The Project Pad

Had some fun on the drive, thanks to everyone who made it and that generous guy who loaned out a car to a friend so he could join us!

Took a few pics but mostly drove, too many stops would have made it take too long. 185 miles round trip is a big day when you live 100+ miles from the start, or in another state and are driving another 9 hours after the "drive"...

Here are the pics.

First stop at Schoolhouse beach north of Bodega Bay.
DSC_0337 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0339 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0340 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0342 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0343 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0345 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0348 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0357 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0367 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0370 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

A few shots from my seat while stuck behind slow moving traffic.

DSC_0372 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0377 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0379 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

Lunch stop at The Chowder House and walk out the Point Arena pier.

DSC_0384 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0386 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0390 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0391 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

DSC_0395 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

Most of the group after lunch.

DSC_0399 by ringbearer93, on Flickr

Full album here.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66484176@ ... 389792098/

We then headed north on hwy 1 to hwy 128 leaving the coast and had a "spirited" run through a winding redwood forest. Got expensive fuel in Boonville and parted ways.

I had a great time and have some ideas to make the next drive easier for everyone.
I didn't like having people feel like they had to drive faster than they were comfortable with in order to not get left behind. We need lead and tail cars to keep everyone on the right track. Fast cars/crazy drivers up front and the "normal" folks behind.

I'd like to print maps and verbally go over directions and timeframe so everyone is in the loop, not just along for the ride so to speak.

Having the tail car leave first and block traffic as to keep everyone in a group, as long as it is safe to do so.

I had been planning to do the drive before and have a better plan but I didn't make the time. I knew all the roads are fantastic so that part was easy but I did feel like I could have made it easier for everyone.

Thanks again everyone and I'm looking forward to the next one in Dan's neck of the woods!

Thanks for posting the pics

Glad you got your first taste of what its like to take control and direct the group. I learned a lot while co-directing the last 2 drives. Its not hard but can have its difficulties. Its never perfect, but if everyone has fun and no persons or cars get injured then its a job well done.

1. Pre drive the route and do your best to get a time frame including stops. 3 to 4 hours with the main group is plenty of driving time.
2. Keep stop times reasonable. People will stand around and BS until YOU say its time to hit the road and that can burn a lot of time.
3. Keep the pace reasonable for all parties involved. Not everyone knows the road and you're idea of spirited on a road that you know can be someone else's TOO FAST on that road. And not all vehicles are equal either. If you want to push your car go to the track (I know that lesson all too well).
4. Don't go overboard with how long the route is. That's something I tried to keep in mind for the Tahoe runs because the bay area people have a long enough drive just to get to Tahoe. That goes the same for whoever is doing the long haul and medium haul, hence the reason why I wanted this years drive to be coastal so the long haulers from the previous years could have a well deserved break.

Dan, you did a great job and I look forward to working with you and Mike to keep this awesome event going.

Thanks Dan but who is this "Mike" you speak of? lol

He's the guy that took your position in the drive from last year. haha

Troof

40v4kq wrote:Also, I cant say thank you enough to speding-g60 for the generous loaning of his beautiful supercharged VR6 GTI so that a small dream could come true. That really was a special gift and made a HUGE difference in how the weekend went for a certain hard working person. That really was a standup and selfless act, and you deserve honorable mention and maybe a loaner car you will receive for next years drive as long as you come down Thanks buddy

glad i could help.... hope it ran good for you, it really is a fun little car that i never find the time to drive. it needed the carbon knocked out of it haha. cycle a few tanks of good gas thru it, rotate the air in the tires, you know, put it thru its paces. streeeeeeetch its legs out in the open. plus, because of this, two little problems (SC oil feed line and amp power feed wire) have been taken care of. THANKS D!

that gives the car its leg stretching for quite some time.... at the rate of normal, thats more miles than i would put on it in 3-4 years!!

ringbearer wrote:Had some fun on the drive, thanks to everyone who made it and that generous guy who loaned out a car to a friend so he could join us!

and ringbearer, now you see what i mean by "there in more than spirit" i did not want to ruin the surprise, this decision was made split second about 10 hours before Derek was due to leave.... he was going to Dans drive or helping me move, and the drive took precedence by far and the only way it was going to be accomplished was to lend a car. my 4.2L A6 has no tags (we moving out of state so no need to re-reg it in March to do it again a few months later) and the MK4 1.8T Jetta mommy-mobile is kinda boring. sooooo, that only left this car. i only decided to pull it out of storage two days prior to this so i could put more stuff into the storage in prep to move, so maybe, just maybe, other forces were at work. dunno. but glad to have helped and glad these doods had fun!!!!

It is a very cool and period correct car, Dan gave me the run down. Was nice to meet D and for him to get some time with his pop.

thanks i like it.... wife calls it her "spaceship" from the SC whine....

Speeding, I also have room for you at my house say you do come down next year. Bring the family if you like, got room for you all. And yeah, that sc whine is kinda neato.

Vortech V1 S-trim. loud straight cut gears

Any more pics? I am super jelly.

There is a link to the full album in my post with all the pics. I'm on da fone or else I'd git u a link. Twas a nice day

I took very few pics. I posted the best pic at the bottom of page 1. I was too busy chatting it up with D while we were cruising to even think about taking pics of the scenery. Like Dan said, it was a really nice day, supposedly one of those rare clear and calm days at the coast along that particular area. Couldn't have asked for better people, cars, and weather

So next year, I will be there. No doubt about it!

Looking forward to having you Ben and Aaron too

Definitely want to be a part of any more meets/cruises that come up in Norcal. I'm in SF bay area!

There should be 2015 nor-cal coast drive. would be a great time

This year I made it private invite-only drive and BBQ at my house instead of doing the usual open-invite deal hence why there was no postings on forums/social media. Next years drive will be in Tahoe and then the following year it should be on the coast. Going to try rotating the location around so we don't do the same location twice in a row as a means to break up any monotony and give long haul people a rest every third year form now on. Its a lot of driving.