Going to California for the first time

[MeSs]

This summer we are going to California for the first time.
And I was hoping to see some car related stuff when we are there.

Our route is:
OSL - LAX: 07.30.17

Staying in LA (West Hollywood) 07.30.17 to 08.03.17.

Driving from LA to Ragged Point 08.03.17 to 08.04.17.

Driving from Ragged Point to SF 08.04.17.

Staying in SF (Sutter St.) 08.04.17 to 08.10.17.

Driving from SF to Sierra Nevada 08.10.17 to 08.11.17.

Driving from Sierra Nevada to Las Vegas 08.11.17.

Staying in Las Vegas 08.11.17 to 08.13.17.

Driving from Las Vegas to LA 08.13.17.

Staying in LA (West Hollywood) 08.13.17 to 08.15.17.

LAX - OSL 08.15.17

We have planned to stop by Laguna Seca when going from Ragged Point to SF, "Fast Toys Club" have a event that day. We would love to drive on the track, but renting a Mustang and driving without a instructor with that many crazy expensive cars seems a little bit scary.

We are also planning to visit Sonoma Raceway when staying in SF.
Do you know of some car events in LA, SF or Las Vegas around these dates? :)

Thanks in advice.
Best Regards,
The Norwegian car nut.

[Felipe]

Vegas baby!!!!

Dont do it lol jk what are you looking for here in vegas?

[innovation]

You mentioned wanting to visit Willowsprings from San Francisco. Your best bet is to visit Willowsprings from LA. Willowsprings is much closer to LA and would save you a lot of driving time.

[MeSs]

Vegas baby!!!!

Dont do it lol jk what are you looking for here in vegas?
We really don't have many plans for Vegas yet, only things we have planned is hoover dam and grand Canyon.
Staying at MGM.

You mentioned wanting to visit Willowsprings from San Francisco. Your best bet is to visit Willowsprings from LA. Willowsprings is much closer to LA and would save you a lot of driving time.
Sorry, I meant Sonoma Raceway :-) Thank you

[Zachsta]

if you want amazing mexican food, typically the shittier the place looks, the better is.

Most of all, have fun out here :coolugh:

[brndck]

go to the Peterson museum in LA
also, if you're planning on driving up PCH/Hwy1 to ragged point and beyond, better check road closures. Big Sur is pretty much 100% closed right now. there were landslides on the south end, and a bridge is collapsing on the north end. bad time for a road trip

[S14kouki805]

If you take the 101 from LA to Frisco take the 154 San Marcos Pass, it's a small shortcut thru the mountains that has some nice twisties. It's located right as you pass thru Santa Barbara and will spit you back out onto the 101.

I've seen manufacturer camouflaged test vehicles driving around there on more than one occasion. When the 370Z first came out I saw one there with manufacturer plates testing.

+1 on the shitty looking Mexican places, if for some odd reason you find yourself in Santa Maria stop by La Picosita, bomb shit I promise.

[Felipe]

We really don't have many plans for Vegas yet, only things we have planned is hoover dam and grand Canyon.
Staying at MGM.

At the dam when you park go to the Arizona side its free! lol

Also at canyon most of the begging of it is owned by native Americans and charge a boat load just to view. Just drive to the national park few hours away. You should check out Zion park while your at it.

[1on1]

My suggestion because you'll be eating too. Hit up San Tung for the best wings you will ever have (unless there's a better spot in the bay area) and their house fried rice. Place is so good, they opened a second one next door.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-tung-san-francisco-2

[MeSs]

if you want amazing mexican food, typically the shittier the place looks, the better is.

Most of all, have fun out here :coolugh:
Haha :) Noted.

go to the Peterson museum in LA
also, if you're planning on driving up PCH/Hwy1 to ragged point and beyond, better check road closures. Big Sur is pretty much 100% closed right now. there were landslides on the south end, and a bridge is collapsing on the north end. bad time for a road trip
July/August 2017 :) I hope it's open.

If you take the 101 from LA to Frisco take the 154 San Marcos Pass, it's a small shortcut thru the mountains that has some nice twisties. It's located right as you pass thru Santa Barbara and will spit you back out onto the 101.

I've seen manufacturer camouflaged test vehicles driving around there on more than one occasion. When the 370Z first came out I saw one there with manufacturer plates testing.

+1 on the shitty looking Mexican places, if for some odd reason you find yourself in Santa Maria stop by La Picosita, bomb shit I promise.
Niiiiiice! Thank you for the tip :)

At the dam when you park go to the Arizona side its free! lol

Also at canyon most of the begging of it is owned by native Americans and charge a boat load just to view. Just drive to the national park few hours away. You should check out Zion park while your at it.
Thank you :)

My suggestion because you'll be eating too. Hit up San Tung for the best wings you will ever have (unless there's a better spot in the bay area) and their house fried rice. Place is so good, they opened a second one next door.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-tung-san-francisco-2
Thank you :)

[Smurf_240SX]

Don't forget to hit up In N Out and get a Double Double cheese burger with Animal style fries! :yum:

[Maxstyle]

Laguna Seca. MUST GO.

