Your Host For The Event: Larry Anderson
All in all, this run had everything you could possibly ask for; twisty roads, sunshine, snow, beautiful scenery, a police “escort”, and most importantly great friends, both old and new.
Pre-run -
For a smaller group, the day got off to an early start as members from the South Bay and East met up in San Ramon for some much-needed fuel (both coffee and gasoline). From there, the mini-MINI group headed north towards the run starting point in Fairfield.
We’re off! -
Once everyone assembled at Solano College in Fairfield, we headed off to our first stop in Winters. A nice leisurely drive along Suisun Valley Road, Highway 121, then 128 East along the south side of Lake Berryessa, where we got to enjoy some twisty mountain roads and beautiful morning weather.
At our stop in Winters, a local Highway patrol officer had to check and see what so many MINIs were doing in one place. After our club president Simon completely confused him with his Queen’s English, the group was back on its way to our midway stop in Rancho Cordova via Highway 80 East.
Midpoint Stop -
Our lunchtime stop in Rancho Cordova saw us meet up with additional MINIacs from the Sacramento area, then have an additional drivers meeting to prepare for the second leg of our journey, which would take us along Highway 16, a quick sprint down Highway 49, then an eastward jog on Ridge Road towards Highway 88 to our final midpoint stop. As is usual for a group our size, we were a complete and total spectacle, with the station worker declaring “I have to get a picture of this!”
For the last leg of our trip, we continued along Hwy 88 East, heading up the mountain towards Carson Pass and Kirkwood. It was here that things went from our nice springtime weather to a scene from a cold December day. Temperatures dropped to the mid-30’s, and the snowfall we were greeted with during the last leg of our drive was a stark contrast to the sunny mountainside scenery we were seeing before.
A quick left onto Highway 89 took us to Meyers near Echo Lake, then a short drive along Pioneer Trail to Stateline, NV to wrap up the day. Some members joined up for beers at a local Irish pub to put an exclamation point on a fabulous day’s drive.
Larry Anderson - retrogmr@gmail.com
More great pictures from the run!!
And here's Dirk!
AND MICK AND DIRK!!
