LONG DAY!

 OK, maybe we're getting a bit old for this sort of thing, but hey, why not. Got word that there was a Christmas Car Show up in Paso Robles. Great. Could be fun. Then I got a gig selling books at a local bookstore called "Black Cat Tales" in Old Town Monrovia. FOR THE NEXT DAY! That meant no, we can't spend the night in Paso...SO, an up and back. At least this show didn't start until 10AM, so we could "sleep in." 

Until 4AM. 

We left at 4:30 in the Yellow Submarine, got some donuts and drinks locally, and pointed our noses to Paso. 

Since it was O'Dark-Thirty, we opted to just stay on the 101 through Da Valley and yep, traffic was thankfully light. 

First stop was Buellton for gas and a pee, then thundering on to Paso Robles and a place called Daniel's Wood Land where the gathering was to be. 

What a cool place. They do all manner of huge scale wood installations, often for wineries (big surprise there), films, and playgrounds. REALLY creative stuff. 

Any place that has something like this our front has GOT to be cool! 

The people who ran the show also do the one in Downtown Paso that we went to a couple of years ago. Great folk, really friendly. 

We were, of course, supposed to bring unwrapped toys for a local Holiday Gift Give Away so I found (at the suggestion of the GKs) some stuff from a TV Toon called "Bluey". It and "Paw Patrol" are high on the GK entertainment list. 

The show was well attended and lots of neat cars. And, of course, lots of interest (and amazement that we drove up for just the day) in the Citroen. 

It was also Small World Day. Got talking to one guy who used to SCCA race back when we were flagging, knew Frank Monise, Sr and Jr, "Mother" Mueller, and Mona's Kids! He even raced at Holtville as well as Riverside and Willow Springs. 

The show was over and we headed for dinner. I'd wisely (for a change) gotten reservations at THE BEST STEAKHOUSE EVER, Jocko's in Nipomo. 

Constant Reader will know of our love for this place and I'm telling you, it's STILL the best damn steak you'll ever have. 

We each had the Ribeye Steak Sandwich (not needing leftovers for a week with the Porterhouse the flops over the edge of your plate) and dug in. We STILL brought some home for the next night. 

Fully sated, we headed home with one pee stop in Carpinteria. Got home about 11:30. WHEW! 

Oh...the book signing? Sold enough books to cover the bill at Jocko's and most of the gas for the trip. All in all a GREAT weekend...Now, for a nap...

    

Merced--Nicer than we thought!

 OK, when I first heard that this year's West Coast Citroen Rendezvous would be in Merced, I was not amused. Bit far from SoCal, meant driving over the Grapevine (not an Auld Crate friendly road) and up 99 which is only slightly less boring than I-5. Sigh.

Hunter's Moon over Gorman

Be careful! This jumped on our car as we went through Bakersfield. It's the last remaing GOP spine. 

Lovely room! 

 

Turns out, that yeah, the drive up was long and straight, but Merced seems to be a neat town. We were all booked into the El Capitan Hotel, an historic old place and it was wonderful. It's been totally upgraded to modern standards, but in a quite tasteful manner. The room was comfy and the bar was decent. Food in the area was really good (oooh, spiced pork rinds with sliced chilis and blue cheese!) at the Mainzar Theatre/Restaurant on Friday evening...it turns out it was the same place our banquet was--also good for banquet food. 

The drive the next day was terriffic. Never a bad drive that takes one through rolling foothills dotted with oak trees. This wound along to the little town of Hornitos (a cool little town--Joaquin Murrieta either a horse theif of the Robin Hood of Old California escaped from the jail there), thence to Henderson Park on the banks of the Merced River. Great shady place for us to eat the Claro's sandwiches we brought just for the occasion. 

The usual suspects

The banquet was enlivened by a talk by a guy who's spent most of his life climbing the rock formations in Yosemite (as well as others). Interesting stuff, but I had to wonder if he realized he was speaking to a crowd that earlier that day were totally winded and not happy that the elevator to the top of the parking garage were we'd stashed our cars for the night was NOT OPERATING! Gettin' too damn old for 3 floors of stairs. 

The drive home was, well, 99. We'd decided, however, that we'd NOT climb back up the Grapevine, and instead headed east on CA58 through Tehachapi and over to Willow Springs to take in some CalClub racing. It's been a LONG time since we worked the races (35 years? WOW) and remembered why we don't anymore. The food at the track is REALLY good and here's hoping that the new owners (yes, the family has sold the place off--😪) keep it as it is and not "develop" it like Riverside, OMS, and now Fontucky. 

oops! Seems that trying to hold your place out of T3 when the other guy has clearly taken you under braking is NOT a good idea! Driver was OK, it was a really slow roll. 

Yeah, the race was red flagged for this. Emergency did a great job (as usual) clearing the mess.

From there it was an easy drive back home. So, a good long weekend all around. 

Here's the directions for the Drive we took from Merced, just incase you're so inclined. 

El Capitan Hotel

609 W Main St, Merced, CA 95340

Head northeast on M St/Veterans Blvd toward Arbor Ln    0.3 mi

Turn right onto W 21st St        1.8 mi

Turn left onto CA-140 E/Yosemite Pkwy

     Continue to follow CA-140 E    20.9 mi

Turn left onto Indian Gulch Rd    4.5 mi

Turn left to stay on Indian Gulch Rd    0.5 mi

Turn right to stay on Indian Gulch Rd    3.9 mi

Turn left onto Hornitos Rd    1.4 mi

56 min (33.3 mi)

Hornitos, California

Head northwest on Hornitos Rd toward Bear Valley Rd    7.2 mi

Turn left onto Lake McClure Rd    180 ft

Continue onto Hornitos Rd    0.4 mi

Turn left onto Merced Falls Rd    5.2 mi

Turn left

Destination will be on the right    167 ft

17 min (12.9 mi)

Henderson Park

2641 Merced Falls Rd, Snelling, CA 95369

Turn left onto Merced Falls Rd    1.1 mi

Continue onto State Hwy 59 S    1.0 mi

Turn left onto Snelling Rd    9.4 mi

Continue onto G St    4.2 mi

Turn right onto W Yosemite Ave    0.5 mi

Use the left 2 lanes to turn left onto M St/Veterans Blvd

 Destination will be on the right    2.1 mi

28 min (18.6 mi)

El Capitan Hotel

609 W Main St, Merced, CA 95340

Here's looking at us!