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i really love this car.

Great story. Your car gets more smiles to the mile than is legal!

MKOT

I didn't have wi-fi at my Aunt Jeri and Uncle Joe's in Sonoma, CA, just so you know I didn't break down.

Friday was a workout all day. Friday Crescent City CA to Sonoma CA was a workout with curve after 10/15/25 MPH curves. They weren't kidding, especially if you looked down. Constant climbing, shifting, turning.. the views were spectacular, but if I recommended that you try this for this long a stretch in your Packard, you'd kill me when it was over.

I hadn't driven this route since 1963 with college friends from USF Clive P, Joe E, Gordy B, and Jerry B. We'd taken out dates home and decided to drive to the Marin County Civic Center to see Frank Lloyd Wright's work..then kept driving all night. It was an adventure I'll never forget. Scratch one of f the bucket list.

Had a nice rest and visit at my Uncle Joe and Aunt Jeri's in Sonoma. Cleaned up the Duchess in the morning to prepare her for her City public and headed to Santa Cruz. Cross the Golden Gate is always a thrill and I do recommend doing that in your Packard.

Arrived at Joey and Jordan's 7th wedding anniversary bash as the bands were unloading and setting up. Dorothy and Joe, neighbor's here on the beach, provided a garage for the Duchess since she had her top down. Got a good night's sleep, too, and a big breakfast.

Most fun I've had in ages.

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great pictures..

Prelude to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was an overnight at daughter Kieley's in-laws in Woodside where the Duchess was stored for a couple of weeks after the drive down Hwy 1.
Thursday the 15th headed down to Carmel. I got a primo parking space at Mission San Carlos (Carmel) . The place is steeped in key elements that form California's culture.

I then zoomed down Hwy 1 through the wind and fog of Hurricane Point to the River Inn at Big Sur. The road up to the retreat where I stayed was most frightening ride of my life in the Packard. Over 2.5 miles of the steepest, narrowest road I've ever driven, with half a dozen or more switchbacks where you come straight up into a curve as tight as the Duchess could turn followed by another steep curve in the opposite direction. By the time I reached the top, the temperature gauge was as far right past HOT as it could go. I spent the night fretting about the drive back down. Would the brakes hold? I was thinking headlines like Man Fulfilling Bucket List Kicks Bucket Over Big Sur Cliff in Old Car. I packed everything back in the car the next morning and headed down the road, knowing I could never drive back up that road in the Packard again.

I negotiated transportation up and down with Michael, the caretaker there and parked the Packard overnight away from the highway behind the coded gate for the remaining 4 days.

Heading back to Carmel on Friday morning I stopped to dust off the car. Soon many vacationers stopped, too. One, Tina Anjozian, a photographer from Orange County, took shots of the car and me. The color is incredible. You can see her photos athttp://www.anjozianart.com

In Carmel I parked on Ocean Ave to admiring crowds. It was a little embarrassing, so went browsing. Then I couldn't believe my eyes. There was one, if not The, most famous Packard guys in the country, Robert Escalante of Custom Auto Service, Santa Ana, This was his 20-something-th Concours. We chatted and laughed and rang his wife Gigi who was shopping across the street. They took me under wing for the balance of events, taking me to invitation-only events and introducing me to major collectors, people I've seen featured in Packard classic automobile magazines. I had the time of my life thanks to them.

Saturday after going through the maze of Pebble Beach streets, now set up as one way or closed roads, to pick up my ticket, I was starving. I went back to Ocean Avenue and tried a new place, The Grill. I struck up a conversation with a woman also eating at the bar. She and her husband are from Florida and entered a special Rolls Royce dubbed the "Honeymoon Express" by the press. Huge car. Two seats. Bar behind the seats.

Sunday morning I was down the hill by 5:30 and drove to the Escalante's hotel in Carmel. My voltage regulator quit and I was driving with lights on and off because the battery wasn't charging. We took a cab to Concours and saw all the cars coming on to the field. Just a thrill.

I managed to spark the voltage regulator into charging, but it wanted to charge all the way, so, with no units in Monterey, I drove to San Jose with my lights on high beam, fog lights on, and heater on, as much as I could stand moving inland. In San Jose attorney Jack Perkins, a club member, sent me to Matthew Pumphrey in Campbell CA. I was so impressed. These guys are young and into classics in a big way. Very high end cars being restored there.
He set my VR to spec, but it still didn't function, so he replaced it was a used one that got me home.

