Pacific Coast Highway Day 2
Pacific Coast Highway
Day 2 - April 18, 2003 - Flagstaff, AZ to Pauma Valley, CA
We woke at 6:10, much before we had planned, and I had a chance to clean the car a little bit. The air temperature was about freezing so I had to use warm water to clean the windows and some dust that had accumulated.
We were out of our room to have breakfast by 7 AM. The Quality Inn provided its guests a hot breakfast of eggs and waffles as well as other treats - bagels, donuts, cereal, coffee and juice. We were out and on the road 7:30.
We were very fortunate to have good weather. The Flagstaff long range forecast had been for snow at night and some accumulation. We found it to be a beautiful sunny morning with a few clouds. The sky was blue. It was a cool morning so we had to have some heat in the car.
As we were driving south on I-17 we saw a herd of four elk. They were young but were on the side watching the vehicles pass by. We drove through some beautiful scenery and I-17 is a good twisting road that gave S2000 and the me a great performance opportunity. We got to Phoenix and drove the peripheral loop (101) to get around the city and then just before I-10 we refueled.
I-10 was very busy with a lot of trucks and construction. We drove only a short way before we took a connection on US 85 to go to I-8 that would provide us a better road to San Diego.
At 11:15 we stopped at a road side area between Gila Bend and Yuma and had a snack. At one time we had 4 “sport cars” parked beside one another. But it was the S2000 that got the serious looks.
As soon as we were back on I-8 we entered swarms of butterflies that would be just above the macadam. For over 100 miles, out of Arizona and into California, these small creatures would hit the car, windshield and filled up the A/C radiator.
But the drive today was much more pleasant as there was minimal wind. We got to Yuma and as we crossed the Colorado River we stopped and took a picture of the car with the Welcome to California sign. As we drove further into California, we saw many people with their motor homes pulling a wide variety of dune buggies. We soon saw why. The sand dunes covered both sides of the interstate and these vehicles were flying up and down and people really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
What is surprising is that many parts of this area is below sea level. We got to El Centro on the Imperial Valley and gave our friends Tom and Sue a call. They had given us two sets of directions and realizing we had ample time, we drove the more scenic route to their house.
At Ocotillo we left the interstate and took S2, a San Diego county road. As we began it was fairly straight but two lanes and had some sharp curves. The area east of the mountains is very dry and the cactus and some hardy plants were in bloom. On some portions, I has able to open it up and reached speeds over 110. After about 30 miles, we entered an area with more moisture with trees and shrubs.
As we drove to Julian we had risen to over 4000 feet and it was cool. The road to the top was all switchbacks and hairpin curves, this was fun as the S2000 showed its handling ability. I tried to find a place to wash the car (butterflies) but could not. We did find a great winery (Witch Creek) and Gennie found some good chocolate.
We finally drove down to Pauma Valley through the curving roads and slight rain showers. As we arrived we were greeted by Tom and Sue and their wonderful hospitality. We traded stories about their trips and then we told of ours. We had some great California wine and a delicious appetizer and then we showed each other pictures from our previous trips.
We had a late dinner - a Caesar salad, bread, spaghetti and then ice cream with strawberries. WONDERFUL. As the evening wore on we all were tired and went to bed.
Today was much more enjoyable. The interstate drive was easier and then the curved roads made the driving much more fun.
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