San Fran to Monterey PCH Drive

[DavidProehl]

Looking forward to our drive in less than a week! Below is the latest and greatest updated schedule. It is nearly identical to what was previously posted, with some minor typo corrections and and updated map link. As I've said before, this is subject to change based on what the group feels like.


And below is who has confirmed as of today:

• Bill +1 - We will meet in Concord
• Rich & Kathy - We will meet you at the Marin Headlands
• Me & Heather

All letters in parentheses correspond to Google map locations.

Day 1 - Saturday

1. (A) 9:00 a.m. - Meet up in Concord at Walmart parking lot right off Hwy 4.
2. 9:15 a.m. - Depart from Concord
3. Drive into the city from the north, across the Golden Gate bridge.

• (B) 10:15 a.m. - Arrive at Marin Headlands (this view)
  
• (C) 11:00 a.m. - Moore Rd (photoshoped pic from earlier visit)
  
• Optional 3rd stop based on time - Fort Point (other gull wings there)
  
• We will have to pay a toll for the Bridge. You can no longer do this with cash, without FastTrack you must pay online either in advance or 48 hours afterwards to avoid fines.

1. (D) 11:45 a.m. - Drive down Lombard

• Due to there being 3 roads feeding into Lombard we will not plan on going as a group. This would require disobeying traffic laws and not represent DeLorean owners favorably for other motorists. Perhaps on another drive when we can arrive during a low traffic time of day we will do this as a group.

1. (E) 12:00 p.m. - Arrive at Twin Peaks
   You’ve likely seen this famous curvey road in car commercials such as this one for BMW or this one for Lexus
2. (F) 1:15 p.m. - Late lunch in Half Moon Bay - currently thinking Miramar since it has a coastal view, with a backup location of Mezza Luna
3. (G) 4:45 p.m. - Arrive in Monterey via HWY 1, stop at vistas as we see fit. Park near cannery row and find a place for dinner.
4. Stay the night in Monterey/Pacific Grove. I will be staying at Lighthouse Lodge & Cottages. They have off street parking and rooms look very nice. While it would be fun to stay together, feel free to stay where ever you’d like. We’ll meet up again in the morning.

Day 2 - Sunday

1. Wake up, eat breakfast at your hotel
2. (H) 9:00 a.m. Meet at someplace central to where everyone is staying, perhaps a strip mall store parking lot.
3. (I) 9:30 a.m. - Hiking at Point Lobos State Park (parking lot $10)

• If the parking lot is full we may need to skip this unless we want to park on the road, not sure I’m up for that
• We will go for a brief hike
• Possible photo op near the water

1. (J) 1:00 p.m. - Lunch at Bruno’s Market & Deli. This is a low key sandwhich shop.
2. (K) 2 p.m. 17 Mile Drive (cost: ~$10)
   Enter via the HWY 1 Entrance
3. Drive Home (any suggestions on a different route back?)

Google Maps Detailed Route

[DavidProehl]

Remember how I said we would need to be flexible with this drive?

As you have likely seen, the weather is not looking good in San Francisco tomorrow, there is currently a 90% chance of rain all day in SF. Monterey on the other hand should be rain free until mid-afternoon. So let's execute the plan in reverse. Those of us in the valley will still meet as planned in Concord at 9:00 a.m. (location). We will meet up with Rich near San Jose, then continue to Monterey via 101 and do 17 mile drive before the rain hits. Depending on the rain, we could then do a Point Lobos hike or do something indoors. Sunday we would then drive up to SF and do the stops originally planned. Sunday should be partly cloudy in SF, not ideal but still far better than rain!

This way we will limit the rain for the weekend to a few hours one afternoon rather than dealing with rain all day on Saturday.

[vwdmc16]

That sounds better, really sucks we can't get to enjoy the coast when it is nice and sunny.

[Rich]

Here's a short report with a few photos from the PCH Drive event last weekend which was shared by 4 fun couples in 4 nice D's.

Others who joined please chime in with favorite moments or shots from our journey.

We started south on Saturday from the Bay Area to Monterey, the harbor and the famous 17 Mile Drive, the end of which was in light rain:
IMG_7800.jpg IMG_7831.jpg IMG_7825_2.jpg IMG_7857.jpg IMG_7863.jpg

Sunday took us north on the sunny Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to San Francisco, including a view of spouting whales at one of the stops:
IMG_7936.jpg IMG_7954.jpg IMG_7946.jpg

Later on 3 D's roamed through S.F. from Twin Peaks over to Lombard Street, a.k.a., The Crookedest Street in the World, then north across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands:
IMG_7982.jpg IMG_8044.jpg IMG_8008.jpg IMG_8025.jpg IMG_8040.jpg IMG_8081.jpg IMG_8121.jpg

Lots of great memories and zero car trouble on this very enjoyable 2-day trip.

Many thanks to David for putting this well-paced and picturesque excursion together. And thanks to all for the great company along the way!

[DavidProehl]

What great photos Rich! Thanks for summarizing the trip! Below is a video with a few of my photos (and a couple of yours) sprinkled in. You'll notice the lens on the camera got a little foggy after the rain. Didn't realize that happened until after I looked at the video.

I edited 4.5 hours of video down to 9 minutes, however if you want to jump to specific points in the video here are some quick links:

17 Mile Drive
Horns from a guy on the road
Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Twin Peaks
Lombard Street
Golden Gate Bridge

[vwdmc16]

Great Video David! Thanks for being the camera guy!

[Domi]

Really cool pictures and video, thank you for sharing guys

[Bruce Johnson]

Great fun! Wish I could of made it.

[jawn101]

Man, I wish I'd made this one. Some amazing scenery out there - we'll have to do it again