Only 1 week to go! If you are planning to attend and have not previously contacted me or posted here please do so now. I would like to have a fairly accurate count for planning purposes.
UPDATE: As of April 6th we have 21 cars / 31 attendees more or less.
I have updated the information below with regards to departure time, rest, fuel, photo and lunch stops. If you have already signed up, or are thinking about it, please review this post for the latest info.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark your calendar - Saturday April 13, 2019.
The 2nd Annual Napa - Sonoma Valley Wine Country "Vine Run" is on!
This is a one day run through the beautiful Northern California wine country. A very scenic 130 mile route with plenty of twisties and great food too!
Since the first announcement was made we now have 20 runners on board. There will probably be no-shows but since we had 6 cars at the first run last year, this year promises to be a great event! Please let me know of your firm intent to attend by posting a reply to this announcement or by PM. A "maybe" is also welcome for planning purposes but please let me know your level of interest or commitment.
The route as planned right now is shown below. I've tried to optimize the route to include lots of scenery and twisties throughout the run. The scheduled start time / departure time from Black Bear Diner in Napa is 11 AM. Please arrive prior to departure time and with a full tank of gas if possible. Just before departure I will be taking a count of participants so that I can call ahead to the restaurant to inform them of how many of us to expect for lunch so please help me out here.
Jenny and I are planning to arrive at the diner a couple of hours ahead of time to grab some breakfast and coffee. Please feel free to join us. I will most likely be driving my white 87 GT with the gray stripes so you can't miss us.
Please refer to the map below. Beginning at the Black Bear Diner in Napa, CA the route begins clockwise proceeding through Sonoma and up Hwy 12 to just outside of Santa Rosa. From there we go north through some picturesque country roads and twisties.
Our first stop is planned near the upper left of the map at the home of one of our runners, Jason. He has kindly volunteered his home for our first stop and has plenty of parking on the property. This is a 30 minute stop planned for refreshments and a chance to stretch your legs before the short 20 minute run into Calistoga for our ONLY planned fuel stop at the Arco Station (940 Petrified Forest Road, Calistoga, CA 94515). This is the ONLY fuel stop.
Calistoga is where we had lunch last time but instead we will push on through down the Silverado Trail and then loop north up through Pope Valley to another rest stop / photo stop at the Pope Day Use Area near the top of Lake Berryessa
We will plan to depart Pope Day Use Area at approximately 2:45 pm for the short 8 mile run down the west shore of Lake Berryessa to Spanish Flat, arriving at the Cucina Italiana Restaurant at 4310 Knoxville Rd, Napa, CA 94558 at approx 3pm. I am told parking is ample for our group.
PLEASE NOTE that the restaurant does NOT take credit cards. Strictly CASH ONLY but there is an ATM on site.
After lunch it's a leisurely run back to the Black Bear Diner for anyone that might want to stop for coffee before heading for home or out for sightseeing in the area.
As always, this is a free gathering of Fiero enthusiasts. All expenses including, but not limited to fuel, meals, insurance, towing, or any other expenses are on you. The organizer accepts no responsibility for the suitability or roadworthiness of your vehicle, the condition of the roads, traffic conditions, weather, or anything else. Let's just have a great turn out and enjoy ourselves!
Follow this link to see the posting for last year's event, with pictures.
Do you require any type of registration or confirmation for this run?
Yes, it would be appreciated so that I can anticipate our needs along the way. I will add that to the info above. I forgot to include that in this preliminary announcement. Thank you.
Add me to the list. I will be coming down from Clearlake. My plan would be to meet up at the starting point in Napa, do the drive to Lake Berryessa for lunch. Then there is a Berryessa/Knoxville road that is a back road through Knoxville and up to Lower Lake/Clearlake.
What is going to be the starting time start out of Napa? The reviews for the Cucina Italian restaurant looks good, but be sure you bring cash and it says it's on the pricey side.
What is going to be the starting time start out of Napa? The reviews for the Cucina Italian restaurant looks good, but be sure you bring cash and it says it's on the pricey side.
I did a Google maps search to see where the restaurant is, then clicked on it to see the reviews. So I looked on Google not Facebook.
I looked at some of the reviews, which were excellent, and found one that mentioned high prices and cash only. There are lots of Italian restaurants with similar names so the reviewer was probably confused.
