Keith’s Blog: Caravan to Concorso is a Go!

Are you ready for an adventure? A tour with no route book, no pre-determined places to eat and where you make your own reservations?

Where anything that moves under its own power is welcome?

If so, considering joining us in our annual pilgrimage from the Pacific Northwest to Monterey. Here’s the planning brief: We head south down I-5 from Portland on Saturday morning, August 7. We cut over to the coast somewhere south of Salem, OR. Lunch is in Bandon, OR. (I’ve finally figured out that we go to the food café in the flea market rather than wait in the interminable line at the Fish House.)

That night we end up in Eureka, CA. We’ll have a dinner at a nice restaurant, and then start out early the next morning. (I know where the Starbucks is in Eureka.)

Our Day of Adventure begins on Sunday. We will go through Fortuna, CA, and then take the “Lost Coast” towards Petrolia, CA. It’s a rough road, although paved. Numerous potholes. No cell service. Not a good place to test the strength of your sump. But the scenery is spectacular.

We pass through Petrolia (although the town’s name should be Pot-olia given the types of plants being grown). We will make obligatory stops at the Trees of Mystery and pay homage to Paul and Babe before experiencing the Drive-Through Tree.

It’s a pretty straight shot down I-5 from there to Novato, CA. We will spend the night there, or nearby in Marin County. By taking the Lost Coast, we won’t have time to take Highway 1 through Fort Bragg. Maybe next year.

I’ve found that if we leave Marin after rush hour, the freeways are empty all the way to Monterey. Every time I have tried to get from Eureka to Monterey in one day, the last three hours through San Jose are a nightmare.

So that’s what we are considering. If you are interested, please drop an email to Jeff Sabatini ([email protected]) and we can get more or less connected.

It will be good to be back on the road.

PS: We are going to have the SCM Duetto shipped back to Portland from Monterey, being delivered to the shipper at the Gooding tent on Saturday, August 14. Tell Jeff if you would be interested in having your car included.