Next morning we used our gift card and waited for our fellow travelers to arrive. Steady Eddy's was Swarming with Spandex clad bicycle riders! They were gathering for a ride up the very pass we planned to drive! We had certainly stumbled into it!

Members' cars were So spread out, the parking lot was So full, there was no opportunity for a photo op. We had 7 cars, (only 6 made the drive, one XJS owner felt ill so went home) of those, 2 were brand X, a Subie and Tahoe. The leader drove a 1987 Xj6, there was Nix, an XJS vert, and a 2012 XJ.

As soon as all participants had arrived our drive leader headed us out of town. We knew road would be crowded as soon as we passed the First wave of cyclists. There were a Lot more to come! Before we left town our leader made sure we had everyone, pulling over to allow strangers to escape from between us.

The road was Very interesting. Our leader passed out printouts of the road, which I had already looked, but apparently I was the only one. Distance is 49 miles from Winters to Calistoga, drive time, 90 minutes.


One of the more interesting features was the quarter mile down hill chicane, where visibility was good and the road clear so I straightened it out.


As you might imagine the road was Quite narrow, only a very few areas wide enough to pull off, with a double line for most of the 49 miles. There were twists and hills and curves on hills, curves in gorges, curves Everywhere. It was a Blast.

Our leader kept the pace at 40mph, which the road wasn't safe any faster than that. We met a few motorcycles, and one Huge gravel truck, one of those long dumping trailers who was Really too big to be there,

and I'm Sure frightened some of the lesser drivers of Lesser vehicles following our group, but Nix and the rest of the Jaguars just kept on keeping up.

Bicyclists mostly kept to their side of the road, and when they didn't, we were able to miss them without crossing the double line on a blind curve. Our leader knew that road Very well.

I told him later he was an Excellent drive leader; making sure we didn't lose anyone, making sure everyone had a map of the route, etc. He said he had lots of practice. He had been a convoy leader of some rank for several years in the Marines. AHA! That explained Everything, especially no one left behind.

Finally we could turn of onto highway 29 to Calistoga, but then we discovered there was a foot race over there, besides the bicyclists we had just endured!! Not only that, traffic was Literally Bumper to Bumper all the way to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), an imposing fortress perched on a hill side. (Was originally a Christian Brothers winery)

When we got there we all got out of our cars, scattered all over the lot, with sighs of relief, dreaming of a Wondrous lunch we had been promised. Didn't happen. Our leader had been misinformed; the Institute had no food! How can a cooking school have no food??! Not only that, he had been told no reservations were necessary. WRONG! Even if they had food we had no reservations!

Not to worry, there's a restaurant on site just around the corner. They had food alright, but the chef hadn't reported for work, nor had about half the wait staff,(and they had a reserved party of 12 coming any minute). Maybe they were in the race? The manager was speaking Very fast and very loud, obviously nervous, saying there was No Way he could handle 13 more for lunch.

Our drive leader was Seriously embarrassed by this time, but remarkably calm.

OK, by now people are getting testy, until one member called his good buddy, owner of Boskos Trattoria, a Very nice restaurant in Calistoga proper. "Can you take 13 for lunch?" "Sure! Come On Down!" So we did!

After a Very nice lunch, we were left to our own devices, most everyone headed for home as did we. We got here about 5pm., 260 miles that day, with not Even a hick-up! Nix made me Proud!

I was thinking this afternoon, by now she's the reliable driver we thought we were getting two years ago! Now I can drive the wheels off!
(';')

 

It's a great feeling when you know you can jump in your older car and head off on a road trip without a second thought about reliability. We do it almost every second weekend now the kids are old enough to leave behind.

Good to hear your club drive was a success, happy motoring.

 

Go Elinor........drive those wheels off.

 

Thanks, Guys,
Yes, it's Very dry here after 4 years of serious rain shortage. This area looks normal for this time of year though, just before the rains begin. The question is, will we get any rain from El Nino or will it all go to the south of us.

Yes, the drive was a Smashing Success, even if lunch took a while to find.

Being able to jump in and just Go is what we wanted all along; to be able to drive to the East Coast if we got crazy enough to want to do that. I wouldn't hesitate now, unlike last week when I still wasn't sure.

And yes, Jim, I'm going to drive her wheels off!
(';')

 

LnrB:


That is great reporting of an adventure.