For this outing I was looking for something a bit more upscale than the deli sandwiches we had on the first run. I think you will find a nice selection of pasta and meat dishes in the $12 to $25 range. Just go easy on the wine!
I will be calling the owner back soon to confirm some details and I will publish an updated posting detailing departure time and stops along the route in a week or two. If the food is as authentic as his thick accent we will all have a terrific meal.
[This message has been edited by Rsvl-Rider (edited 02-26-2019).]
This is the day before my son's Eagle Scout ceremony, so I am pretty sure my wife would kill me if I spent the day zooming around in what she calls my Mid-Life Crisis ("Middy" for short). Maybe next year!
This is the day before my son's Eagle Scout ceremony, so I am pretty sure my wife would kill me if I spent the day zooming around in what she calls my Mid-Life Crisis ("Middy" for short). Maybe next year!
Why not bring him along? Good father son bonding before his ceremony.
myself and Steve Knight plan to make the 10 hour drive down the night before and get a hotel. We may be coming with kym robinson, from Reno. In any case, we both scheduled the day off.
------------------ 86 SE FASTBACK T-TOPS 88 FORMULA 4.9 87 GT MEDIUM RED METALLIC stockish
myself and Steve Knight plan to make the 10 hour drive down the night before and get a hotel. We may be coming with kym robinson, from Reno. In any case, we both scheduled the day off.
Now thats impressive. Pretty soon this will be a bigger event than the yearly coastal run. Very nice.
Why not bring him along? Good father son bonding before his ceremony.
Not a bad idea, but he and I are climbing Mt. St. Helens in July to celebrate his Eagle. Plus, he went with me last year to Seattle to purchase and drive the car home to California. He and I are pretty well bonded ;-)
All going well, we'll be at the diner for breakfast prior to the drive. Will you have a sign on a table or something so we can find you, or is there a secret handshake for Fiero owners?
(also, what should we call you, as I can't pronounce "rsvl-rider" and you probably won't get "dremu" right )
All going well, we'll be at the diner for breakfast prior to the drive. Will you have a sign on a table or something so we can find you, or is there a secret handshake for Fiero owners?
(also, what should we call you, as I can't pronounce "rsvl-rider" and you probably won't get "dremu" right )
-- Aaron
Aaron... PM's sent.
We are planning to arrive at around 9:30 am but breakfast is not an organized part of the event. Our plan is to arrive early to grab a bite and help early arrivals find us in the parking lot.
Black Bear Diner does not take weekend reservations. They are willing to accommodate a group if someone arrives early but I have no count on early arrivals so it's a guess how many might wish to grab breakfast there. We have up to 30 people and 20 cars expected on the run.
Headcount update... There will be four in my party and in two cars. My coworker Mike and his wife Darleen will be driving their black MR2. My wife and I will be in my red 88 GT.
[This message has been edited by PePe-LePu_For_2 (edited 04-11-2019).]
Headcount update... There will be four in my party and in two cars. My coworker Mike and his wife Darleen will be driving their black MR2. My wife and I will be in my red 88 GT.
Thanks for the update.
At this time there are 20 cars and 30 persons that I feel confident will show up. There are are few others who jumped in with enthusiasm that I don't know personally or by reputation and I have never able to contact again. Hard to say how many will actually show up but I think we will field an impressive group of participants.
49 hours and counting!
[This message has been edited by Rsvl-Rider (edited 04-11-2019).]
Beautiful trip and fun was had by all. Rsvl-rider, once again thanks so much for organizing this. It's surprisingly difficult to herd fifteen cars and their accompanying people (some with weak bladders ) You were very kind in dealing the slightly-late-comers, to wit, Lora and I.
Also kudos to Jason and his family for so graciously opening their home to us. We had a grand time.
Was so good to meet all of you! This is Alex (of alex and steve) we were in the 3800sc Formula. I wanted to remind everyone that we have 2 events coming up north that some of you might enjoy. June 8-9 Northwest Fiero Fest (20th anniversary) 2nd weekend of Aug tentatively Cruise to the Crater. Look for these on pennocks here, or just get a hold of me.
It would be cool if everyone could leave some contact info. That way we know who you are on Pennocks and how to get a hold of you. If anyone of you want to know me better its
I am open to helping any of you gather parts that are hard to find in the future, offer professional advice on repair, upgrades , and would even do an engine swap or a clutch for you if you can get it up north on a trailer or drive it in and drop it off. Anyway we had a great time, pictures tomorrow??
