[AZ-Wildcat]

Originally Posted by JDUNITNOW

Amen to that, I'm glad you went with the color choice for wheels. It definitely changed the way my car looks. I think silver wheels on Dravit makes the car stand out more.

Totally agreed. Zero regrets! I’m also old(school) and have always done polished or silver on any aftermarket wheel on past builds over the last 20 years. Darkest I’ve gone is gunmetal.

[jmg]

Avenue of the Giants is a pretty great drive too!

[dscott4305]

I wasn’t aware there was a restaurant in California named Alice’s Restaurant but very happy to hear that. Love the backstory of that. Love Arlo’s song as well.

[bmwdrive]

Originally Posted by AZ-Wildcat

And the downed motorcycle on 9 I saw, always a wreck somewhere. Drive and ride within the limits!

I’ve seen the road closed multiple times because of someone going over the edge. Once I saw a beautiful M5 up on a hill and crashed into a tree.

Glad to hear the G80 is fun on twisties.

[My M3]

Thanks for sharing, looks like a great little trip to clear the cobwebs from yourself. I think I need to do the same thing.
Great car & pic. Thanks

[aexia1Yo]

those are all great roads.

The greatest is taking hwy 1 up all the way until it hits 101 again in Leggett. Everyone should do it once in their life. Ideally in the early Fall, on a motorcycle.

The offshoots are great too (brandscomb rd, etc...)

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by nacs

I’m laughing at definition of “Northern California” by the author. As someone that grew up in true Northern California where the Bay Area was more central to us, I would have expected an article lamenting CalTrans destruction of the 299 over the buckhorn summit or other truly amazing roads w/o perhaps the vistas….Its all in perspective however.

Anything north of Chico is just southern Oregon, we don't claim you "true Northern Californians".

Unrelated side note, it's been too long since we had a bay area forum meet & drive. I like hitting empire grade / 256 / creek / those other little offshoots from 17 and 35. Bonny Doon's a fun one too when there's not too much traffic.

[peelerec]

From LA/IE area to now living in the North Bay, I instantly fell in love with the scenery, slower pace of life, beautiful roads and proximity to 3 tracks much better than the ones back home in LA area (Big willow, streets of willow, chuckwalla, although I do love chuckwalla. Buttonwillow is also noteworthy)
Also, the GGC CCA is much more engaging than the LA/San Diego chapters.

[drk92]

Possibly an unpopular opinion, being born and raised in Sacramento, I’ve always liked driving on 160 between Sacramento and Antioch. Good amount of straights and turns, scenic with the river on one side and farm land on the other side.

[JMD]

Originally Posted by AZ-Wildcat

Without 75 zoom meetings, I decided to take advantage of a corporate holiday off and went for a cruise. As much as I miss living in Laguna Beach and cruising PCH between Newport and Dana Point, Northern California truly offers some of the best and technical driving experiences from coastal views to mountain twisty's.

Started off in Campbell and headed to Santa Cruz to head up Highway 1 and loop back home, roughly 100 miles round trip.

• Went down Highway 17 to Santa Cruz, a sneaky good route through the Santa Cruz Mountains with Redwood treelined roads.
• From there its a 20+ Mile stretch on Highway 1 along the water before my first stop at Hi Pigeon Point Light House.
• I took La Honda road from PCH across the valley floor. Most of a La Honda are long sweepers where you can carry pretty good speeds as you approach the climb up the mountain where things become "fun" (Played chase to the GT2RS pictured)
• Next checkpoint was Alices Restaurant. A local joint with a sneaky good car scene: Singers, Pagani's, Porches ad nauseam, and other rare beauties.
• Once at Alices headed along Skyline Blvd south which stretches from SF to San Jose with views of Big Basin Redwoods on one side and Silicon Valley on the other.
• Last stretch, headed down Highway 9 to Los Gatos for a much needed beer to unwind and relax.

A few thoughts on the car from the drive: When pushed Perelli's suck, the M3 is a great do it all car (comfy, extremely powerful and handles well), wished the Sport display on the dash synched with M1/M2 modes. Enjoy the pics and hopefully inspires people to explore these amazing roads!

Whoa! If ever in that part of the country,...I'm going to make this drive a 'destination'!