kiznarsh

This past weekend was HooptieCon at the Sonoma Raceway, which included a few events including the "24 hours of Lemons" race and Radwood 3, a collection of rad cars from the 80s & 90s. I haven't actually taken the Cayman on a proper road trip in the 2 years I've had it and figured what better time than now.

Started off with setting the tire pressures.



I had plans to stay with a friend in Monterey on Thursday night, then another buddy in SF for Friday & Saturday. The original plan was to take Highway 1 to 33 through Ojai, then 58 which I've heard great things about, and then back on 101 to Monterey.



But with a huge storm coming and with the recent fires along the coast, I played it safe (i.e. avoided possible mudslides) and went up the 5, then cut across to the 101 via 58. Anyway, enough of The Californians.

Stopped for gas after going through some serious rain. At one point I was averaging 29.5 mpg!


Drove through the city of Reward, which is essentially Chevron's backyard. The smell of natural gas was quite strong.


Once I got on 58, the wind was really howling (just opening the door was difficult), but still had to snap some pics.



I always wonder how people end up living in these random houses in the middle of nowhere.


Fortunately there was no rain as I snaked through the twisty parts of the road, but eventually I had to drive towards the wetness.



Had lunch in Paso Robles.



Saw a lenticular cloud just before arriving in Monterey. Neat.



Next morning I spent a little time driving around the Peninsula.




Some lady yelled at me for taking this photo since I was crouching in the street. "It's not safe, man!" (She's not wrong.)


While taking this shot, I was approached by a man who asked me about the car, then mentioned he's got a white GT4 and a 991 GTS. The GT4 was at the dealer for 4 months after he damaged the front end (don't remember what exactly), but apparently it was hassle finding and shipping the right parts from Germany.





This is Charlie. He was quite friendly and walked up to me, tapped me on the knee, then realized I didn't have any food for him so he ran back to his hood.



After a Barry Z sandwich from Ike's, headed on up to San Francisco. The GT4 owner gave me some tips on fun roads and I carved through the Santa Cruz mountains where more adventures were in store.

I love it when the trees create so much shade during the day that it activates the headlights.



Looking on the map, I saw a twisty road that looked interesting but once I got to it, there was a wooden "road closed" sign on the ground. Some might recall my adventure near Palomar Mountain but this time, it seemed different, especially since I saw a car that was coming from that road. So I took a gamble and headed down...

Came across a STOP sign, but like speed limits, I always obey the signs.



Continuing on, I discovered the issue. It may have been worse before but obviously there's enough room to pass.



At times the road was quite narrow and some guy in an F-150 almost hit me by flying around the corner. Bullet dodged on that one.



Ultimately reached a plateau of sorts and while you can't see it in the photo, the SF skyline was visible from this area.



On Saturday morning I headed up to the Sonoma Raceway. This place was much more scenic than Buttonwillow near LA, but probably not that much different than some of the east coast tracks like Watkins Glen.


Hooptie cars racing pretty hard.


Yes, people do dress up for Radwood.



Pretty sure this dog's not from the 80s or 90s, but rad nonetheless.


Some of you may have heard of the guy who put a Tesla drivetrain in a Honda. He was there.



When was the last time you saw an Atari?!



I didn't take that many pictures but here are a few Porsche & BMW shots I was able to take without too many people in them.






Stopped by the bridge on the way back for some night shots. They were celebrating the start of spring with fireworks so that end up being pretty cool.


Unfortunately what ended up NOT being cool was getting hit by a rock on my way home.



Still worth it.

SpyderSenseOC

I'll take a rock to the windshield over a rock to the paint any day. Great shots.

manifold danger

That looks like fun. I took a road trip to Memphis and back (from Maryland) to pick up my BGTS last fall, but I think your trip was much better.

It inspires me to take a trek out to skyline drive that I've been meaning to do. And maybe soon after, the tail of the dragon. I do have regrets about being about 45 miles away from it when I drove through Nashville but I was on a mission just to get the car and get back. I have yet to take a trip just for the sake of going.

kiznarsh

What sucks is I applied 3M Crystalline tint to the windshield. Now that's gonna go out the window too. Pun sadly intended.

I've done both of those roads but I was on a business trip so I had rental (Altima one time, Sonata the next). Those are legendary in their own way. You'll probably never get out of 3rd on Tail of the Dragon but the handling would really stand out on all 318 curves. You should definitely do it this year.

CaymanSinAR

My wife and I have been trying to decide on what road trip to take in July and I was considering the Smokies. I'm just concerned that it is so heavily trafficked and policed that it would be no fun. Kinda like driving up the coast of California was.

It's probably either going to be a trip through Tennessee and North Carolina or I'm going to do a two day Porsche driving school in Birmingham.

Suicide Jockey

Thanks for posting! Really enjoy these road trip posts and hope to have one of my own someday. Like you, I've had my car for two years, but no real road trip to speak of during that time.

Always love your photos as well. Great stuff!

DBH

Thanks for the travelogue. Photos are terrific!

storii

Thanks for the photos. They make me long for a road trip!

kiznarsh

Can you do it in the middle of the week? It's practically impossible to enjoy any of the fun roads on the weekends unless you're in the middle of nowhere. I'm planning a trip to explore the Rockies after Memorial Day but plan on doing it Tuesday - Thursday so I can (hopefully) avoid the crowds.

The driving school would be more fun, but it wouldn't last as long but I guess the skills you're supposed to learn will help you every day.

Appreciate it!

PorscheAddict

Great photos and beautiful car. I think our next Porsche will be Sapphire (that is Sapphire, right?).

Zeus993

Great post! It was super "refreshing" to read after all the GT4 Spyder blah blah blah conjecture (sorry guys but I am DONE. Porsche has to release that car soon!) etc... Loved the pics and your commentary. You've got me chomping at the bit to hit the road! Thanks for posting.

thunderstrike

Great road trip report. Nice pics.

digitalrurouni

Great story telling great pics! You got an eye for photography for sure!! I like how you processed the pics. Would be curious to know about your camera setup if you are a RAW shooter or if you just apply filters with your phone and even if they were shot with your phone they came out great!!

Sucks about the windshield. I was in the same boat. I lost my 3M crystalline as well. Need to get it done once summer gets here proper. Made a starting difference with and without the film!

kiznarsh

Yup, Sapphire. It's being discontinued on the 911 this year but haven't heard about that regarding the 718 or other models.

Thanks! The photos were a mix of phone and DSLR. The ones that have my watermark were taken with my D850 and I only shoot in RAW, then tweak afterwards in Lightroom.

When I first got the car, it was my daily and it'd be parked outside during the day so having the windshield tint was really nice. Now it's the weekend car so I'm not in a rush to get it applied again, but probably will in the summer.

vbb

Fantastic photo Journal man, I really appreciate those that take the time to do this for the rest of us! These are the "dad's boring slideshows" that Porsche enthusiasts like us could watch all day.

Perhaps I missed it if you mentioned this already, but did you do the trip solo? I'm planning a much shorter (about 400 miles) weekend road trip in the Cayman with my wife in the fall to the mountains to see the colors on the leaves change, but I am really wanting to drive the Tail of the Dragon and if I can't get any car buddies to take the time off with me I may do that one solo. It's about an 8 hour trip one direction, so also shorter than the one you just took, but I'd probably stretch it out over 3-4 days.

​​​Driving the Pacific Coast Highway (playing Pebble Beach on one end and hitting up wine country on the other) is a bucket list item for me.