I am back and the road trip down to San Diego from San Francisco
was great! Our '66 MGB performed beautifully. The only tool we used
from the toolbox was a pair of scissors needed to cut an itchy tag
from a new shirt.
On the way down, we took route 1. The scenery was spectacular,
especially around Big Sur where the fog was burning off and making
dramatic formations against the cliffs. Scott Fisher was correct in
suggesting layered clothing (although in San Francisco we have lots of
practice with layers.) The heater came on and off, the footwell vents
were openned and closed. The sweaters came on and off. The only drag
about Big Sur was all the RENTALS! That is, tourists in new-looking
cars with "Hertz" and "Budget" bumper stickers who drove an average
speed of 15mph.
Our first night we stayed at the Cambria Pines Lodge according to
several people's suggestions. It's quite a nice place with tamed
peacocks. The second night we stopped in Ventura. We got up early to
breeze through LA (on Saturday). That was a bit intense because we
drove 405 at about 75 in fairly dense traffic.
After the meeting in San Diego, having decided NOT to get the seats
reupholstered in Tijuana, we headed north. Right off, we got wet! It
was raining in San Diego and LA and we had to pull into a hotel garage
to put the top on! Good thing we took it. Rain's pretty rare in
southern california, and virtually unheard of in the summer.
Having much faith in the car for getting us to San Diego, we decided to
just go home in one day up US 101. 101 is a _beautiful_ road,
particularly the ~200 mile stretch between Hollywood and San Luis
Obispo. It's not really curvy like rt. 1, but the scenery is very
nice. I don't think I will ever take I-5 to LA again.
Starved, we stopped 25 miles from home in Mountain View on El Camino
Real for a Pizza Hut pizza. I firmly believe it is possible to find
ANYTHING you want without driving too far on El Camino, Horn of
Plenty.
So now the car runs a little like it needs a tuneup, but I think it's
fully redeemed itself and may be worthy of a paint job finally.
thanks again for all the advice!
Lydia gregoret@cgl.ucsf.edu
P.S. Thanks especially to Andy Banta for helping with the A-arms. It
made my trip completely worry-free.
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