3 Birkins in Northern California

Still catching up, forgive the tense... I am actually sitting in the San Francisco airport, waiting for our flight home to Houston.

Our tour friends are arriving back home, but Stan, Bernie, Dad and I are still exploring the roads and scenery in northern California. Dan was kind enough to print out maps of his favorite (local to him) roads. We went up the 101, over to the coast via Scaggs something or other, down the 1 along the coast, and back inland to the 101 via 116. Some of the roads were VERY twisty, tighter even than the great blat we all had on 58. This was different, however, as it was through redwood forests, and parts of it were very dark. Dark pavement, dark trees, sunglasses, and limited sky, meant we had some exciting corners that were much tighter than expected



We played tour organizers, and made our own GDB files to upload into the GPSs. Our's did not work quite right, and we decided not to fight with it and followed Bernie and Stan. We were confused by the GPS the entire tour, as the route never lined up very well with the roads. In fact, on this trip, the GPS didn't even show the roads.

To cut to the chase, dad discovered a check box selection on the hand held that was not set to 'City Select Database.' One check, and like magic, the roads appeared. A little late, but oh well, now we know.


We were in the deepest darkest part fo the redwoods. Cool and dark, and them BAM we popped out right on the coast! Those are pelicans in the photo above, there were hundreds of them in this sheltered area. A few kayakers were down there as well.


Enjoying the view.



We had 3 nights at the hotel in Marin county. Not quite the same without the 50+ cars, but each night we mingled around the cars, a little fettle here and there. In fact we plopped on the curb and sat and had a drink or three. Dad decided Stan's car looked like quite comfortable. No driving was done after this, I promise :)

Farewell Dinner

I think we had 80 or 90 people for dinner at The Mandarin. Interesting, I realized there were people on the tour I did not recognize. Just a few. I guess we drove on different schedules. Anyway, it was a great time, lots of smiles and slaps on the back. We had a great tour, even better than I expected.

Hat, what hat?
Sid, Allan, and Mitch.

Sights in San Francisco

OK, I am a few days behind on posting. Just imagine we are still in San Francisco...


We took a short ferry ride of 1.5 miles to see Alcatraz. In the movies it always seems so harsh and remote, but there it is, a stones throw away from Fishermans' Wharf.


We also visited the WWII submarine the Pampanito. It is in fantastic condition, in fact the engines were to be fired up later in the day. Shame we missed that.


Ah, Mr. Blog decided to reorder my photos. Back again to Alcatraz. They told us the inmates spent 23 hours a day in their cells, unless they had a job detail, then it was 18 hours. Not much room to move around. A bed, toilet, small table, thats about it.




I am a fan of old submarine movies, so it was a thrill to be inside. Such a machine! So many pipes, valves, levers, dials. I have tremendous respect for the men who served on old submarines.

Thank you Roger Hamlin

A few of us are shipping our cars and flying home. Where to safely leave the cars until the transport arrives? Hamlin Fabrication to the rescue.



Roger makes excellent race cages for sevens, and has some very exotic machinery in his shop. Is that a Porsche 962 I see above?


If you need anything fabricated for your race car, give Roger a call at Infineon Raceway.

Thanks again Roger.

What do you call this, a 14?

The owner/builder of this car stood quitely by as we all made guesses about this car.


Just a smidge larger than a seven.

And a bit more power too...

All business. Maybe he can bring it on tour next year? Who wants to put their car under this thing???

More from Infineon

My friend Gary and his father live in Grass Valley, and came to to Infineon to visit. Great to see you Gary!


We had a lot of sevens at the track. Several new cars joined in from California. Some VERY nice cars, I just love it how no two are the same.


Barry adjusting his carbs, listening for just the right sound. Not every day you get to see a Chevy in a seven.


Mike B. gets in a little fettling before going out on the track. Mike, I am so glad you were able to drive the bulk of the tour!

Driver meeting and introduction by Jim Russell Racing School.

San Francisco - last city on the tour

Parking lot at the San Francisco Radisson. It was very nice when the hotels sectioned off parking space for us.

Driving the Golden Gate. We did this several times over a couple of days. Never thought I would do that in my Birkin!

Group dinner in San Fran

Steve discovered his favorite condiment.


We had a good laugh at Steve W. He has to write his room number on his hand to find his hotel room!!!


I guess the joke was on you Steve :)


We had a group of 20 or so at this restaurant in San Francisco. Famous for their Irish Coffee, but I lost the name. Anyone? It was great to have Woody with us

Nothing like a little father & son horse play :)

More pics

We pulled in to Morro Bay, and something smelled badly in Bernie's car. After we concluded it was not Bernie, it seemed to be the alternator. He was able to drive to the hotel on battery power. The next day he put in a new alternator, but kept having charging problems. Every couple of hours Dick charged up Bernie"s battery with his car, and we made it to San Francisco that way.


A few sevens resting in Cambria.

This little fellow has a great view of the road, if not a little windy.,
We had breakfast with Mary and Steve B. We would not have had the tour without them. Steve, how can I express what a fantastic job you did? Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Sid and Mitch somewhere on the Pacific Coast Highway. We met a couple on bicycles, riding from Canada to Mexico. Yowza!

Driving the best road, ever!

On our way to Cambria, we drove on the best road I have ever seen. We were in rolling hills, and then it turned into a real roller coaster. Decreasing radius turns, big elevation changes, perfect road surface, zero traffic, beautiful weather, in a word, perfect.

That road was the talk of the day. Everyone loved it, as evidenced by the smiles:

Barbara and Chuck, stopped with some bikers after The Perfect Road.


A group of us stopped after TPR, debating on how we could live right here and keep the road to ourselves. The Ultralites ran with the bikes, and evidently Steve let them know what a seven can do in the twisties ;>

Des and Pete certainly enjoyed the ride.


Jeannette and Steve had a good run.

Stan had a blast as well.

I had the video camera running,camera facing backwards, with three cars behind me. I wish I had the camera watching the front. Hopefully someone else recorded that view. It would be neat to sync up the two videos and flip back and forth.

Misc Pics

Changing I think a u-joint in the parking lot in Cambria.


Steve W. doing some major fettling in Cambria. Unfortunately he had problems with a camshaft, well, it broke in two :( which meant he was finished driving for the tour.



We stopped in Big Sur for a while. What a beautiful place.

The Birkins get a little rest at Big Sur too. Left to right is Mitch & Sid, Stan, Bernie, and Dick.

A dip in the Pacific

The water was very cold, but it had to be done :) That is Morro Rock behind me, and the first place we stopped where we could touch the ocean. It may not look it, but this is the coldest water I have ever been in.