Deb and I are starting to plan a driving tour of California for next fall. We expected to fly out and rent a car to do the Pacific Coast Highway but some of the rabid Northern California VOA track rats have other plans for us involving taking the TA out there and doing a bunch of track days! And with NVE3 in Las Vegas in May 2018 I'm considering leaving the car down there for the winter. Our cars in the Toronto area are layed up for winter from October to the end of April anyways.

So a simple 2 week west coast holiday now has all the makings of an epic Bucket List road and track trip thanks to Todd, Loyde and George's suggestion during the gala dinner at NVE2 in New Orleans...thanks guys!

We'd like to identify sights that we should plan to see along the way out and back, and that would help determine our route and time-table. I'm hoping those of you who live in around these areas can help identify some of the "must see" points along the way.

Detroit to California:

We'd cross into the US at Detroit and it looks like Hwy 80 is a pretty direct route to Sacramento in Northern California. I've heard that Hwy 80 basically crosses through 3 days of corn fields until you get to Salt Lake City, but folks in those areas might like to add suggestions. We'd like to see the Salt Flats and maybe do a track day at the near-by Miller Motorsports Park. Shipping the car by transport from the Toronto area to Salt Lake City is also a possibility.

After that we'd like to see Lake Tahoe near Reno in Utah after crossing Nevada and into CA.

California:

We're heading to the Sacramento area to see George and Tamara, and to spend some quality track time at Thunderhill. From there we expect to be mostly touring around coastal sights during the week, and visiting with others and doing track days at Sonoma, Laguna Seca and Willow Springs mostly on weekends. We've been to San Diego before, and may or may not go south to, or beyond, Los Angeles, depending on suggestions and time. Deb might have to fly home for a while if I take up temporary residence at the various iconic tracks out there!

I'm sure there could be an impossibly long list of spectacular suggestions of places in CA to see, but is there a concensous of "must sees"?

Las Vegas/Arizona areas:

I'm not sure at the moment where I'll be able to store the car for the winter, but at some point I'll leave CA for Arizona or go directly to Las Vegas for NVE3. We've only seen the south rim lookouts over the Grand Canyon so a return there would be great.

And I've heard a rumor that there might be a dusty track or two out there worth trying also Suggestions welcome!

This last part of the trip spans the winter and we'd be flying home and then returning closer to NVE in Vegas. We'd be visiting these areas sights either in the fall before heading home, or just before or after our return for NVE in May. If anyone has a suggestion as to where I could store a car covered in tire marbles for the winter, I'd be very grateful.

I'd consider driving the car home from Vegas, but will see how the rest of the plans come together first.

Looking forward to seeing my track friends on the west coast, meeting some new ones, and returning their hospitality up here so they can experience our great local tracks like the iconic Mosport (now known as Canadian Tire Motorsports Park).

Bruce