Thanksgiving...

[Chuck Miller]

Came back yesterday from my 27th annual Northern Calif. Thanksgiving vacation… I looked up my records, the last time I made this trip in the Porsche was 10 years ago. So… I figured with the way the car's running with the rebuild, and checking the clear extended weather forecast, it was time to take the old blue car up once again.

Starting on Sat. the 20th (2 weeks after my last 'Short Track' event) I packed up and headed for my first stop in Bakersfield to stay with good friends... Sun. I stopped at Buttonwillow Raceway, then up to San Francisco with more friends, on to Sears Point Raceway, over to Placerville to stay with Stephen Childs and his wife Vickie (1400km white/blue RS - '68 Gulf T/R) Then up to Oroville to visit Harvey Weidman, and finally arriving at Chico to stay with a best buddy and wife and family on Weds. the 24th through yesterday …With a side trip to Thunderhill Raceway on Sun.

I traveled a total of 1340 miles, got over 17 mpg on the open highway, and used 1/2 quart of oil…. the car ran perfect.

Observation:
Starting in '77 I used to do this trip in a hot rod VW, surrounded by other bugs and micro buses. Through the 80's I experienced the slow 'demise' of the of the 'open highway VW', they were still in the cities, but by about '87 I was all alone with my Type I on highway.

I started doing this trip in the Porsche when I got it in '89 and continued pretty consistently for the next 5 years... Happily flicking my lights to all kinds of 911's on the highway…

Well 10 more years have past and you guessed it… Yes, there were a few in the cities, and there were plenty of Boxsters and Cayennes… But 911's on the open highway…TWO!!!! … a C2 in Sacramento freeway traffic (almost doesn't count) and a late '80's Carrera Targa (with a BIG dog in the back) heading down highway 5 … God forbid an EARLY 911… THAT WAS IT… just TWO…

Man, I don't know… may be the guys that keep'm in the garage and look at'm know someth'n I don't…

…and so it goes

Will try to post some pics of the trip…

Cheers,

[Zeke]

A couple of years ago, I did a 'walkabout' in CA to Tahoe and surrounding areas incuding some NV, and then on to Napa/Sonoma with several stops in NorCal. Gone 5 days and 1600 mi.; I saw the same number of 911s, two.

Sounds like you had a great trip. You get out on any of those tracks?

[Chuck Miller]

Nope Milt,

Had a offer to go out as a passenger at Thunderhill - but passed

[JackOlsen]

The 'car character' of this country changes dramatically once you get out of the big cities. When I drive cross-country in my Jaguar, it's like I'm driving a spaceship or something (I want to shout out the window: it's made by Ford, fer gosh sakes!).

You can't throw a rock in LA without hitting a German car. But in the rest of America, they're unusual. Pick-up trucks, though. Who knew they made so many?

911's on the open highway are very rare. I drove my first one to LA from Illinois, four years ago, and didn't see another early 911 on the entire trip. Maybe three or four later models, the whole time, but that was it.

I take mine up to Thunderhill pretty often. And I keep meaning to take it to Illinois for a shot at Road America.

As you often point out, Chuck, they were made to be driven.

[pwd72s]

Perhaps it's like the C&W song about "rowdy friends". We just don't get out much anymore? A couple of weeks ago, Cindy & I made a trek to an Indian Casino on the Orygun coast to watch the best women pool players in the world compete. (Great spectator sport by the way. For $25 per seat we got up close viewing of the best in the world. How much for a nosebleed seat at the Superbowl?) The to and fro drive was done in her Ford Ranger. This drive was made every bit as quickly as I could have made it in the 911, thanks to bumper to bumper both ways, a radar trap every 30 miles as spotted by a V-1. What's happening? My theory is that unless one gets many miles from any population center, there just isn't much territory for "rowdy friends" to drive through these days. So, why not a pickemup truck? I mean, 60-65 and stay in a long line for hours on a 2 lane highway can be done in almost anything. The freeways aren't much better. The driving moments, off track, for a superior road car seem to become fewer and fewer as the population of the USA grows. Where did all these people come from? I suppose that as long as sex is more popular than death, we're gonna have a population problem.

[Chuck Miller]

Sat. 11/20 - All packed up ready to go....

Even with a 'factory type' roll bar you can still get a 'carry-on' size suit case on top of two soft bags with no trouble...

[Chuck Miller]

First stop - Friends in Bakersfield, less then 2 hours away...

[Chuck Miller]

Sun. - Lonely at Buttonwillow Raceway - SCCA had an endro the day before, but nothing was happening on Sun.
... except the go karts... still the best bang for the bucks

[Chuck Miller]

Less then 4 hours later the - Bay Bridge

[Chuck Miller]

Sun. at friends in the Glenn Park area of San Francisco...
About 7 hours of over night security parking'... right against the front car, then having a friend pull right up against you... not bad in'a pinch...