OK, some say if you dont have photos, it never happened. I'm going to try posting some. . On the road to El Mirage ...
El Mirage The only people there that day were dirt bikers and ATV riders Naturally I had been hoping for a couple of roadsters and streamliners - ah well, we don't always get what we want
It's pretty obvious now how Pebble Beach got its name - duh!!!!! and here's Lone Cypress - not to be confused with Lone Pine which has a totally different meaning to ANZACs
Day 4 First place to visit was Roy Brizio Street Rods in South SF. They're very welcoming to visitors and let me just wander around the workshop - keeping out of everyone's way. The quality of the workmanship is outstanding - guys fettling away to get things perfect. Some of the cars looked a little street-roddy to the traditional perfectionist, but if that's what the customer wants, then that's what they shall have. Ain't no RRs here. A couple of 32 roadsters, a couple of 32 coupes and a 34 roadster among an array of other 'less-mainstream' cars. I'm grateful for the chance to have a look around. I'd recommend a visit to anyone.
Did I say the quality of the workmanship looked outstanding? Very nice - it reminded me of a few guys work on the 'board
Some people just hang pics on their wall - not Roy - a whole friggin' FED!!!!!!! Now that IS showing off!
Im late to this thread but heres a bit of info for you to check off your list. Colorado blvd in Pasadena is part of Route 66. So if you havent before, now you can say you've stayed on the "Mother Road"
Day 3 cont. We grew tired of the crowded streets, the lack of parking in SF and feeling we had been here already so we decided to head over to Sacramento, the California State Capital We wandered around town for a little while, taking a few pics. It seems a little impersonal - kinda a bit too well planned - a bit like Canberra in Aust - designed by an architect, with all straight lines and not much soul. We took a few pics of the Capitol Building but they don't want to copy so I can paste them here - I'll have to try something else I guess.
Yeah, signs all over the place telling us we were on Historic Route 66 - that was part of the attraction to Pasadena (along with the 'Little Old Lady from..............'
Day 5 Oakland to Eureka via Napa and Fort Bragg Past Sonoma Raceway in preparation for the Indy Cars this coming weekend. (Deepest sympathy to Justin Wilson's family for their tragic loss) Into Napa and then up through Yountville (what a beautiful, manicured spot). Driving through the Napa Valley was very much like going through the Barossa, McLaren Vale, the Swan Valley or Margaret River winery districts back home - lots of people trying very hard to get you to come and buy their wines or other home made artisnal products. They're all convinced that their wines or other goods stand head and shoulders above the rest. They can't all be right - and some are a long way from right. Still, nice place to visit.
Day 5 cont. After the Napa, we toured through the country two-lane blacktop byways to Ukiah, then on to Fort Bragg for some late lunch. Fort Bragg was unlike what we expected - I was thinking it would be more of a holiday mecca. It's a little old and tired but the locals obviously love living there - it seems laid back and cruisey, just a little weather-beaten. The coast was quite foggy for the drive from there to Eureka. When we finally got to Eureka, we found it is quite a bit bigger than Ft Bragg, but also showing some wear and tear, with lots of run down areas around town. It was a quiet night though, so that was good.
Eureka! You made it. Take a left over on to Samoa to see the only beach front dragstrip in CAL. (By the airport) (If it is not open just walk on in)Samoa Cookhouse has GREAT food, family-style, but a really great logging museum which will give you an idea of what the beautiful forests you are about to see used to look like. The equipment they used to fell these monsters will blow your mind. Then you get to drive thru the gorgeous regrowth. Prepare for some of the most beautiful coastline anywhere, as you make your way up Oregon's coast. Woodburn Dragstrip (30 miles S of Portland) has the 230+ mph Nitro Harleys this weekend. (Maybe more unbelievable than the coastal beauty.) Enjoy, Your gracious Oregon tour guide
If your still in Northern California, try to get over to see BODIE, California, the best "Ghost Town", in the West.I was there once about 9 years ago and as you approach you will think this was a mistake to go but I guarantee the place will grow on you and you will be overwhelmed by everything. Take it all in and appreciate the way life was in California 125 years ago.