1. The "work around" to feed the group when the planned meal stop at the culinary school misfired!!! perfect!


2. The leader's prior experience in leading convoys. Recalls my army days of leading a convoy. We usually had the mechanic's truck at the rear. You all managed sans a pickup fixer.


3. Way back in my working days, I had a loss of stored rice by fire. Hulls, actually have value!!! We found a market for the ashes as shop floor cleaners, ala cat litter...


4. The little town of Winters that you pictured is typical of so many in CA. always enjoyed assignments in one of them. Dating back to the mid 50's!!


5. Back in to the console, huh for the missing power to the windows. One of the 'easies", I've found. Door cards, ugh, not so easy??? A reason, I've preferred tudor cars over fordors!!!


I've been on "light duty" fighting off a stubborn head cold. Almost there!!!


Tis so neat, to clmb in the Jaguar, turn the key and get a quick start!!! Starter issues and related in the past! Coco prefers riding in the Jaguar. Easier to get into than the higher Jeep seats!! Older guy and a bit overfed!!! Hmm, kinda like me...


Drive that thing....


Carl

 

Thank you, Carl, we had a Grand time!
Yes, back into the console! DRAT anyway! I was So hoping I would never have to do that again!

I can lock the doors manually, the Viper still alarms fine, and I don't really need windows down this time of year. But by next season it will be a Completely different story!
Yes, thank you, I do believe I will!!
(';')

 

So some challenges are always inevitable, be it getting fed or contending with other "pests" using our roads! But it is nice when your own prized steed presents only pleasure and not more challenge! Now you can call her your "trusty steed" (or is that tempting fate do you reckon? - maybe need to think about that one).

Cheers,

 

Thank you, Tony,
It was Lovely by the time we got to Winters, and Nothing had gone wrong, nor was there any indication that something Might go wrong; although there's Always that possibility. At that point, 120 miles from home, I was Sure we had at long last been successful.

I'm sure there will be more challenges, just not today and I'm fine with that. However, I think you might be right, it would be far too tempting to call her Trusty, even if she turns out to be.

And actually, I've never thought of any of my cars as "steeds." Probably has something to do with growing up on the farm, having a few real steeds around from time to time. I think she's far superior to a mere steed, as I don't have to feed her twice a day whether I'm driving or not, and I don't have to shovel steed poop.

Actually, I think of her more as a fashion accessory.
(';')

 

LOL. Important things for girls, I know!

For town guys I guess the car is a substitute steed for the 4 legged variety...

 

Interesting reading about the run, its great that it went well. Its funny, many years ago when I was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth, I got off a Greyhound bus in Calistoga on my way to a venue in Pope Valley, near Lake Berryessa. Looking at your map it pretty much would have had to have been along that road to Winters :-)

It was so long ago , there was no significant wine industry in the Napa area. No wonder I feel so old sometimes.

 

Small world, Steve, and shrinking all the time!
We did pass a turn-off labeled Pope Valley, but as you can see, it's not easy to get to from anywhere along 128. The shortest route is East from Calistoga, put on your mountain goat tires and start climbing.

Of course, "Venues" in California can bear the name of any place within 25 miles.
(';')

 

It is weird at times how things come up. Years ago (decades when I think about it) I was doing one of those tree hugging, rope climbing management development courses they seem to like sending the young and hopeful on. One of the theory exercises had a scenario of a plane crash in the Arizona Desert , what resources you had and what you would do to survive. The map was a real map of an area around Casa Grande in Az. On that same trip that visited Pope, we also went to Casa Grande and stayed there over a weekend. Couldn't believe it when I opened the package. I thought sure, this can happen but I cant win Lotto :-)

 

Interesting. Venues. Yeah, possibly the PO address. Mine is Walnut Creek, but,
I don't live in Walnut Creek? this house is located in an unincorporated part of
Contra Costa County.


Names have always interested me. This community is known as Saranap.
Once a RR stop and a development around it. The developer named it after his wife, Sara Napthaley. One of the original pear trees from the orchard soldiers on in a back corner. probably root stock. Bears a hard fruit on occasion.


Casa Grande. Spanish for the Big House. the Navajo had cliff dwellings. Many survive. One of the way stops when we lived in Los Angeles, and went to visit the
folks in El Paso. Another name. originlly, Paso del Norte. Pass to the North.


Names around here range all over the map in origin. Indian, Spanish, gold miners, etc.


Side bar:


Son and I installed the tankless water heater. It works.


Carl