Cars - Mustang and Formula 1

William driving the Mustang for the
very first time.

We did it. We ran around early yesterday, met for coffee then met back at the house to grab the 1966 Mustang convertible that Michael and William have been building from the frame up for a few years and began our adventure along Highway 1 south to Monterey. It was an easy 90-minute drive along with world famous views along the coast. The ocean was wild, it was less windy and warmer as we traveled south until it was downright balmy in Monterey. We got lots of looks from people. The car is rather dramatic looking and LOUD. I think people were shocked that such old people were driving it! William had finished a concert in Davis the night before and had the day off on their way to San Luis Obispo then Coachella this weekend. He phoned Wednesday to ask if we wanted to come down for lunch. What he didn't know is that we were driving the Mustang.

Texting, we learned that they rented 15 day rooms at the Intercontential Hotel (for showers and naps) on Cannery Row but he was on the tour bus parked across the street. I texted that we arrived, he saw the car from the bus and came running along with several other people. The valet parking guys were loving it and we all peered under the hood together.

He wanted to walk to lunch so we took off down the main drag. We found a place right on the Monterey Bay, watched an otter swim by on his back and the waves were breaking against the rocks just below us. We ordered appetizers of Monterey Sardines with white beans and calamari, a beet salad, a dozen oysters and Michael ordered a meatball sandwich. Yes, they also had beers.

We met someone working on his tour and stopped for a chat. After lunch, we walked back - the car was still parked in front of the hotel - and had William drive us a couple of miles away for some coffee. It was funny to see a kid born in the 80s trying to turn a car with standard steering! He had to learn the secret that the car needed to be moving a bit as he was trying to turn. It was so loud and felt so dangerously fast (though it is totally safe) that he was rather afraid of it. It will take a bit of time for him to be comfortable.

We said our goodbyes, jumped back into the car and headed north, back into the winds and clouds. It was another easy ride back, very little traffic and we stopped for dinner at our favorite dive in Pescadero. Michael had their Chili Verde and I had their very small appetizer of calamari. I nabbed some of Michael's cole slaw! He ordered a piece of their famous pie to go.

All in all, a very fun day and actually our last road trip for a while. Michael starts his new job on Tuesday so we are going to have to stay home. We watched a replay of the afternoon's wild Giant's game against Chicago. This morning, I awoke to find Michael watching the practice run of Formula 1 from China. With all the drama with the Red Bull team (Vettel passed his teammate Weber to win the last race after the team told them both to slow down as they were clearly going to win so they could conserve fuel), it is going to be a very interesting race. They are still not playing well together after a two week break.