's wheelchair takes up the trunk, I decided to emulate Tod and Buzz (Route 66) and put luggage on top of the trunk lid. See my fancy luggage rack. It' a towel rack. Speaking of the wife (Julie), she demanded a better photo. Good thing men are only vain about their cars. Next, I noticed our hotel toilet seat has a men's lifting handle! First I've ever seen. Whoever invented this (a man of course) deserves the Noble Peace prize. G***ed up (gulp) and ready to go this morning. At least you can see the ocean while you're bent over. Got 13-14 mpg yesterday. I still haven't gone through the carbs as it runs pretty well but it's on the list. One small issue is the right hood latch won't hold (as you can see in the photos above). It's basically a post that slides through a washer that tilts to grab the post. Maybe I need to sharpen the washer edge. No biggie. Welp, Buddy's ready to go, always the first one in. Looks like we're headed further up the coast then into the Redwood forests. More to follow...
Was just up to Gualala looking at property last month- always a good drive. You can cut over to 101 and cruise through the Avenue of the Giants, north of Garberville
Today we headed further up Hwy 1. About 25 miles north of Ft. Bragg it cuts inland to avert some unpaved mountainous terrain, through dense redwood forest until hitting Hwy 101 inland. Nice house on a cliff. Met up with the boys at the 101 junction. Only 4 on the ride today, all old bikes. One BSA went down yesterday. He's OK but didn't ride today and a couple buddies stayed back with him. From there they headed down the highway to the lunch place while Julie and I went to check out the drive through tree. Pretty neat, tree looks healthy as ever. There was a group of Harleys there, turned out it was the Motor Maids out of LA, all female biker club! I mentioned I was tagging along with the BSA club, they said yeah they roared past us back in the twisties. Here are the MMs showing how far they are going to smash those BSAs. So when I caught up to the guys at the bar in Laytonville, I asked if they p***ed a bunch of bikers. Yeah they said, puffing their chests and hoisting their beers. I said I had met them back at the tree and they weren't too happy. Right on cue, the sound of a dozen Harleys comes thundering in. In go the chests, down go the beers, you could cut the tension with a knife. They sure breathed a sigh of relief when the Motor Maids walked in. Not that they couldn't have still had their ****s whooped, but in a show of comraderie the MMs let them off the hook. I of course derived great pleasure out of all this. Another twisty turny drive through the forest back to Ft. Bragg. Had to double clutch the 3 speed back into first on some of the turns, thoughts of a synchro first and overdrive running through my head. Didn't turn a wrench again today. I started this weekend with real apprehension, almost took a newer pickup. Sure glad I didn't. The Vette has been superb, fun to drive and a real people pleaser. Most are just surprised it lasted this long without being restored or hopped up. Back down the coast tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in!
Nothing like a road trip up the coast, awesome part of the country. I feel so lucky its in my back yard. Your 'vette is pretty damn nice as well, great to see you driving it like it was intended. I'll keep my eye out for it when I'm out in West Marin. Any chance my buddy Gus from Woodacre was with the BSA guys ?
Lol, nope. It's funny, if you drive with your arm out the window you get a feeling for how thick a door is. Some cars are very narrow. This thing the door goes almost all the way from armpit to elbow. They could have made it much wider inside but for whatever reason didn't. Two seater sports car I guess. Gus is my friend too, and neighbor. Couldn't make it this weekend. He'll bring you over next time you're around.
Thanks for sharing a good story, I've ridden on parts of the PCH from the Columbia River to the Goldengate Bridge, great ride and I'd say riding in the Vette was even better than riding on my bike
Thanks, sure would. Hit the freeway on the way home, first speed or get run over, then bumper to bumper crawling and lane surfers approaching suburbanville. Love to live up that way but much of the year it's cold, wet and foggy. Amazing trip though, I'm used to limping home in greasy pants with a list of things to fix. The Vette needs a bath and a fill up, ready for more.
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