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With wife out of town skiing with family, I head out to "get some fresh air" out in the mountains as well. I head out to the Santa Cruz mountains last Sunday morning. (And to play with my new phone (camera) with more features than I know what to do with!) Got to the base of hills, maybe 6:30-7:00am, first light. Beautiful, no traffic at all. Beautiful dawn but roads were a little damp from condensation off the trees so I didn't go any more than maybe 7/10 (if that) getting to the top. Exhilarating nonetheless.
Explains the condensation...
Here, at Coffee Break Hill, near whiteout but blue breaking in above the fog bank. Also presents challenging light conditions for pics. With my familiar SLR, I could compensate for the differing, wrong-spectrum-of-light conditions by stopping up or something. However, with my new iPhone 11 (not PRO) and a new feature set I hadn't previously used before that day, it did afford some opportunity to try them out. Didn't do too great.... too much technology in it. Hahahahaha.
What gives this spot the name. (MY name for the spot, no one else probably calls it Coffee Break Hill. )
Next stop: Fogarty Winery, Woodside, CA. A very special place for us: where my wife and I got married nearly five years ago! Man, time flies.
So here's the car-nerd stuff explaining why I'm posting yet again despite having talked about essentially the same run, just last week....
Around 8:30 or so, I'd gotten my fix of g-loading and was just cruising on Hwy 35 North heading to Alice's Restaurant for coffee refill (and to check out cars!). I'm going along at a leisurely 55-60 (45 marked) when I look in my mirror and see it's full of BMW E30 (80's). I'm like.... "Dayam, where'd he come from? " But that's not all, he was leading a group of other cars.
Well, I sped up the pace and looked for a good place to out and yield. I sorta dropped them in sections but then they may have just backed off. Found a place to pull out at the observation point above Woodside/Palo Alto. The Bimmer pulled out too, to yield and then play caboose.
I look over and the the first car by was a Porsche GT3 (pretty sure... he was accelerating and disappeared behind trees.) He was followed by two other 901s (root name for all 911/912 body P-cars). Next, coming behind those Porsches [are you ready for this?] an early Toyota 86 (Corolla GTS, 90ish I guess), then finally a Lotus Elise. The Bimmer then pulled out and joined back in. Whoa, now that was very cool; not something I experience up there much (since I'm usually up there during the weekdays, privilege of semi-retirement. Laff....)
Stood there listening to them going through the turns down the road. Awesome. Don't know if they were actually going any faster than I was but I have to presume so since they caught me earlier when I wasn't looking and I hadn't seen them anywhere for the miles previous.
But ya, great fun. Thought about chasing but I know my limits on wet roads and it was getting to the point in the morning where there'd be too many other non-enthusiast drivers and cyclists out (especially being a weekend!) so I backed out of the loud pedal.
Besides, I was out of coffee and needed a refill (and minutes later)...
Cheers!
Disclaimer: Haven't said this a while but please be safe out there. Know your and your car's limits. Don't do stupid shid like you see on FB and YT. Get out there and enjoy your cars but respect the laws of physics (and the road laws where you really need to like blind corners or where there might be other cars/bikes/pedestrians.) And there's no shame in slowing down when your instincts tell you're about to be in over your head. #driversschool
Glad to hear you had some great fun. Reallly makes me want to get out and have some fun myself. Couple more weeks should be ordering my brakes and gonna take my Z into texas track works for an alignment. Won't be able to get it aligned exaclty how i want since i won't be able to afford the extra parts yet but can't wait to see how the Z feels after they align it.
Thought I'd revisit this thread as it was one of - if not the - first posts on here. I had started my current run of Z ownership back in 2011 when I bought my then wife her Z34N. That was short lived, we, then I, only owned that car for a couple of years before giving it away (to my kid). But in late 2012, maybe early '13, I bought my '03 Enthusiast. Had about 73k miles on it. It is the car shown throughout this thread. It wasn't the only Z I would own with some 7 in the time I owned this one. But it is he last one, now sold and gone today.
Do I miss it? Nope. Not yet anyways. I'm sure there will be pangs now and again. But it went to a good home and I know she will appreciate the love and care I put into my '03.
In looking back at this thread, I do miss it from the perspective of having little responsibilities besides doing on-off consulting work and spending mornings in the hills. But it's not the end. I've some thoughts about going forward but let's just say I've not put ink on paper yet. We shall see. For now, Bye Z.
Thought I'd revisit this thread as it was one of - if not the - first posts on here. I had started my current run of Z ownership back in 2011 when I bought my then wife her Z34N. That was short lived, we, then I, only owned that car for a couple of years before giving it away (to my kid). But in late 2012, maybe early '13, I bought my '03 Enthusiast. Had about 73k miles on it. It is the car shown throughout this thread. It wasn't the only Z I would own with some 7 in the time I owned this one. But it is he last one, now sold and gone today.
Do I miss it? Nope. Not yet anyways. I'm sure there will be pangs now and again. But it went to a good home and I know she will appreciate the love and care I put into my '03.
In looking back at this thread, I do miss it from the perspective of having little responsibilities besides doing on-off consulting work and spending mornings in the hills. But it's not the end. I've some thoughts about going forward but let's just say I've not put ink on paper yet. We shall see. For now, Bye Z.
That was a nice Z. Good to hear it went to a good home. And of course you will miss it at times. Every single car ive own (240z, S13, S14, Tacoma) ive missed. Do i regret it? no but I do miss them. So what do you have in mind for your next car?