Many more adventures during that week remain to be related. The drive home was hot and rigorous, mostly at 70 mph except up long hills. The Duchess still passed every truck. I'm waiting for a photo being emailed to me, by a couple on a Harley I caught up to at a gas station, of the Duchess climbing one of the longest, hottest hills of the trip.

Prelude to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was an overnight at daughter Kieley's in-laws in Woodside where the Duchess was stored for a couple of weeks after the drive down Hwy 1.
Thursday the 15th headed down to Carmel. I got a primo parking space at Mission San Carlos (Carmel) . The place is steeped in key elements that form California's culture.

I then zoomed down Hwy 1 through the wind and fog of Hurricane Point to the River Inn at Big Sur. The road up to the retreat where I stayed was most frightening ride of my life in the Packard. Over 2.5 miles of the steepest, narrowest road I've ever driven, with half a dozen or more switchbacks where you come straight up into a curve as tight as the Duchess could turn followed by another steep curve in the opposite direction. By the time I reached the top, the temperature gauge was as far right past HOT as it could go. I spent the night fretting about the drive back down. Would the brakes hold? I was thinking headlines like Man Fulfilling Bucket List Kicks Bucket Over Big Sur Cliff in Old Car. I packed everything back in the car the next morning and headed down the road, knowing I could never drive back up that road in the Packard again.

I negotiated transportation up and down with Michael, the caretaker there and parked the Packard overnight away from the highway behind the coded gate for the remaining 4 days.

Heading back to Carmel on Friday morning I stopped to dust off the car. Soon many vacationers stopped, too. One, Tina Anjozian, a photographer from Orange County, took shots of the car and me. The color is incredible. You can see her photos athttp://www.anjozianart.com

In Carmel I parked on Ocean Ave to admiring crowds. It was a little embarrassing, so went browsing. Then I couldn't believe my eyes. There was one, if not The, most famous Packard guys in the country, Robert Escalante of Custom Auto Service, Santa Ana, This was his 20-something-th Concours. We chatted and laughed and rang his wife GeGe who was shopping across the street. They took me under wing for the balance of events, taking me to invitation-only events and introducing me to major collectors, people I've seen featured in Packard classic automobile magazines. I had the time of my life thanks to them.

Saturday after going through the maze of Pebble Beach streets, now set up as one way or closed roads, to pick up my ticket, I was starving. I went back to Ocean Avenue and tried a new place, The Grill. I struck up a conversation with a woman also eating at the bar. She and her husband are from Florida and entered a special Rolls Royce dubbed the "Honeymoon Express" by the press. Huge car. Two seats. Bar behind the seats.

Sunday morning I was down the hill by 5:30 and drove to the Escalante's hotel in Carmel. My voltage regulator quit and I was driving with lights on and off because the battery wasn't charging. We took a cab to Concours and saw all the cars coming on to the field. Just a thrill.

I managed to spark the voltage regulator into charging, but it wanted to charge all the way, so, with no units in Monterey, I drove to San Jose with my lights on high beam, fog lights on, and heater on, as much as I could stand moving inland. In San Jose attorney Jack Perkins, a club member, sent me to Matthew Pumphrey in Campbell CA. I was so impressed. These guys are young and into classics in a big way. Very high end cars being restored there.
He set my VR to spec, but it still didn't function, so he replaced it was a used one that got me home.

Many more adventures during that week remain to be related. The drive home was hot and rigorous, mostly at 70 mph except up long hills. The Duchess still passed every truck. I'm waiting for a photo being emailed to me, by a couple on a Harley I caught up to at a gas station, of the Duchess climbing one of the longest, hottest hills of the trip.

More pix to come.

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Nice, Joe. Neat shots by Tina, thanks for the link.
I haven't seen or talked with Robert E. in a long, long time. He looks great. Wonderful man.

Any more photos of the red '29 roadster? I think that is a Speedster, is it not???

I don't have, but Roberto took a couple, which could end up in PI's magazine. I was a little surprised that not everyone owning a Packard knew him, but I learned that several entrants in the Concours were relatively new to Packarding.

Except for that one Thursday morning when most of the entrants drive to Big Sur, there were virtually no other antique cars on that 26 mile road except mine. Plenty of souped-up Mustangs, Porsche, Jaguar, Ferrari, and Lamborghini, however.

I was thrilled with the performance of the Duchess on the road. Winding highway going down, freeway hills going back, all in all drove about 1800 miles.

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