[MeSs]

Don't forget to hit up In N Out and get a Double Double cheese burger with Animal style fries! :yum:
Now I'm hungry! Thank you :)

Laguna Seca. MUST GO.
Yes, that's been a dream for a while. But I'm not sure what to do about the driving on track.
We have planned to stop by Laguna Seca when going from Ragged Point to SF, "Fast Toys Club" have a event that day. We would love to drive on the track, but renting a Mustang and driving without a instructor with that many crazy expensive cars seems a little bit scary.

[exitspeed]

Play a game called Count the Tesla's. Good luck.

[mr.nismo.]

On your way to SF stop off in Oxnard for toppers pizza (between LA and SB) Ventura county is beautiful but toppers is literally the best pizza ever haha. Coming from LA You should take the PCH on the way up as it's a gorgeous drive, and itl spit you out in Oxnard. Then you can continue up the 101 towards santa Barbara (still costal drive)


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[MeSs]

Play a game called Count the Tesla's. Good luck.
Actually the same in Norway. In Norway the electric cars have no taxes, so they are really popular.

On your way to SF stop off in Oxnard for toppers pizza (between LA and SB) Ventura county is beautiful but toppers is literally the best pizza ever haha. Coming from LA You should take the PCH on the way up as it's a gorgeous drive, and itl spit you out in Oxnard. Then you can continue up the 101 towards santa Barbara (still costal drive)


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Nice, thanks alot :D Alot of food here!

[na12uto]

While you're here in LA check out the Fast and the furious house.

[MeSs]

While you're here in LA check out the Fast and the furious house.
Nice tip!! :D Thank you.

Is there any car/tuning shops I should/can visit?

[brndck]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/us/california-landslide-scenic-highway/
big sur just had another massive landslide, so the road up the coast may be blocked even longer

[MeSs]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/us/california-landslide-scenic-highway/
big sur just had another massive landslide, so the road up the coast may be blocked even longer

Nooo, that's the main reason why we are going. We also have a night at Ragged point hotel.

[brndck]

ragged point is on the south end, south of this landslide. so you can still make it to your hotel, but you won't be able to take hwy 1 from there all the way up to like carmel or SF

[MeSs]

California was awesome :)

Cons:
LAX was a nightmare.
Hwy1 was closed like "brndck" said.
Weather in San Francisco. Had one day with sun tho.

Pros:
Enterprise car rental got us a Camaro instead of a Maxima. (In Norway camaros are like 100.000usd..... So they are quite rare)
Weather in Los Angeles.
Death Valley.
Yosemite.
Sonoma Raceway.
Laguna Seca Raceway.
etc.

It was so good that I'm going back in april 2018 for 2 weeks. Watching Formula Drift Long beach and Long beach grand prix.

[brndck]

glad you had a killer time!
yeah LAX sucks and I fly in/out of john wayne whenever possible. Ontario or Burbank are decent options too.
theres a funny quote about sf, and I wanna say it was Jack Kerouac, but its basically "the coldest winter I ever had was a summer day in SF".

if you come back for FD Long Beach, make sure you buy tickets way in advance. Its assigned seating so you'll want to pick good seats in the grandstand, otherwise you might not be able to see much. Cars get broken into in Long Beach so make sure you either put everything in the trunk or hide it all. Long Beach Grand Prix is definitely an amazing event, plus long beach is an awesome place to be.

[MeSs]

glad you had a killer time!
yeah LAX sucks and I fly in/out of john wayne whenever possible. Ontario or Burbank are decent options too.
theres a funny quote about sf, and I wanna say it was Jack Kerouac, but its basically "the coldest winter I ever had was a summer day in SF".

if you come back for FD Long Beach, make sure you buy tickets way in advance. Its assigned seating so you'll want to pick good seats in the grandstand, otherwise you might not be able to see much. Cars get broken into in Long Beach so make sure you either put everything in the trunk or hide it all. Long Beach Grand Prix is definitely an amazing event, plus long beach is an awesome place to be.
Haha, I actually got a cold in SF!!!
Thank you for the tips.
Regarding FD Long Beach, what seats do you recommend, and what about parking?

Best regards,
Marius

[Smurf_240SX]

Haha, I actually got a cold in SF!!!
Thank you for the tips.
Regarding FD Long Beach, what seats do you recommend, and what about parking?

