ARA & FAC Napa Valley Tour - March 11th, 2006

elite38868 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 02:02 PM

Tour of Napa Valley

Date: Saturday, March 11, 2006

Time & Location: Meet at 9:30 a.m., leave by 10:00 a.m., Redwood Middle School, 3600 Oxford St., Napa,
Highway 29 North to Napa, Take Trancas St/ Redwood Rd. Exit 19. Left on Redwood Rd, right on Carol St, right on Oxford.

Come tour the beautiful Napa Valley when there are fewer tourist in the area and better yet few cars on the road. This tour will be with the FIAT America Club. The tour will be on the many lightly used back roads through the vineyards that our cars love rather than the more traveled main roads. Here is your opportunity to visit this area to enjoy the beautiful scenery and terrific roads of the Napa Valley.

The tour will be approximately 150 miles, going north through the Napa Valley into Lake County with a lunch stop in Middletown. From there we’ll head south and then east to Lake Berryessa and end back in Napa for dinner. Though we will pass many wineries, we will not be stopping to sample their fine products but instead have relaxing stops between experiencing the joy of driving our cars on the roads of this region.

Please contact Brian Paland or Dan Yee if you would like to join the tour or if you have any questions about this tour or touring in general, either of us would be happy to talk with you. Please bring a CB radio to use on the tour if you have one. If you would like to caravan up together to the start from the Bay Area, let us know. Look forward to seeing you on the Tour!

Brian Paland, spiderbrian@yahoo.com 650-755-3566
Dan Yee, fiatdan@comcast.net 650-571-1627

EDIT: THIS IS NOT A WINE TASTING TOUR; THIS IS A DRIVING TOUR!!

GTVsOldn'New · #2 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 08:47 PM

Interested...but not 100% sure. This is the same date as the GP of Nations race at Laguna Seca...or at least the practice day before

What are the roads like that you are talking about - twisty (ie good) or rough/track like (bad for my super low GTV's sump!), and twisty?

Phil

elite38868 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 10:20 PM

Hi Phil,

To be honest, I'm uncertain about the road conditions there, but contact brian or dan and ask them. They've gone there before and like it a lot. Brian drives a spider that sits pretty low, so I imagine if he's going, then the roads must be somewhat decent. You could always bring the spider

They'll be doing a run on Februar 28th I believe to check everything out beforehand.

Green Dragon · #4 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 11:26 PM

A wine country trip without the whine or dui dilemma's?... Count me in.

Brian, when is a good time to call you? Day/evening?

Let's roll

elite38868 · #5 (**permalink**) 02-13-2006, 11:38 PM

GD, Brian isn't on this board, but I would call him anytime between 9am - 8pm. Also, he's more responsive to emails in the morning. Glad to see that you'll come!

elite38868 · #6 (**permalink**) 03-01-2006, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTVsOldn'New

Interested...but not 100% sure. This is the same date as the GP of Nations race at Laguna Seca...or at least the practice day before

What are the roads like that you are talking about - twisty (ie good) or rough/track like (bad for my super low GTV's sump!), and twisty?

Phil

elite38868 · #7 (**permalink**) 03-06-2006, 09:44 PM

Anyone interested??? I'm definitely going

Anyone need more info?

Todd · #8 (**permalink**) 03-06-2006, 10:07 PM

While I can't attend, I can vouch that the roads are in good condition near Middle Town and Clear lake. Nice and twisty if you take the route that exits to Calistoga, but thats the other way. Whats the word on the 26th Sean????

elite38868 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd

While I can't attend, I can vouch that the roads are in good condition near Middle Town and Clear lake. Nice and twisty if you take the route that exits to Calistoga, but thats the other way. Whats the word on the 26th Sean????

Green Dragon · #10 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006, 11:15 AM

The forecast for this weekends drive is "rain showers." Maybe this doesn't really affect those of you taking coupes or sedans but it takes the fun out of it for spider pilots. Well, at least for me... My suspension setup is for max-grip which can get to be a bit draining (no pun intended) when driving at speed in the wet.

Who knows, maybe this storm will pass sooner. Can always hope...

elite38868 · #11 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006, 11:19 AM

I just read that as well

I'm "probably" going, but it's just no fun driving in the rain, really. There's a drive the weekend after that hopefully will be decent. Otherwise, the club should postpone these events.

sutera_ci · #12 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006, 11:34 AM

I'm with you. this weekend bad, next weekend, the weekend of the Infineon (sp?) tour, and the Reno weekend maybe..

Green Dragon · #13 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006, 02:30 PM

I can't imagine that the fiat club wants to drive in the rain. Does anyone have a contact with them? Postponing for better weather makes the most sense in my opinion too.

BTW, what's going on with the Alfa Day at Infineon? Any updates?

Thanks

elite38868 · #14 (**permalink**) 03-10-2006, 04:18 PM

See everyone who comes! Club said drive is rain or shine!

Cheers!

PS, will find out about Sears Point ASAP!

Green Dragon · #15 (**permalink**) 03-11-2006, 03:13 PM

I just wanted to wish everyone a great drive today. Hope all went well without any breakdowns that couldn't be solved or other mishaps. Weather, go figure, from crazy hail last night to clear skies today. I hope Napa stayed dry for all of you.