California Dreaming Tour
Discussion
Having never been to the west coast of America, I thought I'd kill 2 birds with one stone and combine a sightseeing and driving trip all in one, so back in March I booked myself on the Petrolhead Nirvana - California Dreaming Tour that too place just a few weeks ago, and had a such a blast I had to write about it here.
I flew into San Francisco on the Friday on the recommendation of the guys at PN, the day before the tour started, just to get acclimatised and help remove some jet-lag. After a lovely seafood meal and good nights sleep I was ready for my adventures to come.
Day 1 - We met all the other drivers/participants at the rental depot at San Francisco airport, collected our virtally brand new Corvettes (15 people in 9 cars), we all worked out how the nice and simple cars worked, collected our drivers packs, with pre-loaded satnav, 2-way radios, and in-depth route maps, and left mid afternoon, unfortunately with the roof up because of some rare rainfall. A fun 80 mile drive to get used to the car, down some great winding roads through the Redwood forest to the coast at Santa Cruz, one of the contenders of the 'birth of the surf scene', and booked into our lovely beachside boutique hotel. Just as we arrived the rain stopped and it felt much warmer already, a good sign for the week ahead. We finished the day with a get-to-know-each other meal on the pier that evening, and some rest for the driving.
Day 2 - Was 300 miles mostly down the very scenic Highway 1 coast road with a great detour to Laguna Seca and a suprise passenger ride around track with a couple of the circuit staff !! It's amazing what happens if you ask nicely (and arrive in 9 Corvettes), which whilst not properly fast was a special experience. Back on Highway 1 and another detour to drive a brilliant twisty mountain road with alpine style hairpins near Big Sur, and then eventually down to Santa Barbara to another lovely beachside hotel. Another lovely meal on the pier restaurant and a good nights sleep for the long day ahead.
Day 3 - We left our beach paradise after a now typical big American style breakfast, and continued down the coast but turned off inland before LA to drive the excellent and winding Mullholland Drive, often featured on Jay Leno videos for its bends and curves. Then a cruise through Beverly Hills and then into Hollywood for a big lunch at The Hard Rock, then up into the hills by the famous sign for photos and views. For the afternoon we went and travelled 60 miles on the amazing and virtually deserted Angeles Crest highway, though it goes up to over 7000 ft in elevation with ski resorts in the winter, so it's a proper mountain road with incredible with non-stop fast sweeping cambered bends. We then drove 50 miles to the edge of Nevada and stopped at Barstow for a huge Mexican meal and nights rest.
Day 4 - We pushed on into the desert avoiding the freeways, after catching a short section of Route 66, we visited Calico and old 1800's silver mining town looking like a scene from your favourite western. We drove in arrow straight cactus lined back roads of the North Mojave and playing kings of the virtually deserted roads. We stopped for a visit to the Hoover Dam, which is an amazing sight, and well worth a stop, then pushed on the last few miles or so into Las Vegas, cruising the length of the strip in convoy before checking into our stunning and huge hotel. Sushi that night and a long walk around the local Vegas sights to take it all in.
Day 5 - Still in Vegas and enjoying a day off driving, but a few of us visited Las Vegas Speedway in the morning and tried to get a Nascar experience ride but no luck. A day spent sightseeing and shopping, and an evening drive and cruise up to the old Downtown area and back, with of course another run up the strip taking in the lights, fountains and monuments completed the Vegas experience.
Day 6 - We left Las Vegas and headed north into Death Valley with it's stunning geological sights and climbing temperatures, through a dust storm and did 2 laps of the brilliant Artist Drive. A 9 mile one-way narrow road of tight bends, fast sweeping curves, blind crests and dips, stopping for lunch at desert town Furnace Creek. Some more scenic sweeping hill roads out of the area and north into the Sierra Nevada finishing up into Mammoth Lakes at 8000 ft and on the edge of Yosemite Park with a very light dusting of snow falling that night.
Day 7 - We went north and visited the Mono basin, a stunning salt lake, and across through Yosemite through some properly challenging mountain passes that would have done the Alps pround, and stopped at the most picturesque little lake I've seen. We then carried on across the hills and into the the very pretty Napa Valley and stopped for the night at a lovely golf resort after our 300 mile drive. A lovely evening meal and a walk back to our chalets through the stunning landscaped course.
Day 8 - Our last, so was mainly just a cruise down into San Francisco through the lovely vineyard region of Napa, but diverted for some last minute photos of the bay high on the hillside viewpoint before cruising over Golden Gate bridge, and down through San Francisco and back to return the cars.
The trip was a wonderful experience, and my 2nd tour with Petrolhead Nirvana, my first being the Alpine Tour back in 2010. I knew to expect the excellent planning, the banter with the 2-way radios, the pre-planned TomTom routes, the growing friendship and camaraderie between drivers, the great accommodation provided, but I didn't realise how beautiful that area of America is, and the stunning scenery, and of the course the brilliant driving roads you can find.