9,999 POSTS?!? @Bak3rme pointed out on my last post (in the Zs on BringATrailer post) that that was my 9,999th post with one more for 10k.
Interestingly, just celebrated 10 years here too. Hmmmm, that averages out to about 1,000 posts per year. How the h....? What did I have to talk about that amounts to that many posts??? I mean, besides the administrative posts like warnings and such, what did my verbose self have that much to talk about? Haha, not a lot of substance I guess.
As many of you who know me knows, my reason for joining this forum was because I was getting into my second phase of lifetime Z (and Datsun/Nissan) ownership. First time around in the mid-'80s, sold my last of that line of Nissans. Then a quarter century passed by and I thought, "I want another Z" (a lifelong addiction with relapses?). Went and leased my '12 Z34 Nismo, then followed that with my '03 Enthusiast (in this thread) and between then and today, bought (and sold and had destroyed) 11 Nissan products. All but one, Z cars of varying years.
Well, whatever the reason for 9,999 posts, just thought that my milestone 10,000th post would be to bump my first contribution to this forum. It may not have been my actual first post on my350Z.com but it was definitely the first one that I originated as the thread starter. So, thanks to the forum, there is going back into the past. For anyone who hasn't seen this post before, well, it's definitely MicFlavored so take it all with grains of salt and without offense because it's, well, me. Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks all for making this forum one of the better ones! OK, onwards to 15k? 20k?
9,999 POSTS?!? @Bak3rme pointed out on my last post (in the Zs on BringATrailer post) that that was my 9,999th post with one more for 10k.
Interestingly, just celebrated 10 years here too. Hmmmm, that averages out to about 1,000 posts per year. How the h....? What did I have to talk about that amounts to that many posts??? I mean, besides the administrative posts like warnings and such, what did my verbose self have that much to talk about? Haha, not a lot of substance I guess.
As many of you who know me knows, my reason for joining this forum was because I was getting into my second phase of lifetime Z (and Datsun/Nissan) ownership. First time around in the mid-'80s, sold my last of that line of Nissans. Then a quarter century passed by and I thought, "I want another Z" (a lifelong addiction with relapses?). Went and leased my '12 Z34 Nismo, then followed that with my '03 Enthusiast (in this thread) and between then and today, bought (and sold and had destroyed) 11 Nissan products. All but one, Z cars of varying years.
Well, whatever the reason for 9,999 posts, just thought that my milestone 10,000th post would be to bump my first contribution to this forum. It may not have been my actual first post on my350Z.com but it was definitely the first one that I originated as the thread starter. So, thanks to the forum, there is going back into the past. For anyone who hasn't seen this post before, well, it's definitely MicFlavored so take it all with grains of salt and without offense because it's, well, me. Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks all for making this forum one of the better ones! OK, onwards to 15k? 20k?
I dont know you but i see you all over this forum and you have responded to several of my questions or posts. Thank you for that as you are still very active on this forum. Hard to find OG members or helpful people on forums now a days. I myself have been around the Nissan car scence since the 90s and have had my fair share of datsuns/nissans and some toyotas.
Congrats on 10 years and 10k posts. I'll be driving my Z to work this week, even though there's some rain on the horizon. I might even give a run up to Alice's a shot one of these mornings, been trying to get my buddy with his 94 Z32TT to join (he's always wrenching on that Z32, always something!). Spring time weather in the SF Bay Area is simply amazing for driving in the hills! I also need to get the 2 year smog check done on the Z. Pretty much all my family cars have rego due in May, so that means smog checks for all of them this time of year.
9,999 POSTS?!? @Bak3rme pointed out on my last post (in the Zs on BringATrailer post) that that was my 9,999th post with one more for 10k.
Interestingly, just celebrated 10 years here too. Hmmmm, that averages out to about 1,000 posts per year. How the h....? What did I have to talk about that amounts to that many posts??? I mean, besides the administrative posts like warnings and such, what did my verbose self have that much to talk about? Haha, not a lot of substance I guess.
As many of you who know me knows, my reason for joining this forum was because I was getting into my second phase of lifetime Z (and Datsun/Nissan) ownership. First time around in the mid-'80s, sold my last of that line of Nissans. Then a quarter century passed by and I thought, "I want another Z" (a lifelong addiction with relapses?). Went and leased my '12 Z34 Nismo, then followed that with my '03 Enthusiast (in this thread) and between then and today, bought (and sold and had destroyed) 11 Nissan products. All but one, Z cars of varying years.
Well, whatever the reason for 9,999 posts, just thought that my milestone 10,000th post would be to bump my first contribution to this forum. It may not have been my actual first post on my350Z.com but it was definitely the first one that I originated as the thread starter. So, thanks to the forum, there is going back into the past. For anyone who hasn't seen this post before, well, it's definitely MicFlavored so take it all with grains of salt and without offense because it's, well, me. Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks all for making this forum one of the better ones! OK, onwards to 15k? 20k?
Keep 'er rolling Mic! Congratulations and thanks for being such a great help here to everyone!
Randy! Long time no hear! Hope all is well with you! I think I must have missed any updates you might have posted. For those not familiar with Big Blue, this thread is one of the reasons his car remains on my permanent Top 10 of my350Z cars! Although looking at your build thread, I see that we "forum chatted" just a couple months ago. Off topic.... turntables. Ha!
And you're welcome.If there's anything I can do to help peeps enjoy their Z cars (like I've had the pleasure of doing for decades), happy to do it. And I'm still learning. So many new ways of doing things that I'm constantly impressed with. This is really the only forum I'm still active on.
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Hope you enjoy it.
