Livermore to Castle Air Museum - Sun., February 25, 2024

Our February run will take us over backroads through the hills and valleys of the East Bay and out to the Central Valley and Castle Air Museum.

Castle Air Museum

Your Hosts for the Event:

Enoch & Merlyn Garcia

Route:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bxX79kKk6jHfMwSC7

Register for the Event on MotorSport Registry:

https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/livermore-to-castle-air-museum-run-norcal-minis-250361

Meetup Time / Departure Time:

9:00 AM / 10:00 AM

Meetup Location:

Starbucks & Jamba Juice
2050 Portola Ave.
Livermore, CA 94551

Starbucks Livermore Meetup Location

Run Details:

We will meet in Livermore at the Starbucks/Jamba Juice parking lot at 2050 Portola Avenue. If we have enough cars, we'll organize into a spirited group and a scenic group for the run. Please be sure to join the group that best suits your driving style. The spirited group will depart for Mines Road first, and the scenic group will leave about 10 minutes later to minimize radio crosstalk.

After enjoying the twists and turns through the canyons along Mines Road, we'll turn east onto Highway 130/Del Puerto Canyon Road just past The Junction. This first part of our run does have extended sections of single-lane road, so our leaders will guide us through carefully and use the radios to call out any oncoming traffic. If the weather allows us, the first group will pick wider sections for a more spirited run through the twisties. The scenic group will drive to keep everyone together and enjoy the views.

Mines Road near The Junction

After Hwy. 130 crosses over I-5, we will stop at Love's Travel Stop to stretch our legs and take a biobreak. There are some limited fast food options here if members want to grab a quick snack and gas up, if necessary. However, we still have a way to drive to our destination, so this will not be a lunch break.

Love's Travel Stop in Patterson

After our stretch break, we will continue to Castle Air Museum taking the backroads with some long straights until we connect onto Hwy. 99 South. When we reach our destination, we will try to park together in the museum parking lot for a group photo.

Castle Air Museum

Castle Air Museum (5050 Santa Fe Dr, Atwater, CA 95301) has a collection of military aircraft on display. If you want to see all the parked planes in the yard and maybe go inside Air Force One, admission is $20 for adults , $15 for seniors and youth, and $10 for kids (6-12). Kids under 6 are free with a paid adult. The indoor museum is free, and it offers informational displays about the different aircraft on display outside. It also has a gift shop with souvenirs.

Lunch is on your own in Atwater. Yelp has several suggestions for lunch.

Additional Run Details:

Please bring your radio, fully charged, turned on, and tuned to Channel 7, Subchannel 21 CTCSS before you arrive at the start. If you don’t have a radio, ask for a loaner at the driver’s meeting. For radio recommendations, please see https://www.facebook.com/legacy/notes/728353274556164/.

Be sure to turn the “VOX” voice-activated setting OFF, or we will hear the wind from your AC, your conversations, and any noise in your car broadcasting to everyone.

Make a pit stop before the drivers' briefing. We will be driving for a while through the canyons and valleys of Mines Road and out to Patterson without any suitable rest stop, so plan ahead.

California backroads can be rough, especially after winter storms spawn new and bigger potholes. We will call out cyclists and oncoming traffic on the radios. Most of the route is fairly smooth with a few backroad sections that may be a bit bumpier than others.

There are stretches where local wildlife may be seen on each side of the road. At some point, these animals may decide to cross the road, so please watch out for deer, wild turkeys, etc. trying to get from one side to the other right in front of your car.

We ask that you turn on low-beam headlights - not Auto - to make us more visible to other vehicles either ahead or behind us, including your fellow MINI drivers.

Headlight Switch: Full Manual On