The C6 Corvette is a very capable car, and handled the heat, the cold, the variable roads all in it's stride, and the roof was down for every driving minute except that first day. We've the got the Hertz Gold hire spec cars, so still V8, 6.2, and 6 speed auto with paddle shift. Fine for our purposes though they're quick enough, handle and stop pretty well and are comfy for the long mileages. All virtually brand new with around 10 - 15k on the clock, and of course.. convertible !!!
Some of the best fun was seeing the envious looks from other tourists stuck in their people carriers !
The Americans seem to love the 'Vette, as it's an American icon, and we would have got a far more suspicious reception from other motorists if we were in Porches or similar, usually we got a appreciative beeps and thumbs up from other road users.
If you've never done a trip like this, I'd urge you to do so. I spent 2 years procrastinating after my last trip, and realised I should have just done it back then.. !!!
This was my ride for the week.. after a rainy drive down through the Redwoods, hences the muddy arches. Roof still up, but for the last time !
First stop point at Laguna Seca, just before our ride round the track
Quick stop after a brisk hillside blat
After a blast round Mullholland Drive dropping down towards Beverley Hills
Must do picture with 'the sign'
Corvettes all around
Calico - old western silver mining town
Heading into the desert, and Nevada
Dead straight road for miles, with weird dips that gave a nice roller coaster sensation
Hoover Dam
Driving into Las vegas
Heading into Death Valley we stopped at this amazing viewpoint.
Artists Drive - 9 miles of one-way curvyness
heading into a dust storm across the bottom of Death Valley. It was like bad fog with less than 20 feet visibilty but through it in a few seconds.
Approaching the Sierra Nevada mountains, some snowcapped.
Another scenic mountainside stop...
Brilliant Ebbets pass through Yosemite
View after driving up the Conzelman road opposite San Francisco
I flew into San Francisco on the Friday on the recommendation of the guys at PN, the day before the tour started, just to get acclimatised and help remove some jet-lag. After a lovely seafood meal and good nights sleep I was ready for my adventures to come.
Day 1 - We met all the other drivers/participants at the rental depot at San Francisco airport, collected our virtally brand new Corvettes (15 people in 9 cars), we all worked out how the nice and simple cars worked, collected our drivers packs, with pre-loaded satnav, 2-way radios, and in-depth route maps, and left mid afternoon, unfortunately with the roof up because of some rare rainfall. A fun 80 mile drive to get used to the car, down some great winding roads through the Redwood forest to the coast at Santa Cruz, one of the contenders of the 'birth of the surf scene', and booked into our lovely beachside boutique hotel. Just as we arrived the rain stopped and it felt much warmer already, a good sign for the week ahead. We finished the day with a get-to-know-each other meal on the pier that evening, and some rest for the driving.
Day 2 - Was 300 miles mostly down the very scenic Highway 1 coast road with a great detour to Laguna Seca and a suprise passenger ride around track with a couple of the circuit staff !! It's amazing what happens if you ask nicely (and arrive in 9 Corvettes), which whilst not properly fast was a special experience. Back on Highway 1 and another detour to drive a brilliant twisty mountain road with alpine style hairpins near Big Sur, and then eventually down to Santa Barbara to another lovely beachside hotel. Another lovely meal on the pier restaurant and a good nights sleep for the long day ahead.
Day 3 - We left our beach paradise after a now typical big American style breakfast, and continued down the coast but turned off inland before LA to drive the excellent and winding Mullholland Drive, often featured on Jay Leno videos for its bends and curves. Then a cruise through Beverly Hills and then into Hollywood for a big lunch at The Hard Rock, then up into the hills by the famous sign for photos and views. For the afternoon we went and travelled 60 miles on the amazing and virtually deserted Angeles Crest highway, though it goes up to over 7000 ft in elevation with ski resorts in the winter, so it's a proper mountain road with incredible with non-stop fast sweeping cambered bends. We then drove 50 miles to the edge of Nevada and stopped at Barstow for a huge Mexican meal and nights rest.
Day 4 - We pushed on into the desert avoiding the freeways, after catching a short section of Route 66, we visited Calico and old 1800's silver mining town looking like a scene from your favourite western. We drove in arrow straight cactus lined back roads of the North Mojave and playing kings of the virtually deserted roads. We stopped for a visit to the Hoover Dam, which is an amazing sight, and well worth a stop, then pushed on the last few miles or so into Las Vegas, cruising the length of the strip in convoy before checking into our stunning and huge hotel. Sushi that night and a long walk around the local Vegas sights to take it all in.
Day 5 - Still in Vegas and enjoying a day off driving, but a few of us visited Las Vegas Speedway in the morning and tried to get a Nascar experience ride but no luck. A day spent sightseeing and shopping, and an evening drive and cruise up to the old Downtown area and back, with of course another run up the strip taking in the lights, fountains and monuments completed the Vegas experience.
Day 6 - We left Las Vegas and headed north into Death Valley with it's stunning geological sights and climbing temperatures, through a dust storm and did 2 laps of the brilliant Artist Drive. A 9 mile one-way narrow road of tight bends, fast sweeping curves, blind crests and dips, stopping for lunch at desert town Furnace Creek. Some more scenic sweeping hill roads out of the area and north into the Sierra Nevada finishing up into Mammoth Lakes at 8000 ft and on the edge of Yosemite Park with a very light dusting of snow falling that night.
