Welcome everyone to the first, but not the last, California Dakota Mailing List Meet.
Here were the attendees:
Shaun Hendricks
Organizer
Bruce and Leonora Bridges
Gary Pinkley
Sam
& Sonya Parthemer
Brian Fitchett
Mike Burgess
Tony
De Anda
Jon Hambleton
Jim McBride
Steven Toomey Author
Here was our agenda:
Saturday January 16th, 1999
Meet at 10AM at Hearst Castle (Tour and IMAX movie)
Lunch at Main Street Grille near Moonstone Beach
Caravan down the Coast, maybe stopping at Morro Rock, Montana De Oro
etc...
Drive thru Pismo Beach to Oceano State Off Highway Vehicle Area.
Dinner at McClintock's Steakhouse (Shell Beach)
The day started out with a nice sunrise. Weather Forcast was Mostly Sunny with patches of fog. Some of us (Mike, Tony, Bruce & Leo, and I) decided to meet up in Santa Barbara around 7am. We met in the La Cumbre Plaza Parking Lot and introduced ourselves and talked for a couple minutes. Then we deicided we should get a move on and started the journey up the 101 with Mike as our leader. It was a very nice drive, no traffic at all. Plenty of CHiP's, though. The fog and clouds on the mountains made for some spectacular views. We stopped for gas around Santa Maria and then proceded north through the fog infested valleys.
We made good time and managed to arrive at Hearst Castle at around 9:20. The only other person there was Shaun, who organized the event. Although we didn't know he was there, until he appeared out of nowhere with some breakfast. Shortly after, everyone else started to arrive.
After taking some pictures, talking and inspecting everyone elses Dakota, we headed off for our 10:40am tour of Hearst Castle. Afterwards, we decided to watch a film on William Hearst on a gigantic movie screen. This man had way too much money. If you want to see some pics of his wealth, visit the link to my website below. Next, off we were all hungry and decided to head off to Main Street Grille in Cambria. After some good burgers we jumped over Highway 1 to Moonstone Beach. We all proceded to pop the hoods.
While we were hanging out, Bruce explained and showed us his throttle bodys. Tony had a couple of his Quick D intake sytems to show off and Sam decided to try one out. Tony proceded to install the intake in about 15 minutes. It took a little longer than usual, especially since he had an audience, and the wind was starting to whip.
Click any below for full sizes
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After installing the Quick D system, obviously Sam was anxious to test it out. We set off down the coast on the Pacific Coast Highway to Oceano State Park. It was about a hour drive of smiles, stares and pointing. We made a pit stop at a gas station and ended up taking it over. After we found our way back to the highway, Sam somehow ended up last. We were all in the slow lane and I counted everybody. Couldn't see him at all, then here he comes speeding down the fast lane with a Chevy Truck following behind. Can you imagine what this guy was thinking? And to top it off, Bruce pulls out of the caravan and starts to pursue the unlucky victim. Sam eventually let up on the gas and fell back into the caravan along with Bruce. When the Chevy passed by them, they waved and gave em a thumbs up.
Eventually we made our way to Oceano State Park. It is actually a beach. They have a lot of dunes for the 4x4's. We saw some ATV and motorcyle riders. By the time we got there, we only had about 30 minutes of light left as the sun was setting in the background. We quickly lined up and took some pics. We decided to cruise along the beach as the sun was setting. We stopped when there was a small stream of water in the path and lined up in an attempt to make a half circle.
At this point I had to head home, had to work in the morning. But everyone else went down to eat at McClintock's in Shell beach. After waiting over an hour they finally got seated. After everyone was done eating, it was already 11:30pm. Everyone decided to call it a night and headed on their ways.
If you want to see more pics and info, Check out my homepage www.smokindakota.com
February 15, 1999
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