[Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Thanks to all of you who posted suggestions a few weeks back to help me plan a weekend drive up Highway 1 in Cali from LA to SF. Thanks especially to Mike Lynch for the tip on lunch at Nepenthe in Big Sur. What a treat! Nothing like a burger and a beer with a view that goes on and on.
I'll post some pix in my gallery later. Did the trip about 10 days ago but am still on the road, so no time to sort the pix and post them.
I started in Irvine at noon on Friday, stopped in to see Anders at Swedecar in Torrance (who is a great guy and fun to talk with), then drove to Morro Bay and stayed there Friday night. So I had the best part of the road for the weekend.
Highway 1 is one of the best drives on the planet. I stopped a lot, hung out on some beaches, took loads of pictures, some video, and had a great time. Went sea kayaking in Monterey Bay and overall got in a much needed break from work. Something about long drives on great roads with spectacular scenery that really settles the mind.
My U-Wreck-Em for the ride was a new (750 miles) Pontiac Gran Prix, which while being basically gutless, was fairly comfortable and had a sunroof. (I'd tried to get some kind of 'vert, but couldn't track one down at a decent rate.) The GP wasn't bad, although the ergonomics are weird and it has more blind spots than a tractor trailer. The blind spots got worse when I got up close and personal with a deer in Monterey. I totaled the deer but took out the driver's side rear view mirror on National's new Pontiac.
First time in 30-odd years of renting cars that I've damaged one.
Gutless is the nature of the Grand Prix, it turns out. I had another one last week in New Mexico, this one with 10K miles on it but with a supercharger. Maybe it was the altitude (5K feet near Albuquerque and 7000 ft in Santa Fe), but I think my wife's 9-5 Linear wagon has more poke. It felt much less powerful than my '96 9000 CSE. And even with highway driving it only got about 21 mpg.
I was surprised by the number of Saabs in Santa Fe. Newer ones were pretty common and I saw several C900s and some early 9Ks.
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
