[Shotimes] California Convention (2004) Itinerary Proposals....Long...Part 2

[George Fourchy]

Part 2.....Continued....


Wednesday...Track Day at Thunderhill Raceway....We'll leave early in the morning to
travel east on I-80, (opposite the rush hour traffic!) heading for Vacaville, where
we'll head north on I-505.  About 50 miles after it intersects with I-5, we'll
arrive at Thunderhill Raceway.   It's just over a two hour drive from Vallejo.  You
can check out the track on the internet at   www.thunderhill.com     After leaving
the track, we'll head back down I-5, this time going past the I-505 interchange,
getting off instead in Woodland, taking Cal State Hwy 113 to Davis, where we
reintersect I-80 westbound.  At Dixon, we'll get off to go eat dinner at Cattlemen's
Steakhouse.  They should do REALLY well with us that night, as hungry as we will be.
  I'll see if they can set up some tables for us to eat together.  Then it is about
a 45 minute drive back to the hotel.

Thursday....This day is open at this time.  I myself do not know if there is a
dragstrip in the area that would be suitable for us to use.  Those of us here more
in the know about these things might have some ideas, and there might be something
around that none of us knows about.  There also was talk of setting up an autocross
in Sacramento, which is about 45 min to an hour east of Vallejo.  We will continue
investigating the possibility of a SHO oriented event to be held on Thursday.  

For those who might not care to 'abuse' their cars on a dragstrip, or even in an
autocross, there will be other things doable on Thursday, and also Friday will be
available for local trips or for touring the area.   There's also Marineworld, for
anyone who didn't get a chance to go there up til now.

Things to do on Thursday and Friday include:  

The Wine Country tour of the Napa Valley.  It's just a hop and a skip from the
hotel; about 15 miles north of Vallejo is the city of Napa, and north of that, on
Highway 29, is the valley where all the vineyards are.  You can make a round-trip of
it, going north on Hwy 29, and returning back to Napa on the Silverado Trail, which
parallels the highway, just a bit to the east.  We'll determine which winery is
having a tour when, and publish this information in the packet you'll get at
registration.

Golf at the Paradise Valley Country Club, or the Rancho Solano Country Club.   
Information for them can be found at this site.... 
http://www.californiagolf.com/coursesearch.asp    Just insert the city name,
Fairfield, and the search engine will come up with what information there is about
the two courses.

Restaurants abound in all directions.  There is a very good one in downtown
Vacaville, called 'Merchant and Main' after its location.  They have excellent
steaks and lamb there.  Ribs are available at the Outback Steakhouse and Tahoe Joe's
(my favorite) in Vacaville, and at the Hungry Hunter in Fairfield, and great Chinese
food (you gotta do this at least once!!!) is available about 30 minutes west of
Vallejo on I-80 in the city of Albany, right next to Berkeley.  Then, of course,
there is Chinatown in San Francisco and also in Oakland, and Fisherman's Wharf,
where we hopefully will have already been on Tuesday afternoon.  Red Lobster and
Marie Callendar's is available in Fairfield, and another excellent choice right next
to them is Mimi's.  We have a Blue Frog adjacent to Marie Callendar's, which is a
bit pricy, but their meats are excellent.  

There is boating and swimming at Folsom Lake, which is about an hour and a half east
of Vallejo, in the foothills east of Sacramento on Highway 50.  I'll have my boat
available to fool around with if folks want, and we can have a picnic/beach party if
enough folks are interested.  This could occur in the afternoon on Thursday after an
autocross that hopefully could be held in the Sacramento area.  Our BaySHO club will
do the investigating required to see if an autocross is possible. 

There is also a very nice lake just to the west of Vacaville, Lake Berryessa where
swimming and boating is also possible.  We can do the same thing there as at Folsom,
and it definitely is a lot closer (if we don't autocross).  In the small town of
Winters, there is a very cheap gas station, as well.  

If you would rather explore than bake under the sun at an Autocross or Drag Racing
event, it is about 2 hours to Reno from Sacramento on I-80, and about the same to
South Lake Tahoe, the closest casinos, which are also on Lake Tahoe, using Highway
50.  There is a very nice highway that goes along the west side of the lake that
connects the two routes, and the whole thing takes an afternoon to explore.  There
are some GORGEOUS views of Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay from that road, Highway 89.  

If seeing the ocean was your goal, and if the stratus layer we have most summer days
isn't too thick, you could explore the Point Reyes National Seashore, which is about
a 2 hour drive west from Vallejo. I took Zach Leahy out there when he was here last
year, and he loved it.   There is also Half Moon Bay, on the west side of the
Peninsula that San Francisco is at the north end of, and a little farther south is
Santa Cruz, with its famous Boardwalk.  There's also Monterey, with a very nice
aquarium and many good restaurants.   (and Laguna Seca)

So, we have LOTS to do, and not enough time, as usual, to do it in.  Take a look at
a map, and decide what you might like to do and where to go.  We want you to enjoy
your week in California, and maybe decide to take a little longer to see some more
sights before you go back home.

I want anyone with suggestions or comments to send them to me via the SHOTimes
list...and I want comments on the comments, if they are appropriate.  The more
information I get, the better job we can do to prepare a GREAT convention.

George.....