Along the way to Eureka, we stopped in at the Chandelier Tree in Leggett. Naturally, we took a photo, but I guess you'd prefer this one to the Korean POS we're drivin' (plus it's a 37, which is always good) Day 6 Eureka to Salem From Eureka, we headed up the coast to Crescent City, admiring the views along the coast before heading inland to Grants Pass. The smoke was thicker than the fog we'd been through as we left Eureka and naturally stank. It didn't affect our progress though and the trees were thick and close to the road all the way but the road was good and the traffic thankfully fairly light. Once we hit the I-5, it was easy driving to Salem where we stopped for the night. We didn't know before we got there, but Salem is the capital of Oregon, a reasonable size city and they have a lovely art deco Capitol Building (the previous two Capitol Buildings burned down).
Day 7 Salem to Astoria - the hard way Mrs DB decided we should take in our chance at a State Fair. Smelly animals, deep fried anything, candy floss, quilting, scrap booking, dog shows....... you name it, it was there. Just like the Shows we have back home (Perth Show, Melbourne Show, etc) Some strange sights, for sure Deep fried Oreos, Deep fried Twinkies, Chocolate dipped cheesecake - FFS!!!!! There should be laws against this!!! ........ and what's this? I thought this kinda shit had gone decades ago. WTF are KKK Sheep doin' at the State Fair? And here's a pic of me and the lovely Mrs
After a couple of hours of fun and joy, we left the show, knowing that the locals were enjoying themselves. The kids would have been all sugared-up, throwing up on all the whirling-dervish rides and dragging their oversized stuffed toys around with them to show their prowess at throwing a ring over a bottle neck, etc. Good for them - all good clean fun (unless you get a 5 year old vomitting down your neck, but I digress) Oh yeah, I almost forgot - we saw the original merry-go-round................ with real horses! Having heard and read in the Vintage Pics thread about Mount Hood and Columbia River Gorge, we had to head over there. Unfortunately, Mt Hood doesn't really rate on the GPS and once we left our motel, we were without internet, so we had to kinda wing it to get to Mt Hood. Along the way, we saw a bunch of people doing a fun-run. Good for them, I say. Not one of them looked like they were having fun - pained expressions were the order of the day. Their idea of fun was to run from Mt Hood to the coast at Seaside, in teams of 7 apparently. Mount Hood was looking good
From Mt Hood, we went down the hill to the little town of Hood River. The City Centre was still full of nice old buildings - all repurposed from their original owners, with lots of coffee shops and handcrafts, etc We crossed the river with the plan to drive a 2-lane blacktop rather than the Interstate back into Portland, but roadworks signs said there was likely to be a 45 minute delay, so we crossed back again and used the quicker route. One advantage of driving along the Oregon side was that we were able to stop at Multnomah Falls to look at the beautiful old lodge as well as the falls Arriving late in Astoria, we found a motel, internet to update our posts and then settled down for the night
Thanks toucan, I'd never thought of it like that. I guess we do have a different perspective to many others. Cheers
Day 8 - Astoria to Seattle After a quick look around Astoria, we headed up the coast again to Aberdeen. A big storm blew through as we left and there was lots of damage from broken limbs and leaves blanketing the road, which slowed us down. Driving rain made it difficult and everything was grey so no photos worth posting. When we got to Seattle, the traffic was a nightmare - trees blown down all over the place, power out. It took us ages to get across town to our motel, which at least has power. Along the way, we saw lots of trees down, some across power lines, a couple had come down on houses which had huge amounts of damage. When we got to our room, we just heard that a little 10 year old girl had been killed by a falling tree branch - a tragedy for her and her family. Not sure what to do tonight as it looks like it will take a few days for Seattle to even get power back on to everyone, let alone fix everything like it used to be. Plan for tomorrow is thr Boeing factory. ................... until then.
The Jalopy Journal
