The kickoff of the hot rod season, and our favorite run to SLO in May was cancelled; but being determined rodders, we went anyway.  Forget the static car shows, or the mega commercial events, let’s put the rubber to the road, with a few roadster buddies, see some back country roads, have some eats, visit several wineries and tell a few tales.  That’s just how the weekend went when the Bay Area Roadsters invited the California Roadsters to meet up in SLO for a North/South rendezvous.

            Steve Moal took some time away from building his world famous creations to plan a weekend that was enjoyed by all.  We went up a day early to take in the Thursday night farmer’s market in downtown SLO.  Don and Patti, Duane and Mark took the southern route; with Jerry and Judy, Frank and Evelyn, Tony and Karin, Jon and Midge, Dick and Barbara, Chet and Ruby, Hank, Bernie, Terry and Phill and Keith opting for the northern route.  We meet at Jocko’s for some world famous BBQ before conversing on the Peachtree.  Max and Sue came down from Carmel Valley on Thursday afternoon and Joe and Laurie with Doug in his yellow convertible came up on Friday morning.

            Moal and the BAR guys took us and the San Luis Roadsters, for a run up Highway 1 on Friday morning to the W. R. Hearst State Beach for a little R&R time and a nice lunch.  It was good to see our roadster buddies again and catch up what happen over the winter months.  The afternoon was spent following Jon Kennedy’s woody through the wine country of Paso Robles visiting a few boutique wineries, sampling a little grape and buying a few bottles to take home.  Then it was time to head back to the Peachtree for one our famous deck parties.  The rest of the group joined us for some pizza and in what turned out to be a hellua party.

            Saturday morning we’re off again for a back country tour of Santa Margarita, Templeton, Atascadero and Paso Robles, lead by Sherm Porter of the San Luis Roadster, who really knows some twisty back roads. If you’ve never experienced a ride through the country in an open roadster, I’m here to tell ya, you’re missing something.  We ended up at the Estrella Warbird Museum in Paso Robles for a guided tour and a BBQ lunch.  Well since it was also the weekend of the Paso Robles Wine Festival and you’re following Jon Kennedy, the logical thing to do after lunch, was go visit some more wineries.  That night was capped by a dinner at the Mike McCarthy Automobilia Museum in downtown SLO. 

            Since rain was threatening, some of us left before our usual departure on Sunday morning; which was wise because it rained pretty hard on those hearty souls that like to drive open cars in a downpour.

            The collective group is already looking forward to next year’s return visit to SLO and planning our September trip to South Lake Tahoe for this year’s Roadster Roundup.  This will probably be a two day run up Hwy 395, with another two days at the RR and then a one day layover to see the Reno Air Races. Before then, we have the LA Roadsters Father’s Day in Pomona , The Great American Race, which for the first year will feature a hot rod entry and then some of us are making a run to Indy.  It will be a busy summer for the California Roadsters.