To Monterey and the cars

Line up
Originally uploaded by eqdynamics.

After Sonoma it was time, on Wednesday, to drive south - stopping for just an hour in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf for old time's sake and for a quick burger lunch. The old Dehavilland Beaver seaplane we rode in a few years ago doesn't seem to be there any more. Shame :(

A quick dash to Pleasanton to meet up with Paul and Ellen at Jay & Bev Witham's house was followed by an even quicker dash down 101 to Gilroy and the "Pre-Monterey" party thrown by Don and Sandi Treadwell at their home.

An interesting group of friends, old and new, was assembled with some interesting cars. Check out the Maclaren CanAm car they had parked on their lawn!

The party went on late so it was very dark when I had to lead Paul and Jay out of Gilroy. Thank heaven for GPS ... but not for the Bora's headlights which are both as dim as a candle and point wildly heaven-ward! Not much use when you need to see where you're going along unlit country lanes!

At least once we reached 101 I could drop back and let Paul and Jay overtake - allowing me to follow their lights. About 20 minutes shy of our destination (Paul's friend Gus's empty house above Laguna Seca) Jay came to a sudden halt in front of me, clouds of smoke appearing from his (much modified) engine bay. The water-pump belt had snapped. Thankfully, AAA got there in record time and the only damage was the belt and a little lost coolant so the car was back on the road the following morning.