Well, where do I start? Today we began in San Francisco (above is the view from our 40th floor cocktail reception) … just imagine Bullitt … that’s the scene (well, in my mind at least) as we drove through the city. We crossed the fogged-over Golden Gate Bridge…

And from there, we headed up to Infineon Raceway (used to be called Sears Point) for a little drag racing … wow, you can’t imagine the sounds and the feeling (and the smell!) of really being there …

But I have to admit the highlight of my day — even after all that really cool drag racing — was the ride in Michael Armand Hammer’s very very rare Cobra up to Napa. This car is unbelievably raw, and insanely fast. It’s like an animal, roaring with speed and downright raw… I just don’t have a better word for it. We hit somewhere between 120 and 130 mph on the roads, and Michael is just a down-to-earth great guy. What an amazing ride…

We topped it off with an even better dinner … more on that tomorrow …

This was one of those days always remembered fondly in the future, but not always taken so well at the time it’s happening. From mechanical problems, to scheduling issues, to traffic, today certainly had its challenges… and yet, as we all sat in our fantastic dinner, we realized just how fortunate we are. From cruising (racing?!?) up Highway 1 — one of the most beautiful roads in the world — to eating lunch at Pebble Beach overlooking the golf course & ocean, it really was an incredible day. Here are just a few of our memories:

Here we’re seen leaving the Carlton in the morning … great cars, huh?!?

Highway 1 is so spectacular, yet nearly “uncapturable” with a camera. This stunning vista is barely a taste of what we experienced, with 2-lane, very curvy roads with 1000 foot drop-offs down to the ocean. Amazing…

Well … you can’t beat this for a lunch view. This was taken within feet of our lunch tables:

Okay … a little traffic getting into the city made for a little frustration … but nothing our dinner — and the cocktail reception on the 40th floor — didn’t cure:

Here are a few more pictures from Tuesday that didn’t make it up yet … enjoy! First we start off with Hearst Castle … it was amazingly beautiful, a highlight of California:

It seems they could use a better exterminating company, though, as they have some MAJOR insect issues. (This happens to be the first live, wild tarantula I’ve ever seen… they are gigantic.)

But regardles… how can you complain about this?!?

Here are a couple of pictures from Tuesday, Day 2 of the 2006 Muscle Car 1000 … Above is lunch on the pier in Avila Beach. And this first shot below shows our notebook that we received (along with a great jacket, door stickers, etc) at the Driver’s meeting…

Applying the door decal …

And finally a small hint of the scenery on our drive…

The pictures for viewing (and also where you can obtain prints) are now at:

www.printroom.com

… just click on the Muscle Car 1000 category for the pix!

The Muscle Car 1000 has officially begun! Most of the cars made it (albeit with some mechanical challenges already for 3 teams — see the first auto parts store pic?) to Bacara in time for the beautiful, perfect Santa Barbara sunset.

We followed that with a fantastic dinner — and the hilarious introductions of the cars & drivers — in the Rotunda at this world-class resort. We leave tomorrow at 10 am … more updates late on Tuesday night, so check in again! And for more photos now, click through the link here… Read the rest of this entry »