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It was a blustery day in San Francisco, and
due to the anticipated traffic in Napa, CA on a Sunday afternoon, our
group decided to drive north through Santa Rosa (rather than through
Napa), then cutting across Mark West Springs Road, to Calistoga, about 80
miles North of San Francisco where our tour was headquarted.
Calistoga is remembered for its thermal baths, mud
baths, glider rides (no longer due to increased insurance requirements) as well
as being the little city on the Northern end of the Napa Valley. Calistoga
consists of two main streets, one runs North and South from Napa to Geyserville,
the other connects Santa Rosa to Clear Lake. Calistoga is but a large stop in
the road.
Calistoga has never been much of a town, nor has it
grown like Napa or the other Napa Valley towns like Rutherford, St. Helena, etc.
But the fact that it hasn't grown is what makes it special. The buildings are
old, the atmosphere is antique, and what a better place to start the Bay Area
Horseless Carriage tour than Calistoga.
Our hotel, the Clarion on the East end of town,
accommodated the 100+ of us with our 50 vehicles, all pre 1916, of course. This
years tour, aptly named "Vintage Wine & Wheels Tour", attracted
several cars from afar, including enthusiasts from Utah, Colorado, and
Washington, plus representatives from the Santa Rosa HCC, Santa Clara HCC,
Orange County HCC, El Dorado HCC, Modeseto HCC, Santa Cruz HCC, Southern
California HCC, as well as the Bay Area HCC, which sponsored the event along
with co-sponsorship by the Santa Clara Valley HCC.
The cars included numerous Fords - touring and two
passenger torpedo roadsters; a host of touring Buicks, six Cadillacs including
three touring and three gentlemen's roadsters, a Hupmobile, an EMF Touring, a
Maxwell, Reo, two Simplex's, a Mercedes Benz, Pierce Arrow, a Michigan, a White,
an IHC, a Mitchell, an Oakland, a Hudson, a Stutz Bearcat (Colorado), a Stoddard
Dayton, a Packard, a Locomobile, an Oldsmobile (Gularte - won Chairmans Choice)
and last but not least, an American Underslung (Utah - won Peoples Choice),
Day one, which was Sunday afternoons drive took us
about 8 miles through Calistoga and a little North past row after row of
vineyards. I think there may be 4000 wine cellars in the Napa Valley, and we saw
probably 500 of them in our three days of traveling. Some are open to the
public, others not. Having completed the "shakedown" portion of the
tour, the group arrived back at the hotel, to be greeted by the Santa Clara HCC
who hosted happy hour with enough food that everyone skipped dinner.
Monday started with roll call at 9:00 AM, and
basically a shot gun start. The trouble trucks (2) were kept busy the first day
with an unusually grueling drive to Pope Valley and the first coffee stop. The
Mercedes was out of commission with an engine problem, and the Stutz konked out
with a carburetion or manifold problem. Both were taken back on the trouble
trucks.
Pope Valley had a blacksmith shop which had been in
use until 1950 and when the proprietor (current owner) opened it up for us, it
looked as if it had just been closed for the day, despite the fact that the last
day was over 67 years ago. Everything, tools, equipment, buggies, wheels, etc.,
was exactly where the original shop owner left it in 1950.
Continuing southward, our group passed along side of
Berryessa Lake and more vineyards, eventually crossing the foothills and
arriving in Rutherford, a small town South of Calistoga where a picnic lunch was
served. additionally, there was a tour of the Rutherford Cellars which was on
site, before heading North to Calistoga. Total distance traveled about 73 miles.
Arriving back at the hotel, several of us decided to
try a mud bath at Wilkersons Spa in Calistoga, only to be told that Wilkerson's
closed early, suggesting we go across the street at the "Calistoga
Spa". The Calistoga Spa looked almost new in comparison to Wilkersons, and
after a few minutes, and parting with $96, four of us were treated to a mud
bath, then a mineral bath, a steam bath, a time to relax, and then a 30 minute
massage. This would have been a good photo op, but we forgot the cameras. You
can imagine getting out of a "mud bath", boy is that stuff slippery
and gooey. Goes everywhere you can think of. The "Spa" was a wonderful
end of the day, and still got us to the hotel in time for "happy hour"
at 5:30.
Everyone was on their own for dinner that evening,
and we found an excellent "Italian" restaurant, "Checkers"
in downtown Calistoga, which had scrumptious Italian pastas. The restaurant was
on the list as "comfort food". We were told that pasta is considered
"comfort food". It was great.
Tueday, started at 9:00 with the drivers meeting,
and then a run south on Silverado Trail. Part of the tour included some hill
country North of Napa, and a few more cars experienced terrain difficulty.
Leaving the hills, we then headed into Napa for lunch at the Riverside Café.
The "Riverside"had a beautiful fish pond and foot long Koi eager to
grab a scrap of bread from the kids. Following lunch, our group headed North
again, arriving in Calistoga just in time to freshen up and head South to St.
Helena for a 5:30 PM dinner at the Silverado Brewery. 86 miles that day.
The tour directors, Doug Durein and Doug King timed
the dinner so that the vintage cars could get to the restaurant, about 7 miles
from the hotel, and back before darkness. Again, another great dinner of chicken
and beef along with a nice dessert, and back to the hotel.
On returning to the hotel, HCC Bartenders Joe
Sernach and Eric Anninger (SCVHCC) were hard at work. The weather was still warm
from the day, which had been in the high 80's but beautiful. Everyone was
talking about the days event, and some were in the hotel patio to well past
10PM.
Wednesday, 9:45 AM drivers meeting and then off in a
Westerly direction past Petrified Forest for a 38 mile ride through more
vineyards, and another beautiful view of lakes, homes, wineries, a castle, and
other sights along the way. Weather again in the high 80's, but very comfortable
for riding in the vintage vehicles. The final lunch was at the Silverado
Brewery, along with thank you's by Club President Don Azavedo who handed out the
trophies, then asked for applause for the Tour Chairman, and did a special
birthday presentation to Bob Hopkins who was celebrating his 90th birthday that
day. Bob has been a member of BAHCC, and might have been one of the founding
members. Happy Birthday, Bob.
Returning to the hotel, all were sorry to see such a
well organized and beautiful tour come to an end. Fortunately departure from the
hotel was early, about 1PM, so most of us were able to get home and miss the
rush hour traffic. Our hats are off to those who put the tour together, and
those who participated, especially those driving from Colorado and Utah. They
were heading back for a two day ride so they could go back to work on Monday.
Cars of distinction included two Cadillacs whose
owners had just recently taken delivery, one was a 1911 Touring owned by Wes
Crowell (Johnny Crowells brother who lives near Eureka, CA); a second Cadillac
Gentlemens Roadster that was awarded the "Trouble Trophy". Both cars
had mechanical problems, probably due to "ancient age, or maybe too much
Jack Daniels or Early Times.
Honorably mention went to Bill Gularte for his Olds,
and to Johnny Crowell for his Simplex which was one of two Simplex's, the other
was owned by Bill Balduff of Southern California HCC. Also, there was a very
cute red Ford torpedo roadster from Colorado, two passenger, that just cruised
up the hills beautifully. Most of the cars including Johnny's were in first gear
on the hills, despite the 600 cubic inch engine.
Those of you who missed this tour, although you
didn't have the friendship with us, you should still drive up to the Napa Valley
and take some of the backroads. The scenery is beautiful, and many of the roads
are hardly traveled.
At your service, always,
Eric and Muriel Lundquist
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