Thanks so much for the great pictures everybody!! Love the Fiero cookies!! Thanks again to Ron for all your effort and making this a steller event! I'll certainly look forward to being there next year!!
The Fiero cookies tasted as good as they looked. Considering the circumstances, I only allowed myself one. So it will (hopefully) have been or will be a "boon" to any and all that could have or yet may have the other cookie(s) I did not eat.
A very memorable day and I am glad to have been a part of it.
"Three cheers" for our event planners and lead driver and passenger--in the Fiero that had the "pole position"--and also for another persons(s)--the new (or relatively new) resident(s) of Franz Valley who hosted us for that intermediate stop along the way.
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 04-15-2019).]
Thanks to all those that attended or supported this event. This truly was a labor of love and I am gratified by the response, and for the kind words. I wasn't able to spend as much time with each of you as I would have liked but I feel lucky to be associated with such of fine group of people and I count you all as friends.
------Looking forward to seeing all the other pictures taken on the run! Post them here or send them to me and I will get them up! --------
A lot of planning goes into making an event like this a success, and a hundred things can go wrong. Fortunately everything seemed to go our way. The weather was perfect, the route was clear sailing, the scenery was green, vibrant and beautiful. Thankfully there were no mishaps along the way, and the food was great! We had folks come in from as far north as Oregon, south to Livermore and Hollister and east to Sacramento. As expected a number of folks couldn't make it, but we hope to see them next year!
I had a nice chat with Stefano, the owner / chef of the Cucina Italiana Restaurant at Lake Berryessa even though I could only understand about half of what he said! I did a lot of nodding and smiling. What an accent! Thankfully Denise was there to keep everyone happy and translate his english into something I could understand He really appreciated the patronage of our group and is hoping we will return next year. If you enjoyed the food, the personal service and the ambiance please consider leaving a positive review from the Fiero group at... https://www.facebook.com/Cu...alianaLakeBerryessa/
Also, I want to send out a special Thank You to Jason (Liv4God) and his family. Our route passed very near his home up above Santa Rosa and they graciously volunteered to open their beautiful home to us for a rest and refreshment stop. His Fiero cookies are now famous! He also drove some of the preliminary route that I was unfamiliar with so that I could have confidence of his experience in planning the route. He and his parents were wonderful hosts to our group. Maybe now they understand their son's obsession with that little car! Oh, and his mother waited by the side of the road waiting for us to pass and took many of the pictures above. Thanks!
Jason also produced the logo for the event which I produced into some directional signage and souvenir decals for the participants. Nice Job!
So, the Second Annual Vine Run! is in the books. Looking forward to next year! But first, we are hoping to see you all at Dale Houston's 17th Annual California Coast Run October 11-13, 2019. Road Trip!!!
Also, we have an invitation to attend the 20th anniversary of the Northwest Fiero Fest June 8 - 9th, and the August "Cruise to the Crater" run. Sounds like fun! Alex "anaverin" will be posting details on these events here as they become available. Thanks to you and Steve for making the 10 hour trip down to join us!
[This message has been edited by Rsvl-Rider (edited 04-15-2019).]
****Don't Miss our 20th Anniversery Show!**** The organizing committee for the NW Fiero Fest want to extend a big THANK YOU to all who attended the 2018 show! We had 29 beautiful Fieros on display from all over the Northwest. For 2019 we will return to Richland in June after last year's cooler weather! Please tell all of your Fiero friends and plan to attend in 2018. Lets see if we can have 40 cars for our 20th year! We will be bringing back an event T-Shirt this as well as all of your favorite activities during the weekend.
This year's show will be June 7th-June 9th 2019.
After moving the show from Jefferson Park to the Shilo Inn parking lot last year and receiving lots of positive feedback we will once again take over the back parking lot for 2019 and bring back the following:
-Friday night Pool Party and registration -Friday Night Lights custom lighting competition after dark. -Pizza delivery to the park on Saturday for lunch. -Slow drags moved to an earlier time. Please see the What's New page for all of the details!
The scheduled start time / departure time from Black Bear Diner in Napa is 11 AM. Please arrive prior to departure time and with a full tank of gas if possible. Just before departure I will be taking a count of participants so that I can call ahead to the restaurant to inform them of how many of us to expect for lunch so please help me out here. 
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