Day 7 - We went north and visited the Mono basin, a stunning salt lake, and across through Yosemite through some properly challenging mountain passes that would have done the Alps pround, and stopped at the most picturesque little lake I've seen. We then carried on across the hills and into the the very pretty Napa Valley and stopped for the night at a lovely golf resort after our 300 mile drive. A lovely evening meal and a walk back to our chalets through the stunning landscaped course.
Day 8 - Our last, so was mainly just a cruise down into San Francisco through the lovely vineyard region of Napa, but diverted for some last minute photos of the bay high on the hillside viewpoint before cruising over Golden Gate bridge, and down through San Francisco and back to return the cars.
The trip was a wonderful experience, and my 2nd tour with Petrolhead Nirvana, my first being the Alpine Tour back in 2010. I knew to expect the excellent planning, the banter with the 2-way radios, the pre-planned TomTom routes, the growing friendship and camaraderie between drivers, the great accommodation provided, but I didn't realise how beautiful that area of America is, and the stunning scenery, and of the course the brilliant driving roads you can find.
The C6 Corvette is a very capable car, and handled the heat, the cold, the variable roads all in it's stride, and the roof was down for every driving minute except that first day. We've the got the Hertz Gold hire spec cars, so still V8, 6.2, and 6 speed auto with paddle shift. Fine for our purposes though they're quick enough, handle and stop pretty well and are comfy for the long mileages. All virtually brand new with around 10 - 15k on the clock, and of course.. convertible !!!
Some of the best fun was seeing the envious looks from other tourists stuck in their people carriers !
The Americans seem to love the 'Vette, as it's an American icon, and we would have got a far more suspicious reception from other motorists if we were in Porches or similar, usually we got a appreciative beeps and thumbs up from other road users.
If you've never done a trip like this, I'd urge you to do so. I spent 2 years procrastinating after my last trip, and realised I should have just done it back then.. !!!
This was my ride for the week.. after a rainy drive down through the Redwoods, hences the muddy arches. Roof still up, but for the last time !
First stop point at Laguna Seca, just before our ride round the track
Quick stop after a brisk hillside blat
After a blast round Mullholland Drive dropping down towards Beverley Hills
Must do picture with 'the sign'
Corvettes all around
Calico - old western silver mining town
Heading into the desert, and Nevada
Dead straight road for miles, with weird dips that gave a nice roller coaster sensation
Hoover Dam
Driving into Las vegas
Heading into Death Valley we stopped at this amazing viewpoint.
Artists Drive - 9 miles of one-way curvyness
heading into a dust storm across the bottom of Death Valley. It was like bad fog with less than 20 feet visibilty but through it in a few seconds.
Approaching the Sierra Nevada mountains, some snowcapped.
Another scenic mountainside stop...
Brilliant Ebbets pass through Yosemite
View after driving up the Conzelman road opposite San Francisco
Edited by chevy-stu on Friday 11th October 13:13
I knew about the trip and that's why I said I wanted to do it. Kind of skim read the write up at work and could not see the photos.
Finally found some time to sit down with a cold beer at home, fully read the write up and see viewed the photos(blocked at work). Wow I so want to do this, money is there and no wife to ask permission from
Did you do it solo or with another driver? Kind of thinking I want to share the driving and have someone to talk to during the day, take some photos that you would not be able to do if you were driving all the time. Borrowing a GoPro and sticking that on the dash would be doable.
Finally found some time to sit down with a cold beer at home, fully read the write up and see viewed the photos(blocked at work). Wow I so want to do this, money is there and no wife to ask permission from
Did you do it solo or with another driver? Kind of thinking I want to share the driving and have someone to talk to during the day, take some photos that you would not be able to do if you were driving all the time. Borrowing a GoPro and sticking that on the dash would be doable.
Cotty said:
I knew about the trip and that's why I said I wanted to do it. Kind of skim read the write up at work and could not see the photos.
Finally found some time to sit down with a cold beer at home, fully read the write up and see viewed the photos(blocked at work). Wow I so want to do this, money is there and no wife to ask permission from
Did you do it solo or with another driver? Kind of thinking I want to share the driving and have someone to talk to during the day, take some photos that you would not be able to do if you were driving all the time. Borrowing a GoPro and sticking that on the dash would be doable.
Most other cars were in pairs (4 couples and a dad/son combo), but I was personally on my own, as were the tour managers. Didn't bother me too much as I liked the drive, but I agree I probably missed some sites and good photo opportunities..Finally found some time to sit down with a cold beer at home, fully read the write up and see viewed the photos(blocked at work). Wow I so want to do this, money is there and no wife to ask permission from
Did you do it solo or with another driver? Kind of thinking I want to share the driving and have someone to talk to during the day, take some photos that you would not be able to do if you were driving all the time. Borrowing a GoPro and sticking that on the dash would be doable.
There were a few Gopros on cars, but still waiting for vids to appear so will post links when I know...
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