[alfa] Travelogue

[Steve & Zita Waclo <z_waclo@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All:

MY Honda Nighthawk Group on Yahoo often has posts by
members who pass along their experiences describing
road trips. Just joined this group December last, so
perhaps it's not the season for such narratives, or
maybe it's simply not done. Anyway, I had so much fun
this past Sunday/Monday on the road with my wife and
our '87 Spider QV that I thought I'd pass along some
of my experiences and tips on some great highways to
travel in California NW of Napa. Will be brief and I
guess that's why God gave us the delete key, or in
this case, the down arrow.

Stayed up late saturday night before our departure
trying to get my newly manufactured windblocker
installed behind the seats. The cardboard I used to
make a template was not quite large enought to
replicate the entire wb, so some additional trimming
was necessary. 1/4" acrylic is pretty stubborn and
after the jig saw makes it's cut the molten acrylic
tends to rejoin behind the blade necessitating several
passes. Short story is, it worked really well and at
speeds above 45 or so, the improvement is dramatic. 

Sunday at 9am we left Carson City in cloudless 70
degree weather and took route 50 West to Lake Tahoe
and continued to the intersection with I-80 in Truckee
CA. Cruised uneventfully at 70 to 80 (thanks again
windblocker) till near Napa, then crossed to the coast
highway and began the fun part up US 1 along the
ocean. Getting there mid-afternoon worked to our
advantage since most of the other tourists were
southbound towards the Bay and we had most of the road
to ourselves. Had an interesting experience with a
young couple in a WRX who insisted on staying close
through about 30 miles of the twisties. I seldom speed
anymore, nor do I slow down much in the tight stuff
and it was fun to have the WRX right behind going into
the curves, then watch him fade rapidly as the QV
"go-carted" through. It was actually a combination of
his inexperience and my using the hand-over-hand, push
pull, shuffle steer, 3-9, 4-8, Noon-6 steering
techniques I learned so well from recent posts. Thanks
all.

We overnighted at a motel in Ft. Bragg and spent much
of Monday touring the Mendicino Botanical Gardens,
which I thought was a small price for me to pay for
all the great road time with the QV. We put the top
back up on the way south after Mendicino, to ward off
the afternoon fog and drizzle, then came out into the
sun again in time to find the left turn onto Stewarts
Point Road. "57 Miles to Next Services" said the sign,
but hey, I'm in an Alfa. What could possibly go wrong?
The first 15 miles is really beat up two lane through
some marvelous, forested valleys then up into the
coastal range where the sunset views were spectacular.
Dusk brought us to the the last 15 miles of the road,
which is the "excellent" part. Why millions were spent
on this highway between two "nowheres" is beyond me,
but no one is complaining. Table-top road surfaces,
new lane stripes, long sight lines (mostly) and
fantastic corners make this a Mecca for enthusiasts
from all over the hemisphere (I'm told). Occassionally
it's a Mecca for CHP's as well, but mainly on
weekends.

Got slightly lost a bit further on (navigator was
napping) and also got to enjoy Rt. 128 between
Rutherford and Winters. Will have to do it in the
daylight someday. Too many deer at night. 

Guess actually driving our wonderful Alfa's is what
it's really all about, so I though I'd pass this
along.

Ciao,
Steve Waclo
Carson City, NV   

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