By Carl Saccoccio
[This was originally written in 1999 and was printed in The RUMBLE back then. That year I was given the Club’s Scribe Award. The club president mounted the article in a frame and presented it to me at our club meeting. It has been hanging in my office since then. CS]
After 28 years I figured it was time to visit Southern California once again. My high school buddy, Bruce, had lived in Santa Barbara for seven years and has been trying to get me to go West. Also my oldest daughter has lived outside LA for two years. The time was right.
It was settled. Tammy and I would fly out of Providence on February 18th for a seven-day trip. We left Providence in a snowstorm and landed in O’Hare to find our connection was cancelled. We got lucky and caught the last flight out of Chicago before the airport shut down cancelling 350 flights that day!
Once out of Chicago the weather cleared and there were views of the Rockies, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas into sunny LA. I never knew LA had beautiful mountain ranges – some of them with snow covered peaks. We picked up the rental car and headed up Route 101 to Santa Barbara. Of course we had no luggage – it was lost, but thankfully showed up two days later.
Santa Barbara is a beautiful city. Bruce and his wife Suzanne were great hosts showing us the sights, the best restaurants and drinking establishments. Bruce has a BMW (car) 548i and a Porsche Carrera C-2 which were mine to use but I decided not to since the weather was bad.
After several days in Santa Barbara, we headed north on Route 1, the famous Pacific Coast Highway. It does live up to its name! We made a trip to the Hearst Castle but Route 1 north of San Simeone was washed out, so we backtracked and took Route 101 into Monterey. Heading into town I noticed the little sign on the right that said Laguna Seca Recreational Area. There were also a few campers and trailers.
We spent two days around Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur. We drove south on Route 1 to see the washed-out area. About a quarter mile of the road had dropped into the ocean. The Sheriff told us the road would be closed for months and that a bridge would have to be built; and that was before he told me to leave the area! Big Sur is so beautiful it takes your breath away. Last August we were in Nova Scotia on Cape Bretton where the scenery is close to the Pacific Coast Highway 1, but not as dramatic.
I called our friends Dave and Tina Swider in San Rafael and hoped to meet up with them, but they weren’t around. They live outside of San Francisco which is farther north. Did I mention it had been raining off and on for four days, which gave way too many rainbows in a three-hour span. We counted seven (7).
Leaving Monterey, we decided to go to the Laguna Seca Recreational Area and look around. Up the winding road the views got better and better. About one-and-a-half miles up the road the “Laguna Seca Raceway” was laid out in front of us. It was time for photos. After circling the track, I headed into the pit area where the Skip Barber Racing School’s headquarters is located. I stopped by the souvenir shop then I notice a Honda trailer with Erion racing on the side. I had to explore. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a nine new Honda RC -51 in the pit area. This bike was new to the US. They were prepping the bikes for journalists to ride and review the next day. The riders were waiting for the track to dry. I went up to an important looking man (he had a clipboard and a Honda shirt on) and introduced myself and was given permission to hang around, but he told me to stay out of the way and not take photos.
Well, I stayed out of the way, but I did manage to sneak some photos. So here it is the moto review of the RC51. Tammy and I were the only two spectators at the track. My friend, Greg McQuade, was one of the journalists for Motorcyclist magazine at the time but he was not on the list, he was in Spain doing another tour. After about an hour of listening to the motors and watching the wheelies it was time to go.
We headed South to LA to visit my stepdaughter Jacinda at Disney Channel’s studio where she is a senior graphic designer. We all enjoyed some Thai food for dinner in Hollywood. LA is much too busy for me, and motorcycles splitting lanes was a new site.
We had a 10 AM flight the next day to head back home. After checking in we hit the bar for a few Bloody Mary’s and then went to our gate to board where we found out that our flight had been canceled to O’Hare due to fog. We were lucky again! I talked my way onto the Airbus to O’Hare. In Chicago we had only 10 minutes to catch our connection to Providence and we made it. Back home my sister picked us up at TF Green, and it was back to the woods and time for a rest.
