This idea is buried in the "Another FX problem" forum. Given the unrelated thread, I've moved it here to get a bit more attention.

AZ mentioned a possible May trip to the California coast. Diane, Gailwrath, Dick Bohnsack, and I have expressed interest in meeting up with him (schedules allowing). Anyone else up for this? Hey AZc you're the catalyst: Waddyathink?


The Big Sur area would be its normal spectacular self with several great restuarants suitable for a meet. Great photo backgrounds, etc.

 

Sounds good.

We're leaving Phoenix Friday evening after work on May 14th and staying in LA that night. Then Saturday morning, May 15th we're taking a leisurely ride up the coast stopping off at Hurst Castle in San Simeon. Will end up going through Big Sur late in the afternoon and will spend the night in Carmel or Monterey.

If we decide to do this, we could all meet up somewhere NW of LA, say Santa Monica at the pier or wherever is best.

Hey... why be selfish about this??? We can invite those poor frozen souls from the NE out to share in the "sun and fun". :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

I am....

 

I would definately enjoy meeting up with owners, but Santa Monica is awfully crowded and busy, what about Lake Sherwood area? Lot's of beautiful scenery and great starting place for a road trip. Mulholland Drive through the White Fence Farm area and then on up through Camarillo, Santa Paula, Ventura, Ojai and into Santa Barbara on up the coast?

 

Think: Big Sur. Regardless of the direction from whence you come there are some fantastic roads to be driven. C'mon guys (i use that term, BTW, as non-gender specific) if we're going to do this, let's make it memorable.

 

Yes, I like the Big Sur area myself....2.5 hours south?. Driving further south to turn around and drive north ( for me ) is just to much. I do love driving the car, but I drive it 80 miles every day...............oops, im wining ( could be worse ), just tell me when and where we are/should be hooking up and I'm game. . Maybe us North Montery coast folks should hookup and drive south and meet up with the southerners for the drive north to Montery and dinner or something.

 

:lol: We would love to join in. We would be driving from Las Vegas - we could leave Friday Night after work also - so meeting on Saturday in Santa Monica / Lake Sherwood area sounds great to us. Going up as far as Big Sur would probably not be possible for us to do in a weekend!

 

VegasCrossfire Wrote: "...Going up as far as Big Sur would probably not be possible for us to do in a weekend"!

Sure you can. :wink: :wink: :wink:

The last time I made that trip seven years ago, we drove Phoenix to Ontario (six hour drive) Friday after work and stayed the night. Saturday morning we were on the road by 0600. We stopped and took a tour at Hurst Castle in San Simeon. We made it to Montery just after nightfall, checked in at the motel and had dinner at the warf. A long day... but well worth it!!!

Friday:
Ľ Las Vegas to Ontario: 3:45 hours = 235 miles

Saturday:
Ľ Ontario to San Simeon: 5:45 hours = 291 miles
Ľ San Simeon to Monterey: 2:00 hours = 95 miles

Sunday:
Ľ Monterey to Las Vegas: 8:45 hours = 532 miles

Just think of "all the fun and those exciting Crossfire miles" you'll miss out on!!! 8) 8) 8)

Note: Mileage and driving times courtesy of MapQuest.

 

AZ-
:lol: Whew!! I must be getting old - just reading that schedule wore me out :lol: :lol: Seriously - it sounds like a lot of fun - do you plan to drive back home Sunday also - or are you staying there a couple of days? Or going somewhere else? We just might join you - keep us posted. This will be fun.

 

My vote is for anywhere between Hearst Castle and Monterey...that wonderful Highway 1 is a true pleasure, and at that time of year, the vistas of the ocean are incredible.

I live just south of Los Angeles....would probably drive 4.5 hours up to Hearst Castle (city of Cambria, any hotel on Moonstone Beach Drive is worth it) and stay there on Friday night, then meet you all anywhere along the coast up north on Saturday. Would probably end up staying at Ragged Point Resort on Saturday night (on an ocean cliff), and make the entire drive back on Sunday.

I did the drive a couple of weeks ago (the return trip was all the way back home from San Francisco...in 6 hours doing a straight shot on the inland 101 highway) and in the xfire it was far more pleasureable than my old miata...was surprised how easy the long trip was.