Best regards,
Marius


Did you get a chance to hit up In-N-Out and grab a Double Double with Animal style fries? lol

[MeSs]

Did you get a chance to hit up In-N-Out and grab a Double Double with Animal style fries? lol
No I didn't, funny thing is that my wife don't like junkfood....:ugh:
But next time I will test it!

[MeSs]

Did you get a chance to hit up In-N-Out and grab a Double Double with Animal style fries? lol
What's up with In-N-Out burger? Long line/wait everytime. Tried In-N-Out burger in Hollywood, but we didn't want to wait 30mins for "fastfood" :naughty:

This trip was a success!
- Arrived in LA April 2nd
- 3rd: Went to Universal City and TCL Chinese Theatre at night. Ready Player One.
- 4th: Camarillo Outlets and Highway 1 down to Santa Monica Beach
- 5th: Roadtrip to San Diego along Highway 1. Visited USS Midway Museum. Fell in love with Carlsbad.
- 6th: Formula Drift Long Beach Qualifying
- 7th: Formula Drift Long Beach Main Event. This was a GREAT day, since Aasbø won!
- 8th: Drove from LA to Las Vegas, Caesars Palace Nobu Hotel. Hang out in the pool area until night.
- 9th: Helicopter trip with Sundance Helicopters to Grand Canyon. Hang out in the pool area at Caesars until dawn. Drunk in the evening.
- 10th: Breakfast at IHOP and roadtrip to Hoover dam. Pool until dawn. Drunk in evening with Xcountry burlesque show.
- 11th: Roadtrip from Las Vegas to San Francisco. 1041km/646miles. 10hr drive.
- 12th: Alcatraz in the morning. Piers, submarine etc. Fishermans Dwarf (overrated as f*ck). Cinema in the night, "A quiet place" in Century XD.... :eek:
- 13th: Roadtrip to Golden Gate Bridge and Stinson Beach along HW1. Some shopping. And cinema in the night, "Pacific Rim 2"
- 14th: Roadtrip down too Pismo beach, along HW1. Pismo Beach is beautiful!
- 15th: Roadtrip down too LA, along HW1 and Mullholland drive. Griffith Observatory.
- 16th: Home to cold Norway. Business class baby!

Had a blast this time! May be going back in October for Formula Drift Irwindale!

[blackmags91]

If you take the 101 from LA to Frisco take the 154 San Marcos Pass, it's a small shortcut thru the mountains that has some nice twisties. It's located right as you pass thru Santa Barbara and will spit you back out onto the 101.

I've seen manufacturer camouflaged test vehicles driving around there on more than one occasion. When the 370Z first came out I saw one there with manufacturer plates testing.

+1 on the shitty looking Mexican places, if for some odd reason you find yourself in Santa Maria stop by La Picosita, bomb shit I promise.

I spend a 4 or 5 nights per year in Santa Maria for work. Will keep in mind, thanks

[mr.nismo.]

What's up with In-N-Out burger? Long line/wait everytime. Tried In-N-Out burger in Hollywood, but we didn't want to wait 30mins for "fastfood" :naughty:

This trip was a success!
- Arrived in LA April 2nd
- 3rd: Went to Universal City and TCL Chinese Theatre at night. Ready Player One.
- 4th: Camarillo Outlets and Highway 1 down to Santa Monica Beach
- 5th: Roadtrip to San Diego along Highway 1. Visited USS Midway Museum. Fell in love with Carlsbad.
- 6th: Formula Drift Long Beach Qualifying
- 7th: Formula Drift Long Beach Main Event. This was a GREAT day, since Aasbø won!
- 8th: Drove from LA to Las Vegas, Caesars Palace Nobu Hotel. Hang out in the pool area until night.
- 9th: Helicopter trip with Sundance Helicopters to Grand Canyon. Hang out in the pool area at Caesars until dawn. Drunk in the evening.
- 10th: Breakfast at IHOP and roadtrip to Hoover dam. Pool until dawn. Drunk in evening with Xcountry burlesque show.
- 11th: Roadtrip from Las Vegas to San Francisco. 1041km/646miles. 10hr drive.
- 12th: Alcatraz in the morning. Piers, submarine etc. Fishermans Dwarf (overrated as f*ck). Cinema in the night, "A quiet place" in Century XD.... :eek:
- 13th: Roadtrip to Golden Gate Bridge and Stinson Beach along HW1. Some shopping. And cinema in the night, "Pacific Rim 2"
- 14th: Roadtrip down too Pismo beach, along HW1. Pismo Beach is beautiful!
- 15th: Roadtrip down too LA, along HW1 and Mullholland drive. Griffith Observatory.
- 16th: Home to cold Norway. Business class baby!

Had a blast this time! May be going back in October for Formula Drift Irwindale!Because in n out is on another level lol. Its worth the wait. The Camarillo outlets are right next to where I live. We're you able to try toppers pizza?

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