Sean and Iain's excellent (crazy?) adventure

[goofygrin]

My wife would shoot me. She already is upset that Iain's in her place Kid's in school though, so she gets to deal.

[altiain]

Hey, don't forget about Infineon Raceway just north of I-80 and San Fran. on Friday. Theres always something happening there due to all the wine and Ferrari lovers out there...

Looks like the Indy cars will be racing this weekend at Infineon. Its a great track.

Lol... thanks for the link Joe! Looks like we were already planning on driving right past Infineon on the way to the Golden Gate bridge. At this rate we may never make it back to Texas.

[jrj512]

At this rate we may never make it back to Texas.

Which one is Thelma?

[Titus]

Lol... thanks for the link Joe! Looks like we were already planning on driving right past Infineon on the way to the Golden Gate bridge. At this rate we may never make it back to Texas.

What time of the day will you be making that drive? Google's estimate of 1:47 for the leg of the trip could be very optimistic unless you are leaving Sac by between 10am and 2pm or after 7pm.

[goofygrin]

hopefully out of sacramento by 1-1:30.

[Titus]

hopefully out of sacramento by 1-1:30.

Good... Getting to the Golden Gate by 3 will be cutting it close, but you should still be able to get through the city and beat much of the afternoon commuters heading south out of San Francisco.

[POS Racing]

Looks like previous owner almost has the car ready!

[altiain]

Day one of the great Porsche adventure is in the can! After a 3:30 am wake up call to catch a shuttle to the airport (ugh) we arrived in Sacramento without issue, then headed north to pick up the car. When we got there… the car wasn’t there. It was down the street having the A/C system recharged. Bad omen? Guess we’ll find out tomorrow when we cross the Mojave…

Here’s the car once it got back to the shop:







It’s a Canadian spec 1984 Porsche 930 (911 Turbo). The car is solid, but it’s a driver, not a show queen. Overall, it’s in very good shape, with about 75k miles. Being Canadian, the speedo is in KMH, not MPH, so some mental math is required when there isn’t any traffic to pace.

Once we picked up the car and took it for a test drive to make sure everything was as advertised, we back tracked from Auburn to the coast to traverse the Golden Gate Bridge. We passed Infineon, but we were running a bit behind schedule so we didn’t stop.



Driving to the Golden Gate:



Unfortunately, it was a bit foggy by the time we got there in mid-afternoon

We stopped at a park near the Golden Gate to stretch our legs and take a look around. Some interesting local graffiti:



End of part one (only 10 images per post? WTF?)

[altiain]

Our home for the next 2000 miles:



We drive through downtown San Francisco south of the Golden Gate. Crazy hills, but some really cool houses:



Once clear of San Francisco, we headed south to Monterey on the PCH. Lighthouse in the fog:



Once we got closer to Santa Cruz, the fog lifted and we got to enjoy some of that famous California sunshine:





This car photographs really well. It’s absolutely gorgeous:







Yes, I was almost killed taking one of these shots, but that’s a story for another day.

Unfortunately, our earlier delay meant it was dark by the time we reached Monterey. So we skipped Laguna Seca today. We’ll swing by there on the way out tomorrow morning, before we head for the PCH and Bug Sur. Then it’s inland through Barstow, hoping to make it to Albuquerque tomorrow night. The car is solid and should make the trip without issue, but we’ll see if we’re up to 1000 miles in a car with marginal A/C and no cruise control tomorrow.

Higher res versions of the above photos are at the following link: http://community.webshots.com/album/580777047TTySOZ]click me[/url].

Until then!

[ken o]

Try this link for pix
http://community.webshots.com/album/580777047TTySOZ

[jeepinbanditrider]

awesome start. I'm double jealous now that ya'll are actually in the car and heading this way :)

[goofygrin]

Made it to Grant, NM. Tired.

[altiain]

Yesterday, Reader's Digest version: minor earthquake, breaking and entering at Laguna Seca, sea lions in Big Sur, the Mojave is f***ing hot, a 28-year old Porsche is rock solid cruising at 100+ for hours at a stretch, Didn't quite make it to Albuquerque. Stopped last night in Grants, NM after 1014 miles. Lots of pics, but too tired last night to upload.

On the road again now - 700 miles to go. So far the car has been rock solid, and the a/c even worked well enough in the 116+ degree desert temps.

[VFR750]

Sounds like you guys are having way too much fun.

[brandonmpace]

It really does photograph well. I've never really liked Porsches, but I'm jealous of that one. What size are those tires? Looks like it would be a blast to drive on a track.

[altiain]

Whew – what a trip! Made it home to DFW without incident. ~2100 miles, four states, countless curves, and no major issues. The car definitely has a “vintage” feel to it – no power steering, no power brakes, and a 4-speed manual will do that to you – but it made the journey without complaint and was pretty comfortable. Yay for vintage Recaros!

We woke up early Saturday morning and headed for Big Sur, driving by Laguna Seca on the way. It was before 7 when we got there and no one was at the gatehouse… so we drove in and drove on up to the corkscrew. We might have slipped through a gate at the top and taken a bunch of pictures, or maybe we didn’t. Who knows?



It was quite amazing to walk down the corkscrew, even in the dense fog. It’s a huge elevation change!

At the top of the corkscrew is a patio with dedication bricks:



West from Laguna Seca to the PCH, then down the coast through Big Sur. Now you’re talkin’:



The coast road was beautiful, but unfortunately it was very foggy Saturday morning:





Cool old Mercedes wagon:



Stopping along the coast for a break:



The water looked VERY cold:



You lookin’ at me?

[altiain]

We stopped along the coast again at Point Piedras Blancas and saw a colony of sea lions on the beach:







We turned inland at Cambria and headed through the lower wine country:





We crossed the Mojave through the afternoon – timing is everything, right? Overall, the car handled the heat just fine, although the A/C is a little marginal. Oil temps were fine with extended triple digit cruising through the 115+ degree desert temps.

[altiain]

We had one “oh sh!t” moment in Needles when the car refused to idle after an extended run through the desert. We think it vapor locked – once we got it started and got the car moving again, it was fine.

The sun set on us as we crossed into Arizona and headed through Flagstaff. We made it as far as Grants, NM before we ran out of steam – 1014 miles from where we started Saturday morning.

Sunday was more of the same – up before dawn and on the road for the final 700 mile push. Dawn in northern New Mexico:





West Texas is flat. Very flat.



Lots of cops in Texas using instant on radar – we got a warning light show from one statie headed the other way, but no tickets overall. We made great time across California and most of Arizona, but it was a different story through New Mexico and Texas.

We made it back to DFW around 6pm this evening. Overall it was quite an adventure, and it’s a trip I’d love to do again, but with a lot more leisure time to stop and explore. Still, I’m glad I went, and Sean’s new toy is pretty cool. I had some reservations about driving a 28-year old Porsche that far across country, but my fears were unfounded. The car ran like a champ, and it’s a lot of fun.

May you drive it in good health Sean!

http://rides.webshots.com/album/580787139kPwhon]Link to the photo album[/url]

[2zzmr2]

Looks like a fun trip. Very jealous of the car, that's my favorite porsche from a looks perspective.

[jeepinbanditrider]

Awesome :) They don't even need speed limits in West Texas that place is borrrrring. I'm heading out to the Big Bend area for labor day weekend in the Miata. Some of that trip is going to be HOT.