Sacto/Napa Road Trip
Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: Moira Moe and Janene McDonald
June offered yet another opportunity for club members to pack up the Corvette and head out to locations distant from our local valley. Seven Corvettes with 13 adventurers met at Walmart for final instructions the morning of May 31st for a trip north with destinations planned for Sacramento and on to the Napa Valley.
Caravan members for the run were the Dwight and Janene McDonald, Jim and Glenda Fulmer, Ron and Joyce Bergmann, John and Linda Noble, Mark Ware, Jeff Hernandez and Moira Moe, and new additions to the club, Gerald and Dawn Berry.
The route up I-5 allowed for a visit to one of the many Black Bear Diners which just opened locally and most have not yet visited in our community.
Then, it was off to Sacramento where the California State Railroad Museum
was one of the highlights. Everyone loves trains, and young or old all love the museum. The trains on display are wonderful examples of the history of rail travel. 
The museum is a part the state park system, telling of the role of the “iron horse” in connecting California to the rest of the nation.
The trip offered some great dining which included Frank Fat’s, a Sacramento landmark since 1939. Started by an immigrant dishwasher, Frank Fat’s single-handedly created a downtown political scene, along with a tradition of legendary modern Chinese cuisine and unparalleled service. This is why the oldest family-owned restaurant in Sacramento has been thriving for over seventy-five years.
On Sunday, the group divided. Half headed south to return home while Jeff, Moira, Ron, Joyce, Gerald and Dawn continued north for the Napa Valley, known for hundreds of hillside vineyards and gourmet food.
Just like Sacramento, what happened in Napa, stays in Napa, but a picture is worth a thousand words. You will have to ask the caravanners for their stories.
Something definitely was up, as we were told to turn LEFT on Newhall Ranch Road as we exited instead of the usual outbound right. Being good caravanners, we followed instructions and the Corvette ahead, eastbound, giving our community a great parade of Corvettes to enjoy early on Sunday morning.
We reached Bouquet Canyon and proceeded right to Cinema Drive for another right and then into the lot of Mama’s Table at 23340 Cinema Drive. Our hosts at Mama’s were waiting as we descended on the location and filled the place, with big appetites from our 3.6-mile drive.
Some of us waited a while to be served, but some were generally pleased at how quickly their orders came. Ask the Websters, they will tell you why they choose Mama’s Table over a particular restaurant in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
There was an added bonus as we waited and visited and ate. The Indianapolis 500 was televised on the nearby widescreen! We witnessed Chevrolet’s latest Corvette set the pace for this year’s race. The new 2019 Corvette ZR1 is the most powerful Corvette to ever set the race’s pace, and it’s the most powerful pace car to ever run at Indy with its 6.2-liter supercharged V8 sending 755 hp to the rear wheels.
Located in the popular Promenade Town Center, parking can prove to be a challenge at times and only about half of our attendees dared drive their Corvettes to the social. One of our own did however find a terrific end-spot located right where he could keep his eye on his Vette all through dinner.
Thanks to the wonderful staff at Olive Garden for handling our group with all of our varied needs and desires. Your restaurant is one of our favorites and surely on we will return to, even between events with your offering of unlimited pasta and salad. Hard to keep it at 600 calories though!
Route 66 hosts six Classic Car Shows throughout the summer, featuring 1975 and older cars.
Great job people!
Twenty-two of America’s favorite sportscars with almost double that number of participants left Santa Clarita for a three to four day outing in beautiful Pismo Beach. The caravan was a sight to behold as our assembly of cars headed out CA 126 and all the way north on US 101 on the getaway leg. Morning coffee necessitated a pit in Ventura and then it was clear sailing into Buellton for a traditional traveler’s lunch at Pea Soup Andersons.
The place can’t be beat. Even their parking spaces were EXTRA wide, to the delight of our Corvette owners!
The calendar says we will be enjoying the hospitality of the Olive Garden when we next meet for TOT on May 17th. PM is our meeting time, but hey, Olive Garden has some Happy Hour offerings you might want to check out. Just sayin’…
Until then, we will meet again at another fine event put together by our Activities Committee. If you want to help plan one or more of our upcoming functions, get with the committee and let’s make it happen.
The planned drive for a Saturday Spring outing to Ojai was literally scrubbed due to road conditions after a couple of weeks of rain. What to do? No problem. Our Activities people produced an alternate plan and our Communications guy got the word out and we were still good to go!
Twenty Corvettes with thirty-seven participants for the Saturday run assembled at Walmart for their drivers’ meeting for a caravan out CA 126 to Brophy Brothers at the Ventura Marina. The drive was beautiful under sparkling blue skies with the caravan adding to the amazing scenery. There were plenty of thumbs-up from our fellow drivers along the way. The staff at Brophy Brothers did a great job taking care of our orders and needs, especially after such short notice and our thanks go out to them.
