California Road Trip 2006!

[lupinsea]

California Road Trip 2006
July 13th - 23rd

As some of you know I was eagerly anticipating running the BMW 330i on my road trip to California this year and fortunately we got the car in time. I must say it was a great car to have on a trip like this. On a Thursday evening after work I headed out from my home just north of Seattle, WA. That evening some overcast skies and a light sprinkling sent me on my way. About an hour and a half later I left the interstate in Olympia for Aberdeen. From there I travel the Pacific Coast Highway some 1400 miles south along the coast to Los Angeles. The first night's stop was at our family beach cabin in Rockaway, OR (just north of Tillamook). Clouds followed me for part of the next morning but fortunately I had dry roads the entire trip.

A camp ground in the Redwoods was the 2nd night's desitination. With fading light I pull my tent from the back of the 330i and setup camp along the banks of the Eel river. Early Saturday I hit the road again peeling off US 101 to take California Hwy 1 to San Francisco. Hwy 1 is 250 miles of one incredible turn after another with a few sparse towns or villages sprinkled along the way. Unlike the deserted roads of later year, this year there was a lot of traffic as people were enjoying their summer vacation.

Later that afternoon I met up with my cousin in San Francisco. To kill time we hit PCH again in the wonderful stretch of road north of the big city up to Point Reyes Station. There PCH dances amoung the rocky crags as it climbs the hills that edge the Pacific Ocean. By sun set we were back in town looking for some grub.

Sunday was the big push into L.A. Some early morning goofing around on local roads and then a mad search for an auto parts store to top off the oil set us back. It wasn't until 11:30-noon until we left the San Francisco area. Big Sur was great and just as I remembered it from last year: 75 miles of non-stop twisty roads. In the middle of this is a microscopic town called Lucia consisting of four building wtih one being a Cafe and the others rental cabins. We stopped there for a late lunch to relax and soak up the view.

As the sun set we finally reached Malibu and beyond that L.A. It took us another hour and a half to cross the 30+ miles of the greater Los Angeles metropolis to reach my friend's house in Corona where we'd be staying for the next week.

Corona was our base of operations. From there we'd take day trips out to run the canyon roads around L.A.: Mt. Baldy, Ortega, Angeles Crest Hwy, Latigo Canyon Rd, Mullholand Hwy, Yerba Buena. With temperatures reaching as high as 105 the ice cold A/C was bliss as we carved our way along the dry hillsides.

Wednesday was a day trip down to visit friends and family in San Diego. And by Friday we said our farewells and started the 3 day trek back up PCH to Seattle, not touching a single interstate between Los Angeles, CA and Olympia, WA. By the time we returned we covered over 4000 miles in 10 days and burned up over 150 gallons of premium gasoline.

Damn, it was a good time.







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Starting out from the family beach cabin on the second day



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The big bridge crossing the bay in Newport, OR



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My fun machine. :D



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PCH on the cliffs high above the Pacific in central Oregon



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Sealions chill'n at the foot of the cliffs in Oregon



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When they say "Elk Crossing" they aren't kidding. Elk in the redwoods of northern California



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250 miles of roads like this as you approach San Francisco on California Hwy 1



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Finally met up with my cousin in San Francisco on the afternoon of the 3rd day



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Kids these day: my cousin check'n text messages and ignoring the stunny vista.
Here we took a break from the driving and had a light picnic about 15 min
north of San Francisco



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I love this stretch of California Hwy 1



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All done playing around, we head back into the big city by the bay.

[lupinsea]

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:cool:



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Jordan takes the wheel on Ortega near Corona, CA



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This is what happens when you're stupid. I think I understand why these
Audis have such high depreciation. This example is a S4 that came up fast
behind us. I could hear his tires screeching and dove for a turn off. Sure
enough less than a mile later we came upon this scene in the middle of a
blind turn. Good thing I was watching for dust clouds.



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Mr. Lucky. This was on Latigo Canyon road for those who know the area.
He smacked into the guard rail at 60 mph. Had it not been there he (and
his 2 passengers) would have sailed off a 200 ft drop. His question to
me: "do you think I can drive this out of here?" And his
friend: "BTW, what road are we on?"



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Bike night at Friscos in, um, I think somewhere near Azusa?



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Helping my friend rebuild the motor of his track toy at 1am. This he plans to flog at the track. He keeps his heavily modded R1 for "daily commuting".



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Life is tough when you have to drive through 75 miles of this. The coast line
along Big Sur as we head home.



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The sun sets on Big Sur. This will be our last night in California as we crash
at my cousin's apartment in San Francisco. The next day we'll be some
where in Oregon.

[rumatt]

Wow. Nice documentation and great pics.

[Sharp11]

Beautiful, simply beautiful.

Ed

[SCA]

Great pics! Makes me want to go Mtns. and drive.

[RMR]

Thanks for posting! beautiful pics.......

[Plaz]

:thumbup:

That S4 guy was a major tool, huh?

[Melissa]

:eek: Thanks for sharing your pics!! Gorgeous!!

[RMR]

BTW, what a great place for that guy to park the Audi and get out of the car. check out the picture.

[Mr. The Edge]

BTW, what a great place for that guy to park the Audi and get out of the car. check out the picture.

Yea, and check out the way he is standing, in the second picture (in the middle of the road, no less). http://forums.doghouseboxing.com/style_emoticons/default/gayfight.gif

[lupinsea]

The Audi Guy was a 19 year old ass. His comments:

"I never liked this car anyways, it doesn't have any grip."

"I was going to sell it soon and get an Evo 8 because I can't afford the car payments"

"Damn, I should have hit the throttle to hook up the back end. That's why I lost control: not enough throttle"


And looking at the skid marks it was apparent he hit the brakes too late and just slid straight out of the turn. If you look at this here map (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=malibu,+ca&ie=UTF8&ll=34.081722,-118.797891&spn=0.016866,0.026844&t=k&om=1) you'll notice a decreasing radius turn about in the middle of the map (in the semi-greenish woody part). Notice also how it tightens up as it points north, righ at the edge of the drop . . . that's where he whacked the guard rail.

Among the three people in the S4 he was the smart one. His two friends were complete idiots. We had to tell them 6 times what road they were on (and litterally even spell it out at one point).