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The
day started clear and bright (and early) with 5 cars leaving
from Fremont headed north on 880. The initial group com-prised
of the Freeman’s TR6, John Sisler’s slightly modified
Spitefire (wankle powered!), two faux TR3s (our Boxster and
the Herman’s Explorer) and a faux Spitfire (the Comeau’s
Lexus).
The
first leg of the tour was really a speed event, charging up
880 to 80 to 580 cross-ing the San Raphael Bridge to 101 and
blast-ing up to Hopland. Along the way we picked up two more
Triumphs, the Gold’s TR8 and the Bauder’s Spitfire.
The schedule was to
leave Hopland at 10:30 and we wanted to have some time to look
around Real Goods Alternative Energy displays and store. We
meet the 8 th car of the tour, a Triumph, the Gibbon’s
TR8 at Real Goods in Hopland.
We
took Mountain House Rd from Hopland to Hwy128, warming up the
suspensions and setting the tone for back road touring. Hwy
128 took us through Anderson Valley up through Philo to our
second stop, the Roederer Champagne vineyards. We were treated
to some excellent Champagne and a tour of the facility, learning
a little about how fine Champagne is made.
Next,
we went across the road to a small somewhat funky winery, Husch,
which had a really nice outside picnic area. Did I mention that
it was a BEAUTIFUL day? It seems that the Bauder’s filled
the Spitfire before they got to thinking about lunch, but some-how
there was more than enough food and they didn’t go hungry.
After a relaxing lunch and more wine tasting it was time to
head for the ocean.
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We
took Mountain View Road through, or rather up and down, the
coastal range. It was only 25 miles to the coast, but through
some very twisty and steep grade driving.
Not
everyone believed it, but the Bauder’s Spitfire was the
“pace” car for that leg. We passed through some really
beautiful countryside and hit Hwy 1. Soon after hitting Hwy
1 we pulled off at a rest stop overlooking the Pacific. After
admiring the view and unkinking a little from the Mountain View
run, we headed up the coast for Ft Bragg. This leg was more
leisurely and took us along some of the most spectacular parts
of the Northern California coastline. Finally, Ft Bragg and
the Country Inn B&B where we checked in, had a cup of tea
and walked down to Glass Beach to see the sunset over the ocean.
We ended the day with dinner overlooking Noyo Harbor. Sunday
morning saw a few intrepid souls collecting samples at Glass
Beach, literally broken worn down glass from bottles and jars
dumped over the cliff into the ocean years ago. We had taken
all the rooms at the Inn and enjoyed breakfast and visiting
through the morning. Most of the group took a short tour up
the coast to the location of our future home, Union Landing,
about 20 miles north of Ft Bragg. From there the Bauder’s
said good-bye to California and us and headed to their new home
in Washington State. Great weather, great company, great trip!
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