 

Hey Vegas, just a word of warning...I used to live in San Luis Obispo and there's a road that cuts across the mountains from Vegas all the way to Highway 1 near Cambria/Hearst Castle. All I remember about it after taking it once is that I would never take it again...the road was so winding that it took much longer than we had expected, and I got carsick on the dip-de-doos (normally I do love mountain driving). This was 10 years ago, tho, so maybe they've fixed some of those dips and all. It would be worth getting a second, more recent opinion, maybe.

I'd much more recommend taking the extra time and go through Barstow toward LA and catch the 1 around Ventura.

 

Diane:
Thanks for the warning. We would definitely be going down thru LA but I appreciate you letting us know about it - just in case. :wink:

 

Sunday we're doing the Monterey thing... the aquarium, Cannery Row, 17 mile drive through Pepple Beach and slowly make it up to SF for a few days. From there we'll head up the coast to Ft Bragg and cut back over and down to Sacramento. Then it's 755 miles and a 12 hour drive back to Phoenix.

I'll have to spend an entire day when we get back putting #2815 back in showroom condition... :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

:lol: k - got it on our calendar!! :lol:

 

This is sounding like it could be a nice Crossfire meet. Sure would be nice to get a good size group together, say 10-15 cars. Can you imagine the looks we'd get? Need someone who knows the LA area to find a good meeting place and start a sign up list as the time draws closer.

 

That sounds like a good plan .... I nominate Diane - she sounds like she knows the area and the route :wink:

 

It sounds like maybe we need to choose a few places...maybe an LA meeting time for those who can't make the drive all the way up the coast, then a second time to meet around Hearst Castle for those who prefer the central coast, and finally a third time in northern Cal (Big Sur) for the northern folks (me, I'll do the drive to all three).

AZ, since this is happening around your travel schedule, can you maybe choose the three times (we can either meet for a meal or for coffee/drinks if your schedule doesn't quite fit a meal time). Then I can put together a couple of ideas for an LA place and a Hearst Castle place and maybe Reg has some ideas on Big Sur.

 

diane,

My plan would be to meet early AM somewhere in LA on Saturday, March 15th and head north up the coast in a long line of Crossfires stopping at Hurst Castle, Big Sur and wherever else and ending up in Monterey someplace. I think it would be hard to put a time on when we'd be someplace to meet up with folks along the way but we can try. I'm sure folks will want to stop along the way to admire the views etc which will slow us down a bit.

Any ideas for meeting up with folks along the way???

:wink: :wink: :wink:

 

:shock: AZ you do mean MAY 15th - right??? :lol:

 

AZ, this might be tough...doing the entire coast plus a Hearst Castle tour will likely take more than a day if you're doing it "leisurely."

If you leave Santa Monica at 8am (yawn!) and take off straight from there up Highway 1 (beautiful ocean views), you'll likely get to Santa Barbara by 10am or so. If you don't stop, you'll get to San Luis Obispo roughly by noon. Then it's a little more than an hour to Hearst Castle. Any of the Hearst Castle tours take at least an hour (you'll want to pre-order your tickets which you can do right away; otherwise, the tours may be sold out when you get there...you cannot see the castle from the entrance; you must take a tour to get anywhere near it...if you've never been, I highly recommend it). So that realistically puts you at 3pm by tour's end, and then it's another 2-3 hours up the coast to Big Sur and Monterey. This is all without stopping for lunch, etc.

So...depending on your ability to alter your plans, I'm suggesting another possible schedule.

5/15: 8am Leave from Santa Monica (7am?).
2pm lunch in Cambria (a quaint town just south of Hearst Castle).
Late in the day tour of Hearst Castle for those who want to check it out.
Spend the night in Cambria (there are number of hotels on Moonstone Beach Drive that cater to a range of budgets).
5/16: 9am breakfast in Cambria
Drive north to Big Sur
12 noon lunch in Big Sur
(on your own from there)

I'm up for the caravan idea, but there might be folks who join/end at different places. Between our cell phones, and a general idea of meeting in Santa Monica at 8am, Cambria at 1pm, and Big Sur at noon, we all should be able to find each other along with way, without cramping anyone's schedule.

What do you think?