2018 was our 14th SLO/Central Coast Roadster Run held annually with our roadster friends in the Bay Area Roadsters (BAR). As our established tradition, we meet over the Memorial Day weekend, within the beautiful coastal town of San Luis Obispo (SLO), for a long weekend doing all things roadster.  This was an off year as far as attendance by both clubs, with 35 CRs and 35 BARs for a total of about 39 roadsters and about 70 people, including several guests by both clubs.  Some of the BARs led by Dennis Varni had shipped some of their cars to North Carolina, and were doing a coastal tour. Lots of other regulars had conflicts, but will be back next year.

Again this year, we were able to reserve all the rooms at the PeachTree Inn, our favorite motor court along Monterey Street, just south of Highway 1.  This is an older, single-story motel, where you can actually park just outside your room and do a little detailing and/or bench racing with your neighbors.  It is owned by our friends Sandy and Hitch Hitchcock, who welcome us back every year and let us have the run of their facility.

As is our practice, we began the long weekend with two groups of CRs departing the OC from North and South OC locations, with a faster than normal drive through LA County, and rendezvous for lunch at the Padero Beach Grill.  This is one of our favorite spots on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, and has pretty good burgers.  Both groups arrived about 12:30 PM, and had a leisurely lunch before heading onto SLO.

After lunch, we gassed up and took off for the balance of the day's run up the coast, which is about 2.5 hour drive northerly along Highway 101.  Arriving at the Peach Tree Inn, seems like coming home, since we've been making this trip since the early 1990's.  The first order of business was checking in, but our President Tom Schauppner had already arranged with the manager for individual room assignments, which made check-in very easy. 

Welcome Thursday is always informal, getting to see old BAR friends again after a long winter of non-events.  The next thing was to assist Bajajon Kennedy in setting up the deck bar, because the BAR guys/gals were rolling in and needed a cool one.  Bajajon and Dick Roseberry took off in his Woodie to stock the bar, and when they got back we all helped get the bar open.  

Dinner was open the first night with only a few couples taking the trolley downtown due to the overcast weather, for the Thursday night street fair and some local BBQ.  There are lots of choices, from street food to nice sit down restaurants.  Some of our favorites are BBQ, turkey legs and roasted corn on the cob. The majority of the crowd was enjoying our open bar, decided to stay behind and have a pizza party, and I think we ordered a record number of pies this years.

Friday morning was our first organized roadster run, to The Range, a wood pit BBQ joint, just up the 101 Freeway, in the historic cowboy town of Santa Margarita. Our Co-run chairmen, Phill Whetstone and Keith Reineke, with the help of Jim St.Martin and Gary Boler, took us on a country road ride up Highway 1, and then some winding two lane roads northerly through the rural communities of Atascadero, Templeton and Creston, ultimately ending up at the rear entrance to Santa Margarita.  The weather was overcast, with a few sprinkles along the way, but was not a problem.

The Range is a recently opened restaurant resulted from the remodel of an older house on Main Street, with a very large patio used for dining.  Dick Roseberry, Keith Reineke and Max Jamiesson found this place on a prior visit to the Central Coast.  It is owned by a local couple and they know their BBQ.  They aren't normally opened for lunch, but made special accommodations for our large crowd.  Parking was limited, but we stacked the roadsters three deep in front of the restaurant, just like a Beverly Hills valet and managed to get everyone in. The BBQ lunch included chicken, brisket and all the sides, with some wonderful homemade desserts.  They loved having our group, and invited us to come back next year, and possibly try a new Mexican restaurant they are planning to open in the near future.  We highly recommend, if you're ever in Santa Margarita, try The Range.  On Friday afternoon, our world famous deck party was hosted back at The Peachtree, followed by an excellent, catered Mexican dinner, featuring chili rellenos and tacos.

Saturday was the second organized roadster run, and we had prearranged a run up Highway 1 to Ragged Point, a resort about 14 miles north of the Hearst Castle.  The ride up Highway 1 was the most casual and scenic runs of the weekend, with minimal traffic due to due closure of Highway 1, just north of Ragged Point.  They were ready for us and directed us to park our roadsters on a grassy knoll, overlooking the ragged coast, which instantly becomes an attraction for their guests and tourists.  We had reserved a private room with a fantastic south coastal view, and offered a sandwich buffet, which was just the right of amount of food.  The afternoon was free to visit the wineries in the area, and/or explore coastal communities. Our associate member Jack and Donna Linden made a reservation to tour Hearst Castle, because he enjoyed it during one of our prior runs, and Donna had never been there.

Back at the Peachtree Inn, the deck bar opened at 4 PM, with Jon Kennedy and Dick Roseberry having restocked the bar from the previously night's party. Again, we had a nice catered dinner, with tonight's fare being Italian, from Red Line BBQ, which was also excellent. We also added a DJ playing some oldies but goodies, and a little dancing after dinner, which the ladies really enjoyed.

Sunday morning came all too soon, with our roadsters heading out north/south after breakfast,  until we all join up again at the LA Roadster Show on Father's Day. We have been meeting the BAR for the past fourteen years, as a thank you for sponsoring us at the annual Roadster Roundup. This is the first run of our roadster season, and is our club's favorite run of the year.