February 2021 President’s Message

Although Punxsutawney Phil predicted winter will last into mid-March, signs of Spring abound in the Redwood Region. Naturally my mind turns to taking the Carrera out on recently washed back roads for a little exercise and I hope yours does too! We are working to have a COVID-safe tour in place for March 20^th, details to be ironed out in the next week, so please check out our online calendar  for details and the opportunity to sign up. At a minimum we know we will have an Autocross weekend April 17/18 at Thunderhill. Signups should open in March; see Stacy and Drew’s report in this issue for more information.

Between now and then many of our drives may be solo or casual small groups, searching for the Holy Grail for many of us: curvy roads where driving at or below the speed limit brings great joy behind the wheel. I’d like to share one of my favorites for a weekend in Monterey County. It’s outside of our Region, but easily reachable; you might not have experienced it, so here it is.

This route starts from the Laguna Seca race track and heads south into the Paso Robles wine country. From Laguna Seca, an up-and-over 8 mile set of twisties on Laureles Grade Road (G20) will take you into Carmel Valley. Turning east on Carmel Valley Road (G16), there are about 5 miles of multi-lane traffic until Vista Verde Road when the road narrows but traffic disappears for the next 40 miles into the town of Greenfield. This is simply a spectacularly fun and interesting road with turns, rises, and descents, with beautiful mountains on both sides.

At Greenfield, a 10 mile jaunt south on Highway 101 will take you to the Jolon Road exit. Jolon Road (G14) heads south with its own meandering beauty and after 24 miles you will continue south on G14 which will become Interlake Road, between the picturesque San Antonio Reservoir and Lake Nacimiento. After 20 miles, remain on G14 which is now Nacimiento Lake Road. Another 9 miles later turn right (West) onto Chimney Rock Road. Six miles in you will be at Adelaida road and have to make your decision about what to do next based on your wine instincts. Both ahead on Chimney Rock Road and down on Adelaida all the way into Paso Robles there are scores of great wineries to visit by whichever route you choose. I have favorites; contact me if you want additional advice!

As always, Board meetings are open to all interested members on the last Tuesday of every month at 7 pm. Please see our calendar link at redwoodpca.org.