I talk a lot in this column about getting out and driving our hot rods and customs, and we've tried to promote it with our Americruise event over the last few years. As longtime readers might remember, this event has come and gone, and changed and changed back a few times. This year is nothing new. We have decided not to hold the event in Lincoln again in 2008; in fact, as of this time, we will not be promoting the car show portion of the event at all.
I have mixed feelings about this, but the one positive thing to come out of it is that I still get to do the part of the whole Americruise I enjoyed the most, and that is plan a trip across some two-lane highways. The only difference this year is that I'm not limited to going to the same place.
So, with this in mind, I started thinking of some place I'd like to go that others might find interesting enough to come along. It didn't take long before a trip to Bonneville for the 60th anniversary of Speed Week came to mind. It'll be 20 years since my last trip, so I figured it was time to go again. The fact that they moved back the dates a little (August 18-24) didn't hurt either, as the last couple of years it has fallen during my wedding anniversary, and so far I haven't been able to convince the wife of the virtues of a trip to the Salt.
With a destination picked, it's now a matter of deciding on the route. We'll be leaving from Southern California, so the most direct route would take us up Highway 15 to the 93. But anyone who has traveled with me the last couple of years knows I don't like taking the most direct route. I toyed with really going out of the way and going up the coast, but the fog had rolled in and the scenic drive wasn't so scenic the last few times I did that in August. After talking to a few people, I also came to the conclusion that most of them had done at least a portion of it.
When talking more with these same people, I found out many had never seen the California redwoods or Yosemite. So, without much more thought, I have decided to put something together that'll take in these two sights as well as take advantage of the scenic byways around them.
I haven't gotten far enough on the planning to know just when we'll be leaving or how long it'll take us to get there, but hopefully I'll have a better idea by the time you're reading this. Keep an eye out for more info in our "Roddin' Around" column (in fact, there's some info this month if you want to make the trip coming in from the east with the Street Rodder Road Tour).
Everyone who made the trip to Lincoln with us last year had a great time and we experienced hospitality from car clubs and cities like never before. We're hoping to continue this, so send me an e-mail and let me know if you are part of a club or have any ideas that might be worthwhile. If you're interested in making the trip, contact me as well so I can keep you up to date on the plans as they come together.