Gold Tour 2004

Hosted by

Central Coast Corvette Club

October 8th-10th, 2004

Story line and pictures - by Ansel

(click on the small pictures to enlarge)

Friday morning saw many PVCA'ers meeting with Central Coast Corvette at the famous James Dean Memorial in Cholame.  Breakfast was provided on Mike's hood which consisted of muffins and fruit.

Coffee was in abundance along with plenty of water.  For those that wished to have a more hardy breakfast the restaurant was happy to oblige.  A brief drivers meeting was held and then we were off.

The caravan headed for Gold Rush Country which would take us along Highway 49 but to get there we traveled through the back roads of the San Joaquin Valley passing many fields of cotton, almonds, pistachio and things I was unable to identify.  Our first rest stop was in front of the Kerman City Hall.  This is the same place we have stopped in previous years and no one ever told them we were coming yet they were thrilled to see us.  I think next time (if we tell them) they might have coffee and cookies for us.  The wonderful part about this journey is that no freeways were ever utilized.

As we continued north the vistas and roadways were wonderful with many straight-a-ways and curves to please everyone.  A great stop for lunch with wonderful selections from an open menu.

After lunch we discovered that one of the Corvettes (Ernie's) would not start.  Everyone tried to figure out what the problem was but to no avail.  Fortunately it could be started by pushing and for the remainder of the trip Ernie made sure he parked on a downhill.  With lunch out of the way and the ill Corvette fired up we once again continued on our trip north.  Our route would take us to a beautiful scenic overview and then a grand curving road course.  George learned not to follow Duane into a 20mph curve at 60mph.  Thank goodness for active handling, as I'm sure it saved his bacon.

We arrived in Sonora late afternoon and all the arraignments for our rooms has already been taken care of.  We all met in the hospitality room where much beer, wine and soda were consumed.  Pizza was ordered and we all enjoyed old friendships.

Saturday had folks going in many directions.  Being in Gold Rush Country the area is just loaded with historical facts and places to see.  A small group of us (about six cars) headed up to Jackson and then Angels Camp.  I wanted to show Dave where the celebrated Jumping Frog contest is held every year.

The gals enjoyed shopping in the many small shops and the guys enjoyed watching everyone and talking to the local bikers.  Then came Rick, he found his perfect place to wait for the gals.

Above is an old brick building with the wooden balcony, Scott and Dave and a one-of-a-kind half scale model.

Saturday night found us all enjoying a wonderful dinner at the Peppery Gar and Brill (correct spelling).  I was surprised when I found that PVCA occupied more than half the tables.  What a great turnout.

Mike Woloshansky was our organizer of the event and as usual did a great job.

Sunday after breakfast found us back on the road for some spirited driving.  Our destination was Harris Ranch where we would have lunch.  This also marked the end of the event with everyone heading for home.

It was a great event and we look forward to next year.